Empathy ‐Related Responding in Chinese Toddlers: Factorial Structure and Cognitive Contributors
The critical role of the second year of life in the development of empathy is well accepted by psychologists. However, the developmental trends of the different components of empathy and the potential factors underlying these components during this critical period remain unclear. Eighty‐four Chinese toddlers in the second year of life participated in the present study. Empathy‐related responses were observed during three simulated procedures performed by each child's primary caregiver, the experimenter and a baby doll. An exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the different components of empathy. The shared r...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 10, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Heqing Huang, Yanjie Su, Jian Jin Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Five ‐Month‐old Infants' Discrimination of Visual–Tactile Synchronous Facial Stimulation
The distinction between self and other is crucial for self‐awareness and for our awareness of others. However, how human beings learn to associate the face they see in the mirror with themselves is still a matter of debate. The exploration of body‐related multisensory processing with infants has demonstrated that they can detect visual‐tactile contingencies, suggesting the presence of early implicit body perception simply based on the spatiotemporal matching between visual and tactile stimuli alone. In the present study, we used facial stimuli to investigate 5‐month‐old infants' visual preference for visual‐tac...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 9, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: M. L. Filippetti, T. Farroni, M. H. Johnson Tags: Brief Report Source Type: research
Developmental Risk and Goodness of Fit in the Mother –Child Relationship: Links to Parenting Stress and Children's Behaviour Problems
Despite the compelling nature of goodness of fit, empirical support has lagged for this construct. The present study examined an interactional approach to measuring goodness of fit and prospectively explored associations with mother–child relationship quality, child behaviour problems and parenting stress across the preschool period. In addition, as goodness of fit might be particularly important for children at developmental risk, the presence of early developmental delay was considered as a moderator of goodness‐of‐fit processes. Children with (n = 110) and without (n = 137) developmental delays and their m...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 9, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Rebecca P. Newland, Keith A. Crnic Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Five‐Month‐old Infants' Discrimination of Visual–Tactile Synchronous Facial Stimulation
The distinction between self and other is crucial for self‐awareness and for our awareness of others. However, how human beings learn to associate the face they see in the mirror with themselves is still a matter of debate. The exploration of body‐related multisensory processing with infants has demonstrated that they can detect visual‐tactile contingencies, suggesting the presence of early implicit body perception simply based on the spatiotemporal matching between visual and tactile stimuli alone. In the present study, we used facial stimuli to investigate 5‐month‐old infants' visual preference for visual‐tac...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 9, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: M. L. Filippetti, T. Farroni, M. H. Johnson Tags: Brief Report Source Type: research
Developmental Risk and Goodness of Fit in the Mother–Child Relationship: Links to Parenting Stress and Children's Behaviour Problems
Despite the compelling nature of goodness of fit, empirical support has lagged for this construct. The present study examined an interactional approach to measuring goodness of fit and prospectively explored associations with mother–child relationship quality, child behaviour problems and parenting stress across the preschool period. In addition, as goodness of fit might be particularly important for children at developmental risk, the presence of early developmental delay was considered as a moderator of goodness‐of‐fit processes. Children with (n = 110) and without (n = 137) developmental delays and their m...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 9, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Rebecca P. Newland, Keith A. Crnic Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Maternal Emotion Socialization, Depressive Symptoms and Child Emotion Regulation: Child Emotionality as a Moderator
This study tested a model of children's emotionality as a moderator of the links between maternal emotion socialization and depressive symptoms and child emotion regulation. Participants were 128 mother–preschooler dyads. Child emotion expression and emotion regulation strategies were assessed observationally during a disappointment task, and a principal component analysis revealed three factors: passive soothing (including sadness and comfort seeking), negative focus on distress (including anger, focus on distress and low active distraction) and positive engagement (including positive emotion, active play and passive wa...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 3, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Qiong Wu, Xin Feng, Emma Hooper, Seulki Ku Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
More than Just the Breadwinner: The Effects of Fathers' Parenting Stress on Children's Language and Cognitive Development
Despite numerous studies on parenting stress suggesting negative influences on parent–child interactions and children's development, the majority of these studies focus on mothers' parenting stress with little or no acknowledgement of fathers. Using data from the National Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, this study examined (i) the effects of fathers' parenting stress during toddlerhood on children's language and cognitive outcomes when children are 3 years old (ii) whether the effects of fathers' parenting stress on children's language and cognitive development vary by child gender? Results from mixed...
Source: Infant and Child Development - May 3, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Tamesha Harewood, Claire D. Vallotton, Holly Brophy‐Herb Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
An Embodiment Perspective on Number –Space Mapping in 3.5‐Year‐Old Dutch Children
In this study, an embodiment perspective on these skills was taken. Embodiment theory assumes that cognition emerges through sensory–motor interaction with the environment. In line with this assumption, it was investigated if counting and adding/subtracting direction in young children is related to the hand they use during task performance. Forty‐eight 3.5‐year‐old children completed a block adding, subtracting and counting task. They had to add and remove a block from a row of three blocks and count a row of five blocks. Adding, subtracting and counting direction were related to the hand the children used for task...
