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  • Representações de vinculação e qualidade do brincar interativo em crianças em idade pré-escolar
    Publication . Figueiredo, Mafalda; Gatinho, Ana Rita dos Santos; Torres, Nuno; Pinto, Alexandra; Santos, António J.; Veríssimo, Manuela
    Resumo: Durante o período pré-escolar as relações que a criança estabelece com os principais cuidadores e com os pares são de importância fundamental para o seu desenvolvimento socio emocional. Contudo, são poucos os estudos acerca da relação entre a qualidade da vinculação e a forma como as crianças brincam com os pares. Pretende-se com este estudo investigar a associação entre as representações de vinculação de crianças pré-escolares e diferentes dimensões do jogo interativo das mesmas. Participaram 66 crianças, entre os 4 e os 5 anos de idade, e respetivas educadoras, de duas escolas distintas. A qualidade das representações de vinculação foi acedida através do Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT), cujas histórias foram codificadas por três investigadores “cegos”. Os comportamentos de jogo interativo em contexto pré-escolar foram reportados pelas educadoras através da Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS). Detetou-se uma associação positiva estatisticamente significativa entre a Segurança das representações de vinculação e a Interação Positiva com os Pares e associações significativas negativas entre a Segurança e a Disrupção e a Segurança e a Desconexão. Os nossos resultados evidenciam a associação entre relações seguras de vinculação e o modo como as crianças interagem ludicamente com os pares.
  • Multidimensional Factor Structure of the Modified Child Rearing Practices Report Questionnaire (CRPR-Q) in a sample of Portuguese mothers : a bifactor approach
    Publication . Ribeiro, Olívia; Guedes, Maryse; Veríssimo, Manuela; Rubin, Kenneth; Santos, António J.
    Abstract: Parental attitudes toward child socialization influence their child-rearing practices, the quality of parent-child relationships, and children’s developmental outcomes. The Modified Child Rearing Practices Questionnaire (CRPR-Q) has been widely used to assess parenting practices across children’s development. However, the few studies investigating its two-factorial structure (nurturance and restrictiveness) have shown inconsistent findings and have not explored measurement invariance across children’s sex and age groups. The aims of this study were to (1) further investigate the factorial structure of the CRPR-Q, by using bifactor solutions (b-confirmatory factor analysis [B-CFA] and b-exploratory structural equation modeling [B-ESEM]) and (2) examine the measurement invariance of CRPR-Q across children’s sex and age groups. A community sample of 589 Portuguese mothers of children aged 3 to 15 years completed the CRPR-Q. Our findings revealed that the B-ESEM model best fit the data. A clear differentiation between the two a priori factors (nurturance and restrictiveness) was found. However, our findings suggest the need to control for content specificity and rely on a broader perspective regarding the nurturance factor. Measurement invariance was observed across children’s sex but not across children’s age groups. These findings contribute to a more in-depth understanding of the underlying relationships among the CRPR-Q items.
  • Father involvement and maternal stress: The mediating role of coparenting
    Publication . D'Orsi, Dora; Veríssimo, Manuela; Diniz, Eva
    : In recent years mothers have been finding themselves overwhelmed by the need to balance work and maternal duties. Father involvement in childcare has been related to a decrease in mother’s burden in childcare. This association is influenced by multiple aspects, such as the way parents share parenting perspectives and views about child rearing, i.e., coparenting. Nevertheless, the mediating role of coparenting on the association between father involvement and maternal stress has been overlooked. This will be addressed by the current study. A total of 254 Portuguese married/cohabiting mothers of preschool children reported on maternal stress, father involvement in caregiving, and coparenting. Data was collected in public and private schools through questionnaires and online through advertisements in social media. Results show that greater father involvement in direct care was associated with greater maternal stress, but this direction changes when mediated by cooperative coparenting. Moreover, results suggest that when mothers perceived less conflict in coparenting, greater father (in)direct care contributed to decreased maternal stress. The current study supports the notion that fathers involvement and parent’s cooperation account to mothers’ wellbeing, which will improve family dynamics.
