College of Education
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1647
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
Browse
10 results
Search Results
Item The Role of Effortful Control in Moderating the Relationship Between Temperamental Shyness, Fearfulness, and Internalizing Behaviors(2023) Zheng, Shanyun G; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Internalizing behaviors, such as anxiety and depression, have frequently been associated with temperament characteristics, specifically Behavioral Inhibition (BI) traits, such as Shyness and Fearfulness. While Effortful Control (EC) has been posited as a potential moderator in the relationship between heightened negative emotionality and Internalizing problems, empirical evidence precisely about BI remains inconclusive. This cross-sectional study investigated the role of Effortful Control and its sub-constructs (Attentional Focusing, Inhibitory Control, Low-intensity Pleasure, and Perceptual Sensitivity) in moderating the relation between Behavioral Inhibition (fear and shyness) and internalizing behaviors in a sample of 130 kindergarteners. The findings indicated that Behavioral Inhibition was significantly correlated with and predicted internalizing behaviors. However, no significant correlations were found between Effortful Control, its sub-constructs, and internalizing behaviors in this sample. Additionally, Effortful Control and its sub-constructs did not moderate the relationship between Behavioral Inhibition and internalizing behaviors.Item Are different temperament traits involved in adapting to routine and novel situations?(2021) Shoplik, Helena; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Individual differences in adaptability, defined as ease of responding to changes, was initially suggested as a temperamental disposition, observable during the first years of life (Thomas & Chess, 1977), but turned out to be a more complex phenomenon with contributions from multiple temperamental traits (Teglasi, 1998). Temperament traits contribute differently depending on the functional requirements of routine and familiar contexts for reactive and self-regulatory processes. The current study utilizes parent-reported temperament traits measured by the Structured Temperament Interview (STI) and by a well-respected temperament measure (the Child Behavior Questionnaire; CBQ), as well as correlates of adaptive responsiveness (e.g. social competence and emotion understanding) to highlight the role that emotions play in adjustment to familiar and novel contexts. Part of an archival data set, pre-schoolers’ parents completed the CBQ (Rothbart, et al., 2001) and the STI (Teglasi, unpublished) and reported how well their child adapted in novel and routine contexts. Children completed the Emotion Comprehension Test (ECT; Teglasi, unpublished) and teachers filled out the Social Competence Behavior Evaluation (SCBE; Freniere & Dumas, 1995). Results provided support for conceptualising temperament traits as working together like a team—the addition of one temperament trait can change the expression of another. Additionally, different traits emerged as unique predictors in novel and routine situations, even when controlling for the overlap between those situations and other traits. Finally, this study continued to expand on a new construct, Resistance to Emotional Attention, which captures the function of attention as it relates to emotional stimuli.Item THE MEDIATING EFFECTS OF THEORY OF MIND ON RELATIONS BETWEEN TEMPERAMENT AND SOCIAL COMPETENCE(2021) Caputo, Maryke Haasbroek; Teglasi, Hedwig; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)To better understand one mechanism by which social cognition affects social outcomes, the current study proposed that young children’s differences in temperament and Theory of Mind (ToM) contribute to teachers’ perceptions of their social competence (SC). Temperament refers to biologically based differences in behavioral regulation and reactivity, whereas ToM describes the process of inferring others’ mental states and making predictions about related behavior. This study examined the effects of ToM on relations between temperament and SC. Moreover, it expanded ToM measurement beyond traditional methods that explicitly provide the information required to correctly ascertain social cognitions (termed truth-based ToM) by introducing a novel approach to defining and measuring ToM that captures the individualistic process of inferring mental states without direct access to all relevant information (termed interpretation-based ToM). Two mediation models were proposed. The first hypothesized that both types of ToM would mediate relations between temperamental effortful control and SC. Results revealed a significant positive indirect effect for truth-based ToM, suggesting that effortful control positively influences truth-based ToM, which in turn positively influences SC. Results did not yield a significant indirect effect for interpretation-based ToM, suggesting that these may be multiply influenced. This was confirmed by the second model which illustrated connections between temperamental negative reactivity, ToM, and SC. It was hypothesized that interpretation-based ToM would mediate relations between negative affectivity and SC, with a moderating effect by effortful control. Results revealed a significant positive moderated indirect effect, suggesting that negative affectivity positively influences interpretation-based ToM, which in turn positively influences SC, specifically when effortful control is high. This study showcased a novel way to define and measure a subtype of ToM that captures the construct more broadly and may be more relevant when interpreting incomplete information than when all situational cues are explicitly provided. Moreover, results of the moderated mediation model illustrated the positive role of negative affectivity when paired with high effortful control in facilitating this more complex form of interpretation-based ToM and eventual SC. Implications of the findings for literature on ToM, temperament, and SC in young children are discussed.Item The Contributions of Temperament Traits to Regulatory Flexibility in Preschoolers: The Importance of Context(2019) Shoplik, Helena; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Regulatory flexibility is the ability to meet demands of