Children's Positive Adjustment Research Articles

Inhibitory control in typically developing preschoolers: Relations among temperament, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and behavior at age 4.

Although inhibitory control (IC) is associated with children's positive adjustment, we know relatively little about factors underlying its development. We examined whether baseline and on-task respiratory sinus arrhythmia [(RSA); a physiological measure of self-regulation] and private speech (a behavioral measure of self-regulation) interacted to confer differences on directly observed IC in 52 typically developing 4-year olds. We found that baseline RSA moderated the association between private speech and IC, such that private speech positively predicted IC in children with relatively higher baseline RSA, but was unrelated to IC in children with relatively lower RSA. We also found that children with a concordant physiological-behavioral pattern (i.e., high RSA and high private speech; low RSA and low private speech) had higher IC, higher effortful control, and lower negative emotionality than those with a discordant physiological-behavioral pattern (i.e., high RSA and low private speech; low RSA and high private speech). Individual differences in physiological and behavioral self-regulation indices may represent distinct regulation pathways that interact to confer differences in IC during the preschool years.

Self-Esteem in Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: a Critical Review of the Role of Sibling Relationships and Agenda for Future Research.

This paper provides a critical analysis of research on self-esteem in children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV), with particular emphasis on the role of sibling relationships. Over 100 empirical and review articles published from 2000 to 2015 examining self-esteem in children exposed to IPV, the role of sibling relationships in the development of self-esteem, and the sibling relationships of children exposed to IPV, were reviewed. Research findings show that self-esteem is an important component of understanding children's positive adjustment and their adjustment difficulties. A substantial research literature also documents that siblings significantly influence one another's self-esteem; however, the potential risk or protective function of sibling relationships in the development of self-esteem in children and adolescents exposed to IPV has only been minimally investigated. This is a serious gap in the literature, as this information has significant potential for informing prevention and intervention programming. Recommendations for future research were provided.

Coparenting and children's temperament predict firstborns' cooperation in the care of an infant sibling.

This study examined how coparenting and firstborn children's temperament predicted children's cooperative behavior in response to maternal requests for assistance in the care of a 1-month-old infant sibling. Children's cooperative responding was observed during a diaper change session for 216 firstborns (ages 13 to 70 months; M = 32). Parents also completed questionnaires assessing coparenting and children's temperament. Results suggested that coparenting quality moderated the association between children's temperament (i.e., soothability) and children's cooperation as revealed in a Temperament × Cooperative Coparenting × Undermining Coparenting interaction. Specifically, low soothability predicted low levels of children's cooperation in families with high undermining and low cooperative coparenting, over and above the effects of child age, gender, and mothers' education. Findings further our understanding of how temperamental characteristics and coparenting quality conjointly predict individual differences in firstborn children's positive adjustment across the transition to siblinghood.

Influence of burn injury on activity participation of children.

Children with physical disabilities show limitations in the frequency of participation in activities and in the range of activities, such as play and recreation, chores, and social involvement, compared to their able-bodied peers. The Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE) is a standardized assessment which evaluates a child's participation in, enjoyment of, and preferences for formal and informal activities other than school activities. In this study, the CAPE was used to evaluate activity participation of children with burns to provide an understanding of the impact of the injury on their participation in activity. The results provided preliminary information that burn injury can affect the activity participation of children. The children in this study were found to participate more in informal domain activities than formal domain, yet enjoyment scores were higher for formal domain activities. It was found that children with burn injury do not participate in social activities as much as children with other physical limitations, but they scored highest in these for enjoyment. In addition, they participate more in activities at home than outside the home. Increased awareness of activity participation of children with burns can guide healthcare professionals toward appropriate interventions and help parents increase participation in desired activities to improve the children's positive adjustment and quality of life. Intervention needs to address all aspects of activity participation, particularly for domain, types of activities, and where they are done. These considerations add another dimension to the care required for children with burn injury.

‘Read me to resilience’: Exploring the use of cultural stories to boost the positive adjustment of children orphaned by AIDS

The study explored whether and how culturally sensitive stories can encourage resilience in young children orphaned by AIDS. The purpose of the investigation was allied to the paradigm of positive psychology, which focuses on the promotion of potential strengths to buffer children against adversity, as well as on social ecological understandings of resilience, which emphasise that social ecologies have a duty to facilitate children's positive adjustment to adversity. A pre–post-intervention evaluation was used to gather qualitative data on orphaned children's resilience to AIDS-related adversity by employing participatory visual methods. The intervention, called Read-me-to-Resilience (Rm2R), consisted of telling 22 culturally sensitive stories to the children. We compared the pre- and post-intervention data for each participant before thematically analysing the total findings. Our analysis indicates that the children's resilience had been bolstered in the period between the pre-test and post-test. We conclude that culturally relevant stories could be used by South African caregivers, service providers, and educators as an accessible, inexpensive and ready-made tool to directly empower children who have been orphaned by AIDS.

Promoting the Adjustment of Parentally Bereaved Children

The death of a parent is one of the most stressful life events to encounter during childhood. Given its detrimental impact on psychological development, a better understanding of outcomes associated with childhood bereavement and factors that affect these outcomes is necessary. The adjustment of bereaved children is linked to such factors as age of the child, sex of child and parent, circumstances of parent death, and the adjustment of the surviving caregiver. In this article I highlight considerations that may increase children's positive adjustment to parental death and also discuss specific treatment recommendations.

Positive Adjustment and Associated Protective Factors in Children of Adolescent Mothers

Numerous studies indicate that children of adolescent mothers are at an increased risk for a variety of negative outcomes, even after controlling for diverse social and health factors. However, relatively less research has examined positive adjustment in these children, or protective factors associated with such adjustment. We examined the prediction of positive behavioral, social, and academic adjustment at Grade 3 in a sample of 100 children born to adolescent mothers, followed longitudinally since the children were 1 year old. Individualized testing and parent and teacher ratings were used to measure adjustment outcomes. Predictor variables were selected from characteristics of the child and parenting/family context. Logistic regression analyses indicated that aspects of children's positive adjustment in Grade 3 were predicted by a number of child and parenting/family variables measured at least 4 to 5 years earlier. Significant predictors included lower levels of child externalizing behavior, more advanced language development, lower levels of maternal depressive symptoms, and higher levels of positive parenting. Implications for preventive intervention and future research are discussed.

Teacher feedback in the reception class

This article reports a small scale study into teacher feedback in the reception class and its associations with young children's positive adjustment to school. Striking differences were found between the feedback given to the children according to their perceived adjustment. The article also highlights the rather narrow repertoire of feedback used by teachers and their emphasis on negative rather than positive feedback to the children who had not settled. The issues raised are pertinent throughout the primary age phase and may alert teachers to the possibility of over-reliance on some feedback styles and their negative influence on children's learning.

“Only God Decides”: Young Children's Perceptions of Divorce and the Legal System

To describe research on perceptions of children aged 6 and younger from 21 families of their parents' divorce, of its impact on their families, and of legal officials. Semistructured play interviews were conducted during home visits as parents were conjointly interviewed as part of a larger study on divorce in legal context. Children had much mis-information about divorce as an event and process. What they did know was often inappropriate, frightening, and confusing. They resented how the process "ruined their parents' being friends any more" and proposed reforms based on their wishes and observations. Greater awareness is needed of the child's desire to be heard during the process, to feel safe and less lonely, and to stay in touch with both parents and extended families. Age-appropriate explanations of psychological and legal aspects of the divorce process are likely to support children's positive adjustment and mental health.