This study examined young children's affective distress and behavioral responses to parental marital conflict. Forty-eight 4-year-olds and their parents participated in the study. Mothers and fathers independently completed measures of marital conflict, children's reactions to marital conflict, and child behavior problems, while the children…

This study examined the relationship of individual differences in peer sociometric status and teacher ratings of disruptive behavior, and preschool boys' emotion displays during conflicts with mixed-sex peers. Sixty 4- and 5-year-old boys from low-income families were videotaped with a small group of classmates in a Head Start preschool classroom.…

This study explored preschoolers' social cognition about their affect and behavior in difficult peer situations. Children completed the Challenging Situations Task (CST), a pictorial forced-choice measure developed to examine preschoolers' affective and behavioral responses to three problematic peer situations. Children also completed a task…

The relationship between interpersonal problem-solving training and behavioral adjustment was examined for 54 black, low-income preschool children. Pre- and post-testing was done with two interpersonal problem-solving measures designed by Shure and Spivack, Shure and Spivack's Hahnemann Preschool Behavior Rating Scale which classroom teachers were…

This paper reports on a year-long study of two preschool children's patterns of social adjustment and peer response. The theoretical orientation of the paper is interactionist. Patterns of adjustment and group response are described as social constructions which stigmatized the two children studied. The 24 children in the group came from…

The aim of this study was to examines the effects of life-span contextual variation on father-child relationships. Sixty families in which both parents were either younger than 26 or older than 29 when they began childbearing, and whose oldest or only child was between the ages of 3 and 5 at the time of the study participated. Questionnaires were…

The study explored the relationship between mothers' and fathers' pre-kindergarten reports of family cohesion and children's academic and social competence in kindergarten and first grade, to assess the role of family level processes in children's adjustment to school. The family cohesion factor was divided into…

This paper reports findings from a study of social adjustments in the face-to-face interactions of four highly original preschool children, and suggests a framework for guiding the social development of gifted and talented young children. Descriptions of the four students' behavior patterns demonstrate the social adjustments they employed in…

This case study describes the separation distress experienced by Mei Mei, a 2-year-old Chinese-American female toddler at a midwestern university laboratory preschool. The toddler, who could not speak English, was undergoing the first substantial separation from her parents. The toddler was observed over a 9-week period, during which behaviors…

This study investigated the social cognitive abilities, social adjustment, and self-esteem of maltreated preschoolers and those at risk for abuse. Subjects were 12 maltreated children, 22 children at risk for abuse, and 22 control children. Children completed the Social Problem Solving Test--Revised, a test of Attributed Intentions and Aggressive…

This study examined the social interactions and emotional adjustment of 21 preschool children of battered women and 25 same-age children from nonviolent homes. Mothers rated the frequency of their emotional and physical abuse during the past year, their mental health, parenting qualities, and their child's adjustment. Two observers evaluated the…

This year-long study explored toddler separation distress behaviors in a developmentally appropriate classroom that used a gradual entry process, including a home visit. Four toddlers were selected for study: two had overt separation distress behaviors at the beginning of the year, and two did not exhibit overt distress. The children were…