Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:59:18.722Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The development of emotional and behavioral self-regulation and social competence among maltreated school-age children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Ann M. Shields ,
Dante Cicchetti  and
Richard M. Ryan
Ann M. Shields*
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Dante Cicchetti*
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Richard M. Ryan
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Ann M. Shields or Dante Cicchetti, Mt. Hope Family Center, 187 Edinburgh Streetm Rochesterr, NY 14608.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Ann M. Shields or Dante Cicchetti, Mt. Hope Family Center, 187 Edinburgh Streetm Rochesterr, NY 14608.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Behavioral and emotional self-regulation are important aspects of competence in school-age children. Despite the apparent interrelatedness of behavioral and affective processes, empirical approaches to the development of self-regulation typically have investigated these systems separately. As a result, their relative effects upon social competence remain, for the most part, an open question. This study, working from an organizational and developmental psychopathology perspective, attempted to investigate developmental processes that place maltreated children at risk for impaired peer relationships by assessing the independent and relative influences of behavioral and emotional regulation on social competence in school-age children. Subjects were maltreated children, who are at risk for both attenuated self-regulation and impaired peer relationships, and economically disadvantaged nonmaltreated comparison children. Observations were conducted during a summer day camp, an ecologically valid context in which to study children's social interactions. As predicted, maltreated children were found to be deficient in behavioral and affective regulation, relative to nonmaltreated children.

Furthermore, attenuated self-regulation mediated the effects of maltreatment on children's social competence. Results highlighted the unique contributions of both behavior and affect in predicting peer competence, suggesting that a more comprehensive approach to the study of self-regulation is warranted.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , Winter 1994 , pp. 57 - 75
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aber, J. L., Allen, J. P., Carlson, V., & Cicchetti, D. (1989). The effects of maltreatment on development during early childhood: Recent studies and their theoretical, clinical, and policy implications. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 579–619). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. S. (1981). Behavioral problems and competencies reported by parents of normal and disturbed children aged 4 through 16. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 46(Serial No. 188).Google Scholar
Alessandri, S. M. (1991). Play and social behavior in maltreated preschoolers. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 191–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asher, S. R., & Coie, J. D. (Eds.). (1990). Peer rejection in childhood. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Barnett, D., Manly, J. T., & Cicchetti, D. (1993). Defining child maltreatment: The interface between policy and research. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Advances in applied developmental psychology: Vol. S. Child abuse, child development, and social policy (pp. 7–73). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Block, J. H., & Block, J. (1969). The California Child Q-Set. Institute of Human Development, University of California Berkeley.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1984). The emergence of developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 1–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D. (1990). The organization and coherence of socioemotional, cognitive, and representational development: Illustrations through a developmental psychopathology perspective on Down Syndrome and child maltreatment. In Thompson, R. (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 36. Socioemotional development (pp. 259–366) Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1991). Fractures in the crystal: Developmental psychopathology and the emergence of self. Developmental Review, 11, 271–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (in press). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflections, projections. Developmental Review.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Barnett, D. (1991). Attachment organization in preschool aged maltreated children. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 397–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Carlson, V. (Eds.). (1989). Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Ganiban, J., & Barnett, D. (1991). Contributions from the study of high risk populations to understanding the development of emotion regulation. In Garber, J. & Dodge, K. (Eds.), The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation (pp. 15–48). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Lynch, M., Shonk, S., & Manly, J. (1992). An organizational perspective on peer relations in maltreated children. In Parke, R. D. & Ladd, G. W. (Eds.), Family-peer relationships: Modes of linkage (pp. 345–383). