Showing papers by "Marc H. Bornstein published in 2015"

Children's parents.

Abstract: This chapter surveys central issues concerning children's parents. The chapter first addresses the two faces of parenting, parenting as a phase of adult development and parenting as an instrumental activity vis-a-vis children. Next, the chapter briefly overviews the origins of parenting studies, theories of parenting, and future directions in parenting research. The following two sections of the chapter address the principal actors in the human drama of caregiving, mothers, fathers, and children's other principal caregivers, and, then, cognitions and practices that principally instantiate parenting. With the actors, attitudes, and actions associated with parenting introduced, arguments for the meaningfulness of parenting effects are then evaluated in correlational designs and various kinds of experiments that demonstrate the value of parenting (challenges to parenting effects from behavior genetics and group socialization theory are also addressed). Parents and parenting vary tremendously, and determinants of parenting are a major issue in the field; the multicausal origins of parenting in characteristics of parents, characteristics of children, and contextual characteristics are explored next. The chapter closes with some practical issues-;for example neglect, abuse, and parenting interventions-;before reaching more general conclusions. Keywords: behavior genetics; bioecological theory; children; cognitions; family systems; fathers; grandparents; mothers; parent-child relationships; parents; practices; socialization

Developmental Science: An Advanced Textbook

Abstract: Contents: Preface Part I: Foundations of Developmental Science RM Lerner, C Theokas, DL Bobek, Concepts and Theories of Human Development: Historical and Contemporary Dimensions M Cole, Culture in Development DP Hartmann, KE Pelzel, Design, Measurement, and Analysis in Developmental Research Part II: Neuroscience, Perceptual, Cognitive, and Language Development MH Johnson, Developmental Neuroscience, Psychophysiology, and Genetics KE Adolph, SE Berger, Physical and Motor Development MH Bornstein, ME Arterberry, C Mash, Perceptual Development DP Birney, JH Citron-Pousty, DJ Lutz, RJ Sternberg, The Development of Cognitive and Intellectual Abilities B MacWhinney, Language Development Part III: Personality and the Social Contexts of Development RA Thompson, R Goodvin, The Individual Child: Temperament, Emotion, Self, and Personality ME Lamb, C Lewis, The Role of Parent-Child Relationships in Child Development KH Rubin, RJ Coplan, X Chen, AA Buskirk, JC Wojslawowicz, Peer Relationships in Childhood JS Eccles, RW Roeser, School and Community Influences on Human Development CJ Groark, RB McCall, Integrating Developmental Scholarship Into Practice and Policy

Mother-Infant Contingent Vocalizations in 11 Countries

Abstract: Mother-infant vocal interactions serve multiple functions in child development, but it remains unclear whether key features of these interactions are community-common or community-specific. We examined rates, interrelations, and contingencies of vocal interactions in 684 mothers and their 5½-month-old infants in diverse communities in 11 countries (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, and the United States). Rates of mothers' and infants' vocalizations varied widely across communities and were uncorrelated. However, collapsing the data across communities, we found that mothers' vocalizations to infants were contingent on the offset of the infants' nondistress vocalizing, infants' vocalizations were contingent on the offset of their mothers' vocalizing, and maternal and infant contingencies were significantly correlated. These findings point to the beginnings of dyadic conversational turn taking. Despite broad differences in the overall talkativeness of mothers and infants, maternal and infant contingent vocal responsiveness is found across communities, supporting essential functions of turn taking in early-childhood socialization.

Perceived mother and father acceptance-rejection predict four unique aspects of child adjustment across nine countries.

