Lenna Ontai
Biographic Data
| ID | 4086465 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lenna Ontai |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lenna |
| FAMILY NAME | Ontai |
| SIGNATURE | ONTAI L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Davis |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1644-2888 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 249 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 28 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The structure and motivational significance of early beliefs about ability
Adults hold a broad range of beliefs about intellectual ability. Key examples include beliefs about its malleability, its distribution in the population, whether high levels of it ("brilliance") are necessary for success, its origins, and its responsiveness to intervention. Here, we examined the structure and motivational significance of this network of consequential beliefs in a sample of elementary school-age children (5- to 11-year-olds, N = 2…
Obesity Risk Assessment for Spanish-Speaking Immigrant Families with Young Children in the United States: Reliability and Validity with Nutrient Values
The purpose is to examine validity and reliability for an obesity risk assessment tool developed in Spanish for immigrant families with children, 3-5 years old using an 8-week cross-sectional design with data collected over 1 year at Head Start and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children [WIC]. Parent/child dyads (206) provided a child obesity risk assessment, three child modified 24 h dietary recalls, three child 3…
Comparisons of school and home-packed lunches for fruit and vegetable dietary behaviours among school-aged youths
Objective School-based interventions and policies encourage youths to include and consume fruits and vegetables at lunchtime via school lunches, but limited research has examined how these behaviours compare when youths have home-packed lunches. The objective of the present study was to compare fruit and vegetable contents and consumption among students having school or home-packed lunches over the school week. Design Participants were observed o…
Parental and family predictors of fruits and vegetables in elementary school children's home-packed lunches across a school week
My Child at mealtime parent self-assessment of food related behaviors: Validation with mealtime behaviors
Feasibility and reliability of digital imaging for estimating food selection and consumption from students’ packed lunches
My child at mealtime: A visually enhanced self-assessment of feeding styles for low-income parents of preschoolers
Mothers' Physical Illness in One- and Two-Parent Families
Parental physical illness has been associated with a variety of negative child outcomes but the mechanisms explaining this relationship are not fully understood. Additionally, few studies have explored what role, if any, marital status may play in this relationship. This study used prospective longitudinal survey data from 382 two-parent and 182 single-parent families in the Iowa Youth and Families and Single Parents Project to explore the relati…
Correlates of food patterns in young Latino children at high risk of obesity
Objective The present paper examines the influence of age and gender on food patterns of Latino children. Design Data are from baseline of a 5-year, quasi-experimental obesity prevention study: Niños Sanos, Familia Sana (NSFS; Healthy Children, Healthy Families). In 2012, the researchers interviewed Latino parents, using a thirty-item questionnaire to ask about their children’s food consumption and feeding practices. Statistical tests included t …
Sharing, Trading, Stealing: Exploring the Role of Peers in Shaping Foods Available at Lunchtime
Childhood obesity continues to be a major concern in the United States, warranting a comprehensive approach. However, the majority of research studies continue to neglect the influence of peers on dietary behaviors. The present descriptive study aimed to provide information about the ways peers directly shape dietary choices via food exchanges (i.e., sharing, trading, and stealing). Peer food exchanges were examined through daily observations in …
The Kids Still Come First: Creating Family Stability During Partnership Instability in Rural, Low-Income Families
This qualitative study examined the nature of partnerships among 28 rural low-income mothers who experienced partnership transitions across three waves of annual interviews. Guided by lens of uncertainty and boundary ambiguity theory, the authors specifically explored (a) how low-income mothers in rural communities experience partnership transitions over time and (b) how rural, low-income mothers create stability for themselves and their children…
Supervision and training in child care: Does reflective supervision foster caregiver insightfulness
The goal of this study was to explore the effects of reflective and traditional supervision and training on caregiver insightfulness. Caregiver insightfulness, or caregiver ability to understand “motives underlying the child's behavior in a complete, open, and accepting way” (D. Oppenheim, D. Goldsmith, & N. Koren‐Karie, 2004, p. 352) was assessed at two time points with 21 new caregivers at two university‐based childcare sites. Trends suggest th…
Differential stability of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood
