Annie Bernier
Biographic Data
| ID | 322069 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Annie Bernier |
| GIVEN NAMES | Annie |
| FAMILY NAME | Bernier |
| SIGNATURE | BERNIER A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Université de Montréal |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2359-9808 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 139 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 41 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
From Mother–Child Attachment Security in Toddlerhood to Moral Reasoning in Adolescence: The Moderating Role of Child Temperamental Fearfulness
Several studies suggest that parent–child relationship quality interacts with child fearful temperament in predicting early stages of moral development. However, less is known about these interactive effects in relation to developmentally advanced moral constructs that are salient in adolescence, such as moral reasoning. This longitudinal study examined the prospective association between mother–child attachment security in early childhood and mo…
Developmental Progression of Perceived Gender Similarity in Early Adolescence
This study aimed to examine the developmental progression of gender similarity, an important aspect of gender identity, in early adolescence. At 11 ( M age = 11.01) and 14 years of age ( M age = 14.00), 156 youths (77 girls, 76 boys, 2 transgender boys, 1 gender fluid participant) reported on their perceived own-gender and other-gender similarity levels. Latent change score models suggested that mean levels of own-gender similarity remained stabl…
Longitudinal associations between the quality of family interactions and school‐age children's narrative abilities in the context of financial insecurity
This longitudinal study investigates whether the quality of family interactions at 3–5 years of age predicts narrative abilities in 7–9‐year‐old children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. The sample consists of 67 children and their parents receiving social welfare. Family interactions were filmed during mealtime at home and coded using the Mealtime Interaction Coding System . Children's narrative abilities were measured based on the…
Maternal and paternal parenting stress: Direct and interactive associations with child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems
Marital satisfaction, parenting stress, and family alliance: Parental perspective taking as a moderator
Research has shown that family alliance (FA), operationalized as the quality of mother–father‐child triadic interactions, is important for child socioemotional development. However, few studies have investigated the predictors of FA, and there are few longitudinal studies available. Accordingly, this study first examined whether mothers' and fathers' marital satisfaction and parenting stress during infancy predicted FA five years later, when thei…
Paternal mind-mindedness and children’s academic achievement: Investigating developmental processes
This study tested a 5-year sequential mediation model linking paternal mind-mindedness in toddlerhood to child early academic achievement through a developmental process unfolding in the preschool years. A sample of 128 mostly White middle-class families (68 girls) living in Montreal, Canada was assessed for paternal mind-mindedness when children were 18 months old, child language at age 2, theory of mind and effortful control at age 4, cognitive…
Toward a Better Understanding of the Associations Among Different Measures of Father Involvement and Parenting Alliance
The variety of measurement methods used in fathering research to assess fathers' involvement makes it difficult to summarize what we know about paternal involvement and its correlates and antecedents. Aiming to shed light on the potential consequences of using different measures of paternal involvement, this study examined: (a) the associations among three measures of father participation in parental activities, namely self- and mother-reported q…
Trajectory of quality of mother‐child interactions: Prospective links with child socioemotional functioning
Research shows that the quality of mother‐child interactions is a robust antecedent of child socioemotional functioning. Yet, relatively little is known about the evolution of this relational quality over time, and even less about how changes in relational quality may bear on child adjustment. This study aimed to describe the trajectory of quality of mother‐child interactions between ages 2 and 7 and to investigate associations between individual…
Mother–child interactions and child anger proneness as antecedents of changes in sleep during the preschool period
Age-related developments in sleep during the preschool years are normative and consequential. Yet, very few studies have examined the antecedents of individual differences in such developments, and most have used parental reports of child sleep. This study aimed to investigate the roles of mutual responsiveness in mother-child interactions and child temperamental anger proneness in the prediction of changes in sleep during the preschool period. T…
Further evidence for the multidimensional nature of maternal sensitivity: Differential links with child socioemotional functioning at preschool age
