Ann Shields

Parental Maltreatment and Emotion Dysregulation as Risk Factors for Bullying and Victimization in Middle Childhood

Examined whether children who were maltreated by caregivers were more likely to bully others and to be at risk for victimization by peers. An additional focus was to investigate emotions role in bullying and victimization among children at risk. Participants were 169 maltreated and 98 nonmaltreated boys and girls attending a summer day camp for inner-city children. As predicted, maltreated children were more likely than nonmaltreated children to bully other children. Bullying was especially prevalent among abused children who experienced maltreating acts of commission (physical or sexual abuse). Maltreatment also placed children at risk for victimization by peers. Gender did not moderate these findings, in that maltreated boys and girls appeared to be at similar risk for bullying and victimization. As expected, both bullies and victims evidenced problems with emotion regulation. Furthermore, logistic regression analyses suggested that emotion dysregulation made a unique contribution toward differentiating bullies and victims from children who did not evidence bully-victim problems. In addition, maltreatments effects on childrens risk for bullying and victimization were mediated by emotion dysregulation.

Narrative representations of caregivers and emotion dysregulation as predictors of maltreated children's rejection by peers.

This study examined whether maltreated children were more likely than nonmaltreated children to develop poor-quality representations of caregivers and whether these representations predicted childrens rejection by peers. A narrative task assessing representations of mothers and fathers was administered to 76 maltreated and 45 nonmaltreated boys and girls (8-12 years old). Maltreated childrens representations were more negative/constricted and less positive/coherent than those of nonmaltreated children. Maladaptive representations were associated with emotion dysregulation, aggression, and peer rejection, whereas positive/coherent representations were related to prosocial behavior and peer preference. Representations mediated maltreatments effects on peer rejection in part by undermining emotion regulation. Findings suggest that representations of caregivers serve an important regulatory function in the peer relationships of at-risk children.

Showing and telling about emotions: Interrelations between facets of emotional competence and associations with classroom adjustment in Head Start preschoolers

In this study of low income preschoolers (N =  60), we examined relations between three facets of emotional competence: emotion knowledge, level of negative emotion expression, and emotion regulation; and their associations with indicators of classroom adjustment. Emotion knowledge was positively related to positive emotion regulation but was not related to negative emotion expression or negative dysregulation. Negative emotion expression related to emotion regulation variables in expected directions. Negative emotion expression was associated with aggression and social skills after covarying verbal ability, age, and emotion knowledge. Negative dysregulation was related in expected directions to aggression, anxiety, and social skills after covarying verbal ability, age, emotion knowledge, and negative emotion expression. Positive emotion regulation was related negatively to anxiety and positively to social skills after covarying all other variables in the model. Results are discussed with regard to using the emotional competence domain to understand how emotion processing relates to early childhood adjustment.

Brief Functional Screening for Transition Difficulties Prior to Enrolment Predicts Socio-Emotional Competence and School Adjustment in Head Start Preschoolers.

Successful preschool transition is important for future educational success. We used brief functional screenings to identify low‐income children at risk for difficulty transitioning into preschool. Functional screenings were conducted for 163 children prior to enrollment, in a naturalistic peer setting, and focused on multiple domains important for successful classroom transition, including social and emotional skills as well as cognitive and language abilities. Children were assigned a transition risk rating based on strengths and/or concerns in language, cognition, externalizing/internalizing, social skills, and affective tone. Social and emotional classroom behaviors were primary outcomes of interest due to the importance of early socioemotional competence for later adjustment. Outcomes were assessed using multiple methods and multiple informants, including live classroom observations. The brief functional screening predicted outcomes almost one year later. Findings are discussed regarding implications for incorporating a whole‐child, functional approach to existing screening practices, and applying developmental research methods to prevention science.