Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 23
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Developmental Psychology
- Creators: Eisenberg, Nancy
Description
The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal relations of maternal behaviors, children`s temperamental negative emotionality, and children`s emotion perception processes, including emotion perception accuracy (EPA) and emotion perception bias (EPB), to children`s conduct disorder symptoms in a normative sample. Separate structural equation models were conducted to assess whether parenting or children`s proneness to negative emotions at 24-30 (T2), 36-42 (T3) and 48-54 (T4) months predicted children`s EPA and EPB over time, and whether T3 and T4 children`s emotion perception processes were predictive of children`s conduct disorder at 72 months of age (T5). None of the hypothesized longitudinal relations was supported; however, other noteworthy results were observed. T3 children`s proneness to negative emotions was positively related to children`s concurrent bias toward anger. The latent constructs of negative parenting, children`s proneness to negative emotions, and the observed measure of children`s emotion perception accuracy showed stability over time, whereas the observed measures of children`s bias toward understanding distinct negative emotions were unrelated across time. In addition, children`s expressive language was predicted by children`s earlier emotion perception accuracy, which emphasized the importance of improving children`s emotion understanding skills during early years. Furthermore, the previously established negative relation between EPA and EPB variables was only partially supported. Findings regarding the relations between parenting, children`s negative emotionality and emotion perception processes are discussed from a developmental perspective.
ContributorsSeyed Nozadi, Sara (Author) / Spinrad, Tracy L. (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Eggum, Natalie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Using data from an eight-year longitudinal study of 214 children's social and emotional development, I conducted three studies to (1) examine patterns of agreement for internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) symptomatology among different informants (mothers, fathers, teachers, and adolescents) using a recently developed structural equation modeling approach for multi-trait, multi-method data; (2) examine the developmental trajectories for INT and EXT and predict individual differences in symptom development using temperament and parenting variables; and (3) describe patterns of INT and EXT co-occurrence and predict these patterns from temperament and parenting. In Study 1, longitudinal invariance was established for mothers', fathers' and teachers' reports over a six-year period. Sex, age, and SES did not substantially moderate agreement among informants, although both sex and age were differentially related to symptomatology depending on the informant. Agreement among teachers and mothers, but not among mothers and fathers, differed by domain of symptomatology, and was greater for EXT than for INT. In Study 2, latent profile analysis, a person-centered analytic approach, did not provide easily interpretable patterns of symptom development, a failure that is likely the result of the relatively modest sample size. Latent growth curve models, an alternative analytic approach, did provide good fit to the data. Temperament and parenting variables were examined as predictors of the latent growth parameters in these models. Although there was little prediction of the slope, effortful control was negatively related to overall levels of EXT, whereas impulsivity and anger were positively related. Mutually responsive orientation, a measure of the parent-child relationship, was a more consistent predictor of EXT than was parental warmth. Furthermore, the relation between mutually responsive orientation and EXT was partially mediated by inhibitory control. Across informants, there were few consistent predictors of INT. In Study 3, latent profile analysis was used to classify individuals into different patterns of INT and EXT co-occurrence. In these models, a similar class structure was identified for mothers and for teachers. When temperament and parenting were examined as predictors of co-occurring symptomatology, few significant interactions were found and results largely replicated prior findings from this data set using arbitrary symptom groups.
ContributorsSulik, Michael John (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy L (Thesis advisor) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Wolchik, Sharlene A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The purpose of the current study was to use structural equation modeling-based quantitative genetic models to characterize latent genetic and environmental influences on proneness to three discrete negative emotions in middle childhood, according to mother-report, father-report and in-home observation. One primary aim was to test the extent to which covariance among the three emotions could be accounted for by a single, common genetically- and environmentally-influenced negative emotionality factor. A second aim was to examine the extent to which different reporters appeared to be tapping into the same genetically- and environmentally-influenced aspects of each emotion. According to mother- and father-report, moderate to high genetic influences were evident for all emotions, with mother- and father-report of fear and father-report of anger showing the highest heritability. Significant common environmental influences were also found for mother-report of anger and sadness in both univariate and multivariate models. For observed emotion, anger was moderately heritable with no evidence for common environmental variance, but sadness, object fear and social fear all showed modest to moderate common environmental influences and no significant genetic variance. In addition, cholesky decompositions examining genetic and environmental influences across reporter suggested that despite considerable overlap between mother-report and father-report, there was also reporter-specific variance on anger, sadness, and fear. Specifically, there were significant common environmental influences on mother-report of anger- and sadness that were not shared with father-report, and genetic influences on father-report of sadness and fear that were not shared with mother-report. In-home observations were not highly correlated enough with parent-report to support multivariate analysis for any emotion. Finally, according to both mother- and father-report, a single set of genetic and environmental influences was sufficient to account for covariance among all three negative emotions. However, fear was primarily explained by genetic influences not shared with other emotions, and anger also showed considerable emotion-specific genetic variance. In both cases, findings support the value of a more emotion-specific approach to temperament, and highlight the need to consider distinctions as well as commonalities across emotions, reporters and situations.