Abstract: Background It is generally believed that parental rejection of children leads to child maladaptation. However, the specific effects of perceived parental acceptance-rejection on diverse domains of child adjustment and development have been incompletely documented, and whether these effects hold across diverse populations and for mothers and fathers are still open questions. Methods This study assessed children's perceptions of mother and father acceptance-rejection in 1,247 families from China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States as antecedent predictors of later internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, school performance, prosocial behavior, and social competence. Results Higher perceived parental rejection predicted increases in internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and decreases in school performance and prosocial behavior across 3 years controlling for within-wave relations, stability across waves, and parental age, education, and social desirability bias. Patterns of relations were similar across mothers and fathers and, with a few exceptions, all nine countries. Conclusions Children's perceptions of maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection have small but nearly universal effects on multiple aspects of their adjustment and development regardless of the family's country of origin.

Mother and father socially desirable responding in nine countries: Two kinds of agreement and relations to parenting self-reports.

Abstract: We assessed 2 forms of agreement between mothers' and fathers' socially desirable responding in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and the United States (N = 1110 families). Mothers and fathers in all 9 countries reported socially desirable responding in the upper half of the distribution, and countries varied minimally (but China was higher than the cross-country grand mean and Sweden lower). Mothers and fathers did not differ in reported levels of socially desirable responding, and mothers' and fathers' socially desirable responding were largely uncorrelated. With one exception, mothers' and fathers' socially desirable responding were similarly correlated with self-perceptions of parenting, and correlations varied somewhat across countries. These findings are set in a discussion of socially desirable responding, cultural psychology and family systems.

Places and Postures A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Sitting in 5-Month-Olds

Abstract: Motor development-traditionally described in terms of age-related stages-is typically studied in the laboratory with participants of Western European descent. Cross-cultural studies typically focus on group differences in age-related stages relative to Western norms. We adopted a less traditional approach: We observed 5-month-olds and their mothers from six cultural groups around the world during one hour at home while they engaged in natural daily activities. We examined group differences in infants' sitting proficiency, everyday opportunities to practice sitting, the surfaces on which sitting took place, and mothers' proximity to sitting infants. Infants had opportunities to practice sitting in varied contexts-including ground, infant chairs, and raised surfaces. Proficiency varied considerably within and between cultural groups: 64% of the sample sat only with support from mother or furniture and 36% sat independently. Some infants sat unsupported for 20+ minutes, in some cases so securely that mothers moved beyond arms' reach of their infants even while infants sat on raised surfaces. Our observations of infant sitting across cultures provide new insights into the striking range of ability, varied opportunities for practice, and contextual factors that influence the proficiency of infant motor skills.

Individual, Family, and Culture Level Contributions to Child Physical Abuse and Neglect: A Longitudinal Study in Nine Countries

Abstract: This study advances understanding of predictors of child abuse and neglect at multiple levels of influence. Mothers, fathers, and children (N = 1,418 families, M age of children = 8.29 years) were interviewed annually in three waves in 13 cultural groups in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). Multilevel models were estimated to examine predictors of (a) within-family differences across the three time points, (b) between-family within-culture differences, and (c) between-cultural group differences in mothers' and fathers' reports of corporal punishment and children's reports of their parents' neglect. These analyses addressed to what extent mothers' and fathers' use of corporal punishment and children's perceptions of their parents' neglect were predicted by parents' belief in the necessity of using corporal punishment, parents' perception of the normativeness of corporal punishment in their community, parents' progressive parenting attitudes, parents' endorsement of aggression, parents' education, children's externalizing problems, and children's internalizing problems at each of the three levels. Individual-level predictors (especially child externalizing behaviors) as well as cultural-level predictors (especially normativeness of corporal punishment in the community) predicted corporal punishment and neglect. Findings are framed in an international context that considers how abuse and neglect are defined by the global community and how countries have attempted to prevent abuse and neglect.

Infant Temperament: Stability by Age, Gender, Birth Order, Term Status, and Socioeconomic Status

Abstract: Two complementary studies focused on stability of infant temperament across the 1st year and considered infant age, gender, birth order, term status, and socioeconomic status (SES) as moderators. Study 1 consisted of 73 mothers of firstborn term girls and boys queried at 2, 5, and 13 months of age. Study 2 consisted of 335 mothers of infants of different gender, birth order, term status, and SES queried at 6 and 12 months. Consistent positive and negative affectivity factors emerged at all time points across both studies. Infant temperament proved stable and robust across gender, birth order, term status, and SES. Stability coefficients for temperament factors and scales were medium to large for shorter ( 10 months) intervals.

