Concurrent associations between mothers' references to internal states and children's social understanding in middle childhood.

Although it is well established that features of maternal speech are associated with children's social understanding in the preschool years, few studies explore this relationship in middle childhood. Within the context of a prospective longitudinal study of a representative community sample of families (subsample 207, mean age = 82.88 months), we investigated concurrent associations between mothers' internal state language and aspects of 7-year-olds' social understanding, including children's understanding of belief and spontaneous references to internal states during free play.

If You Go Down to the Woods Today: Infants' Distress During a Teddy Bear's Picnic in Relation to Peer Relations and Later Emotional Problems.

Infants' emotional reactions to an unusual event were assessed at a simulated birthday party during which two costumed characters enacted a Teddy Bear's Picnic. Two hundred and fifty-eight firstborn infants in a representative British community sample were observed at a mean age of 12.8 months in the presence of their parents and other participating families, in a laboratory sitting room decorated with balloons and banners.

Known risk factors for violence predict 12-month-old infants' aggressiveness with peers.

This study tested the hypothesis that 12-month-old infants' use of force against peers is associated with known risk factors for violence. We conducted a prospective longitudinal study, which included laboratory observations of firstborn British infants (N = 271) during simulated birthday parties. No gender differences in aggressiveness were observed.