There has been increasing scholarly attention to the study of maternal sensitivity as a multidimensional construct. This report investigated the predictive value of three dimensions of sensitivity during mother–infant interactions in an effort to gain greater understanding of how specific facets of sensitivity relate to child socioemotional outcomes. Maternal cooperation/attunement (accurate interpretation of infant cues and capacity to adjust th…
Early maternal autonomy support as a predictor of child internalizing and externalizing behavior trajectories across early childhood
This study investigated the contribution of early maternal autonomy support in the prediction of developmental patterns of change in child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems from 2 to 7 years of age. The participants were 130 mother‐child dyads drawn from a community sample. Data were collected at four‐time points. Maternal sensitivity and autonomy support were assessed observationally at 12 and 15 months, respectively, child tempe…
Parent–child interactions as predictors of coparenting: A longitudinal study of family subsystems
Family systems theory suggests that the family is an organized system in which different subsystems influence each other within and across levels, such as across dyadic and higher-order family-level systems. It is therefore expected that dyadic mother – child and father – child relationships contribute to shape relational processes that take place at the triadic mother – father – child level. Consequently, this study examined whether the quality …
Paternal mind-mindedness and child executive functioning in the kindergarten classroom
From Early Relationships to Preacademic Knowledge: A Sociocognitive Developmental Cascade to School Readiness
This study aimed to test a four-wave sequential mediation model linking mother–child attachment to children's school readiness through child executive functioning (EF) and prosociality in toddlerhood and the preschool years. Mother–child attachment security was assessed when children (N = 255) were aged 15 months and 2 years, child EF at age 2, prosocial behavior at age 4, and finally cognitive school readiness in kindergarten (age 6). The result…
Mother–Infant Interaction and Child Brain Morphology: A Multidimensional Approach to Maternal Sensitivity
Emerging research suggests that normative variation in parenting quality relates to children's brain development. However, although the young brain is presumed to be especially sensitive to environmental influence, to our knowledge only two studies have examined parenting quality with infants as it relates to indicators of brain development, and both were cross‐sectional. This longitudinal study investigated whether different components of matern…
Mother–Child Relationships and Children’s Psychosocial Functioning: The Specific Roles of Attachment Security and Maternal Behavior
SYNOPSISObjective. This paper aimed to examine the contributions of a second assessment time point of attachment security, along with assessments of maternal behavior (sensitivity and autonomy support), to the prediction of children’s behavior problems. Design. Maternal behavior and mother–child attachment were assessed in 73 mother–child dyads when children were between 15 months and 26 months old. Children’s internalizing and externalizing prob…
Child temperamental anger, mother–child interactions, and socio-emotional functioning at school entry
Twenty years of research on parental mind-mindedness: Empirical findings, theoretical and methodological challenges, and new directions
Associations between sleep consolidation in infancy and peer relationships in middle childhood
Sleep plays an important role in many aspects of children's development. Research on children's sleep and their peer relationships has begun to emerge in the last years. However, these studies are mostly cross‐sectional. The current study aimed to investigate the associations between infant sleep and peer relationships in middle childhood. The sample comprised 72 children. Sleep was measured at 1 year using a sleep diary completed by mothers. In …
Maternal mind-mindedness and children’s school readiness: A longitudinal study of developmental processes
This study aimed to test a 5-wave sequential mediation model linking maternal mind-mindedness during infancy to children's school readiness in kindergarten through a serial mediation involving child language and effortful control in toddlerhood and the preschool years. Among a sample of 204 mother-child dyads, we assessed maternal mind-mindedness when children were aged 1 year, child expressive vocabulary at age 2, effortful control at ages 3 and…
Deconstructing maternal sensitivity: Predictive relations to mother‐child attachment in home and laboratory settings
Despite the well‐documented importance of parental sensitivity for child development, there is a lack of consensus regarding how best to assess it. We investigated the factor structure of maternal caregiving behavior as assessed at 12 months by the Maternal Behavior Q‐Sort (Pederson & Moran) with 274 mother‐infant dyads. Subsequently, we examined associations between these empirically‐derived dimensions and child attachment, assessed in the home …
A secure base from which to regulate: Attachment security in toddlerhood as a predictor of executive functioning at school entry