A Developmental Analysis of Caregiving Modalities Across Infancy in 38 Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract: Caregiving is requisite to wholesome child development from the beginning of life. A cross-sectional microgenetic analysis of six caregiving practices across the child's 1st year (0-12 months) in 42,539 families from nationally representative samples in 38 low- and middle-income countries is reported. Rates of caregiving varied tremendously within and across countries. However, caregiving practices followed one of two developmental trajectories: (a) greater proportions of caregivers read, told stories, and named, counted, and drew with each additional month of infant age, and (b) proportions of caregivers who played, sang songs, and took their infants outside increased each month from birth but reached an asymptote at 4-5 months. Rates and growth functions of caregiving have implications for infant care and development.

Adolescent-Peer Relationships, Separation and Detachment from Parents, and Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: Linkages and Interactions.

Abstract: Most research exploring the interplay between context and adolescent separation and detachment has focused on the family; in contrast, this investigation directs its attention outside of the family to peers. Utilizing a latent variable approach for modeling interactions and incorporating reports of behavioral adjustment from 14-year-old adolescents (N = 190) and their mothers, we examine how separation and detachment relate to adolescent-peer relationships, and whether peer relationships moderate how separation and detachment relate to adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Positive peer relationships were both associated with lower detachment and sharply attenuated relations between detachment and higher adolescent internalizing and externalizing. Separation from parents was unrelated to peer relationships, and regardless of whether peer relationships were positive, separation was not related to adolescent internalizing and externalizing. We integrate these findings with those from family-...

Using Infrared Thermography to Assess Emotional Responses to Infants.

Abstract: Adult-infant interactions operate simultaneously across multiple domains and at multiple levels - from physiology to behavior. Unpackaging and understanding them, therefore, involves analysis of multiple data streams. In this study, we tested physiological responses and cognitive preferences for infant and adult faces in adult females and males. Infrared thermography was used to assess facial temperature changes as a measure of emotional valence, and we used a behavioral rating system to assess adults' expressed preferences. We found greater physiological activation in response to infant stimuli in females than males. As for cognitive preferences, we found greater responses to adult stimuli than to infant stimuli, both in males and females. The results are discuss in light of the Life History Theory. Finally, we discuss the importance of integrating the two data streams on our conclusions.

Pathways among Caregiver Education, Household Resources, and Infant Growth in 39 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Abstract: Caregiver education is known to relate to the growth of children, but possible mediation mechanisms of this association are poorly characterized and generally lack empirical support. We test whether instructional capital (caregiver education) leads to improved infant growth through availability of physical capital (household resources) across a wide swath of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Using the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS3), we explore relations among caregiver education, household resources, and infant (M age = .99 years) growth in 117,881 families living in 39 LMIC. Overall, household resources mediated 76% of the small association between caregiver education and infant growth. When disaggregated by countries characterized by low, medium, and high levels of human development (as indexed by average life expectancy, education, and gross domestic product), household resources mediated 48% to 78% of the association between caregiver education and infant growth. Caregiver education had effects on infant growth through household resources in countries characterized by low, medium, and high levels of human development; for girls and boys; and controlling for indexes of infant feeding and health.

