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We studied the development of narrative ability yearly in a cross-sectional design from 4 to 10 years. All children were given the same props and underwent the same procedures. Children's narratives were transcribed verbatim, and then coded for number of words, propositions, episodes and indexes of narrative cohesion and structure. Verbal IQ was controlled as appropriate. Words showed no significant effect for age. A number of propositions and episodes followed nonlinear trajectories of development, and spline regression analyses identified maxima at 8 and 7 years, respectively. However, indexes of cohesion and structure followed linear trajectories of development.

Background: Through play children exercise their emerging mental abilities, and for their part, when in collaborative play, caregivers often adjust their behaviours to assist their children's progress. In this study, we focused on comparisons between play of Down Syndrome (DS) children with their two parents as well as on comparisons between the two parents' play behaviours. Method: Altogether 40 parent-child dyads participated: 20 children with DS (M age = 36.14 months) with their mothers and separately with their fathers. We coded participants' play behaviours during child solitary and mother-child and father-child collaborative sessions. Results: Although children increased exploratory play from solitary to collaborative sessions with both parents, symbolic play increased only during joint play with fathers. Fathers displayed less symbolic and more exploratory activity compared to mothers. Mothers and fathers alike were attuned to their children, although fathers showed a higher degree of attunement. Conclusions: This study shows that maternal and paternal contributions to DS child play skills are positive but different. During collaborative play children received specific and nonoverlapping scaffolding from their two parents, and fathers' contributions were unique.

This study employs an intra-national and cross-national, prospective, and longitudinal design to examine age, gender, region, and country variation in group mean-level continuity and individual-differences stability of emotional availability in child-mother dyads. Altogether, 220 Argentine, Italian, and US American metropolitan and rural residence mothers and their daughters and sons were observed at home when children were five and 20 months of age. Similar patterns of continuity and discontinuity of emotional availability from five to 20 months were observed across regions and countries, but not between genders. Stability of emotional availability from five to 20 months was moderate and similar across genders, regions, and countries. Universal and gender-specific developmental processes in child-mother emotional availability as revealed in intra-national and cross-national study are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study used a cross-national framework to examine country, region, and gender differences in emotional availability (EA), a prominent index of mutual socioemotional adaptation in the parent-child dyad. Altogether 220 Argentine, Italian, and U.S. mothers and their daughters and sons from both rural and metropolitan areas took part in home observations when the children were 20 months old. In terms of country, Italian mothers were more sensitive and optimally structuring, and Italian children were more responsive and involving, than Argentine and U.S. dyads. In terms of region, rural mothers were more intrusive than metropolitan mothers, and boys from metropolitan areas were more responsive than boys from rural areas. In terms of gender, mothers of girls were more sensitive and optimally structuring than mothers of boys, and daughters were more responsive and involving than sons. Understanding how country, region, and gender influence EA exposes forces that shape child development, parent-infant interaction, and family systems. (Contains 4 tables, 1 figure, and 1 footnote.)

