Influence Children Research Articles

What Influences Children's Conceptualizations of Language Input?

Children learning language conceptualize the nature of input they receive in ways that allow them to understand and construct utterances they have never heard before. This study was designed to illuminate the types of information children with and without specific language impairment (SLI) focus on to develop their conceptualizations and whether they can rapidly shift their initial conceptualizations if provided with additional input. In 2 studies, preschool children with and without SLI were exposed to an artificial language, the characteristics of which allowed for various types of conceptualizations about its fundamental properties. After being familiarized with the language, children were asked to judge test strings that conformed to the input in 1 of 4 different ways. All children preferred test items that reflected a narrow conceptualization of the input (i.e., items most like those heard during familiarization). Children showed a strong preference for phonology as a defining property of the artificial language. Restructuring the input to the child could induce them to track word order information as well. Children tend toward narrow conceptualizations of language input, but the nature of their conceptualizations can be influenced by the nature of the input they receive.

How Mood and Task Complexity Affect Children's Recognition of Others' Emotions

Previous studies examined how mood affects children's accuracy in matching emotional expressions and labels (label-based tasks). This study was the first to assess how induced mood (positive, neutral, or negative) influenced 5- to 8-year-olds' accuracy and reaction time using both context-based tasks, which required inferring a character's emotion from a vignette, and label-based tasks. Both tasks required choosing one of four facial expressions to respond. Children responded more accurately to label-based questions relative to context-based questions at 5 to 7 years of age, but showed no differences at 8 years of age, and when the emotional expression being identified was happiness, sadness, or surprise, but not disgust. For the context-based questions, children were more accurate at inferring sad and disgusted emotions compared to happy and surprised emotions. Induced positive mood facilitated 5-year-olds' processing (decreased reaction time) in both tasks compared to induced negative and neutral moods. Results demonstrate how task type and children's mood influence children's emotion processing at different ages.

Individual and Contextual Predictors of Cyberbullying: The Influence of Children’s Provictim Attitudes and Teachers’ Ability to Intervene

Electronic social communication has provided a new context for children to bully and harass their peers and it is clear that cyberbullying is a growing public health concern in the US and abroad. The present study examined individual and contextual predictors of cyberbullying in a sample of 16, 634 students in grades 3-5 and 7-8. Data were obtained from a large cluster-randomized trial of the KiVa antibullying program that occurred in Finland between 2007 and 2009. Students completed measures at pre-intervention assessing provictim attitudes (defined as children's beliefs that bullying is unacceptable, victims are acceptable, and defending victims is valued), perceptions of teachers' ability to intervene in bullying, and cyberbullying behavior. Students with higher scores on provictim attitudes reported lower frequencies of cyberbullying. This relationship was true for individual provictim attitudes as well as the collective attitudes of students within classrooms. Teachers' ability to intervene assessed at the classroom level was a unique, positive predictor of cyberbullying. Classrooms in which students collectively considered their teacher as capable of intervening to stop bullying had higher mean levels of cyberbullying frequency. Our findings suggest that cyberbullying and other indirect or covert forms of bullying may be more prevalent in classrooms where students collectively perceive their teacher's ability to intervene in bullying as high. We found no evidence that individual or contextual effects were conditional on age or gender. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Families: Influences in Children’s Development and Behaviour, From Parents and Teachers’ Point of View

Family plays a very important role in infant’s development and behaviour, being that the parents’ divorce can be a very stressful experience. This is an exploratory and comparative study that aims at identifying the differences in children’s behaviour with divorced parents (or separated) and married parents (or living together), based on the parents and the teachers’ perceptions. The authors recruited a convenience sample of 62 children (30 with single parents, and 32 children with married parents) between six and nine years old. To evaluate the parents’ perceptions about their children’s behaviour, the Portuguese versions of the CBCL (Child Behaviour Check List) and the TRF (Teacher Report Form) for the teachers’ perceptions were used. According to the results obtained, teachers indicate single parents’ children as having more behavioural problems in two different dimensions than children with married parents; single parents’ children without siblings are pointed out as having more behavioural problems than the ones who do not, by their parents and the more spaced the visits of the father are, in single parents’ children, more behavioural problems they have, according to the mothers. Therefore, based on our results, teachers and parents indicate that divorce has a negative impact on children’s behaviours.

