The Effectiveness of an Intervention Programme for Reducing Peer Rejection in Early Childhood Education.

In the early years of schooling, peer groups are key to fostering students' overall learning and development. Yet it has been found that around 10% of children suffer from peer rejection in the classroom, with this problem entailing negative consequences both in the short and long term. The problem proves difficult for adults to detect, which usually leads to a delay in measures being taken to intervene and prevent it. This study applies an experimental design with pre-test and post-test measurements in two groups-experimental and control-in order to address the problem of rejection in the early years of schooling. It explores aspects such as sociometric type, degree of victimisation, social and antisocial behaviour, as well as problematic situations among 637 students at six schools. We then implement an intervention programme for socioemotional competence throughout a school year in an effort to improve students' social skills and relationships, focusing specifically on preventing and reducing the rejection experienced by some of these children. The programme comprises 35 teaching activities and strategies that promote the development of competences for student inclusion (curbing aggression, encouraging teamwork, fostering self-esteem, etc.) and that seek to involve all students, teachers, and relatives by offering an array of complementary resources that enrich the initiatives applied (a programme calendar, assessment notebook, questionnaires, related website, material resources). After the intervention programme, it was found that the experimental group had reduced the percentage of students who suffered rejection from 9.9% to 7.3%, although the same was not true of the control group, which went from 9.5% of rejected students to 10.2%. The reduction in the percentage of rejected students in the experimental group after the application of the programme is an encouraging result that invites us to continue working on more comprehensive interventions to prevent and reduce this phenomenon.

Equine-Assisted Therapeutic Intervention in Institutionalized Children: Case Studies.

A significant number of institutionalized children have behavior problems. Socio-emotional skills are fundamental for their adaptation and success throughout life and are usually weakened in this population. Equine-assisted services (EAS) are a form of therapeutic mediation that facilitates and requires the practitioner's participation, contributing to the promotion of various psychomotor and socio-emotional dimensions. This study was developed during 17 sessions of EAS with a psychomotor intervention, which took place individually and weekly and lasted approximately 45 min, with three institutionalized children. A quantitative and qualitative assessment was carried out before and after the intervention to study the effects of an EAS intervention on socio-emotional competencies in the three institutionalized children. There was an improvement in skills, with an impact on intrapersonal skills and marked improvement in self-regulation and self-control, in addition to an improvement in the intentionality of movement and adequacy of gesture to the context. This type of intervention underlies a renewed educational and therapeutic approach, contributing to mental health promotion in this population.

Maternal-fetal attachment, parenting stress during infancy, and child outcomes at age 3 years.

Maternal-fetal attachment (MFA), a woman's relationship with and affiliative behaviors toward her unborn child, has been linked to near-term infant physical and developmental outcomes. However, further longitudinal research is needed to understand whether the impact of MFA extends past the earliest years of life. The current study explored relationships between MFA and child socioemotional competence and behavior problems at age 3 and whether parenting stress mediated the association between MFA and child outcomes. Data were collected from 221 primarily Black/African-American mothers who completed a scale of MFA during pregnancy. Mothers reported on parenting stress at infant age 7 months and reported on child socioemotional competence and problem behaviors at child age 3 years. In path analyses, MFA was directly associated with child socioemotional competence at age 3 years, but an indirect association between MFA and socioemotional competence via parenting stress was not significant. We also observed a significant indirect association between lower MFA and child internalizing behavior problems via parenting stress that was related to maternal dissatisfaction regarding interactions with her child. Findings suggest that assessing MFA may serve as a means to identify dyads who would benefit from support to promote individual health outcomes.

La afectividad materno-fetal (MFA), la relación y comportamientos de afiliación de una mujer hacia su niño en el vientre, ha sido conectada a los resultados físicos y de desarrollo del infante cuya gestación está cerca al término. Sin embargo, se necesita investigación longitudinal adicional para comprender si el impacto de MFA se extiende más allá de los más tempranos años de vida. El presente estudio exploró las relaciones entre MFA y la competencia socioemocional y problemas de comportamiento del niño a la edad de 3 años y si el estrés de crianza medió la asociación entre MFA y los resultados en el niño. Se recogió información de 221 madres, primariamente negras/afroamericanas, que completaron una escala de MFA durante el embarazo. Las madres reportaron sobre el estrés de crianza cuando el infante tenía 7 meses y reportaron sobre la competencia socioemocional y los problemas de comportamiento del niño cuando éste tenía 3 años. En análisis de trayectoria, se asoció MFA directamente con la competencia socioemocional del niño a la edad de 3 años, pero una asociación indirecta entre MFA y la competencia socioemocional por medio del estrés de crianza no fue significativa. También observamos una significativa asociación indirecta entre MFA y la internalización de problemas del comportamiento por parte del niño vía el estrés de crianza que se relacionó con la insatisfacción materna en cuanto a las interacciones con su niño. Los resultados indican que evaluar MFA pudiera servir como un medio de identificar díadas que se beneficiarían del apoyo para promover resultados de salud individuales.