In light of emerging evidence suggesting that the affective quality of parent-child relationships may relate to individual differences in young children's executive functioning (EF) skills, the aim of this study was to investigate the prospective associations between attachment security in toddlerhood and children's EF skills in kindergarten. Mother-child dyads (N = 105) participated in 2 toddlerhood visits in their homes, when children were 15 m…
Investigating the Convergence between Actigraphy, Maternal Sleep Diaries, and the Child Behavior Checklist as Measures of Sleep in Toddlers
The current study examined associations among actigraphy, maternal sleep diaries, and the parent-completed child behavior checklist (CBCL) sleep items. These items are often used as a sleep measure despite their unclear validity with young children. Eighty middle class families (39 girls) drawn from a community sample participated. Children (M = 25.34 months, SD = 1.04) wore an actigraph monitor (Mini-Mitter(®) Actiwatch Actigraph, Respironics) f…
Mothers, fathers, and toddlers: Parental psychosocial functioning as a context for young children’s sleep
The aim of this study was to investigate the prospective relations between parental psychosocial functioning and toddlers' sleep consolidation. Investigators met with 85 families 3 times, when children were 15 months (Time 1 [T1]), 18 months (T2), and 2 years of age (T3). Mothers and fathers completed questionnaires pertaining to their parenting stress, marital satisfaction, and perceived social support at T1 or T2, and mothers completed child sl…
Social factors in the development of early executive functioning: A closer look at the caregiving environment
This study investigated prospective links between quality of the early caregiving environment and children’s subsequent executive functioning (EF). Sixty‐two families were met on five occasions, allowing for assessment of maternal interactive behavior, paternal interactive behavior, and child attachment security between 1 and 2 years of age, and child EF at 2 and 3 years. The results suggested that composite scores of parental behavior and child …
Developing Evidence‐Based Interventions for Foster Children: An Example of a Randomized Clinical Trial with Infants and Toddlers
Children who enter foster care have usually experienced maltreatment as well as disruptions in relationships with primary caregivers. These children are at risk for a host of problematic outcomes. However, there are few evidence‐based interventions that target foster children. This article presents preliminary data testing the effectiveness of an intervention, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐up, to target relationship formation in young childr…
A secure base from which to regulate: Attachment security in toddlerhood as a predictor of executive functioning at school entry
In light of emerging evidence suggesting that the affective quality of parent-child relationships may relate to individual differences in young children's executive functioning (EF) skills, the aim of this study was to investigate the prospective associations between attachment security in toddlerhood and children's EF skills in kindergarten. Mother-child dyads (N = 105) participated in 2 toddlerhood visits in their homes, when children were 15 m…
Another Look Inside the Gap: Ecological Contributions to the Transmission of Attachment in a Sample of Adolescent Mother-Infant Dyads
Ecological contributions to attachment transmission were studied in a sample of 64 adolescent mother-infant dyads. Maternal sensitivity was assessed when infants were 6 and 10 months old, and infant security was assessed at 15 and 18 months. Maternal attachment state of mind was measured with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) after the 1st assessment. Ecological variables considered were maternal education and depression, paternal support, and…
Maternal and child characteristics as antecedents of maternal mind‐mindedness
This article compares an expanded descriptive measure of maternal mind‐mindedness to the original measure. We included assessments of the valence and richness of descriptions given by 106 mothers when asked to talk about their 18‐month‐old child (55 boys), in addition to assessing the proportion of mind‐related descriptors. Contrary to previous findings, the proportion of mental descriptors was not associated with maternal sensitivity. However, t…
Attachment Style Dimensions, Network Orientation and the Process of Seeking Help from College Teachers
In this study, a model was tested positing that attachment style dimensions affect the individual's social support network orientation, which, in turn, influences the process of seeking help from teachers. Data from two independent samples of college students using global and dyadic interaction reports of the quality of their help-seeking behaviours were used to assess the model. Evaluation by the EQS method indicated acceptable levels of fit, wi…
Maternal mind-mindedness and children’s school readiness: A longitudinal study of developmental processes
This study aimed to test a 5-wave sequential mediation model linking maternal mind-mindedness during infancy to children's school readiness in kindergarten through a serial mediation involving child language and effortful control in toddlerhood and the preschool years. Among a sample of 204 mother-child dyads, we assessed maternal mind-mindedness when children were aged 1 year, child expressive vocabulary at age 2, effortful control at ages 3 and…
