Long-term stability of language performance in very preterm, moderate-late preterm, and term children

Objective To investigate whether children born very preterm, moderate-late preterm, and term differ in their average level and individual-difference stability in language performance over time. Study design Language was assessed at 5 and 20 months and 4, 6, and 8 years of age in 204 very preterm (<32 weeks' gestation), 276 moderate-late preterm (32-36 weeks' gestation), and 268 term (37-41 weeks' gestation) children from the Bavarian Longitudinal Study. Results Very preterm children consistently performed worse than term-born children, and moderate-late preterm children scored in between. Language performance was stable from 5 months through 8 years in all gestation groups combined, and stability increased between each succeeding wave. Stability was stronger between 5 months and 4 years in very preterm than moderate-late preterm and term groups, but this differential stability attenuated when covariates (child nonverbal intelligence and family socioeconomic status) were controlled. Conclusions Preterm children, even moderate-late preterm, are at risk for poorer language performance than term-born children. Because individual differences in language performance are increasingly stable from 20 months to 8 years in all gestation groups, pediatricians who attend to preterm children and observe language delays should refer them to language intervention at the earliest age seen

Consistency of maternal cognitions and principles across the first five months following preterm and term deliveries.

The aims of this study were to examine and compare the development of parenting cognitions and principles in mothers following preterm and term deliveries. Parenting cognitions about child development, including thinking that is restricted to single causes and single outcomes (categorical thinking) and thinking that takes into account multiple perspectives (perspectivist thinking), have been shown to relate to child outcomes. Parenting principles about using routines (structure) or infant cues (attunement) to guide daily caregiving have been shown to relate to caregiving practices. We investigated the continuity and stability of parenting cognitions and principles in the days following birth to 5 months postpartum for mothers of infants born term and preterm. All parenting cognitions were stable across time. Categorical thinking increased at a group level across time in mothers of preterm, but not term, infants. Perspectivist thinking increased at a group level for first-time mothers (regardless of birth status) and tended to be lower in mothers of preterm infants. Structure at birth did not predict later structure (and so was unstable) in mothers of preterm, but not term, infants and neither group changed in mean level across time. Attunement was consistent across time in both groups of mothers. These results indicate that prematurity has multiple, diverse effects on parenting beliefs, which may in turn influence maternal behavior and child outcomes.Alice Winstanley was supported by a National Institutes of Health–Wellcome Trust four-year PhD studentship (084911/Z/08/Z), and Rebecca Sperotto was supported by a PhD studentship from the Waterloo Foundation and School of Psychology, Cardiff University. Diane L. Putnick and Marc H. Bornstein were supported by the intramural program of the NIH, NICHD.This is the final published version. It was originally published by Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163638314000939#

Theory of Mind and diverse intelligences in 4-year-olds: Modelling associations of false beliefs with children’s numerate-spatial, verbal, and social intelligence

Theory of Mind (ToM) and the structure of intelligence were investigated in 115 4-year-olds. Specifically, we asked whether children’s intelligence involves both general and specific aspects and whether standard ToM measures of false belief can serve as indicators of social intelligence. Psychometric intelligence and children’s domain-specific understanding of number concepts and of mental states (false belief) were measured in the laboratory; communication and social skills were assessed through mothers’ report. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed poor fit for a one-factor model, but good fit for a model with three correlated factors, suggesting that children’s intelligence involves both general and specific aspects. Numerate-spatial and verbal intelligence were correlated (.70), and social intelligence correlated to a stronger degree with verbal (.66) than with numerate-spatial intelligence (.37). Laboratory assessment of false belief and mothers’ reports about children’s social skills loaded on a single factor, pointing to real-world consequences of ToM abilities