The Relation of Parental Emotion Dysregulation to Children’s Psychopathology Symptoms: The Moderating Role of Child Emotion Dysregulation

This study investigated the roles of parents' and children's emotion dysregulation in children's display of internalizing and externalizing symptoms by incorporating person- and variable-centered approaches. Sixty-four children (ages 8-11) participated in this study with their mothers. Study variables were collected via multiple methods, including behavioral observation and questionnaire assessment from both parents' and children's perspectives. Using model-based cluster analysis, children's profiles with regulating emotions were created by incorporating multiple measurements. Two profiles were identified and applied in a moderation model testing whether the combination of parents' and children's regulatory style influence child outcomes. Results showed that children's emotion dysregulation profiles moderated the relationship between parental emotion dysregulation and child internalizing symptoms, with children who adopted more internalizing regulatory styles display more internalizing symptoms in the context of high parental emotion dysregulation. Implications for the measurement of emotion regulation in the family context, and future directions for intervention, are discussed.

Children in family purchase decision-making: Children's role in food product purchases from mothers' point of view

With a focus on children's influence on family purchase decisions, this study considers whether demographic differences such as age and family composition have a considerable influence over the type of behavior adopted by mothers and whether there are any discrepancies between the nutritional expectations mothers have for food products and their purchase motivations. Results from the sample of 293 mothers suggest that the changing structure of the family and both mothers' and children's age differences are not significant when identifying the characteristics which moderate children's influence in Turkey.

Perceived Child Influence on Family Dietary and Physical Activity Behaviors

Children are an important source of influence in the decision making of families regarding their dietary and physical activity patterns. Consequently, their influence may be key to fostering healthy eating and exercise patterns. This pilot study was conducted to examine children's influence on family dietary and physical activity behaviors as perceived by parents/caretakers of at least one 10- to 14-year-old child.

Children's influence strategies in practice: Exploring the co-constructed nature of the child influence process in family consumption

Existing child influence studies have been critiqued for employing an individualistic or dyadic approach to explore the types of influence strategies which children use to sway parental decisions. In this paper, we refocus research attention to explore the intra-familial processes leading to child influence strategies deployed within the family setting. Using a family perspective, we present the stories of 29 family informants, capturing the voices of children and their parents through a series of in-depth interviews. Our findings suggest that the influence strategies which children subsequently utilised were informed by a process of pre-influence strategy interaction. That is, children's interactions with their parents and siblings work to co-construct the eventual influence strategies utilised, illuminating the emergence of highly co-constructed and networked influence strategies within the family setting.

Children's influence in family buying process in India

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: to categorize and rank products based on children's influence and to compare their influence on the different stages of the family buying process.Design/methodology/approachThe study was based on an extensive literature review and focus group discussions. Using a structured questionnaire, a survey was conducted with children aged 8‐12 years. The sample size was 175.FindingsFactor analysis revealed three distinct product clusters: “loud”, “noisy” and “quiet” goods. Children's influence was found to be highest for noisy goods, lesser for loud goods and lowest for quiet goods. One‐way MANOVA analysis found that for loud and noisy goods children's influence was highest in the initiation stage, and lowest in the search stage. For quiet goods, the highest influence was in the final decision stage followed by initiation and choice stage.Practical implicationsThe identified product clusters and children's relative influence across the buying stages for these clusters are expected to enhance marketer's understanding of children's role in family decision making. Marketers should take these observations into consideration while designing and implementing their marketing strategies.Originality/valueThe results are important because previous studies have dealt with children's influence for various products at a broad level. In this paper, an innovative segmentation for products based on children's influence level has been identified and the influence measured across these clusters.

How Media Campaigns Influence Children's Physical Activity: Expanding the Normative Mechanisms of the Theory of Planned Behavior

This study explicates mechanisms of media campaign effectiveness in the context of children's physical activity. The authors’ model expands the theory of planned behavior by integrating injunctive and descriptive norms into its normative mechanism. Analysis of a 3-wave nationally representative evaluation survey among 1,623 tweens indicates that campaign exposure is significantly related, but only indirectly, to both physical activity intention and physical activity behavior. Instead, campaign exposure seems more strongly related to perceived behavioral control and attitudes toward physical activity. By contrast, perceived behavioral control and descriptive norms are strongly related to behavioral intention. The findings suggest that integrating normative mechanisms with the theory of planned behavior can improve efforts to predict and explain a health behavior.

