Youth in pain often show self-defeating and destructive patterns of behavior which should be seen as calls for help and positive support. Instead, deep-seated brain programs and cultural beliefs about discipline can trigger angry or avoidant behavior by adults who deal with these young people. This brief introduction to the Conflict Cycle…

Prosocial behavior in early childhood is a precursor to later adaptive social functioning. This investigation leveraged mother-reported, physiological, and observational data to examine children's prosocial development from age 2 to age 4 (N = 125). Maternal emotion socialization (ES) strategies and children's parasympathetic regulation have each…

The current paper proposes a Relational Frame Theory (RFT, Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001a) conceptualization of empathy and perspective taking that follows previous literature outlining a relationship between those phenomena and general functioning. Deictic framing, a relational operant investigated by RFT researchers, constitutes the…

Using a longitudinal, prospective adoption design, the authors of this study examined the effects of the environment (adoptive parents' depressive symptoms and responsiveness) and genetic liability of maternal depression (inferred by birth mothers' major depressive disorder [MDD]) on the development of fussiness in adopted children between 9 and…

Longitudinal data concerning fear responses in 30 boys and 30 girls observed from ages one month to 8 1/2 years suggest that in males--but not in females--a predisposition to a particular level of fearfulness is set by events that occurred before 6 months of age. (Author/MG)

Dabrowski's theory that sensitivity and intensity are characteristic of the psychological makeup of young gifted children was investigated in a qualitative study with five gifted children (ages 4 through 6). The study found the five overexcitabilities postulated by Dabrowski were manifested in the children's classroom and home behaviors. (DB)

Examined the role of difficult temperament or behavioral style and tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use in the 133 subjects of the New York Longitudinal Study. Results indicated that the possession of difficult temperamental characteristics at age five and in early adulthood are associated with drug use in young adulthood. (JAC)

The results show that interferences occupy an impressive amount of consciousness throughout much of childhood. Despite their ubiquity and their apparent impact on the process of awareness and the content of socialization, interferences nevertheless remain ironically in the background of experience. (Author)

Studied the effects of maternal employment on mother-child relations and children's psychosocial functioning. Mother-son pairs (N=28) were divided into maternal working versus maternal nonworking groups. Groups were observed at home and in a laboratory. Results indicated no significant main effects or interaction effects for maternal working…

To investigate children's ability to describe and make inferences about feelings, thoughts, and intentions that occur in interpersonal relationships, 60 middle class girls were divided into three age groups: 6, 9, and 12 years. Each group viewed two sections of a movie portraying episodes of social interaction. After each section, the children…

This paper discusses the processes that are at work which produce some of the differences between male and female human beings. The sex of the child is an important attribute of the organism's identity. Before birth, parents express preferences for the sex of the unborn child and start providing names as a function of the sex of the child. Studies…

Reviews the definition and demographics of homeless students; the effects of homelessness on developmental, psychological, behavioral, and academic growth; the legal mandates regarding homeless students; and barriers to education. Recommendations for fostering success for homeless students are offered. (Author/DB)

An interactional model explaining predisposition to hyperactivity asserts that being identified, diagnosed, and treated as hyperactive is a function of biological factors, early health and temperament, family characteristics, and the quality of the home environment. A longitudinal study involving 367 subjects, aged 17-18, tested the interactional…