The Development of Peer Interaction in Infancy: Exploring the Dyadic Processes
Peer interaction is an important component of children's social repertoires that is associated with a variety of developmental outcomes and life skills. The present study provides an in-depth study of early dyadic peer behaviors during the infancy period, during which social competence with peers is first being developed. Results from variable-centered analyses highlight the effectiveness of behaviors, such as offering objects to peers, and point…
Predicting elements of early maternal elaborative discourse from 12 to 18 months of age
Caregiver involvement in infant peer interactions: Scaffolding in a social context
Intergenerational continuity in parenting behavior: Mediating pathways and child effects
This prospective, longitudinal investigation examined mechanisms proposed to explain continuities in parenting behavior across 2 generations (G1, G2). Data came from 187 G2 adults, their mothers (G1), and their children (G3). Prospective information regarding G2 was collected both during adolescence and early adulthood. G1 data were collected during G2's adolescence, and G3 data were generated during the preschool years. Assessments included both…
Exploring Relationships Between Transnationalism and Housing and Health Risks of Rural Latino Immigrant Families
Interviews with 78 rural low‐income Latino immigrant mothers in three states (CA, OR, and IA) explored relationships between transnationalism and health and housing risks. Transnational activity based on language spoken at home, nature, and frequency of contact with family and friends in, and the extent and frequency of travel to the country of origin, was conceptualized as a continuum from high to low. Low transnational families lived in the Uni…
Attachment, Parent–Child Discourse and Theory‐of‐Mind Development
This study investigated the relations among attachment, mother–child discourse, and theory of mind in a sample of 76 four‐year‐old children (mean age = 4.48 years; 36 boys). Mother–child conversations about a past event were coded for maternal use of elaborative discourse and mothers' references to mental states. Mothers completed the attachment q‐sort and children completed four false‐belief tasks. Results revealed that maternal conversational e…
How Rural Low-Income Families Have Fun: A Grounded Theory Study
This study provides unique perspectives of family leisure activities by developing a grounded-theory model of influences on family fun based on qualitative data from 368 low-income rural women with young children from fourteen states. Mothers were asked an open-ended question about what their families do for fun, allowing them to define family fun. The women reported a variety of activities that they viewed as fun for their families, focusing mai…
Children's Perceptions of Family Relationships as Assessed in a Doll Story Completion Task: Links to Parenting, Social Competence, and Externalizing Behavior
This study was designed to examine the links between parenting, children's perceptions of family relationships, and children's social behavior. Seventy‐four children (M age=6.01 years; 39 boys; 35 girls) and their parents took part in the study. Children completed relationship‐oriented doll stories that were coded for coherence, prosocial themes, and aggressive themes. Parents completed a report of their child's social behavior, a parenting scale…
Gender and Age Differences in Brazilian Children's Friendship Nominations and Peer Sociometric Ratings
Gender Socialization in Latino/a Families: Results from Two Retrospective Studies
Individual and Social Influences on Ethnic Identity among Latino Young Adults
Building on prior Latino ethnic identity research, this study had three goals: describe age-related trends in ethnic identity among young adults, examine relations among ethnic identity and individual factors, and explore the impact of family and peer socialization on ethnic identity. The participants (two hundred 19- to 30-year-olds; mean age = 22.5) completed self-report surveys sent to Latino undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in fou…
Patterns of Attachment and Maternal Discourse Effects on Children's Emotion Understanding From 3 to 5 Years of Age
Two studies examined the influence of maternal discourse style and security of attachment, and their interaction, on preschoolers’ emotion understanding. The first, with 3‐year‐olds, unexpectedly found no significant prediction of emotion understanding from attachment and discourse, and the interaction of the predictors yielded theoretically unpredicted associations with emotion understanding. Consequently, measures of attachment and emotion unde…
Gender Socialization in Latino/a Families: Results from Two Retrospective Studies
Intergenerational continuity in parenting behavior: Mediating pathways and child effects
This prospective, longitudinal investigation examined mechanisms proposed to explain continuities in parenting behavior across 2 generations (G1, G2). Data came from 187 G2 adults, their mothers (G1), and their children (G3). Prospective information regarding G2 was collected both during adolescence and early adulthood. G1 data were collected during G2's adolescence, and G3 data were generated during the preschool years. Assessments included both…
Supervision and training in child care: Does reflective supervision foster caregiver insightfulness
