Marion O'Brien

Affect dysregulation in the mother-child relationship in the toddler years: Antecedents and consequences

The purpose of this study was to examine child, maternal, and family antecedents of childrens early affect dysregulation within the mother-child relationship and later cognitive and socioemotional correlates of affect dysregulation. Childrens affect dysregulation at 24 and 36 months was defined in the context of mother-child interactions in semistructured play and toy cleanup. Dyads were classified as dysregulated at each age based on high negative affect. Affect dysregulation was associated with less maternal sensitivity and stimulation, more maternal depressive symptoms, and lower family income over the first 36 months of life. Children with early negative mood, lower Bayley Mental Development Index scores and insecure-avoidant (15 months) or insecure-resistant attachment classifications (36 months) were more likely to be in an affect-dysregulated group. Controlling for family and child variables, affect-dysregulated children had more problematic cognitive, social, and behavioral outcomes at 54 months, kindergarten, and first grade. The findings are discussed in terms of the early role played by parents in assisting children with affect regulation, the reciprocal nature of parent-child interactions, and the contribution of affect regulation to childrens later cognitive, social, and behavioral competence.

Children's play preferences, construction play with blocks, and visual-spatial skills: Are they related?

Fifty-one preschoolers’ play preferences, skills at assembling block structures, and spatial abilities were recorded in this study. There were no sex differences in children’s visual-spatial skills, and play with art materials and children’s free and structured play with blocks were related to spatial visualisation. Two patterns emerged from the findings: (1) activity and performance representing skills in spatial visualisation and visual-motor coordination; and (2) creativity, or the ability to break set and to produce varied solutions using visual materials. Future research might examine the extent to which children’s play activities and experiences predict these types of skills.

Parents' Speech to Toddlers: The Effect of Play Context.

The language of mothers and fathers to their toddler sons and daughters at play with three different types of toy was analysed for both sentence types and structural elements. Two of the play contexts, dolls and vehicles, were highly sex-role stereotyped, and the third, shape sorters, was neutral. Few differences in speech were found as a function of either parent or child gender. Each of the three play contexts, however, elicited its own language pattern. With dolls, parental speech was characterized by a relatively large amount of language and a frequent use of questions and nouns, especially by contrast with vehicle play, which involved little language. Play with shape sorters elicited a high proportion of directives and attentionals and a relatively low variety in language. These results suggest that children who play frequently with dolls may receive more opportunities to learn and practise language than do children who select other toys for play. In this way early toy preferences may contribute to differential socialization by parents.

Transitions: Times of Change and Accommodation.

A model of transition as a change in ecocultural niche is described, in which transitions require accommodations in daily routines for a child, family, and service providers. A working definition of transition impact is the number of accommodations required, and the sustainability of daily routines. The research literature is reviewed for transitions across the age span of birth to 8 years.

Language patterns of adolescent and older mothers and their one-year-old children: a comparison study

Adolescent mothers (15;4 years) were compared with older mothers (23;7 years) when talking to their one-year-old infants using precise coding of written transcripts. The 32 subjects were similar on demographic characteristics other than age: white, primiparous, and had no more than 12 years of education. Multivariate and univariate analysis of variance indicated that, compared with older mothers, the adolescent mothers spoke significantly fewer words to their infants, fewer utterances in joint attention and in object labelling, fewer utterances of positive affective speech, and more command utterances. The infants of adolescents vocalized significantly less often than the infants of older mothers. Pearson product-moment correlations indicated a positive significant relationship between mother language variables and infant variables.

Evaluating quality in mother-infant interaction: Situational effects

Abstract Although the quality of maternal interaction is widely assumed to influence childrens development, attempts to relate measures of interaction quality to later developmental status have yielded inconclusive results. In the studies reported here, situational factors that may confound the measurement of mother-infant interaction quality were examined systematically. Results indicated that situational factors significantly influenced the quality of interaction as assessed by a rating scale incorporating an evaluation of emotional involvement as well as the nature and amount of stimulation provided the infant. Despite observed differences, however, some dimensions of interaction quality, particularly emotional involvement and verbal stimulation, were highly correlated across situations.

Activity level and sex-stereotyped toy choice in toddler boys and girls

In the first study, the motor activity level and vigor of play of 52 toddlers was assessed as they played with a set of sex-role stereotyped and neutral toys. Boys and girls showed the same level of activity, and both were significantly more active when playing with stereotypically masculine toys. In the second study, 27 toddlers were observed playing with toys defined as potentially eliciting high, medium, or low activity within the masculine, feminine, and neutral categories. Again, boys and girls did not differ in overall activity level. All children preferred toys that allowed moderate to high activity, but given this preference, they selected toys stereotyped for their own gender above those stereotyped for the other gender.

Language Learning in Context: Teacher and Toddler Speech in Three Classroom Play Areas.

Interventions to promote language development in young children are increasingly being delivered within natural environments. In classroom-based programs, free play is often the setting for intervention. Recent research suggests that play context, defined by types of toys available, affects the language and interactive style of both adults and children. In this study, both teacher speech toward toddlers and toddler speech were recorded and analyzed in three classroom play contexts: doll/house play, block/truck play, and large motor play. Significantly different language-use patterns by teachers were found in each area, and these were associated with differences in the rate and nature of child language. Teachers may be best able to implement practices to facilitate child language in play contexts that are compatible with the desired learning goals.

Sex-typed play of toddlers in a day care center

Abstract By the age of 3, boys prefer gross motor and vehicle play and girls prefer doll and housekeeping play. The present study was an attempt to define the age at which these sex differences first appear by observing the play behavior of one- and two-year-olds in a day care center. We observed use of stereotyped toys in children 15 to 35 months old during free play. Boys played more with the masculine toys than with either of the other types, whereas girls showed almost equal use of all three types. Choice of sex-typed toys was more prevalent among older boys, while older girls showed less play with feminine toys than younger girls.

Semantic and morphosyntactic language outcomes in biologically at-risk children

Abstract This study examines the language and cognitive outcomes for 69 children who were placed in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) immediately postpartum. These children are known to be at risk for later cognitive and academic problems. This study focused on language outcomes in conjunction with cognitive outcomes. To obtain a view of language development beyond that available from general tests such as verbal IQ, specific aspects of semantic and morphosyntactic language performance were assessed at 4 years of age and their relationships with environmental and medical factors were examined. The results of the study show that these children have an elevated incidence of language and cognitive difficulties. Approximately 60% of the children were experiencing problems in at least one aspect of language development. Semantic language outcomes were related to environmental variables such as maternal education and poverty, but unrelated to factors such as family history of language or learning problems, birth weight or gestational age. Syntactic outcomes, in contrast, showed no relationship to environmental factors. Importantly, the strength of the relationship between semantic performance and environmental variables varied as a function of language outcome. Children who showed profiles indicating normal language development showed the strongest relationships between semantic performance and environmental variables. In contrast, children with language and/or cognitive delays showed little to no benefits from higher levels of maternal education or higher income.