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Manly, J. T. (1990). A personal perspective on conducting research with maltreating families: Problems and solutions. In Brody, E. & Sigel, I. (Eds.), Family research: Vol. 2. Families at risk (pp. 87–133). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rizley, R. (1981). Developmental perspectives on the etiology, intergenerational transmission, and sequelae of child maltreatment. In Rizley, R. & Cicchetti, D. (Eds.), Developmental perspectives on child maltreatment (pp. 32–59). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A., Lynch, M., & Holt, K. D. (1993). Resilience in maltreated children: Processes leading to adaptive outcome. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 629–647.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Schneider-Rosen, K. (1986). An organizational approach to childhood depression. In Rutter, M., Izard, C., & Read, P. (Eds.), Depression in young people: Clinical and developmental perspectives (pp. 71–134). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Sroufe, L. A. (1978). An organizational view of affect: Illustration from the study of Down's syndrome infants. In Lewis, M. & Rosenblum, L. (Eds.), The development of affect (pp. 309–350). New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Coie, P. M., Dodge, K. A., & Coppotelli, H. (1982). Dimensions and types of social status: A cross-age perspective. Developmental Psychology, 18, 557–570.Google Scholar
Cole, P. M., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (1992). Emotional dysregulation in disruptive behavior disorders. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology: Vol. 4, Developmental perspectives on depression (pp. 173–210). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.Google Scholar
Conaway, L. P., & Hansen, D. J. (1989). Social behavior of physically abused and neglected children: A critical review. Clinical Psychology Review, 9, 627–652.Google Scholar
Denham, S. A. (1986). Social cognition, prosocial behavior, and emotion in preschoolers: Contextual validation. Child Development, 57, 194–201.Google Scholar
Denham, S. A., & Holt, R. W. (1993). Preschoolers' likability as cause or consequence of their social behavior. Developmental Psychology, 29, 271–275.Google Scholar
Denham, S. A., McKinley, M., Couchoud, E. A., & Holt, R. (1990). Emotional and behavioral predictors of preschool peer ratings. Child Development, 61, 1145–1152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dodge, K. A. (1983). Behavioral antecedents of peer social status. Child Development, 54, 1386–1399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodge, K. A. (1986). A social information processing model of social competence in children. In Perl-mutter, M. (Ed.), Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology: Vol. 18. Cognitive perspectives on children's social and behavioral development (pp. 77–125). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Dodge, K. A., & Coie, J. D. (1987). Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1146–1158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dodge, K. A., Coie, J. D., Pettit, G. S., & Price, J. M. (1990). Peer status and aggression in boys' groups: Developmental and contextual analyses. Child Development, 61, 1289–1309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Carlo, G., & Karbon, M. (1992). Emotional responsitivity to others: Behavioral correlates and socialization antecedents. In N. Eisenberg & R. A. Fabes (Eds.), New directions for child development, 55, 57–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, N., & Mussen, P. H. (1989). The roots of prosocial behavior in children. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1975). Unmasking the face: A guide to recognizing emotions from facial cues. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists' Press.Google Scholar
Erickson, M. F., Egeland, B., & Pianta, R. (1989). The effects of maltreatment on the development of young children. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 647–684). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagot, B. I., Hagan, R., Youngblade, L. M., & Potter, L. (1989). A comparison of the play behaviors of sexually abused, physically abused and nonabused preschool children. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 9, 88–100.Google Scholar
George, C., & Main, M. (1979). Social interactions of young abused children: Approach, avoidance, and aggression. Child Development, 50, 306–318.Google Scholar
Gralinski, J. H., & Kopp, C. B. (1993). Everyday rules for behavior: Mothers' requests to young children. Developmental Psychology, 29, 573–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haskett, M. E., & Kistner, J. A. (1991). Social interactions and peer perceptions of young physically abused children. Child Development, 62, 979–990.Google Scholar
Herrenkohl, R. C., & Herrenkohl, E. C. (1981). Some antecedents and developmental consequences of child maltreatment. In Rizley, R. & Cicchetti, D. (Eds.), Developmental perspectives on child maltreatment (pp. 57–76). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Howes, C., & Eldredge, R. (1985). Responses of abused, neglected, and non-maltreated children to the behaviors of their peers. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 6, 261–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howes, C., & Espinosa, M. P. (1985). The consequences of child abuse for the formation of relationships with peers. Child Abuse and Neglect, 9, 397–404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Izard, C. (Ed.). (1982). Measuring emotions in infants and children. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jacobson, R. S., & Straker, G. (1982). Peer group interaction of physically abused children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 6, 321–327.Google Scholar
