The goals of present study were: (a) to examine associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and telomere length during childhood using ACE composite scores both with and without “new” adversities (i.e., parental death and poverty), and (b) to determine if ACEs indirectly affect telomere length through children’s self-regulatory abilities (i.e., effortful control and self-control). The analytic sample consisted of national data from teachers, biological parents, and their children (N = 2,527; Mage = 9.35, SD = .36 years; 52% male; 45% Black). Results from linear regression analyses revealed a statistically significant main effect of updated (but not traditional) ACEs on child telomere length, controlling for hypothesized covariates, although the additional amount of variance explained by ACEs was negligible. Results from mediation analyses revealed an indirect effect of ACEs on child telomere length through self-control, assessed via a teacher-reported Social Skills Rating System, but not effortful control. While longitudinal studies are needed to strengthen claims of causation, the present study clarifies the association between ACEs and telomere length during middle childhood, and identifies a pathway from ACEs to changes in telomere length that should be explored further.

Eating behaviors, notably eating behaviors conceptualized as appetitive traits, have been suggested as important determinants of individual differences in body weight and thus overweight and obesity. Such appetitive traits include emotional overeating, food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, satiety responsiveness and slowness in eating. Yet little is known about the factors that influence the development of these appetitive traits. Therefore, the current study prospectively investigated a range of predictors of appetitive traits related to both individual child characteristics and parent factors in a large population-based sample of children followed from age 6 to 8 years (N = 689). When adjusting for the initial levels of the specific appetitive trait in question at age 6 and the other predictors, the results showed that instrumental feeding and low levels of effortful control predicted emotional overeating at age 8, whereas instrumental feeding and parental restrained eating predicted food responsiveness at age 8. Enjoyment of food, satiety responsiveness and slowness in eating were not affected by any of the predictors investigated in this study. In conclusion, these findings support low effortful control and instrumental feeding as predictors of emotional overeating, and instrumental feeding and parental restrained eating as predictors of food responsiveness. These findings are relevant in providing a better understanding of the development of children’s eating behaviors, in addition to informing prevention and treatment strategies for childhood obesity.

abstract: The relations between aspects of social understanding (e.g., theory of mind, ToM, and emotion understanding, EU) were studied in relation to language and effortful control (EC). Data were collected when children were 30, 42, and 54 months of age (N's = 216, 192, and 168 for T1, T2, and T3, respectively). Children were assessed via mother and caregiver reports, and through observational measures. Although language and ToM did not relate within time, there was limited support for early language positively predicting later ToM. Language and EU were positively related within time, and there was some support for early language positively predicting later EU. Unexpectedly, significant positive relations were found for early EU predicting later language. ToM and EC were positively related within T3, and there was some support for early EC predicting later ToM. EU and EC were often positively related within time. Early EU also tended to positively predict later EC, whereas the opposite relation was not found. There was no support for significant a significant relation between EU and ToM. Findings suggest that children's early language may lead to later EC, and that early EU may help promote later EC and language; thus, it is important for parents and teachers to promote these early skills. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Educational Psychology 2011

abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine whether dispositional sadness predicted children's prosocial behavior, and whether empathy-related responding (i.e., sympathy, personal distress) mediated this relation. It was hypothesized that children who were dispositionally sad, but well-regulated (i.e., moderate to high in effortful control), would experience sympathy versus personal distress, and thus would engage in more prosocial behaviors than children who were not well-regulated. Constructs were measured across three time points, when children were 18-, 30-, and 42-months old. In addition, early effortful control (at 18 months) was investigated as a potential moderator of the relation between dispositional sadness and empathy-related responding. Separate path models were computed for sadness predicting prosocial behavior with (1) sympathy and (2) personal distress as the mediator. In path analysis, sadness was found to be a positive predictor of sympathy across time. There was not a significant mediated effect of sympathy on the relation between sadness and prosocial behavior (both reported and observed). In path models with personal distress, sadness was not a significant predictor of personal distress, and personal distress was not a significant predictor of prosocial behavior (therefore, mediation analyses were not pursued). The moderated effect of effortful control was significant for the relation between 18-month sadness and 30-month sympathy; contrary to expectation, sadness was a significant, positive predictor of sympathy only for children who had average and low levels of effortful control (children high in effortful control were high in sympathy regardless of level of sadness). There was no significant moderated effect of effortful control on the path from sadness to personal distress. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of sadness in empathy-related responding and prosocial behavior as well as the dual role of effortful control and sadness in predicting empathy-related responding. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2012