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While research has shown that the attentional bias to infant faces predicts the quality of infant care, the antecedents of this cognitive process have been less established. In particular, it remains unknown whether the attentional bias to infant faces might be affected by the interplay between different factors, including memories of past experiences of care, adults' sex, and the experience of parenthood. To extend previous results, we examined the attentional bias to infant faces in a mixed sample of parents (n = 99) and nonparents (n = 102), and whether it varied in relation to parental status, sex, the quality of past experiences of care, and the interactions between these factors. A modified go/no-go task was used to compare the effect of adult and infant faces in retaining adults' attention. Memories of past experiences of paternal and maternal care were collected using the short form of the Italian version of the Parental Acceptance–Rejection scale. Results confirmed that infant faces induced greater attentional interference compared to adult faces. A heightened attention to all types of faces was found in parents versus nonparent. Women, as compared to men, were slower in the task performance, and allocated more attention to infant versus adult faces. Consistent with previous evidence, the attentional prioritization of infant faces varied in relation to previous experiences of care with one's own mother; individuals who remembered a more accepting maternal care allocated more attention to infant versus adult faces. Parental status did not modulate this effect, but sex of participants did. Grounded in the interpersonal acceptance–rejection theory (IPARTheory), this study provides new insights for discerning processes that might regulate global adult caregiving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although pretend play has long been linked to children's normative cognitive development, inconsistent findings call for greater rigor in examining this relation (Lillard et al., 2013). Spontaneous pretend play is often impacted in atypical development, notably in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Since ASD traits exist along a continuum in the general population, investigating how pretend play varies across the range of ASD symptoms by indexing variations in ASD traits in both typically developing and ASD populations may provide insight into how ASD symptoms may influence the relation between pretend play and associated processes in cognitive development. This study used rigorous observational methods to assess spontaneous pretend play. Specifically, 5-min free-play sessions with two discrete toy sets were double-coded by blinded coders (coder assignment counterbalanced). Key facets of pretense development [attribution of pretend properties (APP), object substitution (OS), imaginary objects] were examined. These facets of pretend play production were then analyzed in relation to ASD symptoms, as well as plausible, long-theorized correlates [theory of mind (ToM), verbal ability, familiarity, and interest in specific toys]. Forty children (Mage = 6;5, SDage = 1.45; 29 males), six of whom met the threshold for ASD diagnosis via parent-reported ASD symptoms, participated in play sessions and completed measures of verbal IQ and ToM. Besides the measure of child ASD symptoms, parents completed a survey of their child's interest in and familiarity with the play session toys. Overall, greater ToM predicted more APP, and more interest in the toys presented predicted more OS. In terms of overall pretend play production, two results were counterintuitive. First, among children with more ASD symptoms, verbal ability marginally negatively predicted pretend play production. Second, among children with fewer ASD symptoms, ToM negatively predicted pretend play production. Further probing revealed that the negative effect of ASD symptoms on pretend play was simultaneously moderated by both variables: low ToM and high verbal ability both related to less pretend play production among children with more ASD symptoms. Implications for assessment and subsequent treatment for pretend ability among children with varying degrees of ASD symptoms, as well as for future research, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child healthy development is largely influenced by parent--child interaction and a secure parent--child attachment is predictively associated with positive outcomes in numerous domains of child development. However, the parent--child relationship can be affected by several psychosocial and socio-demographic risk factors that undermine its quality and in turn play a negative role in short and long term child psychological health. Prevention and intervention programs that support parenting skills in at-risk families can efficiently reduce the impact of risk factors on mother and child psychological health. This study examines predictors of mother--child interaction quality and child attachment security in a sample of first-time mothers with psychosocial and/or socio-demographic risk factors. Forty primiparous women satisfying specific risk criteria participated in a longitudinal study with their children from pregnancy until 18 month of child age. A multiple psychological and socioeconomic assessment was performed. The Emotional Availability Scales were used to measure the quality of emotional exchanges between mother and child at 12 months and the Attachment Q-Sort served as a measure of child attachment security at 18 months. Results highlight both the effect of specific single factors, considered at a continuous level, and the cumulative risk effect of different co-occurring factors, considered at binary level, on mother--child interaction quality and child attachment security. Implication for the selection of inclusion criteria of intervention programs that support parenting skills in at-risk families are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of different parenting-related variables on child psychological development is widely acknowledged. However, studies about the specific influence of maternal and family dimensions on child early developmental outcomes in at-risk dyads are still scarce. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the short- and middle-term effects of prenatal and postnatal family and maternal features, and child attachment, on child psychological development at 3 and 24 months in at-risk families. Forty-two mothers with psychological, social and/or demographic risk conditions and their first-born infants were assessed longitudinally. Measurements of maternal personality, psychological and depressive symptoms, family socioeconomic status (SES), child-mother attachment, and infant general psychological development were collected at multiple time points, through validated questionnaires and/or mother-child observation. Maternal and family dimensions showed a significant effect on child psychological development over time. The expected detrimental role of reported maternal depressive symptoms was observed both at 3 and 24 months of child's age. Data also highlighted the negative contribution of low family SES and an unexpected positive influence of maternal personality trait of psychoticism on child psychological development at 24 months. We also found a positive association between attachment security and child developmental outcome. These findings might have relevant implications for the implementation of early prevention programs by differentiating the specific predictive role of maternal child and familial factors on child psychological development in at-risk families., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)