Indoor and outdoor characterisation of organic and inorganic compounds in city centre and suburban elementary schools of Aveiro, Portugal

Pollutants inside school buildings may affect children's health and influence learning performance and attendance. This study investigated pollutant concentrations inside and outside school buildings at different locations (city centre and suburban) in Aveiro, Portugal, between April and June 2010. The aim was to evaluate simultaneously comfort parameters (temperature, relative humidity, CO2 and CO) and indoor and outdoor concentrations of VOCs, NO2, PM10 and bioaerosols. PM10 samples were analysed and characterised, for the first time, for the water soluble inorganic ions (WSII), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), carbonates, and detailed organic speciation. The CO2 and bioaerosol levels were higher than the acceptable maximum values to the occupants' comfort. Concentrations of the traffic tracer NO2 were higher outdoors. The daily indoor PM10 levels were always higher than those outdoors, except on weekends, suggesting that the physical activity of pupils and class works highly contributed to the emission and resuspension of particles. Almost all identified VOCs showed I/O ratios higher than one, which denotes an important contribution from indoor sources at both schools. The suburban school was more exposed to industrial emissions than the institution located in the city centre. Especially at the city centre, infiltration of outdoor particulates leads to contamination of school indoor environment with vehicle emissions and biomass burning smoke likely coming from biofuel use in nearby restaurants and bakeries.

Investigating Child Participation in the Everyday Talk of a Teacher and Children in a Preparatory Year

In early years research, policy and education, a democratic perspective that positions children as participants and citizens is increasingly emphasised. These ideas take seriously listening to children's opinions and respecting children's influence over their everyday affairs. While much political and social investment has been made in the inclusion of participatory approaches, little has been reported on the practical achievement of such approaches in the day-to-day of early childhood education within school settings. This article investigates talk and interaction in the everyday activities of a teacher and children in an Australian preparatory class (for children aged four to six years) to see how ideas of child participation are experienced. The authors use an interactional analytic approach to demonstrate how participatory methods are employed in practical ways to manage routine interactions. Analysis shows that whilst the teacher seeks the children's opinion and involves them in decision-making, child participation is at times constrained by the context and institutional categories of ‘teacher’ and ‘student’ that are jointly produced in their talk. The article highlights tensions that arise for teachers as they balance a pedagogical intent of ‘teaching’ and the associated institutional expectations with efforts to engage children in decision-making. Recommendations include adopting a variety of conversational styles when engaging with children, consideration of temporal concerns and the need to acknowledge the culture of the school.

Children's experiences of democracy, participation, and trust in school

The aim of this paper is to investigate children's views and experiences of democracy and pupil participation in relation to everyday school life, and to let their voices be heard on these issues. The data for this paper was derived from two ethnographic research projects conducted in three elementary schools in Sweden. In the classes investigated at two of the three schools, the adults are those who make decisions about school and classroom rules. Pupils are seldom given any opportunity to create, modify or repeal formal rules through open negotiations. In contrast, at the third school, children's influence and their ability to have a say are an important explicit goal for the teachers. Nevertheless, as well as in the two other schools, even in this school with the declared goal of working with democracy in this way, we found obstacles and limitations that counteracted school democracy: (a) discontinuity, (b) the long-term interaction pattern of teacher power and pupil subordination in the school organisation, which in turned encouraged and educated compliance with authority rather than deliberative democratic participation, (c) naive trust in teachers, (d) the school process of suppressing children's voices, and (e) unfair inconsistencies constructed by teachers.

Using Photovoice to Identify Factors that Influence Children

Purpose: Children in the United States are at risk for developing obesity at higher rates than ever before. The study investigated if a picture taking assignment based on Photovoice was effective in engaging children in a discussion about factors that influenced their health and participation in active occupations. Method: Seventeen children between the ages of 10 and 11 years old completed the picture taking assignment and participated in a structured discussion. Results: The children were able to identify factors that promoted a healthy lifestyle, as well as factors that did not promote a healthy lifestyle. The children also established individual goals related to health and participation in active occupations.Conclusions: Occupational therapy practitioners who work with children can integrate similar assignments into their practice. Such assignments will provide children with the opportunity to discuss and share their opinions and concerns, as well as identify potential barriers they might encounter when implementing action plans.

