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Child and Family Development Across the First Two Decades of Life

Marc H. Bornstein, PhD, Head, Child and Family Research Section
Maurice Haynes, PhD, Statistician
Charlie Hendricks, PhD, Statistician
Clay Mash, PhD, Psychologist
Yoonjung Park, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Diane Putnick, PhD, Statistician
Joan Suwalsky, MS, Research Psychologist

We investigate dispositional, experiential, and environmental factors that contribute to physical, mental, emotional, and social development in humans across the first two decades of life. Our goals are to describe, analyze, and assess the capabilities and proclivities of developing human beings, including their physiological functioning; perceptual and cognitive abilities; emotional, social, and interactional styles; and the nature and consequences for children and parents of family development and children’s exposure to and interactions with their natural and designed surroundings. To meet this multifaceted charge, we pursue four integrated multi-age, multi-variate, multi-cultural research programs. One is a prospective longitudinal study designed to explore several aspects of human development in the context of major sociodemographic comparisons. The second encompasses cultural influences on development within that longitudinal framework. The third consists of basic neuroscience research and the fourth of applied extensions to behavioral pediatrics. Project designs are experimental, observational, longitudinal, and cross-sectional as well as intra- and cross-cultural. Sociodemographic comparisons include family socioeconomic status, maternal age and employment status, and child parity and day care experience. Study sites include Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, England, France, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Peru, South Korea, and the United States.

Child development and parenting

Three studies illustrate the range of our work in the area of child development and parenting. One study examined whether fetal cardiac patterns are stable indicators of individual differences and prognostic of variation in postnatal development. We measured fetal heart rate and variability longitudinally from 20 through 38 weeks’ gestation and again at postnatal age 2. We demonstrated significant within-individual stability during the prenatal period and into childhood. Fetal heart rate variability at or after 28 weeks’ gestation and steeper developmental trajectories were significantly associated with mental and psychomotor development at 2 years and language ability at 2.5 years. The data suggest that the foundations of individual differences in autonomic control originate during gestation and that the developmental momentum of the fetal period continues after birth.

Parenting constitutes an all-encompassing ecology of child development. Parents play central roles in children’s physical survival, social growth, emotional maturation, and cognitive development. We are broadly concerned with analyzing and understanding the roles of parenting in human development. To that end, a second study looked at several parenting cognitions and practices in mothers ranging in age from 15 to 47 years. All were first-time parents of 20-month-old children. Some age effects were zero; others were linear or nonlinear. Nonlinear age effects determined by spline regression showed significant associations to a “knot” age (about 30 years) with little or no association afterward. For age-sensitive parenting cognitions and practices, we propose a two-phase model of parental development. Our findings stress the importance of considering maternal chronological age as a factor in the study of human development.

The role of adoptive family dynamics in the etiology of both resilient and adverse developmental outcomes is not well understood. In a third study, we compared socioemotional aspects of the mother-infant relationship in families by adoption and by birth by observing matched groups of mothers and their 5-month-old first babies in the home setting. Dyads in the two groups were comparable in the frequency and ranking of a full array of age-appropriate behaviors. Group differences emerged for selected infant and maternal behaviors; infants by birth were in an alert state and smiled more often than infants by adoption while adoptive mothers nourished their infants more than did mothers by birth. Although the structure of the infants’ behavior repertoire was similar for both groups, we observed twice as many significant correlations among maternal behaviors for the birth group as for the adoptive group. We also observed more correlations between maternal and infant behaviors for dyads by birth than for dyads by adoption, and the nature of the correlations differed for the two groups. We argue that both groups of mothers and babies were functioning in the adaptive, healthy range and that observed differences between them reflect subtle differences in behavioral emphasis, possibly related to the unique paths to parenthood represented by adoption and birth. Adopted children are more likely to develop learning and school adjustment problems than are their non-adopted peers, even though learning potential appears to be comparable in the two groups. In an effort to explain this phenomenon, the present study also examined infants’ cognitive behavior repertoires. We examined two areas of functioning: vocal/verbal communication and exploration. Infants and mothers in both groups were similar in the frequency and ranking of a full array of age-appropriate cognitive behaviors. Both groups of babies experienced rich and comparable opportunities for the development of language competence. In the exploratory realm, group differences emerged for some infant measures; infants by birth were in an alert state and mouthed objects more than infants by adoption. Examination of the linkages among infant behaviors and between mothers and infants suggested that, while mothers by birth and adoption provided comparable opportunities for exploration, infants by birth were engaging in exploratory behavior to a somewhat greater extent.