Broadening the Study of Infant Security of Attachment: Maternal Autonomy‐support in the Context of Infant Exploration
Although security of attachment is conceptualised as a balance between infants' attachment and exploratory behaviours, parental behaviours pertaining to infant exploration have received relatively little empirical attention. Drawing from self‐determination theory, this study seeks to improve the prediction of infant attachment by assessing maternal autonomy‐support during infant exploration, in addition to maternal sensitivity. Seventy‐one dyads …
Attachment State of Mind, Learning Dispositions, and Academic Performance During the College Transition
The purpose of this study was to examine the relation among attachment state of mind, students' learning dispositions, and academic performance during the college transition. Sixty-two students were involved in a short-term longitudinal study and were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview. Students' learning dispositions were assessed at the end of high school (Time 1) and halfway through their 1st semester in college (Time 2). Academic…
A dimensional approach to maternal attachment state of mind: Relations to maternal sensitivity and maternal autonomy support
The aim of this study was to examine the developmental significance of the newly developed dimensional approach to attachment state of mind by investigating its capacity to predict individual differences in the quality of two caregiving behaviors-maternal sensitivity and maternal autonomy support-that are linked to numerous important child outcomes. Seventy-one upper-middle-class, predominantly French-speaking and Caucasian dyads participated in …
Attachment as a moderator of the effect of security in mentoring on subsequent perceptions of mentoring and relationship quality with college teachers
The purpose of this study was to examine if college students' attachment insecurity, as evaluated by the Adult Attachment Interview, moderates the effect of affective security in mentoring on subsequent perceptions of the mentoring program and relationship quality with other teachers. Academically at-risk students were involved in a 10-hour mentoring program and completed measures at three points in time. Security in mentoring was associated with…
Attachment State of Mind: Implications for Adjustment to College
The main purpose of this study was to examine the associations between attachment state of mind and adjustment to college. A related aim was to examine the moderating role of attachment state of mind in the relation between parental control and school adjustment. One-hundred two college freshmen completed the Adult Attachment Interview and a measure of parental control. They also completed a measure of college adjustment at the very beginning and…
A threshold approach to understanding the origins of attachment disorganization
Disorganized attachment in infancy is known to predict a wide range of maladaptive outcomes, but its origins are poorly understood. Parental lack of resolution concerning loss or trauma has been proposed to result in atypical parenting behaviors, which in turn have a disorganizing effect on the parent-child relationship. The authors review the evidence for this transmission pathway, considering other factors (e.g., social environment, child chara…
Mothers, fathers, and toddlers: Parental psychosocial functioning as a context for young children’s sleep
The aim of this study was to investigate the prospective relations between parental psychosocial functioning and toddlers' sleep consolidation. Investigators met with 85 families 3 times, when children were 15 months (Time 1 [T1]), 18 months (T2), and 2 years of age (T3). Mothers and fathers completed questionnaires pertaining to their parenting stress, marital satisfaction, and perceived social support at T1 or T2, and mothers completed child sl…
Maternal and paternal parenting stress: Direct and interactive associations with child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems
Stability of Maternal Autonomy Support between Infancy and Preschool Age
The goals of this article were to examine (1) the relative and absolute stability of maternal autonomy support between infancy and preschool age, and (2) the moderating role of child gender, maternal attachment state of mind, and stressful life events. Sixty‐nine mother–child dyads participated in five visits when the child was 8, 15, and 18 months, as well as 2 and 3 years. The results suggested that maternal autonomy support is stable in relati…
Exploration des qualités psychométriques de la version française du Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire
Cent soixante-quatorze collégiens ont rempli, au début de leur deuxièmetrimestre d’études, une version francophone du Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ-F). Le SACQ-F a été administré à nouveau deux semaines plus tard à 26 des 174 élèves afin d’évaluer sa fidélité test-retest. Les résultats à deux autres mesures évaluant les dispositions émotives, scolaires et sociales ainsi que les notes scolaires des participants au secondaire et…
Paternal mind-mindedness and children’s academic achievement: Investigating developmental processes
