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Efforts to monitor and improve responsive caregiving for young children, because of its importance for child development, are part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Two brief observational measures of responsive caregiving have been developed and validated (Responsive Interactions for Learning-parent [RIFL-P] and educator [RIFL-Ed] versions), with the RIFL-P available in English, Portuguese, and Spanish. The aim of the current study was to present and evaluate two online training programs for the RIFL measures. These distance learning courses were designed as open-source and asynchronous to enable their use in low- and middle-income countries and remote areas. The following course components are used: readings, lectures, observation of interactions on video, coding practice with automated feedback on item coding, and quizzes. Of the 76 trainees who registered for one of the online courses, 58 (76%) completed all theoretical module components. Student performance was generally high. Marks on quizzes ranged between 83%-100%. Ninety percent of those who took the reliability tests passed (40/44). Student satisfaction during and after the course was high. The effective online training programs are available free of charge and the RIFL suite of measures is efficient to implement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Observational studies have shown that caregiver sensitivity predicts child language skills. These studies, however, have entirely relied on between-family designs (single parent-child dyad per family), which cannot rule out the contribution of shared family confounds (e.g., genetics, books in home). The current study investigates whether observed caregiver sensitivity predicts changes in child receptive language using a sibling comparison design. Participants were 890 Canadian children (51.7% male; 52.4% White) nested within 447 families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds with children between the ages of 2 and 3.5 years (Wave 1) and 3.5 and 5 years (Wave 2). Independent observers provided ratings of maternal sensitivity with each sibling using several coding protocols (i.e., Coding of Attachment-Related Parenting and the Parent-Child Interaction System). Child receptive language was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Maternal sensitivity predicted within-person change in receptive language. That is, the sibling that receives comparatively more sensitivity from the caregiver showed more development in language over time when compared to their sibling. The obverse association, child language to later maternal sensitivity, was not observed, pointing to a unidirectional association of maternal sensitivity on child receptive language. Our sibling comparison design rules out the role of shared family confounders, which provides a strong test of causal processes within an observational design.

Research Findings: In this study, we tested whether it is possible to reliably evaluate the quality of interactions between early childhood educators and children using a thin-slice coding approach. Ninety-seven early childhood educators were videotaped for two five-minute intervals: one mealtime observation and one standardized activity. Videos were scored using the shortened and revised 15-item Responsive Interactions for Learning -- Educator (RIFL-Ed.) measure, an open-access measure that takes less than ten minutes to administer and score. The RIFL-Ed. demonstrated good psychometric properties when used for mealtime observations and scores were associated with the Emotional and Behavioural Support (b = 0.19, p = 0.02) -- and to some extent the Engaged Support for Learning (b = 0.15, p = 0.07) -- domains of the widely used Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS): Toddler Version. Less than half of the variance in scores was shared across educators in the same classrooms. Practice or Policy: If these preliminary results can be confirmed in larger studies, the RIFL-Ed.--an open-access measure for which fast and free online training is available--can be used to affordably scale-up targeted quality assessment and improvement efforts in early childhood education and care settings, efforts which have been shown to positively impact children's developmental outcomes.

Developmental research during COVID-19 suggests that pandemic-related disruptions in family relationships are associated with children's mental health. Most of this research has focused on 1 child per family, thereby obfuscating patterns that are differentially operative at the family-wide (i.e., between-family) versus child-specific (i.e., within-family) levels of analysis. Thus, the current study evaluates multilevel, longitudinal associations between COVID-19 disruption, family relationships, and caregiver/child mental health using a sibling comparison methodology. Caregivers (N = 549 families with 1098 children between 5 and 18 years old) were recruited from the Prolific research panel (73% White-European; 68% female; 76% United Kingdom, 19% U.S.A.; median 2019 income $50,000-$74,999). Caregiver reports of COVID-19 disruption, psychological distress, family functioning, parenting, and child mental health (for 2 children per family) were provided during May (time 1) and July (time 2) 2020. A Bayesian multilevel path analysis with random effects revealed: (a) families were experiencing difficulties across domains when COVID-19 disruption was high; (b) COVID-19 disruption corresponded to greater sibling differences in mental health; and (c) the sibling with poorer mental health received lower quality parenting over time, especially in families who reported higher levels of differential parenting. Findings suggest that understanding children's mental health difficulties during COVID-19 requires a family system lens due to the multiple ways these consequences permeate across the family unit. Comprehensive interventions for children's mental health during this time will likely require an examination of caregiver, sibling, and whole-family dynamics in the context of evidence-based telehealth practice.

