Juliane Ball

School transition from elementary to secondary school: changes in psychological adjustment

School transition is a critical life event for many children. However, the effects of school transition on childrens stress experiences reported in the literature have been inconsistent. The present study with 564 third- to sixth-graders compared the changes in experienced stress level and in somatic and psychological symptoms during the transition from elementary to secondary schools (from grade 4 to grade 5) to the changes of two control groups (experiencing changes from grades 3 to 4 and from grades 5 to 6, but without school transition). The results show decreases in experienced stress levels and somatic and psychological symptoms after school transition. However, these decreases reflect mainly recovery effects after the school summer break, as comparisons with the control groups indicate.

Parenting Styles and Health-Related Behavior in Childhood and Early Adolescence Results of a Longitudinal Study

This study addresses the development of health-related behavior during childhood and adolescence and the protective influence of an authoritative parenting style. The study is based on two samples followed from Grades 2 through 5 and from Grades 4 through 7. The first sample consisted of 432 second graders with a mean age of 7.9 years at the beginning of the study, while the second sample consisted of 366 fourth graders with a mean age of 10.1 years. Later health behavior showed substantial correlations to previous health behavior over a 3-year interval. Moreover, there was an increase of favorable health behavior during elementary school and a decrease in the subsequent age periods. The slope for negative health behavior showed an inverted pattern. The level of this general trend was significantly affected by the perceived maternal and paternal parenting style and by gender. The significance of the results for health promotion is discussed.

Developmental changes in coping: Situational and methodological influences

Abstract Previous studies on the development of coping have shown rather inconsistent findings regarding the developmental trajectories for different coping dimensions. The aim of this study is to search for possible influences that might explain these inconsistencies. The analysis focuses on methodological influences (longitudinal vs. cross-sectional assessments) and situational influences. Two samples of children were traced longitudinally with yearly assessments from grade 2 to 5 (sample 1, N =432) and from grade 4 to 7 (sample 2, N =366). A third sample (N =849) was added with cross-sectional assessments from grade 2 to 7. The assessed coping dimensions were related to (a) problem solving, (b) seeking social support, (c) palliative coping, (d) externalizing emotional coping, and (e) avoidant coping. The use of the coping strategies had to be assessed for six stress-evoking situations. The results show only small differences between the longitudinal and the cross-sectional coping assessments. There are, however, clear situational influences on the choice of the coping strategies and also on the resulting developmental trajectories.

Maternal Sensitivity: Components and Relations to Warmth and Contingency

Objective. In this article, maternal sensitivity as a measure of parenting quality is analyzed for (1) situational independence, (2) interrelations among components of sensitivity (signal perception, correct interpretation, prompt, and appropriate reaction), and (3) relations to emotional warmth and behavioral contingency. Design. The interactions of 60 mother - infant pairs at 3 months were videotaped in contexts of caregiving and free-play in their homes. Maternal sensitivity and its components were evaluated separately in each context and in combination. Maternal emotional warmth and behavioral contingency were considered in terms of their effects on both positive and negative infant signals. Results. Maternal sensitivity ratings reflected in free-play interactions were more consistent with the general measure from both contexts than was the case for caregiving interactions. The components of sensitivity were interrelated, indicating a unified understanding of the concept of sensitivity by the raters. Conclusions. Maternal emotional warmth during the expression of positive infant signals seems to be related to maternal sensitivity. In contrast, maternal emotional warmth during the expression of negative infant signals, and contingency in general, do not seem to be related to sensitivity. This study contributes to understanding the concept of maternal sensitivity and demonstrates that it can be closely related to maternal warmth during the expression of positive infant signals.