ContributorsClifford, Sierra (Author) / Lemery, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Shiota, Michelle (Committee member) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The purpose of this study was to examine whether dispositional sadness predicted children's prosocial behavior, and whether empathy-related responding (i.e., sympathy, personal distress) mediated this relation. It was hypothesized that children who were dispositionally sad, but well-regulated (i.e., moderate to high in effortful control), would experience sympathy versus personal distress, and thus would engage in more prosocial behaviors than children who were not well-regulated. Constructs were measured across three time points, when children were 18-, 30-, and 42-months old. In addition, early effortful control (at 18 months) was investigated as a potential moderator of the relation between dispositional sadness and empathy-related responding. Separate path models were computed for sadness predicting prosocial behavior with (1) sympathy and (2) personal distress as the mediator. In path analysis, sadness was found to be a positive predictor of sympathy across time. There was not a significant mediated effect of sympathy on the relation between sadness and prosocial behavior (both reported and observed). In path models with personal distress, sadness was not a significant predictor of personal distress, and personal distress was not a significant predictor of prosocial behavior (therefore, mediation analyses were not pursued). The moderated effect of effortful control was significant for the relation between 18-month sadness and 30-month sympathy; contrary to expectation, sadness was a significant, positive predictor of sympathy only for children who had average and low levels of effortful control (children high in effortful control were high in sympathy regardless of level of sadness). There was no significant moderated effect of effortful control on the path from sadness to personal distress. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of sadness in empathy-related responding and prosocial behavior as well as the dual role of effortful control and sadness in predicting empathy-related responding.
ContributorsEdwards, Alison (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy (Committee member) / Reiser, Mark R. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The present study examined the relations of children's effortful control (EC), emotion understanding, maladjustment, social competence, and relationship quality with nonparental caregivers in a sample of 30-, 42-, and 54-month olds. EC was measured with mothers' and caregivers' reports, as well as observed behavioral tasks. Emotion understanding was assessed by asking children to identify emotions during a puppet task. Mothers and caregivers also reported on children's problem behaviors and social competence. Caregivers provided reports of the quality of their relationship with children. Results from longitudinal structural equation models indicated that even after controlling for sex, SES, language ability, and previous levels of constructs, emotion understanding predicted EC one year later at 42 and 54 months. In addition, children with higher EC had more positive relationships with caregivers at 42 and 54 months. Although EC and EU were not significantly related to maladjustment and social competence after accounting for within time covariation among constructs and longitudinal stability, marginal findings were in expected directions and suggested that more regulated children with better emotion understanding skills had fewer behavioral problems and were more socially skilled. Findings are discussed in terms of the strengths and limitations of the present study.
ContributorsSilva, Kassondra M (Author) / Spinrad, Tracy L. (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Valiente, Carlos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The moderating effects of five characteristics of peers--their effortful control, anger, sadness, aggression, and positive peer behavior--were investigated in two separate series of analyses of preschooler's social behavior: (a) the relation between children's own effortful control and social behavior, and (b) the relation between children's shyness and reticent behavior. Latent variable interactions were conducted in a structural equation framework. Peer context anger and effortful control, albeit with unexpected results, interacted with children's own characteristics to predict their behavior in both the EC and shy model series; these were the only significant interactions obtained for the EC model series. The relation between shyness and reticent behavior, however, showed the greatest impact of peer context and, conversely, the greatest susceptibility to environmental variations; significant interactions were obtained in all five models, despite the limited range of peer context sadness and aggression observed in this study.