The goal of this study was to explore the effects of reflective and traditional supervision and training on caregiver insightfulness. Caregiver insightfulness, or caregiver ability to understand “motives underlying the child's behavior in a complete, open, and accepting way” (D. Oppenheim, D. Goldsmith, & N. Koren‐Karie, 2004, p. 352) was assessed at two time points with 21 new caregivers at two university‐based childcare sites. Trends suggest th…
How Rural Low-Income Families Have Fun: A Grounded Theory Study
This study provides unique perspectives of family leisure activities by developing a grounded-theory model of influences on family fun based on qualitative data from 368 low-income rural women with young children from fourteen states. Mothers were asked an open-ended question about what their families do for fun, allowing them to define family fun. The women reported a variety of activities that they viewed as fun for their families, focusing mai…
Individual and Social Influences on Ethnic Identity among Latino Young Adults
Building on prior Latino ethnic identity research, this study had three goals: describe age-related trends in ethnic identity among young adults, examine relations among ethnic identity and individual factors, and explore the impact of family and peer socialization on ethnic identity. The participants (two hundred 19- to 30-year-olds; mean age = 22.5) completed self-report surveys sent to Latino undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in fou…
Patterns of Attachment and Maternal Discourse Effects on Children's Emotion Understanding From 3 to 5 Years of Age
Two studies examined the influence of maternal discourse style and security of attachment, and their interaction, on preschoolers’ emotion understanding. The first, with 3‐year‐olds, unexpectedly found no significant prediction of emotion understanding from attachment and discourse, and the interaction of the predictors yielded theoretically unpredicted associations with emotion understanding. Consequently, measures of attachment and emotion unde…
Caregiver involvement in infant peer interactions: Scaffolding in a social context
Mothers' Physical Illness in One- and Two-Parent Families
Parental physical illness has been associated with a variety of negative child outcomes but the mechanisms explaining this relationship are not fully understood. Additionally, few studies have explored what role, if any, marital status may play in this relationship. This study used prospective longitudinal survey data from 382 two-parent and 182 single-parent families in the Iowa Youth and Families and Single Parents Project to explore the relati…
Attachment, Parent–Child Discourse and Theory‐of‐Mind Development
This study investigated the relations among attachment, mother–child discourse, and theory of mind in a sample of 76 four‐year‐old children (mean age = 4.48 years; 36 boys). Mother–child conversations about a past event were coded for maternal use of elaborative discourse and mothers' references to mental states. Mothers completed the attachment q‐sort and children completed four false‐belief tasks. Results revealed that maternal conversational e…
Differential stability of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood
Children's Perceptions of Family Relationships as Assessed in a Doll Story Completion Task: Links to Parenting, Social Competence, and Externalizing Behavior
This study was designed to examine the links between parenting, children's perceptions of family relationships, and children's social behavior. Seventy‐four children (M age=6.01 years; 39 boys; 35 girls) and their parents took part in the study. Children completed relationship‐oriented doll stories that were coded for coherence, prosocial themes, and aggressive themes. Parents completed a report of their child's social behavior, a parenting scale…
Gender and Age Differences in Brazilian Children's Friendship Nominations and Peer Sociometric Ratings
Sharing, Trading, Stealing: Exploring the Role of Peers in Shaping Foods Available at Lunchtime
Childhood obesity continues to be a major concern in the United States, warranting a comprehensive approach. However, the majority of research studies continue to neglect the influence of peers on dietary behaviors. The present descriptive study aimed to provide information about the ways peers directly shape dietary choices via food exchanges (i.e., sharing, trading, and stealing). Peer food exchanges were examined through daily observations in …
The Kids Still Come First: Creating Family Stability During Partnership Instability in Rural, Low-Income Families
This qualitative study examined the nature of partnerships among 28 rural low-income mothers who experienced partnership transitions across three waves of annual interviews. Guided by lens of uncertainty and boundary ambiguity theory, the authors specifically explored (a) how low-income mothers in rural communities experience partnership transitions over time and (b) how rural, low-income mothers create stability for themselves and their children…
Feasibility and reliability of digital imaging for estimating food selection and consumption from students’ packed lunches
My child at mealtime: A visually enhanced self-assessment of feeding styles for low-income parents of preschoolers
Predicting elements of early maternal elaborative discourse from 12 to 18 months of age
Exploring Relationships Between Transnationalism and Housing and Health Risks of Rural Latino Immigrant Families