This study tested a 5-year sequential mediation model linking paternal mind-mindedness in toddlerhood to child early academic achievement through a developmental process unfolding in the preschool years. A sample of 128 mostly White middle-class families (68 girls) living in Montreal, Canada was assessed for paternal mind-mindedness when children were 18 months old, child language at age 2, theory of mind and effortful control at age 4, cognitive…
Toward a Better Understanding of the Associations Among Different Measures of Father Involvement and Parenting Alliance
The variety of measurement methods used in fathering research to assess fathers' involvement makes it difficult to summarize what we know about paternal involvement and its correlates and antecedents. Aiming to shed light on the potential consequences of using different measures of paternal involvement, this study examined: (a) the associations among three measures of father participation in parental activities, namely self- and mother-reported q…
Early maternal autonomy support as a predictor of child internalizing and externalizing behavior trajectories across early childhood
This study investigated the contribution of early maternal autonomy support in the prediction of developmental patterns of change in child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems from 2 to 7 years of age. The participants were 130 mother‐child dyads drawn from a community sample. Data were collected at four‐time points. Maternal sensitivity and autonomy support were assessed observationally at 12 and 15 months, respectively, child tempe…
Child temperamental anger, mother–child interactions, and socio-emotional functioning at school entry
Associations between sleep consolidation in infancy and peer relationships in middle childhood
Sleep plays an important role in many aspects of children's development. Research on children's sleep and their peer relationships has begun to emerge in the last years. However, these studies are mostly cross‐sectional. The current study aimed to investigate the associations between infant sleep and peer relationships in middle childhood. The sample comprised 72 children. Sleep was measured at 1 year using a sleep diary completed by mothers. In …
Exploration des qualités psychométriques de la version française du Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire
Cent soixante-quatorze collégiens ont rempli, au début de leur deuxièmetrimestre d’études, une version francophone du Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ-F). Le SACQ-F a été administré à nouveau deux semaines plus tard à 26 des 174 élèves afin d’évaluer sa fidélité test-retest. Les résultats à deux autres mesures évaluant les dispositions émotives, scolaires et sociales ainsi que les notes scolaires des participants au secondaire et…
Attachment Style Dimensions, Network Orientation and the Process of Seeking Help from College Teachers
In this study, a model was tested positing that attachment style dimensions affect the individual's social support network orientation, which, in turn, influences the process of seeking help from teachers. Data from two independent samples of college students using global and dyadic interaction reports of the quality of their help-seeking behaviours were used to assess the model. Evaluation by the EQS method indicated acceptable levels of fit, wi…
Attachment State of Mind: Implications for Adjustment to College
The main purpose of this study was to examine the associations between attachment state of mind and adjustment to college. A related aim was to examine the moderating role of attachment state of mind in the relation between parental control and school adjustment. One-hundred two college freshmen completed the Adult Attachment Interview and a measure of parental control. They also completed a measure of college adjustment at the very beginning and…
Attachment State of Mind, Learning Dispositions, and Academic Performance During the College Transition
The purpose of this study was to examine the relation among attachment state of mind, students' learning dispositions, and academic performance during the college transition. Sixty-two students were involved in a short-term longitudinal study and were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview. Students' learning dispositions were assessed at the end of high school (Time 1) and halfway through their 1st semester in college (Time 2). Academic…
Another Look Inside the Gap: Ecological Contributions to the Transmission of Attachment in a Sample of Adolescent Mother-Infant Dyads
Ecological contributions to attachment transmission were studied in a sample of 64 adolescent mother-infant dyads. Maternal sensitivity was assessed when infants were 6 and 10 months old, and infant security was assessed at 15 and 18 months. Maternal attachment state of mind was measured with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) after the 1st assessment. Ecological variables considered were maternal education and depression, paternal support, and…
Attachment as a moderator of the effect of security in mentoring on subsequent perceptions of mentoring and relationship quality with college teachers
The purpose of this study was to examine if college students' attachment insecurity, as evaluated by the Adult Attachment Interview, moderates the effect of affective security in mentoring on subsequent perceptions of the mentoring program and relationship quality with other teachers. Academically at-risk students were involved in a 10-hour mentoring program and completed measures at three points in time. Security in mentoring was associated with…
