The first year of life is an essential phase for all psychological areas in child development. The key competences, vital for all development processes of the child, focus on the communication and the socio-emotional competencies, mostly because the infant is strongly dependent of the adult care environment. The quality of the primary caregiving…

This research examined alternative mechanisms in the etiology of attachment disorganization. The authors hypothesized that negative intrusive parenting would significantly predict children's attachment disorganization at age 12 months within a diverse community sample. Of more substantial interest, the authors tested moderational mechanisms in the…

The broader autism phenotype (BAP) is a term applied to individuals with personality and cognitive traits that are similar to but milder than those observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Subtle autistic traits in the core diagnostic domains of social communication and rigid behavior were described in family members of people with an ASD even…

We aimed to investigate stress response regulation, temperament, cognitive and language abilities and family SES in children who entered kindergarten before two years of age. Whilst childrens stress regulatory systems are vulnerable to environmental influences little is known about how temperament and family characteristics impact on stress…

Emotion regulation is essential to cognitive, social, and emotional development and difficulties with emotion regulation portend future socioemotional, academic, and behavioral difficulties. There is growing awareness that many developmental outcomes previously thought to begin their development in the postnatal period have their origins in the…

Research Findings: Temperament, often defined in terms of reactive and regulatory tendencies, has been shown to predict child outcomes over and above other risk factors and represents a critical aspect of social-emotional development. The present article is a systematic review of temperament-based interventions targeting caregivers, wherein the…

The current study aimed to substantiate and extend our understanding regarding the existence and developmental pathways of 3 distinct temperament profiles--exuberant, inhibited, and average approach--in a sample of 3.5-year-old children (n = 121). The interactions between temperamental styles and specific types of effortful control, inhibitory…

Research Findings: Home-based involvement--defined as the actions parents take to promote children's learning outside of school--is often the most efficient way for low-income parents to be involved with their children's education. However, there is limited research examining the factors predicting home-based involvement at kindergarten entry for…

Research Findings: This study examined how characteristics of parents, providers, and children contribute to the quality of parent--provider relationships in infant and toddler classrooms. Parents (n = 192) and providers (n = 95) from 14 child care centers in a large metropolitan area participated by completing questionnaires about the nature of…

The current study examined the stability of temperament over time. Observers and mothers rated child behavior at eight timepoints across three assessment waves (8, 15, and 30 months of age). Internal consistency reliability of aggregates of the eight observer reports and eight mother reports were high. When considering single timepoint…

This mixed-methods study examined influences, factors, and processes associated with parental recognition and appraisal of developmental concerns among 23 English- and Spanish-speaking parents of young children with signs of developmental or behavioral problems. Participants shared their experiences through in-depth interviews or focus groups and…

Moderate, yet relatively consistent, associations between cognitive performance and shyness have been reported throughout the child and adult literatures. The current study assessed longitudinal associations between cognition (i.e., executive functioning) and parent-report temperamental shyness from infancy to early childhood and used temporal…

Investigating heterogeneity in antisocial behavior early in life is essential for understanding the etiology, development, prognosis, and treatment of these problems. Data from the longitudinal National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) study of Early Child Care were used to identify homogeneous groups of young antisocial children…

The current study examined interactions among genetic influences and children's early environments on the development of externalizing behaviors from 18 months to 6 years of age. Participants included 233 families linked through adoption (birth parents and adoptive families). Genetic influences were assessed by birth parent temperamental…

The purposes of this research are, first, to make visible, examine, and illuminate preschool teachers' perception of what children enrolled in preschools learn and how they learn it; and second, to highlight and illuminate what abilities preschool teachers perceive that children can develop during their stay at preschools. As a theoretical…