JoAnn Robinson

The Heritability of Inhibited and Uninhibited Behavior: A Twin Study.

Young children who respond to the unfamiliar with wariness and avoidance belong to a temperamental category called behaviorally inhibited; sociable children who approach the unfamiliar are called uninhibited. This study assessed the heritable nature of these 2 categories. The longitudinal sample consisted of 178 same-sex twin pairs seen at 14 months and 162 pairs seen at 20 and 24 months. An aggregate inhibition index was constructed at each of the 3 ages by averaging standard scores for observed laboratory behaviors indicative of wariness

Temperament, Emotion, and Cognition at Fourteen Months: The MacArthur Longitudinal Twin Study

200 pairs of twins were assessed at 14 months of age in the laboratory and home. Measures were obtained of temperament, emotion, and cognition/language. Comparisons between identical and fraternal twin correlations suggest that individual differences are due in part to heritable influences. For temperament, genetic influence was significant for behavioral observations of inhibition to the unfamiliar, tester ratings of activity, and parental ratings of temperament. For emotion, significant genetic influence was found for empathy and parental ratings of negative emotion. The estimate of heritability for parental report of expression of negative emotions was relatively high, whereas that for expression of positive emotions was low, a finding consistent with previous research. For cognition and language, genetic influence was significant for behavioral indices of spatial memory, categorization, and word comprehension. Shared rearing environment appears influential for parental reports of language and for positive emotions, but not for other measures of emotion or for temperament.

Developmental Trajectories in Toddlers’ Self-restraint Predict Individual Differences in Executive Functions 14 Years Later: A Behavioral Genetic Analysis

We examined whether self-restraint in early childhood predicted individual differences in 3 executive functions (EFs; inhibiting prepotent responses, updating working memory, and shifting task sets) in late adolescence in a sample of approximately 950 twins. At ages 14, 20, 24, and 36 months, the children were shown an attractive toy and told not to touch it for 30 s. Latency to touch the toy increased with age, and latent class growth modeling distinguished 2 groups of children that differed in their latencies to touch the toy at all 4 time points. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we decomposed the 3 EFs (measured with latent variables at age 17 years) into a Common EF factor (isomorphic to response inhibition ability) and 2 factors specific to updating and shifting. Less-restrained children had significantly lower scores on the Common EF factor, equivalent scores on the Updating-Specific factor, and higher scores on the Shifting-Specific factor than did the more-restrained children. The less-restrained group also had lower IQ scores, but this effect was entirely mediated by the EF components. Twin models indicated that the associations were primarily genetic in origin for the Common EF variable but split between genetics and nonshared environment for the Shifting-Specific variable. These results suggest a biological relation between individual differences in self-restraint and EFs, one that begins early in life and persists into late adolescence.

Maternal preconceptions about parenting predict child temperament, maternal sensitivity, and children's empathy

This study examined the influence of maternal preconceptions on child difficult temperament at 6 months and maternal sensitivity at 12-15 months and whether all 3 variables predicted childrens empathy at 21-24 months. Within a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of 175 mother-child dyads, path models were tested with 3 empathy indices (prosocial, indifference, inquisitive) as outcomes. Results indicated that maternal preconceptions significantly predicted child difficult temperament, maternal sensitivity, and childrens empathy. Temperament mediated the link between maternal preconceptions and inquisitiveness, and maternal sensitivity mediated the link between preconceptions and prosocial responses. Group modeling techniques revealed no significant differences across gender or ethnicity. Correlations suggested contextual effects based on the familiarity of the person in distress. The implications and utility of developing parenting interventions are discussed.

Gender-Specific Characteristics of 5-Year-Olds' Play Narratives and Associations With Behavior Ratings

OBJECTIVES To examine the content and structure of childrens play narratives in a large sample of 5-year-olds in order to replicate previous findings, explore the role of gender differences, and identify a pattern that can provide useful information about childrens behavior. METHOD The MacArthur Story Stem Battery and coding system was used to code content themes and coherence from play narratives of 652 twins in a nonclinical sample. To measure behavior problems, parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist when their children were aged 5 and 7 years; teachers completed the Teachers Report Form when the children were aged 7 years. RESULTS Girls told more coherent narratives with less aggression than boys. Aggressive themes were found to correlate with behavior problems as in previous studies. Upon further examination, this correlation held for girls but not boys. Children who told repeated aggressive/incoherent narratives had more behavior problems than those who did not show this narrative pattern. CONCLUSIONS The Story Stem methodology is useful for gaining access into the young childs inner world. The gender of the child, content of the story, and coherence of the story all provide useful information in identifying narratives that may indicate more risk for behavior problems.