Interviews with 78 rural low‐income Latino immigrant mothers in three states (CA, OR, and IA) explored relationships between transnationalism and health and housing risks. Transnational activity based on language spoken at home, nature, and frequency of contact with family and friends in, and the extent and frequency of travel to the country of origin, was conceptualized as a continuum from high to low. Low transnational families lived in the Uni…
Improving child care quality in Early Head Start programs: A partnership model
Many Early Head Start (EHS) programs do not provide child care directly but instead contract with existing community child care agencies to provide services. Such arrangements challenge EHS programs to create unique ways to ensure quality in the child care component of the program. The current research project reports on the efforts of a partnership between an EHS program and community child care agency to improve child care quality. The goal was…
She's 16 years old and there's boys calling over to the house': An exploratory study of sexual socialization in Latino families
Compared to other ethnic groups in the USA, Latino populations are at high risk for negative sexual outcomes, including unplanned pregnancy and HIV/AIDS infection. The goal of this study was to explore the role of cultural beliefs and values in sexual socialization by focusing on the family socialization of adolescent romantic and sexual behavior described by 22 Latina/Hispanic women who took part in in-depth individual interviews. Four broad the…
Patterns of Attachment and Maternal Discourse Effects on Children's Emotion Understanding From 3 to 5 Years of Age
Two studies examined the influence of maternal discourse style and security of attachment, and their interaction, on preschoolers’ emotion understanding. The first, with 3‐year‐olds, unexpectedly found no significant prediction of emotion understanding from attachment and discourse, and the interaction of the predictors yielded theoretically unpredicted associations with emotion understanding. Consequently, measures of attachment and emotion unde…
Improving child care quality in Early Head Start programs: A partnership model
Many Early Head Start (EHS) programs do not provide child care directly but instead contract with existing community child care agencies to provide services. Such arrangements challenge EHS programs to create unique ways to ensure quality in the child care component of the program. The current research project reports on the efforts of a partnership between an EHS program and community child care agency to improve child care quality. The goal was…
Improving child care quality in Early Head Start programs: A partnership model
Children's Perceptions of Family Relationships as Assessed in a Doll Story Completion Task: Links to Parenting, Social Competence, and Externalizing Behavior
This study was designed to examine the links between parenting, children's perceptions of family relationships, and children's social behavior. Seventy‐four children (M age=6.01 years; 39 boys; 35 girls) and their parents took part in the study. Children completed relationship‐oriented doll stories that were coded for coherence, prosocial themes, and aggressive themes. Parents completed a report of their child's social behavior, a parenting scale…
Gender and Age Differences in Brazilian Children's Friendship Nominations and Peer Sociometric Ratings
Gender Socialization in Latino/a Families: Results from Two Retrospective Studies
Individual and Social Influences on Ethnic Identity among Latino Young Adults
Building on prior Latino ethnic identity research, this study had three goals: describe age-related trends in ethnic identity among young adults, examine relations among ethnic identity and individual factors, and explore the impact of family and peer socialization on ethnic identity. The participants (two hundred 19- to 30-year-olds; mean age = 22.5) completed self-report surveys sent to Latino undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in fou…
How Rural Low-Income Families Have Fun: A Grounded Theory Study
This study provides unique perspectives of family leisure activities by developing a grounded-theory model of influences on family fun based on qualitative data from 368 low-income rural women with young children from fourteen states. Mothers were asked an open-ended question about what their families do for fun, allowing them to define family fun. The women reported a variety of activities that they viewed as fun for their families, focusing mai…
Attachment, Parent–Child Discourse and Theory‐of‐Mind Development
This study investigated the relations among attachment, mother–child discourse, and theory of mind in a sample of 76 four‐year‐old children (mean age = 4.48 years; 36 boys). Mother–child conversations about a past event were coded for maternal use of elaborative discourse and mothers' references to mental states. Mothers completed the attachment q‐sort and children completed four false‐belief tasks. Results revealed that maternal conversational e…
The Development of Peer Interaction in Infancy: Exploring the Dyadic Processes
Peer interaction is an important component of children's social repertoires that is associated with a variety of developmental outcomes and life skills. The present study provides an in-depth study of early dyadic peer behaviors during the infancy period, during which social competence with peers is first being developed. Results from variable-centered analyses highlight the effectiveness of behaviors, such as offering objects to peers, and point…