Warmth and Contingency and Their Relationship to Maternal Attitudes Toward Parenting

Abstract In this study, the authors addressed the question of whether maternal parenting behaviors in terms of sensitivity, warmth, and contingency with respect to small infants were equally represented in attitudes toward parenting. Sixty mothers from central Germany with middle-class socioeconomic backgrounds were videotaped with their 1st born 3-month-old infant in a free-play and a caregiving episode in their home. The different maternal parenting components were behaviorally analyzed. Maternal attitudes toward parenting were assessed with self-report measures. The results showed that behavioral sensitivity was significantly associated with attitudes related to contingency, whereas behavioral warmth and contingency were not associated with maternal attitudes. The authors interpreted differential associations as a reflection of intuitive and explicit parenting strategies, with only sensitivity being explicitly represented.

Psychological predictors of health-related behaviour in children

Psychological variables such as self-efficacy, stress, and coping have proven their predictive power on health protective and health risk behaviour in adolescence and adulthood. Furthermore, health-related behaviour at early stages of development is seen as an important factor in determining health-related behaviour at later stages of development. Consequently, research on psychological variables predicting health-related behaviours at early stages of development should be an important topic with regard to health promotion and disease prevention, although this is still a neglected research area. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to analyse the importance of psychological variables in predicting health-risky and health protective behaviour in elementary school children. The study sample consisted of 345 fourth-graders (193 girls and 152 boys) with a mean age of 10.1 and 10.0 years, respectively, assessed three times within 1 year. The results showed that negative health-related behaviour is primarily influenced by stress experiences and maladaptive coping. Self-efficacy provides additional effects in girls. For positive health-related behaviour, self-efficacy is the dominant predictor in both girls and boys. The significance of the results for health-promotion during early developmental stages is discussed.

Relations between media use and self-reported symptomatology in young adolescents

Abstract Adolescents spend more than one-third of their waking lives using media such as TV, print, audio and computer media. This paper focuses on the relationship between media use and health in adolescents from a stress-theoretical perspective, exploring the dynamics between the extent of media use, the functional value of media use in terms of coping, and stress symptoms reported by 357 fifth-graders. For different kinds of media, extent and functions of media use were recorded as well as symptomatology using the Youth Self Report (YSR). The results show gender differences with regard to both externalizing and internalizing symptomatology, and the extent of media use. Further analyses reveal significant positive correlations between media use and symptomatology. These correlations are partly mediated by the use of media in the function of coping; media use can partly be explained as an attempt to cope with stress experiences.

Psychische Anpassung und schulische Leistungen beim Wechsel von der Grundschule zur weiterführenden Schule

Zusammenfassung. Der Schulwechsel von der Grundschule in die weiterfuhrende Schule wird in der Literatur haufig als ein kritisches Lebensereignis beschrieben, da er mit einer Vielzahl von Neuanpassungen verbunden ist. In der vorliegenden Studie wird davon ausgegangen, dass sich in Abhangigkeit von den Schulnoten Unterschiede in der psychischen Anpassung (Youth Self Report) beim Ubergang in die weiterfuhrende Schule zeigen. Es wurden 370 Kinder am Ende der Grundschulzeit sowie zu Beginn und zum Ende des ersten Schuljahres in der weiterfuhrenden Schule befragt. Hinsichtlich der Veranderung der Schulnoten vom Ende der vierten Klasse bis zum Ende der funften Klassen wurden drei Gruppen gebildet (mit einer sehr negativen, einer moderat negativen und einer neutralen bis positiven Notenentwicklung). Insgesamt zeigen sich uber den Schulwechsel hinweg eine Verschlechterung in den Schulnoten sowie eine Verbesserung der internalisierenden und externalisierenden Symptomatik. Dabei finden sich Unterschiede zwischen de...

The Prediction of Health-related Behaviour in Elementary School Children:

This study investigates the importance of psychological concepts with regard to health-related behaviour in elementary school children based on self-report data of 802 second- and fourth-graders. The results show significant relations of self-efficacy and the choice of appropriate coping strategies to positive health-related behaviours. The amount of stress experiences (measured by the Youth Self-Report) is associated to health-risky behaviours for the total sample and for the gender subgroups, while the other predictor variables show inconsistent relations for different subgroups. The significance of the results for health-promotion during early developmental stages is discussed.