Savoring impacts parents' emotions and parent-child relationship quality. Using data from a randomized controlled trial (N = 164 mothers of 18-27-month-olds, 37 interveners) conducted with a community sample in the United States, this study examined predictors of fidelity and treatment outcomes across two savoring preventative interventions (relational savoring and personal savoring). Treatment outcome indicators were selected from a battery administered immediately post-intervention (maternal closeness to child) and at a 3-month follow-up (maternal sensitivity, reflective functioning).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSupraglacial pools are prevalent on debris-covered mountain glaciers, yet only limited information is available on the microbial communities within these habitats. Our research questions for this preliminary study were: (1) What microbes occur in supraglacial pool sediments of monsoonal Tibet?; (2) Which abiotic and biotic habitat variables have the most influence on the microbial community structure?; and (3) Does microbial composition of supraglacial pool sediments differ from that of glacial-melt stream pool sediments? We collected microbial samples for 16S rRNA sequencing and invertebrates for enumeration and identification and measured 14 abiotic variables from 46 supraglacial pools and nine glacial-melt stream pools in 2018 and 2019. Generalized linear model analyses, small sample Akaike information criterion, and variable importance scores were used to identify the best predictor variables of microbial community structure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRelational savoring (RS) is a brief, strengths-based approach to heightening attentional focus to moments of positive connectedness within relationships. RS can be administered preventatively or within an intervention context when a therapist aspires to foster more optimal relational functioning. Typically administered within a one-on-one therapy setting, RS has demonstrated efficacy in enhancing intra- and interpersonal outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSome mothers report using avoidant coping strategies (minimizing, punishing) in response to their young children's negative emotion, an aspect of insensitive parenting that places children at risk for emotional or behavioral dysregulation (Fabes et al., 2001) and insecure attachment (De Wolff & van Ijzendoorn, 1997). In prior work, an in-home attachment-based relational savoring (RS) intervention, administered over a month's time, positively affected maternal emotion and sensitive behavior with young children (Borelli et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe current study (a) examined ethnic differences in mothers' and children's responses to children's performance in a challenging task, (b) tested the associations among children's desire for assistance, maternal control, and children's emotional responses to the challenge, and (c) explored whether these associations held across three ethnicities-Asian Americans (AA), Latinx Americans (LA), and European Americans (EA). Results showed that children's emotional arousal significantly increased and emotional valence became significantly less positive over the course of children experiencing repeated challenges in front of their mothers. In terms of ethnic differences, LA mothers exhibited more control than EA mothers, but LA children responded less negatively to the challenging task than EA children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to a range of behavioral problems in children. To date, however, longitudinal studies with data prior to the pandemic are rare, and moreover, few studies have examined the family context. This is notable as evidence suggests that mothers were highly vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic, and stress proliferation models would argue that children's wellbeing are undoubtedly affected by maternal wellbeing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParenting interventions can improve parenting outcomes, with widespread implications for children's developmental trajectories. Relational savoring (RS) is a brief attachment-based intervention with high potential for dissemination. Here we examine data from a recent intervention trial in order to isolate the mechanisms by which savoring predicts reflective functioning (RF) at treatment follow-up through an examination of the content of savoring sessions (specificity, positivity, connectedness, safe haven/secure base, self-focus, child-focus).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examined parental depression and parental reflective functioning (PRF) as predictors of parental proficiency in relational savoring (RS), the association between RS proficiency and a marker of children's physiological self-regulation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), during a stressor, and indirect effects of parental depression and PRF on children's RSA via parents' RS. At Time 1 (T1), parents of 8- to 12-year-old children ( = 139) reported on their depressive symptoms and completed a parenting interview, coded for PRF. After 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe standard view of embryogenesis is one of cooperation driven by the cells' shared genetics and evolutionary interests. However, numerous examples from developmental biology and agriculture reveal a surprising amount of competition among body cells, tissues, and organs for both metabolic and informational resources. To explain the existence of such competition we had hypothesized that evolution uses limiting "reservoirs" of resource molecules as a communication medium - a global scratchpad, to enable tissues across the body to coordinate growth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In the United States, ileus accounts for USD 750 million of healthcare expenditures annually and significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality. Despite its significance, the complete picture of mortality risk factors for these patients have yet to be fully elucidated; therefore, the aim of this study is to identify mortality risk factors in patients emergently admitted with paralytic ileus. Methods: Adult and elderly patients emergently admitted with paralytic ileus between 2005−2014 were investigated using the National Inpatient Sample Database.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParents' emotion regulation and emotional experiences have important consequences for family well-being and child outcomes. Little is known about whether traitlike emotion regulation abilities predict statelike experiences of real-time negative emotion. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), this study examines associations between mothers' self-reported emotion regulation abilities and their real-time experiences of negative emotion, as well as the moderating role of caregiving context among 145 mothers (41% Hispanic; 31% earned below $40,000) of young children (mean age = 20.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParenting young children poses numerous emotion regulation challenges, and prevention programs that promote emotion regulation skills can help with this important task of parenthood. (RS), which entails savoring a positive experience of interpersonal connectedness, is a brief manualized intervention program, 4 weeks in length, grounded in positive psychology and attachment theory. In the current longitudinal, randomized, controlled trial, we examined the impacts of RS compared with an active control (personal savoring [PS], defined as savoring a positive individual experience) in a sample of = 164 mothers of toddlers ( = 20.