  • Convergent and Discriminant Validities of SCBE-30 Questionnaire Using Correlated Trait–Correlated Method Minus One
    Publication . Fernandes, Marília; Santos, Antonio José; Antunes, Marta; Fernandes, Carla; Monteiro, Lígia Maria Santos; Vaughn, Brian; Veríssimo, Manuela
    Correlated trait-correlated method minus one was used to evaluate convergent and discriminant validity of Social Competence Behavior Evaluation questionnaire (Social Competence, Anger-Aggression, Anxiety-Withdrawal) between multiple raters. A total of 369 children (173 boys and 196 girls; M age = 55.85, SD age = 11.54) were rated by their mothers, fathers, and teachers. Results showed more convergence between parents than parent-teacher ratings. Mother-teacher share a common view of child behavior that is not shared with father. Parents had more difficulty distinguishing internalizing and externalizing behaviors (especially fathers). Measurement invariance across child sex was explored, results imply that differences between boys and girls were not due to measure. Girls (compare to boys) were described as more social competent by their fathers and teachers, while boys as more aggressive by mothers and teachers.
  • Perceived attachment to fathers and mothers and shame in early adolescence
    Publication . Gerulaitis, Sandra; Azevedo, Jussane; Fernandes, M.; Veríssimo, Manuela; Guedes, Maryse
    Abstract: Shame results from a set of complex ideas about the self and, when intense and prolonged, may interfere in adolescents’ socioemotional adjustment. Research with young adults found that parent-child attachment was associated with shame. Due to the limited number of studies during adolescence, this study aimed to examine the role of the perceptions of safe haven and secure base in the relationship with the mother and the father in self-reported shame in a sample of adolescents aged 10 to 15 years. A total of 312 adolescents (45% boys) aged, on average, 12 years, recruited from a school of the Metropolitan Lisbon, participated in the study. Participants answered the Portuguese version of the Security Scale Questionnaire (SSQ) and the External and Internal Shame Scale for Adolescents(EVEI-A) to assess perceptions of safe haven and secure base in the relationships with parents and total, internal, and external shame. Higher scores of secure base and safe haven in the relationships with the father and with the mother were associated with self-reports of lower levels of overall, internal, and external shame. The strength of the associations between the scores of safe haven and internal shame tended to be higher for the relationship with the mother than for the relationship with the father. These findings are consistent with research conducted with young adults and highlight the importance of assessing the role of both fathers and mothers as a safe haven and secure base.
  • Análise fatorial confirmatória do questionário “O Papel do Pai” numa amostra de pais e mães portuguesas
    Publication . Monteiro, Lígia; Torres, Nuno; Veríssimo, Manuela; Pessoa E Costa, Inês; Freitas, Miguel
    Resumo: O presente estudo visou traduzir para português o questionário “The Father’s Role” e analisar a qualidade do ajustamento do modelo de medida do instrumento para pais e mães, numa amostra de 200 famílias nucleares, com crianças em idade pré-escolar. Os resultados permitem suportar a estrutura uni-fatorial do QPP para as respostas do pai, com índices de ajustamento que sustentam a boa qualidade do modelo. Para as mães apenas um modelo bi-fatorial se mostrou adequado. Os resultados sugerem que as atitudes e crenças sobre a parentalidade de pais e mães portugueses poderão ter estruturas diferentes.
  • Preliminary perceived intervention changes and engagement in an evidence-based program targeted at behavioral inhibition during early childhood, delivered in-person and online
    Publication . Guedes, Maryse; Maia, Rita; Matos, Inês; Antunes, Marta; Rolão, Teresa; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Rubin, Kenneth; Veríssimo, Manuela; Santos, Antonio José
    Introduction: Behavioral inhibition during early childhood is one of the strongest risk factors for the development of later anxiety disorders. Recently developed in- person interventions that target both young children who are highly inhibited and their parents (e.g., the Turtle Program), have decreased children’s anxiety and have increased social participation in the peer group. However, researchers have yet to examine the e􀀀ects of intervention mode of delivery. In the present study, we compared the pre-to post-intervention changes in child and parenting functioning of families participating in the Turtle Program, delivered in-person and online with those changes made in families allocated to a waiting-list condition; compared session attendance, homework completion and satisfaction with the intervention outcomes of families involved in the Turtle Program, delivered in-person and online; and explored the predictive role of parenting and child factors in session attendance, homework completion and satisfaction with the outcomes of families involved in the Turtle Program, depending on the mode of delivery (in-person vs. online). Method: Fifty-seven parents of highly inhibited preschoolers (3–5 years), with no diagnosis of selective mutism or developmental disorders, who were randomly allocated to waiting-list (n = 20), Turtle Program delivered in-person (n = 17) and online (n = 20) conditions completed the Portuguese versions of the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire, the Preschool Anxiety Scale, the Social Behavior and Competence Scale, the Modified Child-Rearing Practices Questionnaire at pre- and post-intervention assessment. Parents also completed the Preschool Shyness Study Satisfaction Survey at post-intervention assessment. Results: Independent of intervention mode of delivery, generalized equation estimates revealed a reduction in children’s total anxiety symptoms and an improvement in parental nurturing behaviors. Child anxiety and social competence at pre-assessment were the most prominent predictors of session attendance and satisfaction with post-intervention child and parenting outcomes. Discussion: Overall, this study showed that parents in both intervention conditions perceived comparable positive changes in child functioning from pre- to post- intervention assessment and similar levels of session attendance, homework completion, and satisfaction. Significantly, however, perceived satisfaction with post-intervention child and parenting outcomes was higher, when children were reported to display higher SEL skills at baseline, independent of the intervention mode of delivery.