This meta-analysis examined associations between the quantity and quality of parental linguistic input and children's language. Pooled effect size for quality (i.e., vocabulary diversity and syntactic complexity; k = 35; N = 1,958; r = .33) was more robust than for quantity (i.e., number of words/tokens/utterances; k = 33; N = 1,411; r = .20) of linguistic input. For quality and quantity of parental linguistic input, effect sizes were stronger when input was observed in naturalistic contexts compared to free play tasks. For quality of parental linguistic input, effect sizes also increased as child age and observation length increased. Effect sizes were not moderated by socioeconomic status or child gender. Findings highlight parental linguistic input as a key environmental factor in children's language skills.

This study examined the association between observed cognitive sensitivity (CS) during family interactions and children's receptive vocabulary for older and younger siblings. Maternal and sibling CS was considered and associations were explored at the family-wide (between-family) and child-specific (within-family) levels of analysis. The interactions of mothers and 2 children per family were observed when younger siblings were 3.15 years (SD = 0.27) and older siblings were 5.57 years (SD = 0.77). Each dyad (mother-older sibling, mother younger-sibling, and sibling dyad, N = 385) completed a Lego building task, and there were two directional CS scores per interaction (e.g., mother toward older sibling, and older sibling toward mother). Results from multilevel models indicated that younger siblings' vocabulary was associated with the average level of CS for mothers and older siblings, independently. Conversely, older siblings' vocabulary was associated with the average level of maternal CS and child-specific maternal CS. Findings suggest that the relationship between CS and vocabulary operates across the family system and differs for older and younger siblings.

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) – particularly care defined by highly responsive interactions between educators and children – has the potential to have lasting positive impacts on children's development. While there is variability in the level of quality among early education and care settings, professional development for early childhood educators has been shown to be an effective means to improve both ECEC quality and child outcomes. As many professional development programs are time and resource intensive, we sought out to test the efficacy of a brief (5 hr) professional development program that included a workshop, individual coaching, video feedback and text messaging. Research Findings: Results of a cluster randomized controlled trial with 93 educators indicated that the program improved educators' responsivity three-months after intervention (d = 0.60, p =.035), but not classroom-wide levels of emotional support or instructional quality. Trend analysis revealed the greatest improvements occurred after the workshop and first coaching session and leveled off over time. Practice or Policy: Preliminary evidence suggests brief professional development programs may improve interaction quality with effect sizes comparable to those of longer programs. Well-powered studies using multiple arms or sequential randomization will help optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and sibling differences in birth weight on sibling differences in the receipt of maternal sensitivity (i.e., differential parenting). It was hypothesized that sibling differences in birth weight would predict "absolute" differential parenting across the sibship (i.e., the more different siblings' birth weight, the more different the level of sensitivity in the family, overall) and "child-specific" differential parenting (i.e., relatively heavier siblings receiving more sensitivity, compared to his or her counterpart within the family). It was also hypothesized that there would be greater sibling differences in birth weight in lower SES settings. Multiparous mothers were recruited within two weeks of childbirth and filmed interacting with each of their children when younger siblings were 1.60 years (SD = 0.16, N = 396 younger siblings) and next-older siblings were 4.05 (SD = 0.75; N = 396 older siblings). Videotapes were coded for maternal sensitivity. Multilevel path-analysis revealed that lower-SES families exhibited greater sibling differences in birth weight, which corresponded to greater absolute differential parenting. Also, heavier siblings received relatively higher levels of sensitivity within the family. This study demonstrates that child and contextual factors operate together in predicting differential parenting.

Previous studies have demonstrated that various psychosocial risks are associated with poor cognitive functioning in children, and these risks frequently cluster together. In the current longitudinal study, we tested a model in which it was hypothesized that cumulative psychosocial adversity of mothers would have deleterious effects on children's cognitive functioning by compromising socialization processes within families (i.e., parental competence). A prospective community birth cohort of 501 families was recruited when children were newborns. At this time, mothers reported on their current psychosocial circumstances (socioeconomic status, teen parenthood, depression, etc.), which were summed into a cumulative risk score. Families were followed up at 18 months and 3 years, at which point maternal reflective capacity and cognitive sensitivity were measured, respectively. Child cognition (executive functioning, theory of mind, and language ability) was assessed at age 4.5 using age-appropriate observational and standardized tasks. Analyses controlled for child age, gender, number of children in the home, number of years married, and mothers' history of adversity. The results revealed significant declines in child cognition as well as maternal reflective capacity and cognitive sensitivity as the number of psychosocial risks increased. Moreover, longitudinal path analysis showed significant indirect effects from cumulative risk to all three cognitive outcomes via reflective capacity and cognitive sensitivity. Findings suggest that cumulative risk of mothers may partially account for child cognitive difficulties in various domains by disrupting key parental socialization competencies.