ContributorsHuerta, Snježana (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy (Committee member) / Pina, Armando (Committee member) / Geiser, Christian (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This study examines the relations among three aspects of temperament (shyness, impulsivity, and effortful control), resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) recorded during a calming film and RSA suppression during three behavioral measures of effortful control, and adjustment (anxiety and externalizing behavior) in a sample of 101 preschool-age children. Principal components analysis was used to create composites for effortful control, shyness, impulsivity, anxiety, and externalizing behavior, and hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. As expected, baseline RSA was negatively related to effortful control in shy children, but was unrelated to effortful control in children who were not shy. It was hypothesized that high baseline RSA would reduce the relation between shyness and anxiety, and between impulsivity and externalizing behavior; this hypothesis was supported for externalizing behavior, but not for anxiety. The interaction between impulsivity and RSA as a predictor of externalizing was statistically independent of effortful control, indicating that these are unique effects. Finally, it was hypothesized that RSA suppression would be positively related to effortful control for children low, but not high, in shyness. There was a marginal interaction between shyness and RSA suppression, with RSA suppression marginally negatively related to EC for children low in shyness, but unrelated to effortful control for children high in shyness; the direction of this association was opposite predictions. These findings indicate that RSA is more strongly related to effortful control for children high in shyness, and that it consequently may not be appropriate to use RSA as an index of EC for all children. This study also draws attention to the need to consider the context in which baseline RSA is measured because a true baseline may not be obtained for shy children if RSA is measured in an unfamiliar laboratory context. The finding that high RSA moderated (but did not eliminate) the relation between impulsivity and externalizing behavior is consistent with the conceptualization of RSA as a measure of self-regulation, but further research is needed to clarify the mechanism underlying this effect.
ContributorsSulik, Michael John (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy L. (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This longitudinal study examines the relations of anger, gender, and intrusive maternal parenting to empathy in toddlers. Participants (247 toddlers at the initial assessment) were assessed in a laboratory at approximately 18 (T1, N = 247), 30 (T2, N = 216), and 42 (T3, N = 192) months of age. Toddlers' observed anger was measured during a toy removal task and maternal intrusiveness was observed during free play between mother and toddler. Reported empathy was measured using questionnaires completed by mothers and fathers. At 18 months, a positive relation between observed anger and reported empathy was found for boys, but not for girls. At 30 months, maternal intrusiveness positively predicted empathy in boys, but it negatively predicted empathy in girls. These findings provide insight about sex differences in the development of empathy and concern for others in early childhood.
ContributorsTravis, Katherine Elizabeth (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis director) / Spinrad, Tracy (Committee member) / Eggum, Natalie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
The relations between aspects of social understanding (e.g., theory of mind, ToM, and emotion understanding, EU) were studied in relation to language and effortful control (EC). Data were collected when children were 30, 42, and 54 months of age (N's = 216, 192, and 168 for T1, T2, and T3, respectively). Children were assessed via mother and caregiver reports, and through observational measures. Although language and ToM did not relate within time, there was limited support for early language positively predicting later ToM. Language and EU were positively related within time, and there was some support for early language positively predicting later EU. Unexpectedly, significant positive relations were found for early EU predicting later language. ToM and EC were positively related within T3, and there was some support for early EC predicting later ToM. EU and EC were often positively related within time. Early EU also tended to positively predict later EC, whereas the opposite relation was not found. There was no support for significant a significant relation between EU and ToM. Findings suggest that children's early language may lead to later EC, and that early EU may help promote later EC and language; thus, it is important for parents and teachers to promote these early skills.
ContributorsKong, Tiffany (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Caterino, Linda (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The nature and correlates of emerging internalizing symptoms in young children are largely unknown. Maternal factors such as psychological symptoms and detached parenting style have been found to be present in children with anxiety and depression. Further, child attentional control in task completion has been associated with difficulty related to internalizing problems. This study tested hypotheses that child anxiety and depression at age five could be predicted by a combination of maternal distress and maternal detached behavior recorded at age three. An additional hypothesis was tested to determine if child attentional control at age four may be a partial mediator of the relation between maternal symptoms and parenting to child internalizing symptoms. Using structural equation modeling, no hypotheses were supported; child internalizing problems were not significantly predicted by maternal distress nor detached parenting. Further, child attentional control was not predicted by maternal distress or detached behavior, nor did attentional control predict internalizing problems. Findings indicate that over a two-year interval, childhood internalizing problems at age five are likely best predicted by early internalizing problems at age three. There was no support that the mother or child factors tested were predictive of child outcomes.
ContributorsSkelley, Shayna (Author) / Crnic, Keith A (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / MacKinnon, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010