Four longitudinal models are used to present a short review of research into adolescent psychosocial development. This review reveals adolescent development to proceed in a regular manner. This process of regular development suggests that it might be possible to uncover rules of intra-individual development. The aim of this paper is to propose a…

Genetic and environmental factors account for variability in a range of developmental outcomes, including socioeconomic status (SES). The challenge is to find ways to incorporate genetic information based on studies using biologically related family members (i.e., studies not involving twins). To address this issue, we computed polygenic scores…

There is a growing interest on the role of noncognitive factors such as personality traits and implicit beliefs in accounting for individual differences in academic performance. Autonomy support from primary socializing agents too is an important tool for enhancing student motivation and other learning outcomes. In this study, we tested a model…

Drawing on 20 qualitative family interviews with mothers, fathers, and adolescents (aged 16 to 19 years), this study explores the time choices of parents and adolescents. Adolescents and their parents talk about having varying degrees of control over their time in response to external demands. They identify that they initiate time together and…

Individuals change over time, often in complex ways. Generally, studies of change over time have combined individuals into groups for analysis, which is inappropriate in most, if not all, studies of development. The authors explain how to identify appropriate levels of analysis (individual vs. group) and demonstrate how to estimate changes in…

Childhood is the crucial period for early children's reading ability building. Former research (Hanson & Farrell, 1995) found that early reading experience had a positive and long-term effect on reading competence for high school seniors in the future. Therefore, it is of great importance for researchers to understand children's initial reading…

Current parent-adolescent behavioral interaction research highlights the importance of three elements of behavior in defining adaptive interactions: autonomy, control, and warmth vs. hostility. However, this research has largely addressed the developmental needs and psychosocial outcomes of adolescents, as opposed to parents, with a focus on how…

Attempted to integrate indices of connection and individuality into a single, positively related construct. College students (n=101) responded to measures of parenting style, individuation, and ego identity. Results suggest that parental control restricts successful individuation but that adjustment on individuation indices predicts advanced…

Describes a method for understanding child and relational growth, building on Wynne's (1984) epigenetic model of relational systems. Proposes that parent-child complementary relationships mature through Wynne's developmental stages via symmetrical struggles, and that these struggles are necessary ingredients in the development of the relationships…

The conceptualizations of morphogenic processes suggested by systems theorists provide a useful framework for describing growth and development in complex adaptive self-directing organisms. These processes involve changes in (1) a system's structure, state, or functioning; (2) discontinuities in development; and (3) at least two kinds of…

Tested a two-step infant preventive intervention model. Subjects were 147 multiproblem mothers and their infants. Data partially supported the model. Additional analyses explored factors associated with individual differences in delivery of services and response to treatment. (RH)

Reviews the research that has tested the "goodness of fit" model of temperament-context relations and proposes that research aimed at testing this model should examine how inter-individual differences in interactions between children and their contexts over time establish correlations between individuals and their settings. (HOD)

Applied a semiparametric mixture model to a sample of 284 low-income boys to model developmental trajectories of overt conduct problems from ages 2 to 8. Identified four trajectories: persistent problem, high-level desister, moderate-level desister, and persistent low. Initially high and low groups were differentiated in early childhood by high…

Notes that Grusec and Goodnow's model of discipline encounters as context for children's internalization of parental values seems best suited for middle childhood and adolescence. Suggests that processes such as social referencing, sensitivity to standard violations, emergence of self, and self-regulation may be important antecedents and signs of…

This paper synthesizes a variety of perspectives, with an emphasis on attachment theory, on the agency/communion polarity as first defined by David Bakan (1966). The question researchers sought to answer was whether or not agency/communion is best approached as a polarity--opposite and opposing forces, forces in the personality which have often…