Sanghag Kim

Background: Bowlby's concept of attachment as a biobehavioral proximity‐regulating system providing infants with confidence in protection and support for exploration has been expanded to include early security's legacy for socialization processes. We report a continued programmatic effort to replicate our model of security as a potent catalyst moderating common maladaptive longitudinal cascades from early child difficulty to increased parental power assertion to externalizing developmental outcomes. We elucidate the multifinality of sequelae that can unfold from early child difficulty. Our moderated mediation model proposes that such cascades occur only in parent–child dyads with histories of insecure attachment in infancy; early security buffers those risks. Methods: Children and Parents Study (CAPS) included 200 community mothers, fathers, and children from the U.S. Midwest. At 16 months ( N = 194, 93 girls), we observed children's early difficulty (anger dysregulation) and security with each parent in the Strange Situation Paradigm. At 38 months (age 3, N = 175, 86 girls), we observed parents' power‐assertive control. At 52 months (age 4.5, N = 177, 86 girls), we observed children's poor self‐regulation and violations of conduct rules and obtained parents' reports of children's disruptive behavior. Results: For mothers and children, the indirect effects of early anger dysregulation at 16 months on all three outcomes at age 4.5, mediated via increased power assertion at age 3, were present only in insecure dyads, as reflected in significant moderated mediation. Comprehensive analysis that integrated all three outcomes further supported the robust moderating effect of early security for the entire developmental path from anger dysregulation to power assertion to child outcomes, and for each segment of that path. There were no findings for fathers. Conclusions: We discuss the critical importance – and challenges – of replicating models of complex longitudinal cascades when elucidating multifinality throughthe lens unique to developmental psychology and psychopathology.

Background. Bowlby’s concept of attachment as a biobehavioral proximity-regulating system providing infants with confidence in protection and support for exploration has been expanded to include early security’s legacy for socialization processes. We report a continued programmatic effort to replicate our model of security as a potent catalyst moderating common maladaptive longitudinal cascades from early child difficulty to increased parental power assertion to externalizing developmental outcomes. We elucidate multifinality of sequelae that can unfold from early child difficulty. Our moderated mediation model proposes that such cascades occur only in parent-child dyads with histories of insecure attachment in infancy; early security buffers those risks. Methods. Children and Parents Study (CAPS) included 200 community mothers, fathers, and children from the U.S. Midwest. At 16 months (N = 194, 93 girls), we observed children’s early difficulty (anger dysregulation), and security with each parent in Strange Situation Paradigm. At 38 months (age 3, N = 175, 86 girls), we observed parents’ power-assertive control. At 52 months (age 4.5, N = 177, 86 girls), we observed children’s poor self-regulation and violations of conduct rules and obtained parents’ reports of children’s disruptive behavior. Results. For mothers and children, the indirect effects of early anger dysregulation at 16 months on all three outcomes at age 4.5, mediated via increased power assertion at age 3, were present only in insecure dyads, as reflected in significant moderated mediation. Comprehensive analysis that integrated all three outcomes further supported the robust moderating effect of early security for the entire developmental path from anger dysregulation to power assertion to child outcomes, and for each segment of that path. There were no findings for fathers. Conclusions. We discuss critical importance – and challenges – of replicating models of complex longitudinal cascades when elucidating multifinality through the lens unique to developmental psychology and psychopathology.

Background. Bowlby’s concept of attachment as a biobehavioral proximity-regulating system providing infants with confidence in protection and support for exploration has been expanded to include early security’s legacy for socialization processes. We report a continued programmatic effort to replicate our model of security as a potent catalyst moderating common maladaptive longitudinal cascades from early child difficulty to increased parental power assertion to externalizing developmental outcomes. We elucidate multifinality of sequelae that can unfold from early child difficulty. Our moderated mediation model proposes that such cascades occur only in parent-child dyads with histories of insecure attachment in infancy; early security buffers those risks.Methods. Children and Parents Study (CAPS) included 200 community mothers, fathers, and children from the U.S. Midwest. At 16 months (N = 194, 93 girls), we observed children’s early difficulty (anger dysregulation), and security with each parent in Strange Situation Paradigm. At 38 months (age 3, N = 175, 86 girls), we observed parents’ power-assertive control. At 52 months (age 4.5, N = 177, 86 girls), we observed children’s poor self-regulation and violations of conduct rules and obtained parents’ reports of children’s disruptive behavior. Results. For mothers and children, the indirect effects of early anger dysregulation at 16 months on all three outcomes at age 4.5, mediated via increased power assertion at age 3, were present only in insecure dyads, as reflected in significant moderated mediation. Comprehensive analysis that integrated all three outcomes further supported the robust moderating effect of early security for the entire developmental path from anger dysregulation to power assertion to child outcomes, and for each segment of that path. There were no findings for fathers.Conclusions. We discuss critical importance – and challenges – of replicating models of complex longitudinal cascades when elucidating multifinality through the lens unique to developmental psychology and psychopathology.