A longitudinal study of higher-order thinking skills: working memory and fluid reasoning in childhood enhance complex problem solving in adolescence

Abstract: Scientists have studied the development of the human mind for decades and have accumulated an impressive number of empirical studies that have provided ample support for the notion that early cognitive performance during infancy and childhood is an important predictor of later cognitive performance during adulthood. As children move from childhood into adolescence, their mental development increasingly involves higher-order cognitive skills that are crucial for successful planning, decision-making, and problem solving skills. However, few studies have employed higher-order thinking skills such as complex problem solving (CPS) as developmental outcomes in adolescents. To fill this gap, we tested a longitudinal developmental model in a sample of 2,021 Finnish sixth grade students (M = 12.41 years, SD = 0.52; 1,041 female, 978 male, 2 missing sex). We assessed working memory (WM) and fluid reasoning (FR) at age 12 as predictors of two CPS dimensions: knowledge acquisition and knowledge application. We further assessed students' CPS performance 3 years later as a developmental outcome (N = 1696; M = 15.22 years, SD = 0.43; 867 female, 829 male). Missing data partly occurred due to dropout and technical problems during the first days of testing and varied across indicators and time with a mean of 27.2%. Results revealed that FR was a strong predictor of both CPS dimensions, whereas WM exhibited only a small influence on one of the two CPS dimensions. These results provide strong support for the view that CPS involves FR and, to a lesser extent, WM in childhood and from there evolves into an increasingly complex structure of higher-order cognitive skills in adolescence.

Judgment of infant cry: The roles of acoustic characteristics and sociodemographic characteristics

Abstract: Adult judgments of infant cry are determined by both acoustic properties of the cry and listener sociodemographic characteristics. The main purpose of this research was to investigate how these two sources shape adult judgments of infant cry. We systematically manipulated both the acoustic properties of infant cries and contrasted listener sociodemographic characteristics. Then, we asked participants to listen to several acoustic manipulations of infant cries and to judge the level of distress the infant was expressing and the level of distress participants felt when listening. Finally, as a contrasting condition, participants estimated the age of the crying infant. Using tree-based models, we found that judgments of the level of distress the infant was expressing as well as the level of distress listeners felt are mainly accounted for by select acoustic properties of infant cry (proportion of sound/pause, fundamental frequency, and number of utterances), whereas age estimates of a crying infant are determined mainly by listener sociodemographic characteristics (gender and parental status). Implications for understanding infant cry and its effects as well as early caregiver-infant interactions are discussed.

Children's acquisition of nouns and verbs in Italian: contrasting the roles of frequency and positional salience in maternal language.

Abstract: Because of its structural characteristics, specifically the prevalence of verb types in infant-directed speech and frequent pronoun-dropping, the Italian language offers an attractive opportunity to investigate the predictive effects of input frequency and positional salience on children's acquisition of nouns and verbs. We examined this issue in a sample of twenty-six mother-child dyads whose spontaneous conversations were recorded, transcribed, and coded at 1;4 and 1;8. The percentages of nouns occurring in the final position of maternal utterances at 1;4 predicted children's production of noun types at 1;8. For verbs, children's growth rates were positively predicted by the percentages of input verbs occurring in utterance-initial position, but negatively predicted by the percentages of verbs located in the final position of maternal utterances at 1;4. These findings clearly illustrate that the effects of positional salience vary across lexical categories.

The Acculturation of Parenting Cognitions A Comparison of South Korean, Korean Immigrant, and European American Mothers

Abstract: A three-culture comparison - native South Korean, Korean immigrants to the United States, and native European American mothers - of two types of parenting cognitions - attributions and self-perceptions - was undertaken to explore cultural contributions to parenting cognitions and their adaptability among immigrant mothers. Attributions and self-perceptions of parenting were chosen because they influence parenting behavior and children's development and vary cross-culturally. One hundred seventy-nine mothers of 20-month-old children participated: 73 South Korean, 50 Korean immigrant, and 56 European American. Korean mothers differed from European American mothers on four of the five types of attributions studied and on all four self-perceptions of parenting, and these differences were largely consistent with the distinct cultural values of South Korea and the United States. Generally, Korean immigrant mothers' attributions for parenting more closely resembled those of mothers in the United States, whereas their self-perceptions of parenting more closely resembled those of mothers in South Korea. This study provides insight into similarities and differences in cultural models of parenting, and information about the acculturation of parenting cognitions among immigrants from South Korea.

