Sleep duration moderates the association between children's temperament and academic achievement.

The primary goal of this study was to determine whether sleep duration moderated the relations of two dimensions of children's temperament, shyness and negative emotion, to academic achievement. In the autumn, parents and teachers reported on kindergarteners' and first graders' ( = 103) shyness and negative emotion and research assistants observed negative emotion in the classroom. In the spring, children wore actigraphs that measured their sleep for five consecutive school nights, and they completed the Woodcock Johnson-III standardized tests of achievement.

Trajectories of the Expression of Negative Emotion from Kindergarten to First Grade: Associations with Academic Outcomes.

We examined individual trajectories, across four time points, of children's ( = 301) expression of negative emotion in classroom settings and whether these trajectories predicted their observed school engagement, teacher-reported academic skills, and passage comprehension assessed with a standardized measure in first grade. In latent growth curve analyses, negative expressivity declined from kindergarten to first grade with significant individual differences in trajectories. Negative expressivity in kindergarten inversely predicted first grade school engagement and teacher-reported academic skills, and the slope of negative expressivity from kindergarten to first grade inversely predicted school engagement (e.

Balance in Positive Emotional Expressivity Across School Contexts Relates to Kindergarteners' Adjustment.

Unlabelled: Positive emotional expressivity has been associated with increased social competence and decreased maladjustment in childhood. However, a few researchers have found null or even positive associations between positive emotional expressivity and maladjustment, which suggests that there may be nuanced associations of positive expressivity, perhaps as a function of the social context in which it is expressed. We examined whether observed positive emotional expressivity balance across peer-oriented/recreational and learning contexts predicted kindergarten children's adjustment ( = 301).

Bidirectional associations between emotions and school adjustment.

Objective: We examined the relations of children's (N = 301) observed expression of negative and positive emotion in classes or nonclassroom school contexts (i.e., lunch and recess) to school adjustment from kindergarten to first grade.

Elementary Students' Effortful Control and Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Teacher-Student Relationship Quality.

This study evaluated the association between effortful control in kindergarten and academic achievement one year later ( = 301), and whether teacher-student closeness and conflict in kindergarten mediated the association. Parents, teachers, and observers reported on children's effortful control, and teachers reported on their perceived levels of closeness and conflict with students. Students completed the passage comprehension and applied problems subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson tests of achievement, as well as a behavioral measure of effortful control.

Concurrent and longitudinal associations of peers' acceptance with emotion and effortful control in kindergarten.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate bidirectional associations between peer acceptance and both emotion and effortful control during kindergarten ( = 301). In both the fall and spring semesters, we obtained peer nominations of acceptance, measures of positive and negative emotion based on naturalistic observations in school (i.e.

Prosocial Motivation: Inferences From an Opaque Body of Work.

Because motivations for prosocial actions typically are unclear, sometimes even to actors but especially for observers, it is difficult to study prosocial motivation. This article reviews research that provides evidence regarding children's motives for prosocial behaviors. First, we present a heuristic model to classify motives on the dimension of reflecting altruistic (with the ultimate goal of benefiting another) to egoism (the ultimate goal of benefiting the self) goals; in addition, we briefly discuss classifying motives based on a continuum of morality.

Observed Emotions as Predictors of Quality of Kindergartners' Social Relationships.

This study evaluated whether positive and anger emotional frequency (the proportion of instances an emotion was observed) and intensity (the strength of an emotion when it was observed) uniquely predicted social relationships among kindergarteners ( = 301). Emotions were observed as naturally occurring at school in the fall term and multiple reporters (peers and teachers) provided information on quality of relationships with children in the spring term. In structural equation models, positive emotion frequency, but not positive emotion intensity, was positively related to peer acceptance and negatively related to peer rejection.

Emotional expression in school context, social relationships, and academic adjustment in kindergarten.

This study evaluated direct relations of both kindergarteners' (N = 301) naturalistically observed emotion in 2 different school contexts and early kindergarten verbal competence to academic adjustment (i.e., standardized measures of academic achievement, teacher-reported academic skills, teacher-reported and observed school engagement) and if these relations were mediated by teacher-reported conflict with students and by peer acceptance.

Observed emotion frequency versus intensity as predictors of socioemotional maladjustment.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether observed emotional frequency (the proportion of instances an emotion was observed) and intensity (the strength of an emotion when it was observed) uniquely predicted kindergartners' (N = 301) internalizing and externalizing problems. Analyses were tested in a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework with data from multireporters (reports of problem behaviors from teachers and parents) and naturalistic observations of emotion in the fall semester. For observed positive emotion, both frequency and intensity negatively predicted parent- or teacher-reported internalizing symptoms.

The association of maternal socialization in childhood and adolescence with adult offsprings' sympathy/caring.

The purpose of the study was to examine associations between mothers' socialization practices in childhood and adolescence and offsprings' (N = 32, 16 female) sympathy/concern in early adulthood. Mothers reported on their socialization practices and beliefs a total of 6 times using a Q-sort during their offsprings' childhood (between 7-8 and 11-12 years of age) and adolescence (between 13-14 and 17-18 years of age). Adult offsprings' sympathy/caring was assessed 3 times in early adulthood (at ages 19-20 to 23-24 years) and in their mid-20s to 30s (ages 25-26 to 31-32 years).

Children's negative emotions and ego-resiliency: longitudinal relations with social competence.

We examined the relations of negative emotions in toddlerhood to the development of ego-resiliency and social competence across early childhood. Specifically, we addressed whether fear and anger/frustration in 30-month-old children (N = 213) was associated with the development of ego-resiliency across 4 time points (42 to 84 months), and, in turn, whether ego-resiliency predicted social competence at 84 months. Child anger/frustration negatively predicted the intercept of ego-resiliency at 42 months (controlling for prior ego-resiliency at 18 months) as well as the slope.

Sociodemographic risk, parenting, and effortful control: relations to salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol in early childhood.

Early sociodemographic risk, parenting, and temperament were examined as predictors of the activity of children's (N = 148; 81 boys, 67 girls) hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and autonomic nervous system. Demographic risk was assessed at 18 months (T1), intrusive/overcontrolling parenting and effortful control were assessed at 30 months (T2), and salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase were collected at 72 (T3) months of age. Demographic risk at T1 predicted lower levels of children's effortful control and higher levels of mothers' intrusive/overcontrolling parenting at T2.