Eisenberg, Cumberland, and Spinrad (1998; Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Cumberland, 1998) included parent-child attachment as a key dimension of the early emotion socialization environment. We examined processes linking children's early attachment with social regulation and adjustment in preadolescence in 102 community mothers, fathers, and children.…

Background: Implications of early attachment have been extensively studied, but little is known about its long-term indirect sequelae, where early security organization moderates future parent-child relationships, serving as a catalyst for adaptive and maladaptive processes. Two longitudinal multi-trait multi-method studies examined whether early…

We investigated whether children's robust conscience, formed during early family socialization, promotes their future adaptive and competent functioning in expanded ecologies. We assessed two dimensions of conscience in young children (N = 100) at 25, 38, and 52 months in scripted laboratory contexts: internalization of their mothers' and fathers'…

We ask three questions: What are the components of young children?s conscience? How are they organized? How does early conscience develop? We discuss the changing perspectives on each of those questions. We describe the shift from a focus on a single component of conscience (moral emotions, conduct, cognition) to a growing emphasis on their…

Findings from 2 longitudinal studies replicate and considerably extend past work on child temperament as a moderating link between parenting and successful socialization outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 106 mothers and children), child fearfulness, mother-child positive relationship, and maternal power assertion were assessed at 22 and 33 months; the…

Assessed children's temperament and maternal socialization at age 2-3. Assessed children's conscience at ages 4 and 5 by observing children's cheating behavior in a game. Found that for children fearful as toddlers, maternal gentle discipline promoted conscience at age 5. For children fearless as toddlers, alternative maternal socialization…

Observed the interactions of 24 well and 26 depressed mothers with their 5-year-old children. Found no difference between well and depressed mothers' granting or denial of their children's requests. Depressed, but not well, mothers' responses to child requests could be predicted from their self-reported mood and child behavior. (BC)

Examined attempts by five-year-old children to influence mothers and peers. Children were immediately successful with mothers less often than with peers and were more often able to negotiate a compromise with mothers than with peers. Mothers' strategies for influencing children predicted children's styles of influencing peers. (BC)

Examined contribution of temperamental inhibitory control to conscience development. Found longitudinal stability in inhibitory control from toddlerhood to early school age, with inhibitory control increasing with age, and girls outperforming boys. Reaffirmed links between inhibitory control and multiple, diverse measures of children's conscience…

Socialization research is shifting from direct links between parenting and children's outcomes toward models that consider parenting in the context of other factors. This study proposed that the effects of maternal responsive, gentle parenting on child conscience are moderated by the quality of their relationship, specifically, early security. A…

Mothers' child rearing and discipline, and toddlers' anxiety and compliance to mothers' demands, were measured. Measures of children's conscience, taken six years later, were related to maternal child rearing practices that deemphasized the use of power, and the level of toddlers' compliance to maternal demands. (BC)

Observed toddlers' imitation and responses to maternal control. Found that girls imitated more than boys. Responsive imitation measures were coherent and longitudinally stable, and correlated significantly with responsiveness to maternal control. Suggested that a young child's willingness to imitate parent in a teaching context and to comply in a…

Control interactions between 87 well and affectively ill mothers and their young children were studied. Well mothers achieved compromise with their children, particularly daughters, more often than did affectively ill mothers. Affectively ill mothers, more often than well mothers, avoided confrontation with their children. (Author/JW)

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…

Examined longitudinally committed and situational compliance in "Do" and "Don't" contexts and internalization of standards among 108 young children through age 4. Found that the "Do" context was more challenging than the "Don't" context. Both forms of compliance were longitudinally stable, but only within a given context. Committed compliance was…