Kaufman, J., & Cicchetti, D. (1989). Effects of maltreatment on school-age children's socioemotional development: Assessments in a day-camp setting. Developmental Psychology, 25, 516–524.Google Scholar
Kazdin, A., Moser, J., Colbus, D., & Bell, R. (1985). Depressive symptoms among physically abused and psychiatrically disturbed children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94, 298–307.Google Scholar
Klimes-Dougan, B., & Kistner, J. (1990). Physically abused preschoolers' responses to peer distress. Developmental Psychology, 26, 599–602.Google Scholar
Kopp, C. B. (1989). Regulation of distress and negative emotions: A developmental view. Developmental Psychology, 25, 343–354.Google Scholar
Kopp, C. B. (1992). Emotional distress and control in young children. In N. Eisenberg & R. A. Fabes (Eds.), New directions for child development, 55, 41–56.Google Scholar
Kuezynski, L., & Kochanska, G. (1990). Development of children's noncompliance strategies from tod-dlerhood to age 5. Developmental Psychology, 26, 398–408.Google Scholar
Kuezynski, L., & Kochanska, G., Radke-Yarrow, M., & Girnius-Brown, D. (1987). A developmental interpretation of young children's noncompliance. Developmental Psychology, 23, 799–806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, M. L., & Schaeffer, S. (1981). Peer behavior and mother-infant interaction. In Lewis, M. L. & Schaeffer, S. (Eds.), The uncommon child (pp. 193–223). New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Main, M., & George, C. (1985). Responses of abused and disadvantaged toddlers to distress in agemates: A study in the day care setting. Developmental Psychology, 21, 407–412.Google Scholar
Mueller, E. & Silverman, N. (1989). Peer relations in maltreated children. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 529–578). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Parten, M. (1933). Social play among preschool children. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 28, 136–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogosch, F. A., & Cicchetti, D. (in press). Illustrating the interface of family and peer relations through the study of child maltreatment. Social Development.Google Scholar
Rubin, K. H., Hymel, S., Mills, R. S. L., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (1991). Conceptualizing different developmental pathways to and from social isolation in childhood. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psycho-pathology: Vol. 2. Internalizing and externalizing expressions of dysfunction (pp. 91–122). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Salzinger, S., Feldman, R. S., Hammer, M., & Rosario, M. (1993). The effects of physical abuse on children's social relationships. Child Development, 64, 169–187.Google Scholar
Salzinger, S., Kaplan, S., Pelcovitz, D., Samit, C., & Krieger, R. (1984). Parent and teacher assessment of children's behavior in child maltreating families. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 23, 458–464.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scherer, K. (1979). Acoustic concomitants of emotional dimensions: Judging affect from synthesized tone segments. In Weitz, S. (Ed.), Nonverbal communication: Readings with commentary (pp. 105–111). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A. (1989). Relationships, self and individual adaptation. In Sameroff, A. J. & Emde, R. N. (Eds.), Relationship disturbances in early childhood: A developmental approach (pp. 70–94). New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A. (1990). An organizational perspective on the self. In Cicchetti, D. & Beeghly, M. (Eds.), The self in transition: Infancy to childhood (pp. 281–307). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., & Rutter, M. (1984). The domain of developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 17–29.Google Scholar
Thompson, R. A. (1990). Emotion and self-regulation. In Thompson, R. (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 36. Socioemotional development (pp. 367–467). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Toth, S. L., Manly, J., & Cicchetti, D. (1992). Child maltreatment and vulnerability to depression. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 97–112.Google Scholar
Troy, M., & Sroufe, L. A. (1987). Victimization among preschoolers: Role of attachment relationship history. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 166–172.Google Scholar
Vaughn, B. E., Kopp, C. B., & Krakow, J. B. (1984). The emergence and consolidation of self-control from eighteen to thirty months of age: Normative trends and individual differences. Child Development, 55, 990–1004.Google Scholar
Waters, E., Noyes, D., Vaughn, B., & Ricks, M. (1985). Q-sort definitions of social competence and self esteem: Discriminant validity of related constructs in theory and data. Developmental Psychology, 21, 508–522.Google Scholar
Werner, H., & Kaplan, B. (1963). Symbol formation: An organismic, developmental approach to language and the expression of thought. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Wright, J. (1983). The structure and perception of behavioral consistency. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.Google Scholar