There is an ongoing need for literature that identifies the effects of broad contextual risk on school readiness outcomes via family mediating mechanisms. This is especially true amongst diverse and urban samples characterized by variability in immigration history. To address this limitation, family profiles of sociodemographic and contextual risk were identified when children were 2 months of age. Subsequently, their indirect effect on school readiness at 4.5 years was evaluated via family investments and maternal responsivity (N = 501 families). A latent class analysis yielded four distinct family risk profiles: low socioeconomic status (SES) multilevel risk, 12.0% of sample; maternal abuse history, 15.6%; low-SES immigrant risk, 27.7%; and low risk, 44.7%. Path analyses revealed that children in the low-SES multilevel risk and low-SES immigrant risk profiles had the poorest outcomes in all domains and these effects operated equally and indirectly via investments and responsivity. To date, several studies have suggested that sociodemographic risks impact cognitive outcomes primarily via the investment pathway. The present findings suggest that family relations are equally important when operationalized as observed responsive parenting. Furthermore, pathways of influence are similarly operative despite different patterning of adversity for high-risk immigrant and native born families.

The present study sought to investigate the family, individual, and dyad-specific contributions to observed cognitive sensitivity during family interactions. Moreover, the influence of cumulative risk on sensitivity at the aforementioned levels of the family was examined. Mothers and 2 children per family were observed interacting in a round robin design (i.e., mother-older sibling, mother younger-sibling and sibling-dyad, N = 385 families). Data were dyadic, in that there were 2 directional scores per interaction, and were analyzed using a multilevel formulation of the Social Relations Model. Variance partitioning revealed that cognitive sensitivity is simultaneously a function of families, individuals and dyads, though the importance of these components varies across family roles. Cognitive sensitivity for mothers was primarily attributable to individual differences, whereas cognitive sensitivity for children was predominantly attributable to family and dyadic differences, especially for youngest children. Cumulative risk explained family and individual variance in cognitive sensitivity, particularly when actors were older or in a position of relative competence or authority (i.e., mother to children, older to younger siblings). Overall, this study demonstrates that cognitive sensitivity operates across levels of family organization, and is negatively impacted by psychosocial risk.

In this study the associations between mothers' and fathers' differential parenting and children's oppositional and emotional problems were examined. A curvilinear relationship between differential parenting and children's outcomes was hypothesized, as well as the combined effect of mothers' and fathers' parenting. Data came from a community sample of 599 two-parent families with multiple children per family and were analyzed using a cross-classified multilevel model. Results showed that both family average parenting and differential parenting explained unique variance in children's outcomes. The curvilinear hypothesis was supported for oppositional behavior but not for emotional problems. The effects of mother and father positivity were found to be additive for both family average parenting and differential parenting, but for negativity there was evidence for multiplicative effects. (Contains 6 tables, 3 figures and 5 footnotes.)

Objective: Research suggests that early life adversity may affect subsequent parenting. Animal studies investigating mechanisms of transmission have focused on biological factors; whereas research in humans has emphasized cognitive and psychosocial factors. We hypothesized that neuropsychological and physiological factors would act as mediators between maternal retrospective reports of early life experiences (ELE) and current parenting. Method: We recruited a community sample of 89 mothers and their infants (2-6 months of age). Maternal ELE consisted of self-reports of consistency of care and childhood maltreatment. Diurnal salivary cortisol samples were collected as the measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function. Executive function measures included attentional set-shifting and spatial working memory. Maternal sensitivity was assessed through videotapes of mothers interacting with their infants. Results: A series of path analyses indicated that maternal ELE was indirectly related to maternal sensitivity via two pathways: one through HPA function, and the other through HPA function and spatial working memory. There was no direct path between maternal ELE and parenting. Conclusion: These findings provide support for the notion that mediators linking early life experiences to parenting in humans may be similar to physiological mechanisms found in animal models. As maternal care is associated with numerous infant outcomes, our findings may have broad relevance to understanding the risk associated with parenting and adverse outcomes in infants. A greater understanding of mechanism is important to informing interventions targeted at disrupting maladaptive trajectories of parenting. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The goal of this exploratory, within-family, longitudinal study was to examine whether children's perspectives of the mother-child relationship explained within-family differences in children's responses to a shared family stressor (maternal depressive symptoms) over time. Children (ages 8 to 15 years; N = 68) residing in 34 families were drawn from a general population study in the UK. Predictor variables were assessed at Time 1 and change in internalizing behavior from Time 1 to Time 2 (2 years later) was examined. As children were nested within families, data were analyzed using multilevel modeling, controlling for previous child behavior. Child perspective of the mother-child relationship, in interaction with maternal depressive symptoms, was found to explain within-family differences in internalizing over time. Children with a negative perspective (compared to mothers' perspectives) were the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of maternal depressive symptoms.