Ecological settings and processes

Abstract: Foreword to the Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, Seventh Edition vii Preface xv Volume 4 Preface xxiii Contributors xxv 1 CHILDREN IN BIOECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES OF DEVELOPMENT 1 Marc H. Bornstein and Tama Leventhal 2 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN TIME AND PLACE 6 Glen H. Elder Jr., Michael J. Shanahan, and Julia A. Jennings 3 CHILDREN S PARENTS 55 Marc H. Bornstein 4 CHILDREN IN DIVERSE FAMILIES 133 Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman, and Luke T. Russell 5 CHILDREN IN PEER GROUPS 175 Kenneth H. Rubin, William M. Bukowski, and Julie C. Bowker 6 EARLY CHILDCARE AND EDUCATION 223 Margaret Burchinal, Katherine Magnuson, Douglas Powell, and Sandra Soliday Hong 7 CHILDREN AT SCHOOL 268 Robert Crosnoe and Aprile D. Benner 8 CHILDREN S ORGANIZED ACTIVITIES 305 Deborah Lowe Vandell, Reed W. Larson, Joseph L. Mahoney, and Tyler W. Watts 9 CHILDREN AT WORK 345 Jeremy Staff, Arnaldo Mont Alvao, and Jeylan T. Mortimer 10 CHILDREN AND DIGITAL MEDIA 375 Sandra L. Calvert 11 CHILDREN IN DIVERSE SOCIAL CONTEXTS 416 Velma McBride Murry, Nancy E. Hill, Dawn Witherspoon, Cady Berkel, and Deborah Bartz 12 CHILDREN S HOUSING AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS 455 Robert H. Bradley 13 CHILDREN IN NEIGHBORHOODS 493 Tama Leventhal, Veronique Dupere, and Elizabeth A. Shuey 14 CHILDREN AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS 534 Greg J. Duncan, Katherine Magnuson, and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal 15 CHILDREN IN MEDICAL SETTINGS 574 Barry Zuckerman and Robert D. Keder 16 CHILDREN AND THE LAW 616 Elizabeth Cauffman, Elizabeth Shulman, Jordan Bechtold, and Laurence Steinberg 17 CHILDREN AND GOVERNMENT 654 Kenneth A. Dodge and Ron Haskins 18 CHILDREN INWAR AND DISASTER 704 Ann S. Masten, Angela J. Narayan, Wendy K. Silverman, and Joy D. Osofsky 19 CHILDREN AND CULTURAL CONTEXT 746 Jacqueline J. Goodnow and Jeanette A. Lawrence 20 CHILDREN IN HISTORY 787 Peter N. Stearns 21 ASSESSING BIOECOLOGICAL INFLUENCES 811 Theodore D. Wachs Author Index 847 Subject Index 887

Secure Attachment Status is associated with White Matter Integrity in Healthy Young Adults

Abstract: The present study investigates associations between security of attachment in the mother-child relationship and patterns of brain connectivity in young adults. We hypothesized that secure attachment would relate to more efficient connectivity in white matter association fibers due to increased myelination. Attachment security was measured in 53 young adults using the Kerns Security Scale; anatomical information was acquired using diffusion tensor imaging. Higher fractional anisotropy, an index of directionality of diffusion, related to security of attachment in four left-hemisphere white matter association fibers (uncinate fasciculus, cingulum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus). As expected, this result was mainly ascribable to increased myelination, which has been independently associated with attachment security. Security of attachment may have an identifiable biological basis. Our research demonstrates the feasibility of coupling neuroimaging tools with clinical investigation.

Culture, Parenting, and Zero-to-Threes

Abstract: Perhaps the most important single thing that a parent does for a child is determine the culture into which that child is born. This essay addresses parenting, culture, and the intersection of the two. The study of parenting in culture is one of similarities and differences in parental cognitions and practices and their meaning. Illustrations are provided for each.

Stability of temperament in South Korean infants from 6 to 12 to 18 months: Moderation by age, gender, and birth order.