Behavior problems in adolescence

Adolescence is a period well recognized for major transitions in self and self vis-à-vis others. We undertook analyses of several facets of this multivariate transition. For example, self-esteem, satisfaction with one’s appearance, and dieting are three constructs closely bound together in the life and mind of the young adolescent. Global self-esteem is the evaluative component of self-knowledge. Generally, high self-esteem refers to favorable global evaluations of the self, and low self-esteem refers to unfavorable evaluations of the self. Measures of appearance satisfaction tap general aspects of body satisfaction, the affective component of body image. Body dissatisfaction generally refers to negative subjective evaluations of one’s body. Self-report measures of dieting often include questions about the desire to lose weight, specific weight-loss behaviors, or attempts to maintain current weight or prevent weight gain. We asked about the temporal ordering of global self-esteem and appearance satisfaction across the early adolescence transition; the independent associations of self-esteem and appearance satisfaction on self-reported dieting; and gender differences in these processes. Investigations of agreement between child and parent reports of child emotional and behavior problems showed that children and their parents often do not agree on the number or severity of problems children display. Understanding the nature of these discrepancies has important implications for help seeking and intervention and, ultimately, the well-being of the child because, for example, parents are more likely to seek help for their children than children are for themselves.

Understanding informant disagreement also has implications for research on childhood disorders. Depending on the reporter, different samples of children will be identified as facing problems. Indeed, children sometimes report more problems than parents and vice versa. Despite acknowledgment that the direction of discrepancies warrants attention in an examination of congruence between adolescent and parent reports, the literature has devoted little attention to such discrepancies. We addressed this gap in the literature by examining agreement between adolescent and maternal reports of adolescent problem behaviors.

Experiences with age mates are believed to affect adjustment in several domains of functioning in childhood and adolescence. Ample evidence points to effects on behavior and affect, and research has identified the pathways and mechanisms thought to account for the effects. For example, we already know that interaction with antisocial peers increases a child’s level of aggression and that friendship experiences can both protect children against depressed affect, through opportunities for support and closeness, and put them at risk for it via opportunities for co-rumination. Despite the large database showing the effects of peer experiences, some basic questions about the effects remain unaddressed. Typically, research on the protective effects of peer relationships has examined an important but limited range of potential stressors and outcomes, particularly those related to other social experiences. As a result, evidence that peer experiences can protect children from the negative effects of stress is drawn from a narrow set of circumstances. Moreover, most studies conceive of the effects of peer relationship as either producing direct/additive effects or moderating other effects. We examined the claims that positive relationships with peers not only protect against the negative effects of a potentially stressful event but also mediate between children’s current affective state and their response to a subsequent tragic event, such as the 9/11 attacks on Washington, DC.

Acculturation in children and parents in contemporary America

Culture defines the ways in which a collection of people process and make sense of their experiences and influences a wide array of family processes, including family roles, decision-making patterns, and cognitions and practices about childrearing and child development. Thus, acculturation (which may be defined as the dual processes of cultural and psychological change that take place as a result of contact between two or more cultural groups and their individual members) causes major transformations in family life, parenting, child health, and human development. Immigrants face several challenges in acculturating within the dominant or existing society—including deciding which cultural cognitions or practices to retain from their culture of origin and which to adopt from their culture of destination. Yet, acculturation as a scientific phenomenon remains poorly understood. Acculturation entails learning each others’ languages, sharing each others’ food preferences, and adopting forms of dress and social interactions that are characteristic of each group. Sometimes these mutual adaptations take place easily, but they may also create culture conflict and acculturative stress during intercultural interactions.