a situation by modulating behavior, cognitions, or emotions. While flexibility has been studied in early childhood, the role of reactive and regulatory temperamental building blocks of flexibility to meet requirements of different contexts has not been investigated in preschoolers. Routine and novel contexts require very different skills to navigate appropriately. For example, different aspects of inhibition and modulation of behavior may come into play in familiar/routine and novel contexts such those that depart from expectations. The current study utilized a parent-report measure of temperament and of regulatory flexibility to address the unique contributions of selected temperamental attributes—including attention, sensitivity, and activity level—to regulatory flexibility. Because of its multi-faceted nature (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010), an in-depth examination of regulatory flexibility could provide a better understanding of how preschoolers meet the challenges that are introduced to them during this developmental period.Item The Distribution of Gender Differences in the Temperament and Social Competence of Preschoolers(2014) Schussler, Laura Elizabeth; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The literature has shown gender differences on many temperament and social competence (SC) measures, though there are gaps in understanding where differences lie and whether it varies by informant. This study investigated how temperament relates to SC and whether gender is a moderator. Rater source and the use of standardized versus raw scores and how they influence gender as a moderator was a main focus. Temperament was measured by the CBQ (Putnam & Rothbart, 2006) and the newly-developed CBQ, Teacher Form (CBQ-T; Teglasi, Schussler, & Gifford, under review). SC was measured by the SCBE (LaFreniere & Dumas, 1992), and all measures were administered to the parents and teachers of preschoolers (N = 113; M age = 57 months). For temperament, findings supported the fact that rater agreement is low and holds true for both genders. On the temperament scales on which parents significantly differed from teachers, parents tended to rate boys more favorably than teachers. The hypothesis that teacher ratings would yield more gender differences than parents was supported. There were also more differences in variability between genders for teacher ratings, revealing that teachers tended to provide more extreme ratings. Scales with distributional differences were ones that have consistently yielded gender differences. For SC, girls had significantly higher means on several scales with raw scores, and raw scores produced more temperament x gender interactions for parent ratings. Activity Level and Anger had opposite effects for gender with higher activity predicting higher SC for girls and lower SC for boys, and higher anger predicting higher SC for boys and lower SC for girls. On Sadness, there were opposite rater effects with Sadness positively associated with SC for parents and negatively associated for teachers. There were fewer gender differences for teachers when considering correlations of temperament and SC. Overall, findings support the importance of obtaining information from parents and teachers about children's temperament and SC. Moreover, these results suggest that raw SC scores are more useful than standard scores for studying relations between SC and temperament, particularly with parent raters. Shortcomings included a limited sample precluding full examination of distributional differences.Item THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR QUESTIONNAIRE, TEACHER VERSION (CBQ-T)(2012) Schussler, Laura Elizabeth; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Information is provided about the development of a teacher version of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire Short Form (CBQ Short Form; Putnam & Rothbart, 2006). The CBQ Short Form, designed for caregivers, was modified by changing the item wording for the preschool classroom and is termed the CBQ, Teacher Version (CBQ-T). Both measures were administered to the caregivers and teachers of preschoolers ages 3 to 6 years. The CBQ-T was found to be as reliable as the CBQ Short Form with two scales falling short of adequate internal consistency. Few correlations were found between parents and teachers in accord with literature documenting low to moderate agreement between the two raters. Several temperament scales were correlated with age for parents and teachers, none were correlated with gender as rated by parents, and several were correlated with gender as rated by teachers. Further validation of the CBQ-T with varying populations would be beneficial.Item The Relationship Between Temperament and Emotion Understanding in Preschoolers: An Examination of the Influence of Emotionality, Self-Regulation, and Attention(2010) Genova-Latham, Maria de los Angeles; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the links between temperament and emotion understanding in preschoolers. Temperamental facets of emotionality, attention, and self-regulation were utilized. Emotion understanding is the ability to identify feelings based on facial expressions, behaviors, or situations. Historically, temperamental variables and emotion understanding have been poorly defined, impacting the clarity of research findings. The Structured Temperament Interview (STI) measured facets of temperament and the Emotion Comprehension Test examined emotion understanding. Both measures offer clear definitions of their associated constructs. Additionally, principal components analyses were run on STI dimensions. Correlational analyses were run on the STI and Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), an established measure of temperament, to further determine the STI's utility as a measure of temperament. Results, though mixed, suggest that components of Attention and Emotionality from the STI explain a great deal of the variance in ECT scale scores.Item Paths to compliance: Differing influences of maternal behavior in temperamentally fearful and exuberant infants(2007-04-15) Ghera, Melissa Marie; Fox, Nathan A; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The goal of this study was to describe the expression of compliance in temperamentally positive and negatively reactive children and the factors that