Predicting elements of early maternal elaborative discourse from 12 to 18 months of age
Caregiver involvement in infant peer interactions: Scaffolding in a social context
Intergenerational continuity in parenting behavior: Mediating pathways and child effects
This prospective, longitudinal investigation examined mechanisms proposed to explain continuities in parenting behavior across 2 generations (G1, G2). Data came from 187 G2 adults, their mothers (G1), and their children (G3). Prospective information regarding G2 was collected both during adolescence and early adulthood. G1 data were collected during G2's adolescence, and G3 data were generated during the preschool years. Assessments included both…
Exploring Relationships Between Transnationalism and Housing and Health Risks of Rural Latino Immigrant Families
Interviews with 78 rural low‐income Latino immigrant mothers in three states (CA, OR, and IA) explored relationships between transnationalism and health and housing risks. Transnational activity based on language spoken at home, nature, and frequency of contact with family and friends in, and the extent and frequency of travel to the country of origin, was conceptualized as a continuum from high to low. Low transnational families lived in the Uni…
Supervision and training in child care: Does reflective supervision foster caregiver insightfulness
The goal of this study was to explore the effects of reflective and traditional supervision and training on caregiver insightfulness. Caregiver insightfulness, or caregiver ability to understand “motives underlying the child's behavior in a complete, open, and accepting way” (D. Oppenheim, D. Goldsmith, & N. Koren‐Karie, 2004, p. 352) was assessed at two time points with 21 new caregivers at two university‐based childcare sites. Trends suggest th…
Differential stability of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood
The Kids Still Come First: Creating Family Stability During Partnership Instability in Rural, Low-Income Families
This qualitative study examined the nature of partnerships among 28 rural low-income mothers who experienced partnership transitions across three waves of annual interviews. Guided by lens of uncertainty and boundary ambiguity theory, the authors specifically explored (a) how low-income mothers in rural communities experience partnership transitions over time and (b) how rural, low-income mothers create stability for themselves and their children…
Correlates of food patterns in young Latino children at high risk of obesity
Objective The present paper examines the influence of age and gender on food patterns of Latino children. Design Data are from baseline of a 5-year, quasi-experimental obesity prevention study: Niños Sanos, Familia Sana (NSFS; Healthy Children, Healthy Families). In 2012, the researchers interviewed Latino parents, using a thirty-item questionnaire to ask about their children’s food consumption and feeding practices. Statistical tests included t …
Sharing, Trading, Stealing: Exploring the Role of Peers in Shaping Foods Available at Lunchtime
Childhood obesity continues to be a major concern in the United States, warranting a comprehensive approach. However, the majority of research studies continue to neglect the influence of peers on dietary behaviors. The present descriptive study aimed to provide information about the ways peers directly shape dietary choices via food exchanges (i.e., sharing, trading, and stealing). Peer food exchanges were examined through daily observations in …
My child at mealtime: A visually enhanced self-assessment of feeding styles for low-income parents of preschoolers
Mothers' Physical Illness in One- and Two-Parent Families
Parental physical illness has been associated with a variety of negative child outcomes but the mechanisms explaining this relationship are not fully understood. Additionally, few studies have explored what role, if any, marital status may play in this relationship. This study used prospective longitudinal survey data from 382 two-parent and 182 single-parent families in the Iowa Youth and Families and Single Parents Project to explore the relati…
Feasibility and reliability of digital imaging for estimating food selection and consumption from students’ packed lunches
Comparisons of school and home-packed lunches for fruit and vegetable dietary behaviours among school-aged youths
Objective School-based interventions and policies encourage youths to include and consume fruits and vegetables at lunchtime via school lunches, but limited research has examined how these behaviours compare when youths have home-packed lunches. The objective of the present study was to compare fruit and vegetable contents and consumption among students having school or home-packed lunches over the school week. Design Participants were observed o…
Parental and family predictors of fruits and vegetables in elementary school children's home-packed lunches across a school week
Psychology (24 works) · Developmental psychology (22 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (9 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (9 works) · Medicine (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (7 works) · Clinical Psychology (5 works)