Abstract: Temperament in infancy is generally viewed as constitutionally based individual differences in emotional, motor, and ttentional reactivity and self-regulation (Rothbart & Bates, 2006). Despite infants’ rapid overall development in the first ears of life (Bornstein, Arterberry, & Lamb, 2014), relative stability of infant temperament has been consistently reported e.g., Bornstein et al., 2015; Rothbart, 1986). However, current theory suggests that systems that control/inhibit temperament merge later in infancy, changing the expression and stability of temperament (Shiner et al., 2012). Moreover, stability is ot static, but dynamic, and many factors are acknowledged to moderate stability, including the characteristic studied, evelopmental stage, and the temporal interval between assessments. In short, stability in development is contingent, not bsolute, underscoring the need to study its sensitivity to moderators. Is temperament stable in infants in non-Western cultures, and is it (equivalently) stable in younger and older infants, girls nd boys, firstborns and laterborns? Characteristics of development that appear universal may be culturally specific and vice ersa (Bornstein, Haynes, Pascual, Painter, & Galperín, 1999). Cultural variation in the stability of infant temperament can e anticipated insofar as biological foundations of individual differences vary between groups (Way & Lieberman, 2010) and ecause temperament is open to experience, such as differences in “developmental niches” of infants (Super & Harkness, 986). In addition, the majority of existing research on the stability of infant temperament has been carried out in Western ultures, despite considerable evidence of potential cultural influences on temperament development (Chen & Schmidt, 015). Thus, further study of the robustness of the early stability of temperament, especially in non-Western settings like outh Korea, is warranted. The transition from infancy to early childhood represents a period of major developmental change and reorganization, hus it is possible that temperament is more stable within, rather than between these stages (Goldsmith et al., 1987). tudies of infant temperament that considered child gender as a moderator suggest generally similar stability in girls and oys (with some differentiation by dimension; Bornstein et al., 2015; Garcia Coll, Halpern, Vohr, Seifer, & Oh, 1992). At he same time, biological differences between infant girls and boys are compounded by differential treatment they receive rom caregivers (Bornstein, 2013). Birth order has not been evaluated as widely, yet likely plays a role with respect to

Beyond practices and values: toward a physio-bioecological analysis of sleeping arrangements in early infancy

Abstract: Should my baby sleep in my bed? There are clear reasons to do so, such as for warmth, comfort, bonding, and cultural tradition, but there are also clear reasons against doing so, such as increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (Moon, 2011). Besides being a recurring practical question for parents, co-sleeping is a perennial academic issue as well. Hence, Shimizu et al.'s (2014) aim to examine “parenting practices and underlying cultural values of Japanese mothers” (p. 8) related to sleeping arrangements is timely and valuable. The authors predicted that mother-infant co-sleeping would decline from the 1960–1980s to 2008–2009 due to modern parents adhering to values that are more adaptive in an educated, urban, technologically and economically advanced society that has higher female participation in the workforce. However, they found equal prevalences for co-sleeping in Japan in the 1980s as compared to now. The authors suggested that this historical continuity is due to societal expectations which are in conflict with mothers' desire for gender egalitarianism. Here, we offer a complementary set of explanations as to why co-sleeping might be preserved among Japanese mothers over five decades of enormous social change, and we propose a direction where future studies on parent-child sleeping arrangements should go.

Adoptive and Nonadoptive Mother–Child Behavioral Interaction: A Comparative Study at 4 Years of Age

Abstract: Comparable samples of low-risk adopted and non-adopted children and mothers were observed during three tasks at age 4 years. Quality of mother–child interactions, child level of functioning in four domains, and maternal parenting satisfaction and social support were assessed. Adopted children were as competent as non-adopted children on measures of developmental functioning. Both groups of mothers expressed high satisfaction and support as parents. However, ratings of child, maternal, and dyadic behavior when interacting were all lower for adoptive dyads than for non-adoptive dyads, and adoptive dyads with boys accounted for the maternal and dyadic group differences.