L'attachement maternel foetal (Maternal-fetal attachment, soit MFA), une relation de la femme avec son enfant à naître et des comportements affiliatifs envers l'enfant à naître, a été lié à des résultats physiques et développementaux du bébé quasiment à terme. Cependant des recherches longitudinales plus approfondies sont nécessaires afin de comprendre si l'impact du MFA dépasse les premières années de la vie. Cette étude a exploré les relations entre le MFA et la compétence socio-émotionnelle de l'enfant et les problèmes de comportement à l'âge de trois ans et si le stress de parentage affectait l'association entre le MFA et les résultats sur l'enfant. Les données ont été recueillies à partir de 221 mères américaines majoritairement noires/afro-américaines qui ont rempli l'échelle du MFA durant la grossesse. Les mères ont fait état de stress de parentage à l'âge de 7 mois pour le bébé et répondu à des questions sur la compétence socio-émotionnelle de l'enfant et les problèmes de comportement à l'âge de 3 ans. Dans les analyses de trajectoire le MFA était directement lié à la compétence socio-émotionnelle de l'enfant à l'âge de 3 ans, mais un lien indirect entre le MFA et la compétence socio-émotionnelle à travers le stress de parentage n'était pas important. Nous avons aussi observé un lien indirect important entre le MFA et les problèmes de comportement d'internalisation de l'enfant au travers du stress de parentage qui était lié à l'insatisfaction maternelle concernant les interactions avec son enfant. Les résultats suggèrent que l'évaluation du MFA peut servir de moyen d'identifier des dyades qui bénéficierait d'un soutien pour promouvoir des résultats de santé individuels.

Moderate low birth weight and socioemotional competence among children: The role of parenting factors in early childhood.

BACKGROUND: Although the importance of birth weight for socioemotional trajectories among children has become a topic of growing interest for researchers, the majority of prior studies were limited to the more extreme subgroups of low birth weight children. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal associations among moderate low birth weight status, parenting factors, and socioemotional competence among at-risk children. This paper also examined the role of parenting factors as a moderator in the associations between birth weight and indicators of socioemotional competence at age 9. METHODS: Participants include a subsample (N = 1809) of families participating in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national longitudinal birth cohort study. Birth weight and prenatal data were taken from medical records. Parenting factors were assessed during in-home assessments at ages 3 and 5. Teachers reported on externalizing behaviors and social skills at age 9. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the associations among study variables. RESULTS: Overall, results indicate that moderate low birth weight was significantly associated with lower levels of teacher-reported socioemotional competence at age 9 even after accounting for a large battery of control variables. Results also showed that maternal warmth, but not parenting stress, moderated the longitudinal association between birth weight and indicators of socioemotional competence. CONCLUSION: Findings highlight the importance of birth weight and positive parenting processes in socioemotional outcomes among children. The implications of these findings are discussed for targeting positive parenting interventions and developmental outcomes for at-risk children.

Parent-to-child aggression, intimate partner aggression, conflict resolution, and children's social-emotional competence in early childhood.

Early childhood is critical to the development of children's social-emotional competence, which predicts peer relations and school adjustment in later periods of childhood. The effects of experiencing or witnessing aggression on children's social-emotional development are well known, yet the role of conflict resolution within the family has not been sufficiently studied. Social information processing models suggests that children who experience positive forms of conflict resolution within the family are likely to generalize these experiences and related skills outside the family, and thus develop greater social-emotional competence. In this longitudinal study, 128 parents (representing 79 families) participated in four quarterly telephone interviews in which they described aggressive conflicts that occurred in their family for which their children were present, including the degree to which each conflict was resolved. They also reported on the frequency of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and parent-to-child aggression (PCA) that occurred while the child was in toddlerhood and preschool as well as children's social-emotional competence at the end of the study. Multi-level models reveal that parents' reports of positive conflict resolution mitigated the concurrent and longitudinal negative effects of children's exposure to both IPA and PCA on their social-emotional competence. These findings reinforce prevention scientists' emphasis on conflict resolution skills as an essential component of parent education programs.