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPositive maternal touch plays an important role in the development of children's physiological regulation and cognitive development in infancy, as well as the development of sociality in early childhood. However, few studies have looked beyond infancy to consider the possible continuing impact of positive maternal touch on child stress reactivity during early childhood. A diverse community sample of mothers (N = 114, M = 33.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAquatic insects within glacial-melt streams are adapted to low dissolved inorganic ion concentrations. Increases in ion concentrations in glacial-melt streams are predicted with increasing air temperatures, which may impact future aquatic insect survival in these streams. We hypothesized that stonefly (Plecoptera) naiads from glacial-melt streams acclimated to different conductivity would differ in survival, median lethal concentrations, and chloride cell responses to elevated conductivity above that expected in our study streams.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStress is associated with a range of unhealthy eating habits, yet few studies have examined how stress may influence the intergenerational transmission of eating habits from parents to their children. Specifically, there is a lack of data regarding the role of stress on feeding practices. Moreover, most work investigating the associations between parental stress and their feeding behaviors has been correlational, limiting our understanding of causality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted millions of lives, with life stress and daily hassles having a potential impact on parent mental health. This study examined whether preventive health behaviors (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, we sought to expand on what is currently known regarding autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity in middle childhood as a function of attachment. ANS activity includes multiple indices - respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is an index of parasympathetic nervous system activation (PNS) and electrodermal activity (EDA) is an index of sympathetic nervous system activation (SNS). Children ( = 103) completed Child Attachment Interviews and read vignettes describing situations aimed to activate attachment needs (NEED; e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChannelized agricultural headwater streams are common throughout agricultural watersheds in the midwestern United States. Understanding fish-habitat relationships within these streams will provide information that can assist with developing conservation and restoration strategies for these degraded streams. From spring 2006 to fall 2010, we collected fishes and measured riparian habitat, instream habitat, and water chemistry variables from seven sites in Cedar Creek, Indiana, and 14 sites in Upper Big Walnut Creek, Ohio.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidemiological studies suggest that more youth are identifying as gender expansive (e.g., transgender, gender nonconforming) than ever before.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParental reflective functioning (RF), the ability to consider the child's behavior as a function of mental states (cognitions, emotions), is theorized to promote emotion regulation in children via its positive impact on parenting sensitivity. Using a sample of mothers and toddlers (N = 151 dyads; 41% Latinx; 54% girls; M = 21 months; SD = 2.5 months), we measured mothers' self-reported RF (high RF = low certainty/high interest-curiosity/low prementalizing), toddlers' distress during a standardized challenging behavioral task (toy removal), and three methods of children's coping with distress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, we explored whether variability in children's physiological reactivity-respiratory sinus arrhythmia and electrodermal activity-predict concurrent and subsequent levels of children's observed help-seeking (HS) from their mothers during a failure task. In addition, we tested whether children's perceptions of maternal positivity pre-task (CPMP) and children's fearful temperament moderate these effects. In a community sample of 101 mother-child dyads, children (8-12 years of age) underwent a repeated failure task while their respiratory sinus arrythmia and electrodermal activity were monitored; their HS behaviors were later coded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParental socialization that infringes on children's autonomy may have consequences for physiological regulation, trait anxiety, and state distress. One such practice is the use of positive conditional regard (CR)-the provision of extra attention/affection when children meet parents' expectations. Self-determination theory proposes that CR thwarts satisfaction of children's basic needs for relatedness and autonomy by placing these needs in conflict.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParental child-focused (RF)-understanding children's behavior as a function of mental states-and parental -understanding, resonating with, and feeling concern for children's emotions-have each been linked to sensitive caregiving and children's attachment security in separate studies, but they have been neither directly compared nor have researchers tested whether they interact in predicting child outcomes. In this article, we offer theoretical perspectives regarding differences between the constructs, potential points of connection, and ways in which these constructs may function together. Then we test these ideas empirically with 2 samples of mothers of school-age children, exploring their unique and interactive associations with parenting sensitivity, children's attachment security, and children's emotion regulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCrayfishes (Decapoda) are common inhabitants of agricultural headwater streams in the Midwestern USA that have been impacted by physical habitat degradation and contamination by agricultural pollutants. The frequency and severity of injuries within crayfish communities are indicators of crayfish aggression, which is influenced by physical, chemical, and biotic factors. Previous studies have not evaluated the relationships of the frequency and severity of crayfish injuries with physical habitat quality, water quality, and biotic factors within agricultural headwater streams.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur purpose is to introduce a novel technique for evoking emotions associated with moments of closeness with another person (relational savoring), to describe its theoretical grounding, specifics of treatment targets and outcomes, as well as to provide the preliminary evidence for its efficacy in promoting flourishing. We rely on attachment theory, the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, and emotion-focused therapy as foundations for our understanding of how secure relationships are built and maintained and for proposing how relational savoring can promote flourishing through strengthening relationships. To illustrate specific mechanisms of change, we provide examples from a recently completed study of mothers of young children.
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