Parenting attributions and attitudes in cross-cultural perspective

SYNOPSIS Objective. This article used the Parenting Across Cultures Project to evaluate similarities and differences in mean levels and relative agreement between mothers&apos; and fathers&apos; attributions and attitudes in parenting in 9 countries. Design. Mothers and fathers reported their perceptions of causes of successes and failures in caregiving and their progressive versus authoritarian childrearing attitudes. Gender and cultural similarities and differences in parents&apos; attributions and attitudes in 9 countries were analyzed: China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Results. Although mothers and fathers did not differ in any attribution, mothers reported more progressive parenting attitudes and modernity of childrearing attitudes than did fathers, and fathers reported more authoritarian attitudes than did mothers. Country differences also emerged in all attributions and attitudes that were examined. Mothers&apos; and fathers&apos; attributions and their attitudes were moderately correlated, but parenting attitudes were more highly correlated in parents than were attributions. Conclusions. We draw connections among the findings across the 9 countries and outline implications for understanding similarities and differences in mothers&apos; and fathers&apos; parenting attributions and attitudes

The nature and structure of maternal parenting practices and infant behaviors in U.S. national and international samples

Methods: Twenty maternal parenting practices and 15 behaviors of their 5½-month-old infants in a U.S. national sample (N = 360) and 9 international samples (N = 653) were microcoded from videorecords of naturalistic interactions at home and aggregated into domains. Altogether, the samples were recruited from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, as well as the United States. Background and Rationale: A previous test of three competing models of the nature and structure of the maternal parenting practices supported a hybrid 2 factor/6 domain model as superior to a 1-factor dimensional model and a multi-factor style model: Maternal parenting practices are structured into nurture, physical, social, didactic, material, and language domains undergirded by dyadic and extradyadic factors. Infant behaviors were organized into physical, social, exploration, nondistress vocalization, and distress communication domains. The current study sought to examine links connecting these previously identified maternal domains and factors with infant behavior domains using structural equation models. Results: Mothers' dyadic factor is associated with infant social behaviors with mother; and mothers' extradyadic factor and encouragement of infant physical development are associated with infant exploration of their immediate physical environment and physical development. Infant distress communication (and less nondistress vocalization) is associated with more maternal nurturing. Discussion: Mothers' parenting practices in the middle of the first year of infant life are commonly structured and adapted to specific needs and developmental tasks of infants. Evaluations of mother-infant interactions with national and international samples permit a wide yet judicious analysis of common vs. specific models of mother-infant relationships

Negative parental responses to coming out and family functioning in a sample of lesbian and gay young adults

Parental responses to youths' coming out (CO) are crucial to the subsequent adjustment of children and family. The present study investigated the negative parental reaction to the disclosure of same-sex attraction and the differences between maternal and paternal responses, as reported by their homosexual daughters and sons. Participants' perceptions of their parents' reactions (evaluated through the Perceived Parental Reactions Scale, PPRS), age at coming out, gender, parental political orientation, and religiosity involvement, the family functioning (assessed through the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales, FACES IV), were assessed in 164 Italian gay and lesbian young adults. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the relation between family functioning and parental reaction to CO. The paired sample t-test was used to compare mothers and fathers' scores on the PPRS. Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to analyze the relevance of each variable. No differences were found between mothers and fathers in their reaction to the disclosure. The analysis showed that a negative reaction to coming out was predicted by parents' right-wing political conservatism, strong religious beliefs, and higher scores in the scales Rigid and Enmeshed. Findings confirm that a negative parental reaction is the result of poor family resources to face a stressful situation and a strong belief in traditional values. These results have important implications in both clinical and social fields

Hello Everybody, and Welcome to BarnStorm: A Look into Theatrical Crisis Management and Problem Solving

This paper serves to examine the running of a small theater company, and the issues that can arise. These issues can bring work to a halt if not approached with a calm, clearheaded mind. Though the theater in which I worked was shut down due to multiple issues at the most inconvenient time, my production team and I were able to produce a successful season. In order to accomplish this, we made many compromises, but still managed to create work of which we will be forever proud