La primera infancia es fundamental para el desarrollo de la competencia socioemocional de los niños, la cual predice las relaciones entre pares y la adaptación escolar en periodos posteriores de la niñez. Se conocen muy bien los efectos que producen el sufrir o ser testigos de agresión en el desarrollo socioemocional de los niños, sin embargo, aún no se ha estudiado de manera suficiente el papel que desempeña la resolución de conflictos dentro de la familia. Los modelos de procesamiento de la información social sugieren que los niños que viven formas positivas de resolución de conflictos dentro de la familia son propensos a generalizar estas experiencias y las habilidades afines fuera de la familia y, por lo tanto, a desarrollar una mayor competencia socioemocional. En este estudio longitudinal, 128 padres (que representaban 79 familias) participaron en cuatro entrevistas telefónicas cada tres meses en las cuales describieron conflictos agresivos que hubo en su familia en los cuales sus hijos estuvieron presentes, incluido el grado en el cual se resolvió cada conflicto. También informaron la frecuencia de agresión en la pareja y de agresión de padres a hijos que tuvo lugar durante sus primeros años de vida y en la etapa del preescolar, así como la competencia socioemocional de los niños al final del estudio. Los modelos multinivel indican que los informes de los padres sobre la resolución positiva de los conflictos mitigaron los efectos negativos longitudinales y simultáneos de la exposición de los niños a la agresión en la pareja y a la agresión de padres a hijos en su competencia socioemocional. Estos resultados refuerzan el énfasis en las habilidades de resolución de conflictos de los científicos de la prevención como componente esencial de los programas de educación para padres.

Serotonergic sensitivity alleles moderate relations between attachment security at age three and socioemotional competence at age five.

Children with higher socioemotional competence are more likely to build constructive relationships with others and experience more positive adjustment outcomes in later periods. Securely attached children are likely to develop better socioemotional competence, but genetic moderation of associations between attachment and later socioemotional competence has received less attention. Using structural equation modeling, this study analyzed data collected from 1,337 children (51% male) born from 1998 to 2000 in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study. The results demonstrated that relations between attachment security at age 3 years and their social competence at age 5 years differed by two serotonin transporter variants (5-HTTLPR, STin2). Effect sizes of these interactions were larger than effect sizes of main effects and the benefit of having sensitive alleles was consistently supported. This implies that having more secure attachment in the early developmental period is advantageous especially for children with minor alleles who have greater environmental sensitivity.

Associations between stuttering, comorbid conditions and executive function in children: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between executive function (EF), stuttering, and comorbidity by examining children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS) with and without comorbid conditions. Data from the National Health Interview Survey were used to examine behavioral manifestations of EF, such as inattention and self-regulation, in CWS and CWNS. METHODS: The sample included 2258 CWS (girls = 638, boys = 1620), and 117,725 CWNS (girls = 57,512; boys = 60,213). EF, and the presence of stuttering and comorbid conditions were based on parent report. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the distribution of stuttering and comorbidity across group and sex. Regression analyses were to determine the effects of stuttering and comorbidity on EF, and the relationship between EF and socioemotional competence. RESULTS: Results point to weaker EF in CWS compared to CWNS. Also, having comorbid conditions was also associated with weaker EF. CWS with comorbidity showed the weakest EF compared to CWNS with and without comorbidity, and CWS without comorbidity. Children with stronger EF showed higher socioemotional competence. A majority (60.32%) of CWS had at least one other comorbid condition in addition to stuttering. Boys who stutter were more likely to have comorbid conditions compared to girls who stutter. CONCLUSION: Present findings suggest that comorbidity is a common feature in CWS. Stuttering and comorbid conditions negatively impact EF.