Stress is a complex factor that simultaneously triggers both psychological and physiological changes in humans. However, research on the relationship between the psychological and physiological aspects of stress has been limited. This study assessed psychological factors related to stress using stress questionnaires and evaluated the physiological aspects of stress reactivity and recovery based on the examined characteristics. We administered questionnaires including Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) to a group of 56 police officers. We also performed stress-inducing experiments, which consisted of the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) and watching a horror movie. During the stress-inducing experiments, the police officers used wearable sensors to extract heart rate variability (HRV) and we recorded physiological changes through an electrocardiogram (ECG) and electrodermal activity (EDA) signals. We grouped the participants into three groups based on the PSS and CD-RISC scores and analyzed the differences in stress reactivity during stress situations and stress recovery following stress situations among the groups. The results revealed that in the PSS groups, higher perceived stress levels were associated with a decrease in stress reactivity, as indicated by reductions in EDA parameters (SCR std and SCR amplitude) during acute stress situations. In contrast, in the CD-RISC groups, higher resilience levels were associated with increased stress recovery, as indicated by improved recovery abilities in HRV parameters (HR, pNN30, and pNN50) following acute stress situations. The findings of this study provide insights into the physiological changes of the autonomic nervous system based on the psychological factors related to stress in healthy individuals. This research may contribute to future personalized psychological stress assessments.

Mental stress is on the rise as one of the major health problems in modern society. It is important to detect and manage mental stress to prevent various diseases caused by stress and to maintain a healthy life. The purpose of this paper is to present new heart rate variability (HRV) features based on empirical mode decomposition and to detect acute mental stress through short-term HRV (5 min) and ultra-short-term HRV (under 5 min) analysis. HRV signals were acquired from 74 young police officers using acute stressors, including the Trier Social Stress Test and horror movie viewing, and a total of 26 features, including the proposed IMF energy features and general HRV features, were extracted. A support vector machine (SVM) classification model is used to classify the stress and non-stress states through leave-one-subject-out cross-validation. The classification accuracies of short-term HRV and ultra-short-term HRV analysis are 86.5% and 90.5%, respectively. In the results of ultra-short-term HRV analysis using various time lengths, we suggest the optimal duration to detect mental stress, which can be applied to wearable devices or healthcare systems.

This study explores gender preference for children in South Korea, where a strong, traditional son preference has recently shifted to a greater preference for daughters or no preference. Using data from the 2008 Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC; N = 1,836) and 2012 Korean General Social Survey (KGSS; N = 1,355), we examined social and attitudinal correlates of child gender preference, including kinship patterns, perceived prospects for the future, and attitudes about the value of children, including potentially gendered expectations. Logistic regressions of child gender preference showed that mothers receiving support from maternal grandparents reported lower son preference (PSKC). Attitudes about both the instrumental (social, economic) and emotional value of children were also related to son preference. In the KGSS, individuals who preferred sons reported more traditional gender attitudes, positive future prospects, and greater expectations of help in old age and were more likely to be men, older, rural, or Buddhist. There were few differences between those who favored a daughter compared to no preference. Overall, the decline in son preference appears to reflect shifts in intergenerational relations and societal changes that have redefined the meaning and value of children in the context of economic uncertainties, very low fertility, and population aging.