Developing Evidence‐Based Interventions for Foster Children: An Example of a Randomized Clinical Trial with Infants and Toddlers
Children who enter foster care have usually experienced maltreatment as well as disruptions in relationships with primary caregivers. These children are at risk for a host of problematic outcomes. However, there are few evidence‐based interventions that target foster children. This article presents preliminary data testing the effectiveness of an intervention, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐up, to target relationship formation in young childr…
A threshold approach to understanding the origins of attachment disorganization
Disorganized attachment in infancy is known to predict a wide range of maladaptive outcomes, but its origins are poorly understood. Parental lack of resolution concerning loss or trauma has been proposed to result in atypical parenting behaviors, which in turn have a disorganizing effect on the parent-child relationship. The authors review the evidence for this transmission pathway, considering other factors (e.g., social environment, child chara…
Attachment-based intervention for maltreating families
This article presents attachment theory-based intervention strategies as a means of addressing the core parent-child interaction deficits that characterize homes in which children are exposed to maltreatment. The article outlines the socioemotional and cognitive outcomes of maltreatment and proposes that although many prevention programs target different parental and family characteristics, few address the core relationship issues that are at sta…
From External Regulation to Self-Regulation: Early Parenting Precursors of Young Children’s Executive Functioning
In keeping with proposals emphasizing the role of early experience in infant brain development, this study investigated the prospective links between quality of parent–infant interactions and subsequent child executive functioning (EF), including working memory, impulse control, and set shifting. Maternal sensitivity, mind-mindedness and autonomy support were assessed when children were 12 to 15 months old (N = 80). Child EF was assessed at 18 an…
Initiating a Caregiving Relationship: Pregnancy and Childbirth Factors as Predictors of Maternal Sensitivity
The aim of this study was to investigate the relations between pregnancy and childbirth factors and subsequent quality of maternal interactive behavior in a sample of 116 full‐term infants and their mothers. Mothers reported on the conditions of childbirth when infants were 6–8 months of age, and their interactive behavior was observed during a home visit at 12 months. Results showed that mothers who did not report health problems during pregnanc…
Early Manifestations of Children’s Theory of Mind: The Roles of Maternal Mind‐Mindedness and Infant Security of Attachment
This study investigated two aspects of mother–child relationships—mothers’ mind‐mindedness and infant attachment security—in relation to two early aspects of children’s theory of mind development (ToM). Sixty‐one mother–child dyads (36 girls) participated in testing phases at 12 (T1), 15 (T2), and 26 months of age (T3), allowing for assessment of maternal mind‐mindedness (T1), infant attachment (T2), and child ToM understanding (T3). Results indi…
Broadening the Study of Infant Security of Attachment: Maternal Autonomy‐support in the Context of Infant Exploration
Although security of attachment is conceptualised as a balance between infants' attachment and exploratory behaviours, parental behaviours pertaining to infant exploration have received relatively little empirical attention. Drawing from self‐determination theory, this study seeks to improve the prediction of infant attachment by assessing maternal autonomy‐support during infant exploration, in addition to maternal sensitivity. Seventy‐one dyads …
Maternal and child characteristics as antecedents of maternal mind‐mindedness
This article compares an expanded descriptive measure of maternal mind‐mindedness to the original measure. We included assessments of the valence and richness of descriptions given by 106 mothers when asked to talk about their 18‐month‐old child (55 boys), in addition to assessing the proportion of mind‐related descriptors. Contrary to previous findings, the proportion of mental descriptors was not associated with maternal sensitivity. However, t…
A dimensional approach to maternal attachment state of mind: Relations to maternal sensitivity and maternal autonomy support
The aim of this study was to examine the developmental significance of the newly developed dimensional approach to attachment state of mind by investigating its capacity to predict individual differences in the quality of two caregiving behaviors-maternal sensitivity and maternal autonomy support-that are linked to numerous important child outcomes. Seventy-one upper-middle-class, predominantly French-speaking and Caucasian dyads participated in …
Social factors in the development of early executive functioning: A closer look at the caregiving environment