Impact of maternal depression trajectories on offspring socioemotional competences at age 11: 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Maternal depression is associated with impairments in child behavioural and emotional development, although the effect of exposure to maternal depression until adolescence is underexplored in most studies. This longitudinal study examined the association between maternal depressive symptoms trajectories and offspring socioemotional competences at age 11. METHODS: We included 3,437 11-year-old adolescents from the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed during the follow-up waves. Adolescent socioemotional competences were peer relationship problems and prosocial behaviour, both assessed by Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and Locus of Control (LoC), assessed by Nowick-Strickland Internal-External Scale. We used multivariate linear and logistic regression models to examine the effects of maternal depression trajectories on offspring's socioemotional competences, adjusting for potential confounding variables. RESULTS: We identified five trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms: a "low" trajectory (32.6%), a "moderate low" (42.2%), a "increasing" (11.1%), a "decreasing" (9.2%), and a "high-chronic" trajectory (4.9%). Adolescents whose mothers had persistent depressive symptoms, either intermediate or high, had greater levels of peer relationship problems and lower levels of prosocial behaviour than those whose mothers had low depressive symptoms. These differences were not explained by socioeconomic, maternal, and child characteristics. Maternal depressive symptoms during offspring's life was not a predictor of LoC orientation. LIMITATIONS: Nearly 20% of original cohort were not included in the analysis due to missing data. Adolescent's socioemotional competences were ascertained by maternal report. CONCLUSION: Our study extended the evidences of the negative impact of severe and recurrent maternal depression on offspring's socioemotional competences until early adolescence.

Longitudinal associations between self-regulation and the academic and behavioral adjustment of young children born preterm.

Much of the research to date about the structure of self-regulation in early childhood has been conducted with low medical risk samples, with the general conclusion that self-regulation can be separated into overlapping executive function and effortful control factors that differentially predict child outcomes. We examined the factor structure of 36-month self-regulation among children born prematurely (n = 168) and the extent to which self-regulation predicted maternal ratings of children's socioemotional and academic competence when they were six years of age. Statistical analyses revealed a single self-regulation factor for this high neonatal risk sample, and this self-regulation factor mediated associations between early sociodemographic risk and mothers' ratings of academic competence and externalizing problems. Our findings suggest that early intervention research with children born preterm should focus on promoting supportive early environments, particularly parental sensitivity to infant cues.

Intervención educativa para desarrollar competencias socioemocionales en la formación académica / Educating socioemotional competencies of individual engaged in master and Ph. D. studies

El trabajo versó en torno a las competencias socioemocionales y su trascendencia para la investigación. Se develaron referentes teóricos relativos a tales competencias, que permitieron aportar una conceptualización y una sistemática estructurada en cinco grandes bloques: conciencia emocional, regulación emocional, autonomía emocional, competencia social y competencias de vida y bienestar. La pesquisa estuvo dirigida al diseño y aplicación preliminar de una intervención educativa, desde la actividad de postgrado, destinada a favorecer el desarrollo de las competencias socioemocionales en másteres y doctores en formación. Se obtuvieron resultados parciales positivos, a partir de su introducción en la práctica.

The paper deals with socio-emotional competencies and their importance inconducting research. It discloses a framework of references around competencies related concepts and structured into a fivefold grouping: emotional awareness, emotional regulation, emotional autonomy, social competence and powers of life and wellbeing. The research was aimed to design and attempting the education of socio-emotional competencies at masters and Ph. D. training in the field of education. The initial application of the proposal proved to be effective.

A longitudinal examination of socioemotional learning in African American and Latino boys across the transition from pre-K to kindergarten.

Questions about socioemotional learning in boys of color (BOC) arise in light of the disproportionate rates of school adjustment difficulties BOC experience by adolescence. Socioemotional competence in BOC is assessed in terms of self-regulation, interpersonal skills, and positive relationships with peers and teachers when they enter pre-K. Changes in competence are tracked until the end of kindergarten. Teachers from randomly selected early childhood programs in 11 states rated children's socioemotional competence in the fall and spring of pre-K. Children were followed through the end of kindergarten. Analyses compared Black (n = 278) and Latino (n = 347) boys to girls of color (n = 624) and White children (n = 1,209) while controlling for family poverty. Pre-K teachers rated a majority of BOC proficient on self-regulation and peer relations. BOC did not differ from White boys on initial competence ratings or on development over time, although boys as a group were rated as less competent than girls. Although gender mattered in the initial assessment of socioemotional competence, gender was unrelated to change in competence over time. The longitudinal analyses showed a decline in teacher ratings of socioemotional competence from pre-K to kindergarten. This decline was most likely attributable to the demands, structure, and didactic approaches common in kindergarten. Social competence did predict academic skills. Self-regulation of emotions was the domain most consistently related to academic functioning. The vulnerability BOC experience during adolescence is not evident in the levels of social competence they demonstrate early in their lives at school.