How Children's Collective Interests Influence their Curriculum Experiences: Developing Relationships, Differentiating by Gender, and Defying Adults

CHILDREN'S INTERESTS ARE AN acknowledged influence in teachers' day-to-day curriculum planning. However, five months of research focused on the scope of curriculum in an education and care centre suggested children's collective influence in shaping their centre experiences may be more pervasive than is often acknowledged. For children, friendships and the challenges involved in forming and sustaining relationships appeared to be a central concern. Two other widely shared areas of interest were defining themselves by gender and experimenting with their power to resist adults.

How Fathers Influence Children's Eating Habits

Professor Alex McIntosh is the lead author of a study focused on children’s use of and time spent in fastfood and full-service restaurants. A result of the research was the fathers’ prevailing influence on where children ate—presumably from eating with the children in restaurants as well as modeling the behavior. Prof. McIntosh describes the study methods employed as well as why the researchers came to point to fathers in particular as an influence. Your recently published study 1 explores the influence of parental styles and work schedules on children’s use of and time spent in fast-food and full-service restaurants, could you give us a brief background on the study? Our study attempted to examine the impact of fathers’ and mothers’ income and time use over 2 days and employment experiences, parenting styles, and fam ily meal rituals on children’s eating habits, dietary intake over 3 days and risk of obesity. We also measured chil

School Administrators' Perceptions of Factors That Influence Children's Active Travel to School

Increasing children's active travel to school may be 1 strategy for addressing the growing prevalence of obesity among school age children. Using the School Travel Survey, we examined South Carolina school district leaders' perceptions of factors that influence elementary and middle school students walking to school. Frequency distributions and chi-square tests were used to analyze the survey responses; open-ended questions were reviewed qualitatively for recurring topics and themes. School and district leaders (N = 314) most often reported street crossing safety (54.0%) and number of sidewalks (54.0%) as priority factors that should be addressed to increase students' active travel to school, followed by distance to school (46.0%), traffic volume (42.4%), parental attitudes (27.0%), traffic speed (26.7%), neighborhood condition (24.4%), and student attitudes (10.0%). Several respondents expressed concerns about liability issues related to students' active travel to school while others reported that schools are not responsible for students' safety once students leave school grounds. Independent of their comments about liability, respondents were concerned about the safety of students while walking to school. Those promoting active travel to school may benefit from addressing those factors perceived as most important by school and district leaders, including street crossing safety, number of sidewalks, and by educating school and district leaders about liability and safety issues related to students walking to school.

Mejor Sola Que Mal Acompañada: Strengths and Challenges of Mexican-Origin Mothers Parenting Alone

Marriage is often viewed as central to family stability and health, and problem-saturated discourses about single parenting have failed to address the advantages of parenting alone. Heuristic methodology was used to examine the meanings and experiences of Latinas parenting alone. This study reflects the lived experiences of 20 Mexican-origin women who participated in a 1- to 2-hour, in-depth, semistructured interview. Data are presented by three exemplary portraits and five core consistencies embedded in a composite depiction. Overall, although parenting alone was challenging, it was considered beneficial and preferable, especially when the child's father's influence was problematic or detrimental to the family's well-being. Chicana feminism and an intersectionality lens is used to interpret findings. Implications for research and intervention are also discussed.

Handedness Shapes Children’s Abstract Concepts

Can children's handedness influence how they represent abstract concepts like kindness and intelligence? Here we show that from an early age, right-handers associate rightward space more strongly with positive ideas and leftward space with negative ideas, but the opposite is true for left-handers. In one experiment, children indicated where on a diagram a preferred toy and a dispreferred toy should go. Right-handers tended to assign the preferred toy to a box on the right and the dispreferred toy to a box on the left. Left-handers showed the opposite pattern. In a second experiment, children judged which of two cartoon animals looked smarter (or dumber) or nicer (or meaner). Right-handers attributed more positive qualities to animals on the right, but left-handers to animals on the left. These contrasting associations between space and valence cannot be explained by exposure to language or cultural conventions, which consistently link right with good. Rather, right- and left-handers implicitly associated positive valence more strongly with the side of space on which they can act more fluently with their dominant hands. Results support the body-specificity hypothesis (Casasanto, 2009), showing that children with different kinds of bodies think differently in corresponding ways.

Understanding Peer Influence in Children and Adolescents

Understanding Peer Influence in Children and Adolescents