ABSTRACT
Mothers' mental-state references predict individual differences in preschoolers' false-belief (FB) understanding; less is known about the origins of corresponding variation in school-age children. To address this gap, 105 children completed observations with their mothers at child ages 2 and 6, three FB tasks and a verbal comprehension test at age 3, and five FB tasks at age 6. Seventy-seven of these children completed five Strange Stories at age 10. Individual differences in mothers' cognitive references at child age 2 predicted variation in children's FB understanding at age 6 and Strange Stories scores at age 10 (controlling for number of mothers' turns and children's mental-state references, verbal comprehension and FB understanding at age 3, and mothers' cognitive references at child age 6).
Subject(s)
Child Development/physiology , Individuality , Mother-Child Relations/psychology , Mothers/psychology , Theory of Mind/physiology , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Each year, an increasing number of children are born through surrogacy and thus lack a genetic and/or gestational link with their mother. This study examined the impact of surrogacy on mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment. Assessments of maternal positivity, maternal negativity, mother-child interaction, and child adjustment were administered to 32 surrogacy, 32 egg donation, and 54 natural conception families with a 7-year-old child. No differences were found for maternal negativity, maternal positivity, or child adjustment, although the surrogacy and egg donation families showed less positive mother-child interaction than the natural conception families. The findings suggest that both surrogacy and egg donation families function well in the early school years.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Mother-Child Relations , Pregnancy/psychology , Psychology, Child , Surrogate Mothers/psychology , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Child , Family Health , Female , Humans , Interview, Psychological , Male , Middle Aged , Oocyte Donation/psychology , Parents/psychologyABSTRACT
An increasing number of babies are being born using donated sperm, where the child lacks a genetic link to the father, or donated eggs, where the child lacks a genetic link to the mother. This study examined the impact of telling children about their donor conception on mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment. Assessments of maternal positivity, maternal negativity, mother-child interaction, and child adjustment were administered to 32 egg donation, 36 donor insemination, and 54 natural conception families with a 7-year-old child. Although no differences were found for maternal negativity or child adjustment, mothers in nondisclosing gamete donation families showed less positive interaction than mothers in natural conception families, suggesting that families may benefit from openness about the child's genetic origins.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Fertilization in Vitro/psychology , Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous/psychology , Mother-Child Relations , Oocyte Donation/psychology , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Interviews as Topic , MaleABSTRACT
Despite a wealth of studies in the field, longitudinal assessments of both the stability and predictive utility of individual differences in preschoolers' understanding of the mind remain scarce. To address these gaps, we applied latent variable analyses to (a) experimental data gathered from a socially diverse sample (N=101, 60 boys and 41 girls) at 3 and 6 years of age and (b) transcript-based coding of children's dyadic interactions with a best friend at age 6. Our results showed significant stability between latent factors of false belief understanding at ages 3 and 6 even with effects of verbal ability and inhibitory control controlled at both time points. In addition, false belief understanding at ages 3 and 6 showed both distal and proximal links with the frequency of children's talk about mental states at age 6 even when their overall talk and their friends' mental state talk were also controlled. We conclude that preschoolers' false belief understanding both directly and indirectly supports children's growing ability to discuss thoughts and feelings in their conversations with friends.
Subject(s)
Cognition , Comprehension , Child , Child Development , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , MaleABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Young siblings' antisocial behaviour is common yet its impact has received relatively little research attention. METHODS: We examined trajectories of antisocial behaviour for a socially diverse sample (n = 99, 58 boys and 41 girls) who were filmed with their older siblings (52 boys and 47 girls) at ages 3 and 6 and with unfamiliar peers at age 6. Latent growth models were used to analyse three indicators of antisocial behaviour (refusal to share/interact, bullying and harming). RESULTS: The average trajectory of antisocial behaviour towards siblings was stable and particularly high for boys with brothers and for children of mothers with no educational qualifications. Sustained and escalating antisocial behaviours towards siblings predicted bullying and refusals to share/interact with unfamiliar peers, independent of associations with concurrent antisocial behaviour towards sibling. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of a developmental perspective when examining antisocial behaviour between young siblings.