The goal of the present study is to demonstrate the ways in which multilevel models can be applied to family research. We emphasize the conceptual issues in family research that this data analytic technique helps us to address. The family represents a nested, hierarchical structure in which multiple children from the same family are not independent from one another. Multilevel models can be used to accommodate the complex structure of families. We draw on two data structures to illustrate the utility of the analytic technique. The first data structure involves children nested within families. With this data structure, it is possible to: 1) differentiate between family-wide and child-specific processes, 2) examine the way in which adverse family environments may exacerbate differences across siblings and 3) examine the way in which individual child characteristics may modify the impact of the family environment. In addition to children nested within families, data structure # 2 involves a cross-classification, as each parent reports on the emotional problems of multiple children. This hierarchical, cross-classified model allows us to examine predictors of children's emotional problems, predictors of informant agreement on children's emotional problems and the extent of children's similarity with their siblings on emotional problems.

Use of metacognitive language by child care center staff in classrooms that serve preschool-aged children was examined. Staff's use of mental-state talk, perspective-taking talk, and activity-relevant questioning with children were coded in a series of 20-s snapshots taken over the course of one full morning per classroom. A total of 3401 snapshots were observed for 393 teachers in 103 classrooms. Staff used mental-state talk in 22% of the snapshots, activity-relevant questions in 12%, and perspective-taking talk in 3%. Structural and process predictors of staff's metacognitive language were examined for full-time staff (n = 148 in 95 classrooms) using multilevel modeling and ordinary least squares regression. Caregiver positive interaction style predicted caregivers' engagement in all three types of language. Caregiver punitive interaction style was also a positive predictor of caregivers' talk about others' perspectives. In general, structural characteristics of the classroom were not significant predictors of staff's language. However, the proportion of children receiving a child care subsidy in the center negatively predicted perspective-taking discourse. Results indicate the importance of caregiver relational style in providing a more discourse-rich child care context. (Contains 5 tables.)

The change in internalizing symptoms from late childhood or age of 10 into mid-adolescence or age of 15 was studied taking into consideration the role of a child's sex, maternal depressive symptoms in late childhood and their interactions. Results indicate that internalizing symptoms in girls increased from childhood to adolescence whereas those for boys decreased.

Objective: The construct of empathy was examined in 20 boys with gender identity disorder (GID), 20 clinical control boys with externalizing disorders (ECC), 20 community control boys (NCB), and 20 community control girls (NCG). The mean age of the children was 6.86 years (range = 4-8 years). It was hypothesized that boys with GID would show similar levels of empathy to those shown by NC girls and higher levels of empathy than the NC and ECC boys. Methods: Three measures of empathy were administered: a maternal-report questionnaire, a self-report questionnaire, and an in-vivo evaluation in which children's reactions to pain simulations to two adult actors (mother, experimenter) were coded for empathy levels. Results: On the maternal report and in-vivo measures, the NC girls had significantly higher empathy levels than the NC boys, but not on the self-report measure. By maternal report, the NC girls were rated as significantly more empathic than were the GID boys, with a "large" effect size. There were no significant differences between the GID boys and the NC girls on the self-report and in-vivo measures and the effect size differences were "small." No significant differences were observed between the GID and NC boys; however, there were "medium" and "small" effect size differences with boys with GID showing more empathy on the in-vivo and self-report measures, respectively. On the maternal-report measure, the GID boys were rated as significantly more empathic than the ECC boys and there was a trend for the GID boys to show greater levels of empathy than the ECC boys on both the self-report and in-vivo measures. The effect size differences on all three empathy measures were "medium" to "large," with GID boys showing more empathy than ECC boys. Conclusion: Empathy as a dispositional characteristic in the genesis and perpetuation of GID in boys is discussed.