Cross-cultural comparisons show that virtually all aspects of human development—cognitions and practices alike—are informed by their cultural framework. Today, 25% of children under the age of 18 in the United States, for example, are either immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants. Despite increasing numbers of migrants in the 20th and 21st centuries, research on the influences of acculturation on child development has been relatively scarce. To redress the information void, we study how cultural context influences human development among immigrants. We examined cultural variation in the durations, relations, and contingencies of mother-infant person-directed and object-directed interactions in non-migrant Latino mother-infant dyads living in South America, Latina immigrant mothers from South America and their infants living in the United States, and European-American mother-infant dyads living in the United States. Non-migrant Latina mothers and their infants engaged in person-directed behavior longer than both immigrant and European-American mothers and infants in the United States; results for object-directed behaviors were not as consistent. Mother and infant person-directed behaviors were positively related in all groups; mother and infant object-related behaviors were positively related for dyads living in the United States and unrelated for non-migrant Latino dyads. Nonetheless, nearly all mother and infant behaviors (person- and object-directed) were mutually contingent in dyads in all three cultural groups. Mothers were more responsive to infants’ behaviors than infants were to mothers in each cultural group and for both person- and object-directed behaviors. Latina immigrant mothers tended to be the least responsive for person-directed behaviors, and Latino immigrant infants the least responsive for object-directed behaviors. Immigrant status plays a differentiated role in mother-infant interactions.

Parents often worry that their child is lagging behind in the “achievement” of one or more developmental milestones. For example, parents frequently express concern if their child is not yet walking when other children of the same age are walking or is not talking as soon or as well as they would like or expect. Comparing notes with other parents at the neighborhood playground may be a source of stress rather than a source of solace and support if parents find themselves negatively comparing their child’s development to other children’s development. Today’s young adults are more isolated from children than ever before, and many miss out on the opportunity to observe and engage with young children until they have a child of their own. Although new parents know more about children’s development than those who are not yet parents, their knowledge of child development is not always accurate. It is important that parents have accurate information about and knowledge of child development because research indicates that parents’ knowledge of child development influences their parenting practices. A theory chapter (Cote and Bornstein, in press) explored issues in immigration and acculturation, and a handbook chapter (Bornstein and Cote, in press) advises parents and practitioners on reputable sources of information about normative child development.

Publications

Suwalsky JTD, Hendricks H, Bornstein MH. Families by adoption and birth: I. Mother-infant socio-emotional interactions. Adoption Quarterly 2008 11:101-125.
Suwalsky JTD, Hendricks H, Bornstein MH. Families by adoption and birth: II. Mother-infant cognitive interactions. Adoption Quarterly 2008 11:126-151.
Putnick DL, Bornstein MH, Hendricks C, Painter KM, Suwalsky JTD, Collins WA. Parenting stress, perceived parenting behaviors, and adolescent self-concept in European American families. J Fam Psychol 2008 22:752-762.
Cote LR, Bornstein MH, Haynes OM, Bakeman R. Mother-infant person- and object-directed interactions in Latino immigrant families: a comparative approach. Infancy 2008 13:338-365.

Collaborators

Jeffrey J. Arnett, PhD, Clark University, Worcester, MA
Martha E. Arterberry, PhD, Colby College, Waterville, ME
Nancy Auestad, PhD, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Giovanna Axia, PhD, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Padua, Italy
Hiroshi Azuma, PhD, Shirayuri College, Tokyo, Japan
Roger Bakeman, PhD, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Sashi Bali, PhD, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
Erin Barker, PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Laura Caulfield, PhD, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
W. Andrew Collins, PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Linda Cote, PhD, Marymount University, Arlington, VA
Rodolfo De Castro Ribas, Jr., PhD, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Annik De Houwer, PhD, Universiteit Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
Janet A. DiPietro, PhD, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Margaret Kabiru, PhD, Kenya Institute of Education, Nairobi, Kenya
Shagufa Kapadia, PhD, University of Baroda, Baroda, India
Keumjoo Kwak, PhD, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Sharone Maital, PhD, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
A. Bame Nsamenang, PhD, The Institute of Human Sciences, Bameda, Cameroon
Liliana Pascual, PhD, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Marie-Germaine Pêcheux, PhD, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France
Catherine Tamis-LeMonda, PhD, New York University, New York, NY
Suedo Toda, PhD, Hokkaido University of Education, Hokkaido, Japan
Paola Venuti, PhD, Scienze e Tecniche di Psicologia Cognitiva Applicata, Treneto, Italy
Celia Zingman de Galperín, PhD, Universidad de Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Contact

For more information, email marc_h_bornstein@nih.gov or visit cfr.nichd.nih.gov.

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