Family Transitions and Toddler Development: A Within-Family Perspective

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的主要目的是通过家庭内部，兄弟姐妹设计来检查24至36个月幼儿自我调节能力的发展，并解决家庭中发生的与早期自我调节能力发展相一致的变化。这项研究计划包括在现有研究的基础上增加纵向随访，以调查第二个孩子出生后的家庭变化，当第二个孩子年满24个月和36个月时。具体来说，参与家庭过渡研究（FTS）的家庭将在他们的第二个孩子24个月和36个月大时重新联系，以评估家庭动态以及家庭中兄弟姐妹的社会和情感发展。24个月和36个月的时间点扩展了之前6个时间点（产前、1、4、8、12和18个月）的数据收集，从而可以检查两个父母（母亲、父亲）和两个兄弟姐妹（年龄较大、学步）的家庭系统内的复杂变化。本研究提出：1。确定二胎婴儿18 - 36个月自我调节能力的变化轨迹；2. 超越家庭之间、母子之间的研究，把父亲和年长的兄弟姐妹包括进来，努力研究家庭内部的过程，这些过程对幼儿早期自我调节能力的发展很重要。3. 同时对哥哥姐姐出生前至出生后36个月的问题行为变化进行建模，并将其与蹒跚学步的兄弟姐妹18至36个月的自我调节发展变化联系起来；4. 检查在孩子出生后的前三年，家庭内部的变化（父母抑郁、养育子女、兄弟姐妹关系、婚姻变化）是否作为共同或非共同的家庭风险因素，预测18至36个月兄弟姐妹的发展结果。这项研究的独特之处在于，它包括了180个家庭的大样本；纵向追踪八个时间点；包括父母和两个兄弟姐妹；并研究了迄今为止在早期自我调节发展中尚未研究的家庭内部过程。本研究将进一步加深我们对在“可怕的两岁”时期预测幼儿困难行为的家庭过程的理解，并有助于专家和家长预防幼儿早期的行为问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary goal of this research is to examine the development of toddler self-regulation from 24 to 36 months using a within-family, sibling design and to address changes occurring in the family that coincide with the development of early self-regulatory competence. The study plan involves adding longitudinal follow-ups to an existing study examining changes in the family following the birth of a second child when the second born turns 24 and 36 months of age. Specifically, families participating in the Family Transitions Study (FTS) will be recontacted when their second child is 24 and 36 months old to assess family dynamics and the social and emotional development of both siblings in the family. The 24 and 36 month timepoints extend data collection from six prior timepoints (Prenatal, 1, 4, 8,12 and 18 months) that allows the examination of complex change within the family system for two parents (mother, father) and two siblings (older, toddler). The research proposes to: 1. Identify change trajectories in the second born child's self-regulation from 18 to 36 months of age; 2. Move beyond between-family, mother-child research, and include fathers and older siblings in an effort to examine within-family processes that are important for the development of the toddler's early self-regulation. 3. Simultaneously model change in the older sibling's problematic behavior from pre-birth to 36 months after the sibling birth and relate it to change in the toddler sibling's development of self-regulation from 18 to 36 months and; 4. Examine whether changes within the family (parental depression, parenting, sibling relations, marital change) during the first three years after the birth act as shared or nonshared family risk factors that predict the development of sibling outcomes from 18 to 36 months. The proposed research is unique in that it includes a large sample of 180 families; followed longitudinally across eight timepoints; includes mothers and fathers, and two siblings; and examines within-family processes not examined to date in the development of early self-regulation. This study will further our understanding of the family processes that predict difficult toddler behavior during the "terrible two's" and aid both professionals and parents in preventing child behavior problems in early childhood.