We tested empirically a theoretical model of early origins of conscientiousness proposed by Eisenberg, Duckworth, Spinrad, and Valiente (2014). The model posited a developmental interplay between children's early effortful control (EC) and internalized or committed compliance with parents as leading to future conscientiousness. We followed a…

Background: Research has shown that interactions between young children's temperament and the quality of care they receive predict the emergence of positive and negative socioemotional developmental outcomes. This multimethod study addresses such interactions, using observed and mother-rated measures of difficult temperament, children's…

Background: Implications of early attachment have been extensively studied, but little is known about its long-term indirect sequelae, where early security organization moderates future parent-child relationships, serving as a catalyst for adaptive and maladaptive processes. Two longitudinal multi-trait multi-method studies examined whether early…

Direct defiance and passive noncompliance decreased with age, while simple refusal and negotiation increased with age. Five year olds who used skillful forms of resistance were more skillful when directing requests to mothers. Only unskillful noncompliance predicted later ratings of behavior problems. Sex differences and associations between…

Observed the interactions of 24 well and 26 depressed mothers with their 5-year-old children. Found no difference between well and depressed mothers' granting or denial of their children's requests. Depressed, but not well, mothers' responses to child requests could be predicted from their self-reported mood and child behavior. (BC)

Examined effects of child temperament and mothers' rule justifications on ratings of compliance with rules concerning safety, safeguarding property, interpersonal issues, and conventions. Found that compliance increased with age, that parent-rated child temperament and harm justification predicated mothers' ratings of rules and child compliance,…

Although conscience has been the focus of reflection for centuries, fundamental questions regarding its organization have not been fully answered. To address those questions, the authors applied structural equation modeling techniques to longitudinal data comprising multiple behavioral measures of children's conscience, obtained in parallel…

Study assessed compliance and internalization for 99 preschoolers previously studied as toddlers. Compliance and internalization were assessed in multiple observational contexts using maternal reports. Found that committed and situational compliance had distinct developmental trajectories, and only committed compliance was associated with…

Motivationally distinct forms of child compliance, mutually positive affect, and maternal control were observed as correlates of internalization in 103 mother-toddler dyads. Found that children who shared positive affect with their mothers showed a high level of committed compliance and were also more internalized. Maternal "Do's" appeared more…

Assessed, at 8-10 months, children's restraint and attention, and at 13-15 months, compliance to mother, internalization of her prohibition, and quality of motivation of the mother-child teaching context. Found support for view of compliance and noncompliance as heterogenous: committed compliance was higher to maternal "don'ts" than…

Mothers' child rearing and discipline, and toddlers' anxiety and compliance to mothers' demands, were measured. Measures of children's conscience, taken six years later, were related to maternal child rearing practices that deemphasized the use of power, and the level of toddlers' compliance to maternal demands. (BC)

Observed toddlers' imitation and responses to maternal control. Found that girls imitated more than boys. Responsive imitation measures were coherent and longitudinally stable, and correlated significantly with responsiveness to maternal control. Suggested that a young child's willingness to imitate parent in a teaching context and to comply in a…

Used observations and interview of mothers and children to test a mediational model in which committed compliance and opposition influence the child's emerging view of self on moral dimensions and this "moral self" regulates moral conduct. Found that the model, involving committed compliance and opposition in the "don't" demand…

Background: Associations between early mother-child mutually responsive orientation (MRO) and children's conscience have been previously established, but the mechanisms accounting for those links are not understood. We examined three such mediational mechanisms: (a) the child's enhanced enjoyment of interactions with the mother, (b) increased…

Examined longitudinally committed and situational compliance in "Do" and "Don't" contexts and internalization of standards among 108 young children through age 4. Found that the "Do" context was more challenging than the "Don't" context. Both forms of compliance were longitudinally stable, but only within a given context. Committed compliance was…