Behavior problems in 5-year-old monozygotic and dizygotic twins: Genetic and environmental influences, patterns of regulation, and internalization of control

Genetic influence on externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and attentional/activity problems in 5-year-olds was consistently identified across informants and assessment contexts. Effects of the shared environment were identified as well but with less consistency (i.e., only from parents, not teachers, and more from father than mother reports). Correlations between observed patterns of regulation at ages 3, 4, and 5 years and behavior problems at age 5 years were often significant, but low in magnitude and specific to teacher reports. Adaptive internalization of control at each age (e.g., frustration tolerance, capacity to attend and focus, good impulse control) predicted fewer externalizing problems. Internalization of standards, reflected in childrens moral themes, understanding of reciprocity, and constructive social problem solving, also were sometimes associated with fewer problems. Significant correlations were low in magnitude and again specific to teacher reports. Externalizing problems were more prevalent for boys than girls, and regulation (i.e., internalization of control and standards) was more characteristic of girls than boys.

Maternal holding of preterm infants during the early weeks after birth and dyad interaction at six months.

OBJECTIVE To examine whether a supportive nursing intervention that promoted kangaroo holding of healthy preterm infants by their mothers during the early weeks of the infants life facilitated coregulation between mother and infant at 6 months of age. DESIGN Randomized controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS Sixty-five mother/infant dyads with mean gestational age at birth of 33 weeks. Fifty percent of infants were male, and 50% were non-White. INTERVENTIONS An 8-week home intervention encouraged daily 1-hour, uninterrupted holding with either blanket (baby wrapped in blanket and held in mothers arms) or the kangaroo (baby in skin-to-skin contact on mothers chest) method. In both conditions, weekly home visits by an experienced RN included encouragement to hold the infant, emotional support, and information about infant behavior and development. A control group received brief social visits, had no holding constraints, and participated in all assessments. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES When infants were 6 months of age, the Still-Face Paradigm was used to assess mother/infant interaction. Outcome measures were coregulation of the dyads responses during the play episodes of the Still-Face Paradigm and vitality in infant efforts to reengage the mother during the neutral face portion of the Still-Face Procedure. RESULTS Significant differences among groups were found in mother/infant coregulation. Post hoc analysis showed that dyads who were supported in kangaroo holding displayed more coregulation behavior during play than dyads in the blanket-holding group. No differences were found between groups in infant vitality during the neutral face portion of the Still-Face Procedure. CONCLUSION Dyads supported in practicing kangaroo holding in the early weeks of life may develop more coregulated interactional strategies than other dyads.

Unraveling the ecology of risks for early childhood asthma among ethnically diverse families in the southwest

OBJECTIVES We describe the prevalence of asthma risk factors within racial/ethnic and language groups of infants participating in an intervention study for reducing chronic asthma. METHODS Low-income children aged 9 to 24 months with 3 or more episodes of wheezing illness were enrolled. Baseline information included family and medical histories, allergic status, environmental exposures, emotional environment, and caregiver psychosocial resources. RESULTS Racial/ethnic and language groups-European Americans, African Americans, high-acculturated Hispanics, and low-acculturated Hispanics-showed different patterns of risk factors for childhood asthma, with low-acculturated Hispanics showing the most distinctive pattern. CONCLUSIONS Patterns of covariation of biological and psychosocial risk factors for childhood asthma were associated with racial/ethnic and language status among urban, low-income children.

Reducing risks for antisocial behavior with a program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation

Risk factors for conduct disorder, antisocial behavior, and violence are reviewed and related to the known effects of a program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation. The program reduced three domains of risk for the development of problem behavior. The effects include: (a) a reduction in maternal substance abuse during pregnancy; (b) a reduction in child maltreatment; and (c) a reduction in family size, closely spaced pregnancies, and chronic welfare dependence. These factors—especially when they co-occur—have been shown to increase the risk for conduct disorder, delinquency, crime, and youth violence. There is increasing evidence that comprehensive prenatal and early childhood home visitation programs can affect these risks early in the life cycle and reduce conduct disorder and antisocial behavior among children and youth born into at-risk families.

Integrating an emotional regulation perspective in a program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation

This paper highlights theoretical and practical issues concerning the ways in which emotional development and regulation processes of the mother-infant dyad are influenced by home visitation. The role of emotion regulation and emotional availability, important mediators of program influence on a variety of child and family outcomes are discussed. Emotion regulating capacities of the infant are reviewed in light of both early intervention and later development. Caregiving is discussed in the context of the childs emotion regulation needs. We describe how methods to promote emotionally available caregiving have been incorporated into a program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation in Denver, Colorado. This includes the provision of structured interactive guidance and the development of a helping relationship between mother and home visitor. Finally, the operationalization of emotion regulation and emotional availability for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the program model are discussed.