Children learn the words of their native language(s) from interactions with their caregivers. Although previous research has found that the language children hear during those interactions predicts vocabulary outcomes, few studies have investigated how qualitative features of social interactions work together to affect children's vocabulary…

Background: The present study aimed at investigating mother-child dyadic co-regulation patterns in dyads with children with intellectual disability (ID). Method: 24 children paired for developmental age and vocabulary size (8 with chromosome 14 aberrations, 8 with Down syndrome, and 8 with typical development) and their mothers participated in the…

Although theoretical work has suggested that reciprocal behavior patterns between parent and child may be important in the development of childhood anxiety, most empirical work has failed to consider the bidirectional nature of interactions. The current study sought to address this limitation by utilizing a sequential approach to exploring…

Despite the abundance of research on attachment and on the effects of separation, very little research examines the actual processes of separation occurring daily when mothers leave their children (age 6-18 months) in out-of-home group care. In the current study, this everyday process of separation was observed for three months…

Analysis of free play interaction between 40 mothers and their mentally retarded, retarded cerebral palsied, and nonretarded infants revealed that mothers of both groups of developmentally disabled (DD) infants were more directive than mothers of nonretarded infants. DD infants were more compliant and demonstrated lower levels of behavior and less…

Analysis of videotaped mother interactions with 21 visually impaired and 16 nonhandicapped infants revealed that visually impaired infants demonstrated fewer periods of positive vocalization and responses, fewer social initiations, more negative vocalizations and periods of negative affect, and more ignoring of the mothers than did the controls.…

Determined 100 young mothers' death-communication styles and content patterns by use of a simulation device in which a child's recorded voice posed questions or expressed reactions to a death situation. Results showed content patterns were inconsistent; style (relationship) classifications appeared to be most consistent. (Author/JAC)

This study used longitudinal, multimethod data to examine specific patterns of behavioral interaction with parents and peers that were hypothesized to predict increasing levels of depressive symptoms in early adolescence. Adolescents' struggles in establishing autonomy and relatedness in interactions with mothers, and a withdrawn, angry, or…

Research on child influence upon parent behavior motivated the development of a Parent Report of Child Behavior Toward the Parent Inventory. Internal consistency reliabilities of 31 five-item scales ranged from .69 to .95 with a median of .88. Varimax rotation of three principal component factors yielded dimensions of Control, Acceptance versus…

Special attention should be directed toward helping pre-service teachers to gain a knowledgeable perspective on the various types of home learning patterns and how these patterns effect child behavior styles in the classroom. (Authors)

Report summarizes research conducted in the Child Development and Mental Retardation Center and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Washington, based on five to six years of preliminary study in analyzing styles of social interaction between young children and their mothers. (Authors)

Describes the historical context of a systems approach to the family; defines basic systems concepts with emphasis on their application to the family; and describes some axioms of human communication theory and the role they play in understanding family communication from a systems viewpoint. (PD)

Examined associations between attachment quality and children's friendships at 4 and 5 years of age as a follow-up of the sample used in an earlier study by Park and Waters (1989) of secure-secure and secure-insecure friend pairs. Found that the pattern of relations between friendship and attachment changed over time, but attachment pairing…

The relationship of maternal behavioral style to cognitive development states of 60, 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old organically impaired, mentally retarded children was investigated. Factor analysis of maternal behavioral items revealed three major parameters of behavior. Child-Oriented/Maternal Pleasure was related positively, whereas Quantity of…

Assessed how family interaction patterns are influenced by television viewing. Results revealed that children oriented toward their parents less, talked less, and were less active and that fathers oriented toward their children and spouses less, talked less and made fewer positive facial expressions during television-viewing than during family…