contribute to individual differences in expression of compliance within and between these groups. As part of a larger project examining temperament over time, 244 infants and their mothers were evaluated at 9- and 36-months of age. At 9 months of age, maternal responsiveness and sensitivity (see Kochanska, 1998) were evaluated and infants underwent the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB; Goldsmith and Rothbart, 1999), while mothers and infants were jointly evaluated for expression of mutually positive affect (Kochanska, 1998). At 36 months, maternal discipline and child compliance were observed in the home (see Kochanska & Aksan, 1995). Regardless of temperament, children displayed more situational compliance during a forbidden toy paradigm as compared to a clean-up context. During forbidden toy, temperamentally positive children displayed more situational compliance than their negative counterparts, while no such differences were found during clean-up. Structural equation modeling techniques revealed differential contributors to the display of compliance based on child temperament and context of interaction. During clean-up, no direct contributors to the display of compliance were found for temperamentally positive children; however avoidant behavior on the part of the child led to suboptimal maternal behavior. For temperamentally negative children, approach behaviors were associated with more optimal maternal behavior. Maternal responsiveness led to increased situational compliance for these children. In the forbidden toy context, the path from avoidance to affect was significant and negative for both temperamentally reactive groups. For temperamentally negative children, increased avoidant behavior was associated with decreased gentle discipline, while approach behaviors were associated with increased gentle discipline. Additionally, any type of discipline, gentle or punitive, was significantly, negatively predictive of committed compliance. For temperamentally positive children, displays of avoidance decreased displays of mutually positive affect. Also, use of gentle discipline was significantly, inversely related to child displays of committed compliance, as well as significantly, positively related to their displays of situational compliance. Discipline also mediated the relation between affect and compliance, as well as responsiveness and compliance, for the temperamentally positive group.Item Characteristics of Exuberance: Novelty-Seeking, Sociability or Emotion?(2006-04-25) Toste, Cindy Polak; Fox, Nathan; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Current theories of temperament posit that individual differences in activity, reactivity, emotionality, sociability and self-regulation arise from biologically based systems and that these differences remain relatively stable over the lifespan (Goldsmith et al., 1987). One temperamental profile, Exuberance, has emerged from both conceptual and empirical work. Exuberance has been variously conceptualized in the extant temperament literature and has been associated with both positive and negative socio-emotional outcomes in children. In order to ascertain the impact of Exuberance on later adaptation, the first major goal of the current study was to identify its core features. The second major goal of the study was to examine the relations between Exuberance and later adaptation. Sixty toddlers and their caregivers participated in the study. At 24-months toddlers were invited to interact with a variety of novelty social and non-social stimuli and their caregivers were asked to complete the Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire (TBAQ; Goldsmith, 1996). When the toddlers were 36-months old, caregivers were asked to complete the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/1.5-5; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) and the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Battery (ITSEA; Carter & Briggs-Gowan, 2003). Separate confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the factor structure of Exuberance and Sociability and to examine the relations between Exuberance and behavioral inhibition. Findings supported an orthogonal two-factor of Sociability (i.e. quality of attachment to caregiver and sociability with an unfamiliar adult) and an orthogonal two-factor model of Exuberance (i.e. novelty-seeking and sociability with an unfamiliar adult). The current study also lent support for the distinctiveness of Exuberance (i.e. novelty-seeking and sociability with an unfamiliar adult) from behavioral inhibition. Also, little convergence between the scale items from the TBAQ and behavioral observations of Exuberance was found. Emotion regulation was found to predict both positive and negative adaptation and to mediate the relations between novelty-seeking and later positive and negative adaptation. Also, novelty-seeking predicted later externalizing problems. Taken together, these findings indicate the need for examining the unique facets of Exuberance in order to understand the impact of this temperamental profile on later social and emotional development.Item Correlates of Social Competence at Age Two: The Roles of Temperament and Maternal Style(2005-05-02) Purple, Margro Anne; Rubin, Kenneth H; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The roles of temperament and parenting in the development of social competence at age two years were examined. Toddlers (N=108; 54 girls) and their mothers participated in a laboratory assessment of temperament and observation of mother-toddler interaction during structured and unstructured free play. Additionally, mothers completed the Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire (Goldsmith, 1988) and the Child Rearing Practices Q-Sort (Block, 1981). Mother-toddler dyads returned to the laboratory for an observed session of play with an unfamiliar, same-age, same-sex peer. Indices of maternal style and temperament based on questionnaire and observational data from the first session were used to predict socially competent behavior with the peer during the second session. The results supported a trend indicating that toddlers who displayed low levels of distress (e.g. anger and whininess) spent a moderate amount of time engaged in socially competent peer play as compared to toddlers who displayed greater distress in said task.