Source: Infant and Child Development - April 30, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Jaccoline E. Noordende, M(Chiel). J. M. Volman, Paul P. M. Leseman, Evelyn H. Kroesbergen Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
An Embodiment Perspective on Number–Space Mapping in 3.5‐Year‐Old Dutch Children
In this study, an embodiment perspective on these skills was taken. Embodiment theory assumes that cognition emerges through sensory–motor interaction with the environment. In line with this assumption, it was investigated if counting and adding/subtracting direction in young children is related to the hand they use during task performance. Forty‐eight 3.5‐year‐old children completed a block adding, subtracting and counting task. They had to add and remove a block from a row of three blocks and count a row of five blocks. Adding, subtracting and counting direction were related to the hand the children used for task...
Source: Infant and Child Development - April 30, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Jaccoline E. Noordende, M(Chiel). J. M. Volman, Paul P. M. Leseman, Evelyn H. Kroesbergen Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Genetic and Environmental Influences on the Development and Stability of Executive Functions in Children of Preschool Age: A Longitudinal Study of Japanese Twins
Executive functions (EF) are an important predictor of later adaptive development. A number of environmental influences, such as parenting, have been suggested as important promoters of EF development. However, behavioural genetic research has demonstrated that many environmental influences could be affected by genetic influences. Therefore, it is important to consider genetic variations when investigating environmental influences on EF development in children. To date, few studies have used genetically informative designs to assess the etiology of EF development during the preschool years, a period of rapid development. A...
Source: Infant and Child Development - April 30, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Keiko K. Fujisawa, Naoya Todo, Juko Ando Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
The Maternal (Non) Responsiveness Questionnaire: Initial Factor Structure and Validation
The purpose of this paper was to examine the reliability, stability, and convergent and predictive validity of the newly developed Maternal Responsiveness Questionnaire (MRQ). Participants were 224 first‐time mothers. Mothers completed the MRQ when their infants were 6 and 14 months old. Convergent validity was examined in relation to mother‐reported personality, depressive symptoms, and emotion socialization practices and observed maternal sensitivity. Predictive validity was examined in relation to mother‐reported child behaviour problems and social competence, infant attachment security assessed via the Strange ...
Source: Infant and Child Development - April 30, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Esther Leerkes, Jin Qu Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Maternal Childhood Sexual Trauma and Early Parenting: Prenatal and Postnatal Associations
Existing research suggests that approximately 19% of females experience childhood sexual trauma (CST). Little is known, however, about the parenting behaviour of mothers who have experienced CST. Using propensity‐matched controls, the present study examines prenatal psychosocial distress, postnatal depressive symptomatology, and caregiving behaviours of women reporting CST at or before the age of 14. Data for these analyses were obtained from mother reports and from observational protocols from a longitudinal study of low‐income, rural families. Propensity score methodology was used to create a contrast group matched o...
Source: Infant and Child Development - April 30, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: B. J. Zvara, S. Meltzer‐Brody, W. R. Mills‐Koonce, M. Cox, Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Development of Rigid Motion Perception in Response to Radially Expanding Optic Flow
A radially expanding flow with a linear positive speed gradient is perceived as a rigid object approaching the observer, whereas such a flow having no or a reduced speed gradient is perceived as a non‐rigid, two‐dimensionally deforming object (De Bruyn & Orban, 1990). We tested elementary school‐aged children (younger children, 6–9 years, and older children, 9–11 years) and adults (20–22 years) to examine the development of the perception of rigidity. The results suggest that the perception of rigidity in response to a radial flow pattern with a speed gradient is similar in older (but not younger) chi...
Source: Infant and Child Development - April 30, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Erika Izumi, Nobu Shirai, So Kanazawa, Masami K. Yamaguchi Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
The Roots of Turn ‐Taking in the Neonatal Period
In this study we aimed to explore the roots of turn‐taking in the neonatal period. We wished to highlight the way mothers' and newborns' vocalizations are organized in relation to each other in a face‐to‐face communication situation. We observed 15 mothers and their 2 to 4‐day‐old newborns while mothers were instructed to speak to them and infants were in a receptive behavioural state. We examined the temporal organization of maternal and newborn vocalization. Our results show that of all newborn vocalizations analysed, one third consisted of overlapping vocalizations with a maternal vocalization. Furthermore, am...
Source: Infant and Child Development - April 27, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: S. Dominguez, E. Devouche, G. Apter, M. Gratier Tags: Brief Report Source Type: research
Young Children Selectively Expect Failure Disclosure to High ‐achieving Peers
Children make many decisions about whether and how to disclose their performance to peers, teachers, parents and others. Previous research has found that children's disclosure declines with age and that older children and teenagers preferentially choose a peer audience for performance disclosure based on similar achievement. This research examines younger children's choice of a disclosure audience: whether young children predict that people will distinguish between peers at different achievement levels, and whether or not younger children expect preferential selections between those peers for their performance disclosure. ...
Source: Infant and Child Development - April 27, 2016 Category: Child Development Authors: Catherine M. Hicks, David Liu Tags: Brief Report Source Type: research
