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- All Subjects: Self-control in children
- Creators: Eisenberg, Nancy
Description
This study drew upon a bioecological framework to empirically investigate the relations between environmental chaos and preschoolers' language across time, including the potentially mediating roles of children's effortful control and parenting. Child sex also was examined as a moderator of these relations. For this study, the following data were collected at 30, 42, and 54 months of age. Household chaos and (at 30 months) socioeconomic status (SES) were reported by mothers. Children's effortful control (EC) was rated by mothers and nonparental caregivers, and was observed during a number of laboratory tasks. Maternal vocalizations were assessed during free play sessions with their children (at 30 and 42 months), and supportive and unsupportive parenting behaviors and affect were observed during free play and teaching tasks at each age. Mothers also reported on their own reactions to children's negative emotions. Finally, (at 54 months) children's expressive and receptive language was measured with a standard assessment. Structural equation modeling and path analyses indicated that SES at 30 months and greater levels of household chaos at 42 months predicted not only poorer language skills, but also deficits in children's EC and less supportive parenting in low-income mothers at 54 months, even when controlling for stability in these constructs. Children's effortful control at 42 months, but not parenting, positively predicted later language, suggesting that EC may play a mediating role in the relations between household chaos, as well as SES, and preschoolers' language abilities. Child sex did not moderate the pattern of relations. Post-hoc analyses also indicated that the negative relation between chaos and language was significant only for children who had low EC at 42 months. This study represents a much-needed addition to the currently limited longitudinal research examining environmental chaos and children's developmental outcomes. Importantly, findings from this study elucidate an important process underlying the links between chaos and children's language development, which can inform interventions and policies designed to support families and children living in chaotic home environments.
ContributorsGaertner, Bridget Maria (Author) / Spinrad, Tracy L. (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Hanish, Laura (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (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
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