In recent years, an increased interest in the importance of children's ability to regulate emotions in socially adaptive ways has driven considerable research on the development of emotion regulation. A widely studied emotion regulation strategy known as "expressive suppression" (ES), in which a person attempts to conceal…

Reading competence is one of the main gateways to learning and serves as the foundation for nearly all academic subjects, but reading is not a natural skill. For beginning and struggling readers, the process of learning to read is often fraught with frustration. Thus, abilities to manage affect or emotions and maintain attention or focus (i.e.…

The primary goal of this study was to examine whether effortful control (EC; effortful regulation), reactive undercontrol (IMP; e.g., impulsivity, speed of approach), and reactive overcontrol (NOV; inhibition to novelty) were 3 distinct constructs at 30 months (Time 1; n = 216), 42 months (Time 2; n = 192), and 54 months (Time 3; n = 168) of age.…

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have proven important for designating children and adolescents showing a pattern of particularly severe, stable, and aggressive antisocial behaviors (Frick, Ray, Thornton, & Kahn, 2014). Individuals with secondary CU traits represent a subpopulation that are distinguished from those with primary CU traits by…

This study used data from 356 children, their mothers, teachers, and peers to examine the longitudinal and dynamic associations among 3 dimensions of social competence derived from Hinde's (1987) framework of social complexity: social skills, peer group acceptance, and friendship quality. Direct and indirect associations among each discrete…

In this chapter, the authors extend the ideas around the development of self-regulation and its impact on development by proposing a life-span, relational, public health model. They propose that the role of self-regulation should be understood across transitions from childhood to adulthood and through an individual and community perspective,…

The present experiment investigated the relationship between laboratory measures of self-control and delay of gratification in children and explored several other factors that may influence self-control. In the self-control paradigm, 30 four-year-old children repeatedly chose between three reinforcers received after a delay and one reinforcer…

Self-regulation represents a core aspect of human functioning that influences positive development across the life span. This chapter focuses on the action-control model, a key facet of self-regulation during childhood and early adolescence. The authors discuss the development of action-control beliefs, paying particular attention to their…

This study examined whether children’s difficulties with stage-salient tasks served as an explanatory mechanism in the pathway between their insecurity in the interparental relationship and their disruptive behavior problems. Using a multimethod, multi-informant design, 201 two-year-old children and their mothers participated in 3 annual…

Background: This study examines how and why children change in aggression and delinquency from age 6 to 15 years. Besides assessing the shape of the developmental trajectories of aggression and delinquency, we investigated whether child personality characteristics, parenting, and interactions between these two predict the development of…

The current paper provides external validation of the bifactor model of ADHD by examining associations between ADHD latent factor/profile scores and external validation indices. 548 children (321 boys; 302 with ADHD), 6 to 18 years old, recruited from the community participated in a comprehensive diagnostic procedure. Mothers completed the Child…

Among people exposed to major psychological stressors in early life, there are elevated rates of morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases of aging. The most compelling data come from studies of children raised in poverty or maltreated by their parents, who show heightened vulnerability to vascular disease, autoimmune disorders, and premature…

This article had four goals. First, the authors identified a set of general challenges and questions that a life-span theory of development should address. Second, they presented a comprehensive account of their Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development. They integrated the model of optimization in primary and secondary control and the…

Research on moral behavior in children is sorely lacking in the behavioral literature. Yet, behavioral research documenting effective treatment of children with behavioral and emotional problems has often failed to generalize or to focus on moral behavior. Developmental psychologists have researched moral behavior and have provided models of moral…

Background: This study examines emotion regulation strategies used by children of mothers with childhood-onset depression (COD) and children of never-depressed mothers (NCOD). Methods: Participants were 49 COD offspring (ages 4-7) and 37 NCOD offspring (ages 4-7) and their mothers. Emotion regulation strategies were assessed observationally during…