Promoting positive social-emotional pathways: A translational research program

描述(由申请人提供)：这项研究的主要目的是促进儿童积极的、适应性的社会情绪发展途径，并防止从婴儿期到青春期的适应不良途径。我们的基础研究试图解释为什么一些儿童在家庭和更广泛的生态环境中发挥作用时，会走上积极的发展道路，走向成熟的良知，包括适当的道德情感、亲社会的、内化的、遵守规则的行为和强大的社会情感能力，以及为什么其他儿童进入不适应道路，走向冷酷无情、无视规则和他人的感受、破坏性、反社会、高风险行为、能力低下和贫穷的社会情感成长。虽然父母社会化的作用得到了广泛的承认，但其对儿童个体的影响的具体机制还不清楚。在这项研究中，早期的亲子相互反应取向(MRO)被认为是促进积极的长期社会情绪结果的一个强有力的因素。在MRO的背景下，社会化成为一种共享的、互惠的亲子事业，孩子成为一个积极、接受和愿意参与的人，渴望接受父母的目标和价值观。因此，父母可以放弃使用厌恶的、高压的控制。这项研究进一步阐明了社会化过程是如何与个体儿童的生物个性紧密交织在一起的，其结果取决于个体儿童的生物个性。我们正在进行的对102名社区母亲、父亲和儿童的纵向家庭研究使用了在儿童7、15、25、38、52、67、80和96个月时收集的大量数据来支持这一模型。建议在10-11岁、12-13岁和14-15岁进行新的评估，以检查早期MRO在关键的青春期过渡期间的影响。我们的转化性研究，Play Study，一个持续的，理论知情的，随机的育儿干预，186个低收入，多样化的母婴二人组，促进早期母子MRO，从而促进社会化路径，导致积极的儿童结果。在干预前、干预前后、干预后即刻和干预后6个月收集数据。一项拟议中的7-8岁新评估将测试其在孩子关键过渡到学校后的长期影响。这项工作意义重大，因为这两项研究在目标、结构和措施方面是协同和平行的，但在设计和人口方面是互补的，并采用了大量、多方法、多特征、多评估、多信息的儿童基因分型、心理生理学、气质、行为和情感、良知、综合评估能力和功能、亲子关系、父母适应和家庭生态的测量方法。跨学科团队包括社会情绪发展、青春期、发展精神病理学、母亲适应、干预科学、分子遗传学和统计学方面的专家。一个创新的、统一的理论框架整合了这两项研究。使用结构方程模型(SEM)，分析阐明了随时间的变化，发展轨迹、过程和因果机制中的差异，以及连接结构(中介)和多个因果路径(调节)。 公共卫生相关性：促进该国儿童积极、适应性的社会情感发展是一项关键的公共卫生目标。我们的纵向基础研究阐明了为什么一些儿童走上积极的道路，走向强大的能力、亲社会、遵守规则、生产性功能和健康的社会情绪成长，而另一些儿童则进入反社会道路，走向能力低下、无视规则、冷酷无情、破坏性和高风险行为，以及贫穷的社会情绪成长。相互响应的早期亲子关系，与孩子的生理个性交织在一起，是从婴儿期到青春期成功的社会情感道路的关键。我们基于理论的翻译研究是一项随机的实验性育儿干预措施，可以促进低收入、种族多样化的母亲和幼儿成功的社会情感结果，并降低发展风险。总体而言，这项研究对有效的育儿、干预和预防计划具有广泛的影响，这些计划可以促进儿童的社会情绪成长，并减少由于负面的、破坏性的发展轨迹而给儿童、家庭和社会带来的沉重负担。。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching aim of this research is to promote children's positive, adaptive pathways of socio-emotional development and to prevent maladaptive pathways from infancy to adolescence. Our basic research seeks to explain why some children embark on positive developmental paths toward a mature conscience that encompasses appropriate moral emotions, prosocial, internalized, rule-abiding conduct, and robust socio- emotional competence when functioning in the family and broader ecologies, and why other children enter maladaptive paths toward callousness, disregard for rules and others' feelings, disruptive, antisocial, high-risk behavior, poor competence, and impoverished socio-emotional growth. Although the role of parental socialization is broadly acknowledged, specific mechanisms of its impact for individual children are not yet understood. In this research, early parent-child Mutually Responsive Orientation (MRO) is proposed as a powerful factor promoting positive long-term socio-emotional outcomes. In the context of MRO, socialization becomes a shared, reciprocal parent-child enterprise, and the child becomes an active, receptive, and willing participant, eager to embrace parental goals and values. Consequently, the parent can relinquish the use of aversive, heavy-handed control. This research further elucidates how socialization processes are strongly interwoven with, and their outcomes dependent on the individual child's biological individuality. Our ongoing longitudinal Family Study of 102 community mothers, fathers and children has supported this model using massive data collected when children were 7, 15, 25, 38, 52, 67, 80, and 96 months. New assessments are proposed at 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15 years, to examine implications of early MRO during the critical transition to adolescence. Our translational research, Play Study, an ongoing, theory-informed, randomized parenting intervention with 186 low-income, diverse mother-toddler dyads, fosters early mother-child MRO, and thus promotes socialization paths leading to positive child outcomes. Data are collected before, throughout, immediately after and 6 months after the intervention. A proposed new assessment at age 7-8 will test its long-term impact following the children's key transition to school. This work is significant because both studies are synergistic and parallel regarding aims, constructs, and measures, but complementary regarding designs and populations, and employ massive, multi-method, multi-trait, multi-assessment, multi-informant measures of children's genotypes, psychophysiology, temperament, behavior and emotions, conscience, comprehensively assessed competencies and functioning, parent-child relationships, and parents' adjustment and family ecology. Interdisciplinary team includes experts in socio-emotional development, adolescence, developmental psychopathology, maternal adjustment, intervention science, molecular genetics, and statistics. An innovative, unified theoretical framework integrates both studies. Analyses elucidate changes over time, divergence in developmental trajectories, processes and causal mechanisms linking constructs (mediation), and multiple causal pathways (moderation), using structural equations modeling (SEM). PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Promoting positive, adaptive socio-emotional development of the Nation's children is a key public health goal. Our longitudinal, basic research elucidates why some children embark on positive paths toward strong competence, prosocial, rule-abiding, productive functioning, and robust socio-emotional growth, whereas other children enter antisocial paths toward poor competence, disregard for rules, callousness, disruptive and high- risk behaviors, and impoverished socio-emotional growth. A mutually responsive early parent-child relationship, interwoven with the child's biological individuality, is key to successful socio-emotional paths from infancy to adolescence. Our theory-informed translational research, a randomized experimental parenting intervention, promotes successful socio-emotional outcomes and reduces developmental risks in low-income, ethnically diverse mothers and young children. Overall, this research has broad implications for effective parenting, intervention, and prevention programs that enhance children's socio-emotional growth and reduce profound burdens for children, families, and society due to negative, disruptive developmental trajectories. .