abstract: This study drew upon a bioecological framework to empirically investigate the relations between environmental chaos and preschoolers' language across time, including the potentially mediating roles of children's effortful control and parenting. Child sex also was examined as a moderator of these relations. For this study, the following data were collected at 30, 42, and 54 months of age. Household chaos and (at 30 months) socioeconomic status (SES) were reported by mothers. Children's effortful control (EC) was rated by mothers and nonparental caregivers, and was observed during a number of laboratory tasks. Maternal vocalizations were assessed during free play sessions with their children (at 30 and 42 months), and supportive and unsupportive parenting behaviors and affect were observed during free play and teaching tasks at each age. Mothers also reported on their own reactions to children's negative emotions. Finally, (at 54 months) children's expressive and receptive language was measured with a standard assessment. Structural equation modeling and path analyses indicated that SES at 30 months and greater levels of household chaos at 42 months predicted not only poorer language skills, but also deficits in children's EC and less supportive parenting in low-income mothers at 54 months, even when controlling for stability in these constructs. Children's effortful control at 42 months, but not parenting, positively predicted later language, suggesting that EC may play a mediating role in the relations between household chaos, as well as SES, and preschoolers' language abilities. Child sex did not moderate the pattern of relations. Post-hoc analyses also indicated that the negative relation between chaos and language was significant only for children who had low EC at 42 months. This study represents a much-needed addition to the currently limited longitudinal research examining environmental chaos and children's developmental outcomes. Importantly, findings from this study elucidate an important process underlying the links between chaos and children's language development, which can inform interventions and policies designed to support families and children living in chaotic home environments. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Family and Human Development 2012

abstract: This study examines the relations among three aspects of temperament (shyness, impulsivity, and effortful control), resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) recorded during a calming film and RSA suppression during three behavioral measures of effortful control, and adjustment (anxiety and externalizing behavior) in a sample of 101 preschool-age children. Principal components analysis was used to create composites for effortful control, shyness, impulsivity, anxiety, and externalizing behavior, and hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. As expected, baseline RSA was negatively related to effortful control in shy children, but was unrelated to effortful control in children who were not shy. It was hypothesized that high baseline RSA would reduce the relation between shyness and anxiety, and between impulsivity and externalizing behavior; this hypothesis was supported for externalizing behavior, but not for anxiety. The interaction between impulsivity and RSA as a predictor of externalizing was statistically independent of effortful control, indicating that these are unique effects. Finally, it was hypothesized that RSA suppression would be positively related to effortful control for children low, but not high, in shyness. There was a marginal interaction between shyness and RSA suppression, with RSA suppression marginally negatively related to EC for children low in shyness, but unrelated to effortful control for children high in shyness; the direction of this association was opposite predictions. These findings indicate that RSA is more strongly related to effortful control for children high in shyness, and that it consequently may not be appropriate to use RSA as an index of EC for all children. This study also draws attention to the need to consider the context in which baseline RSA is measured because a true baseline may not be obtained for shy children if RSA is measured in an unfamiliar laboratory context. The finding that high RSA moderated (but did not eliminate) the relation between impulsivity and externalizing behavior is consistent with the conceptualization of RSA as a measure of self-regulation, but further research is needed to clarify the mechanism underlying this effect. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2012

abstract: The moderating effects of five characteristics of peers--their effortful control, anger, sadness, aggression, and positive peer behavior--were investigated in two separate series of analyses of preschooler's social behavior: (a) the relation between children's own effortful control and social behavior, and (b) the relation between children's shyness and reticent behavior. Latent variable interactions were conducted in a structural equation framework. Peer context anger and effortful control, albeit with unexpected results, interacted with children's own characteristics to predict their behavior in both the EC and shy model series; these were the only significant interactions obtained for the EC model series. The relation between shyness and reticent behavior, however, showed the greatest impact of peer context and, conversely, the greatest susceptibility to environmental variations; significant interactions were obtained in all five models, despite the limited range of peer context sadness and aggression observed in this study. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2012

Aggression and violence are social behaviors that exact a significant toll on human societies. Individuals with aggressive tendencies display deficits in effortful control, particularly in affectively charged situations. However, not all individuals with poor effortful control are aggressive. This study uses event-related potentials (ERPs) to decompose the chronology of cognitive functions underlying the link between effortful control and aggression. Specifically, this study investigates which ERPs moderate the effortful control - aggression association. We examined three successive ERP components (P2, N2 and P3) for stimuli that required effortful control. Results indicated that N2 activation, but not P2 or P3 activation, moderated the relationship between effortful control and aggression. These effects were present in negative and neutral contexts. This moderating effect was consistent with previous studies linking neural processing efficiency with reduced activation during cognitive control tasks. Our results suggest that efficient cognitive processing moderates the association between effortful control and aggression.

Theory of Mind (ToM), a social cognitive skill defined as one's ability to attribute mental states to self and others, is considered key for a successful navigation of one's social world. Extensive research has elucidated the early developmental trajectory, predictors, correlates, and outcomes of ToM in the first five years of a child's life. By contrast, although ToM continues to develop beyond age five, and children increasingly begin to function in more complex and interconnected social ecologies, very little is known about ToM in middle childhood. The present study examines ToM development in middle childhood, using a new measure that is age appropriate, innovative, and embedded in the flow of a naturalistic social interaction. Drawing from rich behavioral and report data collected from children, parents, and teachers in a longitudinal study from toddlerhood to middle childhood, interpersonal factors (the child's relationships with the mother, father, and peers), and intrapersonal factors (temperament characteristic of effortful control) are systematically examined to predict individual differences in children's performance in the new ToM measure at age 10. Associations between children's ToM and their broadly ranging, concurrently assessed clinical symptoms are also examined. As a preliminary venture, using a small sample of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their caregivers, the present study also seeks to establish preliminary criterion validity for the new measure of ToM.

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