Research inspired by ecological perspectives has amply documented broad effects of the family's sociodemographic resources on children's outcomes, with parents’ young age, low education, and low income considered risk factors. Typically, sociodemographic characteristics have been studied as influencing child outcomes either directly or indirectly through parenting. We tested a more nuanced longitudinal model in a community sample of 102 infants, mothers, and fathers. We conceptualized family sociodemographic resources, measured as a composite of parents’ ages, education, and income, as moderating developmental cascades from children's hard-to-manage temperament to parental power-assertive control to children's disruptive behavior problems. Children's temperament measures encompassed proneness to anger and inability to delay, observed at 2 and 3 years in standard laboratory episodes. We observed parents’ control at 4.5 and 5.5 years in lengthy naturalistic prohibition paradigms, and obtained parental ratings of children's disruptive behavior at 6.5 and 8 years. As expected, moderated mediation analyses, covarying stability of children's difficulty and parental control, revealed that the cascade from hard-to-manage temperament to child behavior problems, mediated by parental power-assertive control, was present in families with relatively more disadvantaged sociodemographic characteristics, or fewer resources, but absent in families with more advantageous sociodemographic features, or more resources. The findings were parallel for mother– and father–child dyads.

Despite emotion researchers' strong interest in empathy and its implications for prosocial functioning, surprisingly few studies have examined parent-child attachment as a context for early origins of empathy in young children. Consequently, empirical evidence on links among children's attachment, empathy, and prosociality is thin and inconsistent. We examined such links in 2 longitudinal studies of community families (Family Study, N = 101 mothers, fathers, and children, 14 to 80 months; Parent-Child Study, mothers and children, N = 108, 15 to 45 months) and a study of low-income, diverse mothers and toddlers (Play Study, N = 186, 30 months). Children's security was assessed in Strange Situation in infancy and rated by observers and mothers using Attachment Q-Set at toddler age. Children's empathy was observed in scripted probes that involved parental simulated distress. Children's prosociality was rated by parents (Family Study, Play Study). Security with mothers related to higher empathy. For mother- and father-child dyads, security moderated the path from empathy to prosociality. For insecure children, but not secure ones, variations in empathy related to prosociality. Insecure and unempathic children were particularly low in prosociality. (PsycINFO Database Record

A developmental cascade from positive early parent–child relationship to child security with the parent to adaptive socialization outcomes, proposed in attachment theory and often implicitly accepted but rarely formally tested, was examined in 100 mothers, fathers, and children followed from toddler age to preadolescence. Parent–child Mutually Responsive Orientation (MRO) was observed in lengthy interactions at 38, 52, 67, and 80 months; children reported their security with parents at age eight. Socialization outcomes (parent- and child-reported cooperation with parental monitoring and teacher-reported school competence) were assessed at age 10. Mediation was tested with PROCESS. The parent–child history of MRO significantly predicted both mother–child and father–child security. For mother–child dyads, security mediated links between history of MRO and cooperation with maternal monitoring and school competence, controlling for developmental continuity of the studied constructs. For father–child dyads, the mediation effect was not evident.

Parental power assertion, a key dimension of family environment, generally sets in motion detrimental developmental cascades; however, evidence suggests that other qualities of parenting, such as responsiveness, can significantly moderate those processes. Mechanisms that account for such moderating effects are not fully understood. We propose a conceptual model of processes linking parental power assertion, parental responsiveness, children's negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the parent, and behavior problems. We test that model in a short-term longitudinal design involving 186 low-income, ethnically diverse mothers and their toddlers. When children were 30 months, the dyads were observed in multiple, lengthy, naturalistic laboratory interactions to assess behaviorally mothers' responsiveness and their power-assertive control style. At 33 months, we observed behavioral indicators of children's negative, adversarial, rejecting orientation toward the mothers in several naturalistic and standardized paradigms. At 40 months, mothers rated children's behavior problems. The proposed moderated mediation sequence, tested using a new approach, PROCESS (Hayes, 2013), was supported. The indirect effect from maternal power assertion to children's negative, adversarial orientation to future behavior problems was present when mothers' responsiveness was either low or average but absent when mothers were highly responsive. This study elucidates a potential process that may link parental power assertion with behavior problems and highlights how positive aspects of parenting can moderate this process and defuse maladaptive developmental cascades. It also suggests possible targets for parenting intervention and prevention efforts.