Parent and teacher data for 14,990 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth were used in multilevel analyses to examine the relationship between ethnicity, children's aggression and emotional problems, and parenting. Using parent and teacher report, relationships between ethnicity and child behavior were present but modest. The association between parental harshness and child aggression differed between ethnic groups and across informants. Using teacher report of outcomes, parental harshness was positively related to child aggression in European Canadian families but negatively related in South Asian Canadian families. For all ethnic groups, parental harshness was positively related to children's aggression when parent report of outcomes was used, but relationships varied in strength across ethnic groups. The relationship of parental harshness with child emotional problems did not differ across groups, irrespective of informant. The results are discussed within the context of an ecological model of parenting.

This study purports that parental rejection and warmth are critical to the development of adolescent drug use, and investigates a model that also considers children's vulnerability and deviant peer affiliations. It tests mediation through the proximal risk factor of deviant peers. Poisson growth curve modeling was used to examine participants from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY; N = 2194) over 4 waves. Results indicated that parental rejection was positively related to drug use, whereas parental warmth was negatively related to it. Both effects were significant when child ADHD symptoms were taken into account. Parental rejection and warmth had differential effects over time. Deviant peer affiliations were positively associated with drug use, did not have a differential influence over time, and did not mediate the other effects. There was significant between-individual (level 2) variability in drug use. Results are discussed in light of adolescent perceptions of parent-child relationships.

Background: This study examined the effects of maternal anger, partner transitions and partner conflict on later oppositional and angry behavior of the children of teenage mothers. Methods: One hundred and twenty-one teenage women were interviewed prior to the birth of the baby and at 3 points subsequently, when children were newborn, 7 years old and 12 years old. Child and teacher reports of children's oppositional behavior were obtained. Results: Women who showed higher levels of anger at Time 1 experienced more conflict with partners and more partner transitions over the next 12 years than women with lower levels of anger. Partner conflict was a stronger predictor of children's oppositional and angry behavior than partner transitions. Maternal anger at Time 1 was associated with maternal anger at Time 4 but neither predicted children's oppositional behavior at Time 4. Conclusion: There was support for the theoretical model that suggested that the personality characteristics of teenaged mothers confer some of their risk to children through children's exposure to the mothers' problematic partner relationships.

Background: Previous studies have found that multiple factors are associated with parent-child relationship quality, but have not distinguished potential sources of between-family and within-family variation in parent-child relationship quality. Methods: Approximately equal numbers of biological (non-stepfamilies), single-mother, stepfather, and complex/stepmother stepfamilies were selected from a large community study in England. The sample comprised 404 children in 171 families. Parent-child warmth/support and conflict/negativity were assessed using questionnaire and interview methods; family socio-demographic data were collected from parent report. Results: Multilevel model analyses indicated substantial within-family variation in parent-child relationship quality, and greater within-family variation in complex/stepmother families compared to other family types. Within-family variation was largely accounted for by differences in the siblings' biological relatedness to the mother and father and to child-specific factors, notably aggressive behavior. Conclusions: The findings illustrate how research using multilevel model designs and analytic strategies may enhance our understanding of family process.

The present study investigated the relationship between maternal appraisal styles, family risk status, and anger biases in children. Participants included 90 mothers and their children between 3-6 years of age. Eighty families were followed up 1 year later. Maternal appraisal styles were assessed via a naturalistic story-reading method, and Time 1 and Time 2 emotion biases included teacher ratings of anger and aggression, peer ratings of anger, as well as classroom and playground observations of anger. While discussing ambiguous stories with their children, mothers with higher scores on the family risk index utilized more hostile appraisals and fewer prosocial appraisals in their explanations. A higher proportion of hostile-to-prosocial appraisals was also related to higher-risk family status. Prosocial appraisals by mothers were inversely correlated with children's anger biases at school. When the appraisal balance in mothers' talk favored hostile appraisals, children tended to show higher levels of anger biases evidenced at school. Finally, a hostile balance of maternal appraisals was found to predict change in children's anger biases in the school with different effects in high- and low-risk families.KEY WORDS: appraisal styles; parental socialization; economic hardship; emotions; anger; aggression.