This study investigated prospective links between quality of the early caregiving environment and children’s subsequent executive functioning (EF). Sixty‐two families were met on five occasions, allowing for assessment of maternal interactive behavior, paternal interactive behavior, and child attachment security between 1 and 2 years of age, and child EF at 2 and 3 years. The results suggested that composite scores of parental behavior and child …
Stability of Maternal Autonomy Support between Infancy and Preschool Age
The goals of this article were to examine (1) the relative and absolute stability of maternal autonomy support between infancy and preschool age, and (2) the moderating role of child gender, maternal attachment state of mind, and stressful life events. Sixty‐nine mother–child dyads participated in five visits when the child was 8, 15, and 18 months, as well as 2 and 3 years. The results suggested that maternal autonomy support is stable in relati…
Mothers, fathers, and toddlers: Parental psychosocial functioning as a context for young children’s sleep
The aim of this study was to investigate the prospective relations between parental psychosocial functioning and toddlers' sleep consolidation. Investigators met with 85 families 3 times, when children were 15 months (Time 1 [T1]), 18 months (T2), and 2 years of age (T3). Mothers and fathers completed questionnaires pertaining to their parenting stress, marital satisfaction, and perceived social support at T1 or T2, and mothers completed child sl…
Investigating the Convergence between Actigraphy, Maternal Sleep Diaries, and the Child Behavior Checklist as Measures of Sleep in Toddlers
The current study examined associations among actigraphy, maternal sleep diaries, and the parent-completed child behavior checklist (CBCL) sleep items. These items are often used as a sleep measure despite their unclear validity with young children. Eighty middle class families (39 girls) drawn from a community sample participated. Children (M = 25.34 months, SD = 1.04) wore an actigraph monitor (Mini-Mitter(®) Actiwatch Actigraph, Respironics) f…
A secure base from which to regulate: Attachment security in toddlerhood as a predictor of executive functioning at school entry
In light of emerging evidence suggesting that the affective quality of parent-child relationships may relate to individual differences in young children's executive functioning (EF) skills, the aim of this study was to investigate the prospective associations between attachment security in toddlerhood and children's EF skills in kindergarten. Mother-child dyads (N = 105) participated in 2 toddlerhood visits in their homes, when children were 15 m…
Deconstructing maternal sensitivity: Predictive relations to mother‐child attachment in home and laboratory settings
Despite the well‐documented importance of parental sensitivity for child development, there is a lack of consensus regarding how best to assess it. We investigated the factor structure of maternal caregiving behavior as assessed at 12 months by the Maternal Behavior Q‐Sort (Pederson & Moran) with 274 mother‐infant dyads. Subsequently, we examined associations between these empirically‐derived dimensions and child attachment, assessed in the home …
Twenty years of research on parental mind-mindedness: Empirical findings, theoretical and methodological challenges, and new directions
Associations between sleep consolidation in infancy and peer relationships in middle childhood
Sleep plays an important role in many aspects of children's development. Research on children's sleep and their peer relationships has begun to emerge in the last years. However, these studies are mostly cross‐sectional. The current study aimed to investigate the associations between infant sleep and peer relationships in middle childhood. The sample comprised 72 children. Sleep was measured at 1 year using a sleep diary completed by mothers. In …
Maternal mind-mindedness and children’s school readiness: A longitudinal study of developmental processes
This study aimed to test a 5-wave sequential mediation model linking maternal mind-mindedness during infancy to children's school readiness in kindergarten through a serial mediation involving child language and effortful control in toddlerhood and the preschool years. Among a sample of 204 mother-child dyads, we assessed maternal mind-mindedness when children were aged 1 year, child expressive vocabulary at age 2, effortful control at ages 3 and…
Mother–Child Relationships and Children’s Psychosocial Functioning: The Specific Roles of Attachment Security and Maternal Behavior
SYNOPSISObjective. This paper aimed to examine the contributions of a second assessment time point of attachment security, along with assessments of maternal behavior (sensitivity and autonomy support), to the prediction of children’s behavior problems. Design. Maternal behavior and mother–child attachment were assessed in 73 mother–child dyads when children were between 15 months and 26 months old. Children’s internalizing and externalizing prob…
Psychology (40 works) · Developmental psychology (38 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (33 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (23 works) · Social Psychology (13 works) · Attachment theory (12 works) · Maternal sensitivity (12 works) · Clinical Psychology (11 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (11 works) · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum (11 works)