Role confusion is a deviation in the parent-child relationship such that a parent looks to a child to meet the parent's emotional needs and abdicates, in part, the parental role in exchange for care, intimacy, or peer support from the child. In addition, a child may initiate role-confused behavior in order to gain closeness to a parent who is…

Recent research suggests that fetal exposure to increased maternal body mass index (BMI) during pregnancy may be associated with psychopathology later in life. When this link first emerges, and if it is due to intrauterine exposures or confounding variables is not known. We therefore assessed associations between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and:…

Guided by evolutionary game theory (Korte, Koolhaas, Wingfield, & McEwen, 2005), this study aimed to identify the genetic precursors and the psychosocial sequelae of inhibited temperament in a sociodemographically disadvantaged and racially diverse sample (N = 201) of 2-year-old children who experienced elevated levels of domestic violence.…

The authors describe the development and initial validation of a home-based version of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB), which was designed to assess childhood temperament with a comprehensive series of emotion-eliciting behavioral episodes. This article provides researchers with general guidelines for assessing specific…

The present study examined the influence of children's experiences during non-maternal childcare on their behavior toward unfamiliar peers. Participants included children classified as negatively reactive at four months of age (N = 52) and children not negatively reactive (N = 61), who were further divided into those who experienced non-maternal…

The authors identified trajectories of teacher-child relationship conflict and closeness from Grades 1 to 6, and associations between these trajectories and externalizing and internalizing behaviors at 11 years old among low-income, urban boys (N = 262). There were three main findings. Nagin cluster analyses indicated five trajectories for…

The present study explores the bidirectional associations between parental behavior and child externalizing behavior in the context of two intervening variables: child's personality as a moderator of the effect of parental behavior on later child behavior; and parental self-efficacy as a mediator of the effect of child behavior on later parental…

"Why do parents parent the way they do?" remains an important question since it concerns both scientific issues, such as the stability or change of childrearing behavior, and clinical issues, such as the way to promote positive parenting in evidence-based programs. Using an accelerated design, the aim of this study was to examine several parental…

The present study was designed to examine cross-cultural differences in longitudinal links between infant temperament toddler behavior problems in the U.S. (N= 250) and Russia (N= 129). Profiles of risk/protective temperament factors varied across the two countries, with fewer significant temperament effects observed for the Russian, relative to…

Background: The differential susceptibility (DS) model suggests that temperamentally prone-to-distress infants may exhibit adverse outcomes in negative environments but optimal outcomes in positive environments. This study explored temperament, parenting, and 36-month cognition and behavior in preterm infants using the DS model. We hypothesized…

Parent-reported reactions to children's negative emotions and child negative emotionality were investigated as correlates of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Children (N = 107) and their parents participated in a short-term longitudinal study of social development. Mothers and fathers independently completed questionnaires assessing…

Previous research has suggested that mothers' behaviors may serve as a mechanism in the development from toddler fearful temperament to childhood anxiety. The current study examined the maternal characteristic of accuracy in predicting toddlers' distress reactions to novelty in relation to temperament, parenting, and anxiety development.…

The present work addresses the associations between self-reported maternal parenting behaviours and aggression, personality and peer regard of children (n = 119) in early childhood (ages three-six years). A k-means cluster analysis derived types of mothers based on their relative use of autonomy support and restrictive control. Outcomes included…

Secure mother-child attachment has been found to be an important factor in the healthy emotional development of children and has been shown to have effects on child, adolescent, and adult behavior. Previous research has primarily focused on attachment in children who are typically developing. However, little research has been conducted in…

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of maternal modeling on the acquisition of fear and avoidance towards fear-relevant and fear-irrelevant, novel stimuli in a sample of 71 toddlers. Children were shown a rubber snake or spider (fear-relevant objects) and a rubber mushroom or flower (fear-irrelevant objects), which were…