Marc Vierhaus

Pain tolerance in children and adolescents: Sex differences and psychosocial influences on pain threshold and endurance.

Laboratory studies with children and adolescents revealed inconsistent findings regarding sex differences in pain tolerance, although lower pain tolerance is commonly reported for adult women. Besides biological mechanisms, several socio‐cognitive variables are discussed which may influence pain tolerance in regard to sex differences. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the pain tolerance of children and adolescents using the cold pressor task (CPT) and to analyse influences of pain‐coping and pain‐related self‐efficacy.

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.

The development of 3- to 9-month-old infants in two cultural contexts: Bayley longitudinal results for Cameroonian and German infants

Based on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III, this study provides the results of a longitudinal study on the development of Cameroonian Nso farmer and German middle-class infants. Complete longitudinal data were available for 253 infants (69 from Cameroon and 184 from Germany) with Bayley assessments at 3, 6 and 9 months. The results show large differences between Cameroonian Nso and German infants with regard to gross motor and language development. The developmental sequence within each Bayley scale is more in line with the original Bayley sequence for German than for Cameroonian Nso infants as is indicated by Goodman scalogram analyses. Path analyses show some basic similarities between the developmental paths across ages for Cameroonian Nso and German infants, but more interconnections between the scales in the German sample. The results underline the need to adjust developmental scales to the cultural background of the infants to be tested.

Infant development in two cultural contexts: Cameroonian Nso farmer and German middle-class infants

Objective and Background: Cultures differ in their emphases on specific developmental milestones which may be associated with early developmental differences. This study compares the developmental states of three‐ and six‐month‐old Cameroonian Nso farmer and German middle‐class infants assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Methods: The Bayley Scales were used with 345 three‐month‐old infants in Cameroon (n = 73) and Germany (n = 272). Most of the infants were reassessed at six months of age (n = 72 of the Cameroonian and n = 222 of the German infants). Results: The study showed significant differences in gross motor development in favour of the Cameroonian children and in receptive as well as expressive communication in favour of the German infants. These findings are consistent throughout both age samples. The cognitive and fine motor development is significantly advanced in the three‐month‐old German infants, but not at six months of age. Conclusion: The results are interpreted to reflect different socialisation strategies as a result of different cultural orientations of Cameroonian Nso and German middle‐class mothers and it is important to assess developmental pathways in multiple cultural environments, in order to gain an understanding of the encompassing conceptions of development.

Imitative Learning of Nso and German Infants at 6 and 9 Months of Age: Evidence for a Cross-Cultural Learning Tool

The present study focused on the assessment of imitation performance in a large sample of 6- and 9-month-old infants from two different cultural contexts: German middle-class infants from urban areas and Nso infants from a rural area in northwestern Cameroon were tested by using age-adapted deferred imitation tasks that were varied regarding their cultural familiarity (two types of instruments each being highly familiar for one of the two cultural contexts). Within both cultural groups and without being influenced by the cultural familiarity of the instruments, infants performed more target actions in the test compared with the baseline phase, even though this difference did not yield significance in the group of 6-month-old Cameroonian Nso infants. Moreover, a higher mean number of imitated actions has been observed for 9-month-olds compared with 6-month-olds demonstrating an age-related improvement of infants’ learning ability. Furthermore, at 9 months of age, German infants showed a higher level of baseline activity compared with the infants in the Cameroonian sample, which is assumed to be based on differences regarding the degree of object experiences. Results provide evidence that early in infancy, imitation is a universal learning tool in different cultural environments.

Anlage und Umwelt

Eine Fragestellung, die in der Entwicklungspsychologie eine lange Tradition hat, ist die Frage nach den Anlage- und Umweltanteilen an der Entwicklung. Kommt Entwicklung hauptsachlich durch exogene oder endogene Faktoren zustande? Oder anders gefragt: Entfalten sich die individuellen Eigenheiten eines Menschen, ohne dass dabei die Umwelt eine entscheidende Rolle spielt, oder ist umgekehrt die Umwelt dominierend und die Anlagen steuern lediglich eine Grundausstattung bei, die ohne grosere Varianz zwischen Menschen vorliegt?

Effects of a School-Based Stress Prevention Programme on Adolescents in Different Phases of Behavioural Change.

This study examines whether the assumptions of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) are useful to evaluate the effectiveness of a school‐based stress prevention programme in adolescence to promote appropriate coping behaviour. The TTM assumes three consecutive phases in the adoption of behavioural patterns. Progress throughout the phases is promoted by three developmental determinants. It, therefore, was expected that programme participation is associated with a progression throughout the phases and with a change in the developmental determinants. Of 372 adolescents, aged between 13 and 16 years, 190 participated in a control condition and 182 in a stress prevention programme. Measurements were taken a week before (pre‐test), a week after (post‐test) and 12 weeks after the training (follow‐up‐test). Results indicated that adolescents in different phases of behaviour change report different numbers of stress symptoms. Programme participation is associated with a progression in phases which, however, was not stable after the programme had run its course. Besides this, adolescents in different phases benefit from participation differentially as different patterns of changes in the developmental determinants show. A systematic promotion in the different phases of behavioural change by integrating TTM‐tailored ‘tools’ into a stress management programme may improve participants’ intention and competence to actually show appropriate coping behaviour.

Parents’ Perceived Similarity to Their Children, and Parents’ Perspective Taking Efforts: Associations of Cross-Informant Discrepancies with Adolescent Problem Behavior

The main goal of this study is to provide empirical evidence for a theoretical mechanism underlying cross-informant discrepancies (CID), which occur between reports of different informants (e.g., children/adolescents and parents) of children’s/adolescents’ problem behavior. Studies comprehensively corroborate the existence of CID. However, an explanation of CID is rudimentary and inconsistent. Respective research often suffers from methodological problems and is often atheoretical. Addressing these critics, this study uses polynomial regression and is based on research on mind perception and anchoring-and-adjustment theory. It was assumed that higher CID are associated with parents’ perceived similarity to their children, whereas lower CID are related to parents’ perspective-taking efforts. Analyses were based on N = 168 parent–child dyads (children’s mean age: 12.50 years). Reports on problem behavior displayed substantial mean differences and medium-sized correlations. Polynomial regressions on CID partly supported the influence of parents’ perceived similarity and perspective taking efforts on CID. Results are discussed in the context of a possible theoretical fundament for CID.

Differential Development of Motor Abilities in Western Middle-Class and Cameroonian Nso Infants

The present longitudinal study repeatedly tested motor development in 345 infants at ages 3, 6, and 9 months in two eco-cultural contexts (German middle-class and Cameroonian Nso). To analyze differential motor developments and its co-determinants (parental education and growth in weight), person-centered analyses (hierarchical cluster analyses) were applied. Results indicate that cluster analyses of fine motor development scores led to two culture-mixed cluster groups. Four cluster groups were extracted in the gross motor domain showing differential growth curves. Differential growth curves were partly explained by education of mother and weight trajectories. Besides considering methodological aspects, inter-individual differences of intra-individual change within and across eco-cultural contexts are discussed.