Children's Social-emotional Functioning Research Articles

Family risks and protective factors: Pathways to Early Head Start toddlers’ social–emotional functioning

Early Head Start children may be more likely to exhibit difficulties with social–emotional functioning due to the high-risk environments in which they live. However, positive parenting may serve as a protective factor against the influence of risk on children's outcomes. The current study examines the effects of contextual and proximal risks on children's social–emotional outcomes and whether these effects are mediated by maternal sensitivity. One-hundred and fourteen low-income, high-risk mother–toddler dyads participated in this longitudinal study designed to examine the relationships between family risk, mothers’ sensitivity, and children's social–emotional functioning in Early Head Start families. Researchers conducted two 2.5-h home visits, approximately six months apart, during which they assessed mothers’ levels of family risk, maternal sensitivity, and their children's social–emotional functioning. A theoretically derived structural equation model was tested to examine the direct paths from family risk variables to children's social–emotional functioning and the indirect paths by way of the mediator variable, maternal sensitivity. Support was found for a model that identified maternal sensitivity as a mediator of the relationship between parenting stress and children's social–emotional functioning. Results have implications for providing services through Early Head Start programs that are aimed at alleviating parenting stress and enhancing maternal sensitivity.

Pathways among exposure to violence, maternal depression, family structure, and child outcomes through parenting: A multigroup analysis.

The present study examined the impact of proximal (maternal depression, family structure) and distal (exposure to violence) risk factors on parenting characteristics (warmth, control), which were in turn hypothesized to affect child social-emotional functioning. Using the Family and Child Experiences Study (FACES) 2000 cohort, findings revealed that study variables were significant predictors of child social-emotional functioning. Despite limited significant pathways in the structural equation models, the cumulative effect of the variables resulted in models accounting for 21%-37% of the outcome. Multigroup analysis revealed that although the amount of variance explained varied, the model held across subgroups. Findings support theories such as the family stress model that suggest that family risk factors negatively influencing children's development through influencing parenting behaviors. Findings also support considering both warmth and control as key parenting dimensions. It may be impractical for practitioners to address the myriad of potential risks encountered by low-income families, but parents can be equipped with mental health services, parent education, and other assistance to help them maintain positive parenting practices in the face of challenges.

Shifting from categories to services: Comprehensive school‐based mental health for children with emotional disturbance and social maladjustment

AbstractTo meet the present and future educational and mental health needs of our nation's youth, current models of mental health service delivery need to be reformed. Any more time spent arguing the differences between categories such as Emotional Disturbance (ED) and Social Maladjustment (SM) will only delay much needed services and deplete our already limited resources. Children's mental health needs are not being met in the current model of service delivery. It is proposed that school psychology facilitate the move toward a comprehensive school‐based mental health service model. This type of model is consistent with many of the 2002 Futures of School Psychology Conference goals. This model also recognizes the importance of children's social–emotional functioning in that positive mental health directly impacts the learning potential of children. Additionally, the comprehensive school‐based mental health service model emphasizes the importance of prevention and early intervention. These proactive strategies are desperately needed to more effectively meet the rising numbers of youth with mental health needs. By focusing on preventing emotional and behavioral disorders and intervening early at the onset of symptoms, students will no longer have to wait until they are classified as ED or SM to receive much needed services. School psychology can play a pivotal role in the reform efforts toward a comprehensive school‐based mental health service model that promotes positive mental health in all children. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 911–920, 2004.

The Better Beginnings, Better Futures Project: A Universal, Comprehensive, Community-Based Prevention Approach for Primary School Children and Their Families

Evaluated a community-based, universal project designed to prevent emotional and behavioral problems and promote general development in young children, while also attempting to improve family and neighborhood characteristics, to link effectively with existing services, and to involve local residents in project development and implementation. The research involved 554 4-year-old children and their families living in 3 disadvantaged neighborhoods in Ontario, Canada. Longitudinal analyses of changes over the first 5 years of project operation indicated significant improvements in children's and parents' social-emotional functioning and physical health, parenting behaviors, and neighborhood and school characteristics. The findings from the Better Beginnings, Better Futures Project are encouraging and provide unique evidence for the extent to which a universal, comprehensive, community-based prevention strategy can promote the longer term development of young children, their families, and their neighborhoods.

Temperament and Attachment: One Construct or Two?

In this chapter we described the constructs of temperament and attachment and have discussed similarities and differences between the two. We addressed the issue of whether temperament contributes to overall attachment security or to the specific type of attachment that children display. We conclude that although temperament may influence the type of secure and insecure attachment relationship children form with their parent, temperament alone will not determine if a child is classified as securely or insecurely attached. We presented evidence suggesting that certain dimensions of temperament, specifically negative emotionality, may be associated with infants' behavior during the Strange Situation, such as proneness-to-distress during separations. However, we noted that these temperament dimensions do not predict overall security of attachment. It is likely that although no single temperament characteristic, such as proneness-to-distress, in and of itself determines overall attachment security, it is possible that a constellation of temperament characteristics may be more strongly related to attachment security. The examination of constellations of temperament characteristics may be particularly useful for furthering our understanding of individual differences within attachment classifications. Such an approach may elucidate the reasons why infants are classified into one subgroup of secure, insecure-avoidant, or insecure-resistant attachment versus another subgroup. Furthermore, we suggest that the collection of findings regarding temperament and attachment not only underscores the importance of a transactional approach to early social-emotional development, but emphasizes that temperament and attachment can make unique and interactive contributions to children's social-emotional functioning. That is, the goodness-of-fit between infant and parent characteristics may best predict security of attachment. Although child characteristics clearly contribute to the development of the parent-child relationship, we believe that the effects of infant temperament on infant-caregiver attachment may well be indirect, and may be moderated by such variables as maternal personality and social support. Thus, taken together, a growing literature clearly indicates that although temperament and attachment security are interrelated, they are by no means interchangeable constructs. To return to our guiding question, "Temperament and attachment: One construct or two?" We reply, "two."

Parenting style as a mediating link between parental emotional health and adjustment of maltreated children

The roles of parenting style and parents' emotional health status on children's social-emotional functioning were examined. Approaches to child-rearing were expected to mediate the impact of parental emotional health on child adjustment. The sample consisted of 55 parent-child dyads characterized by child maltreatment. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that both aspects of parental functioning, emotional health status and child-rearing style, predicted child adjustment. However, further analyses yielded support for the mediation model; the impact of emotional health on child adjustment was significantly reduced when the effects of parenting style were controlled. Results suggest that parental approaches to child-rearing play a key role in shaping children's social-emotional functioning, with parents' emotional health status playing a more indirect role.