Attention deficit/hyperactivity behaviors in children are often unnoticed until they reach school age; however, evidence suggests that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tends to develop at an earlier age. Recent studies also indicate that perinatal maternal mental health is associated with ADHD symptoms in offspring. This study…

Across all cultures, parents have intuitive ideas ("ethnotheories") of what undesirable child characteristics are as well as how to explain them. Yet there have been relatively few cross-cultural comparisons of parents' ethnotheories about the nature and causes of child misbehavior. 108 mothers of 5-year-old children from the United…

Research Findings: This study examined whether physical coercion and psychological control by mothers and fathers can influence preschoolers' use of physical and relational aggression, and whether the relations are moderated by children's effortful control in a Hong Kong Chinese sample. Data were collected from a sample of 168 children (88 girls;…

Parental warmth and hostility are two key dimensions of parenting for child development, but the differential effects of these parenting dimensions on child prosocial and antisocial development has not been adequately investigated. The current study hypothesized that parental warmth would be uniquely related to child callous-unemotional traits and…

This study investigates the predictive effects of 5-6-year-old children's relationships with their parents and the parents' marital satisfaction on children's relationships with their peers. The study sample comprised 504 children and their parents in the 5-6 age group attending independent kindergartens in Yunusemre and Sehzadeler districts of…

Previous studies often assumed that parenting practices are similar across families. This assumption is difficult to hold, especially throughout adolescence, a period of major change for both adolescents and their parents. By combining a person-centered and a variable-centered approach, the present study adds to the literature by identifying…

Past research has shown that, while psychological control increases the risk for adolescents' antisocial behavior, maternal knowledge of adolescents' activities decreases this risk. Yet, research is somewhat inconclusive about the role of psychologically controlling parenting in parental knowledge. Also, the role of both predictors in prosocial…

Objective: Although oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is usually considered the mildest of the disruptive behavior disorders, it is a key factor in predicting young adult anxiety and depression and is distinguishable from normal childhood behavior. In an effort to understand possible subsets of oppositional defiant behavior (ODB) that may…

A growing body of literature indicates that childhood emotion regulation predicts later success with peers, yet little is known about the processes through which this association occurs. The current study examined mechanisms through which emotion regulation was associated with later peer acceptance and peer rejection, controlling for earlier…

Longitudinal links between early childhood temperament, maternal sensitivity, and adolescents' adjustment have been proposed and found in several longitudinal studies, but the mechanisms of influence have not been explored. The authors examined the paths from maternal sensitivity and temperament in early childhood to adolescents' prosocial,…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether qualitatively distinct trajectories of antisocial behavior could be identified in 1,708 children (843 boys, 865 girls) from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Data (NLSY-C). Repeated ratings were made on the Behavior Problems Index (BPI: Peterson and Zill "Journal of Marriage and…

Investigating heterogeneity in antisocial behavior early in life is essential for understanding the etiology, development, prognosis, and treatment of these problems. Data from the longitudinal National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) study of Early Child Care were used to identify homogeneous groups of young antisocial children…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the predictor effect temperamental characteristics of Turkish children aged between 5 and 6 have on peer relationship variables (social impact, prosocial behaviour, aggression, asocial behaviour, exclusion, fear-anxiety, and victimisation). About 140 children, aged between 5 and 6, and their mothers,…

Background: The low expression polymorphism of the MAOA gene in interaction with adverse environments (G × E) is associated with antisocial behaviour disorders. These have their origins in early life, but it is not known whether MAOA G × E occurs in infants. We therefore examined whether MAOA G × E predicts infant anger proneness, a temperamental…

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., lack of empathy/guilt, uncaring attitudes) are believed to be a developmental antecedent to adult psychopathy and identify antisocial youth at risk for severe and persistent aggression. The psychosocial histories of antisocial and aggressive individuals with psychopathic traits are characterized by abusive or…