  • Respect and sympathy in Portuguese preschoolers and middle-school children
    Publication . Costa Martins, Mariana; Cardoso, Evlyne Martins; Pires, E.; Fernandes, M.; Fernandes, C.; Malti, Tina; Veríssimo, Manuela
    Abstract: Recent research has revealed theorical and empirical links between respect and socioemotional outcomes such as moral emotions and prosociality, as well as negative associations with aggression. The ability to sympathize, feel concern, and be aware of other’s states has also been hypothesized to influence how children conceptualize respect and evaluate behaviors as worthy of respect. The development of respect derives from the ability to recognize others as individuals with unique needs, feelings, and desires. Similarly, like respect, sympathy has also been associated with more altruistic and kinder interactions. The present study aims to explore the link between these two socioemotional constructs – respect and sympathy – while considering possible cultural nuances. Fifty-three children answered the Respect Interview which delved into their conceptualizations, evaluations, and reasonings behind respect (the concept, expressions, and examples of feeling respect from others), and the Sympathy Scale. Parents also reported on their children’s sympathy and sociodemographic data. A positive effect between sympathy and respect was only partially confirmed. Sympathy revealed a positive effect on prosocial conceptualizations of respect (χ2=3.85, p<.05;b=.90). In contrast, children who used authority themes to define expressions of respect, were less sympathetic [t(51)=-1.86, p<.05]. Sociodemographic differences were considered and discussed when analysing both variables. Our results are in line with previous literature and contribute to knowledge in this field by replicating the study in a different culture and age range.
  • Caregivers’ responses to children’s negative emotions: Associations with preschoolers’ executive functioning
    Publication . Fernandes, C.; Santos, A. F.; Fernandes, M.; Veríssimo, Manuela; Santos, António J.
    There is a lack of knowledge regarding the connection between parental emotional responsiveness and children’s executive functioning (EF). This study aimed to explore the relations between caregivers’ reactions to their children’s distress and children’s EF. Mothers of 136 preschoolers reported their reactions to their children’s negative emotions using the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale. Children’s EF was assessed through the mothers and teachers’ reports using the Behavioral Inventory of Executive Functioning for Preschool Children. Results showed that the mothers’ perceived use of negative emotional regulation responses (i.e., punitive and minimizing reactions) was associated with lower levels of EF in children, as reported by both mothers and teachers. The association between the mothers’ use of positive emotional regulation responses (i.e., problem-focused, emotion-focused, and expressive encouragement reactions) and children’s EF was not significant. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the mothers’ use of negative emotional regulation responses accounted for significant proportions of variance in EF indexes. These findings suggest that parental socialization of emotion could be important for children’s EF. Specifically, caregivers’ negative emotional regulation responses to children’s distress may serve as a risk factor for poorer EF in children. Efforts to improve children’s EF may be more effective when parental emotional responsiveness to their distress is considered.
  • Efeitos de idade e sexo no autoconceito de crianças Pré-Escolares
    Publication . Pinto, Alexandra Maria Pereira Inácio Sequeira; Gatinho, Ana Rita dos Santos; Fernandes, Carla; Veríssimo, Manuela
    Poucas são as investigações sobre o autoconceito realizadas com crianças de idade pré-escolar. Neste estudo procuramos contribuir para uma melhor compreensão do desenvolvimento normativo do autoconceito, no período pré-escolar, nomeadamente, através da análise dos efeitos que o sexo e a idade têm no mesmo. Tratando-se de um estudo longitudinal, a amostra foi composta por 83 crianças portuguesas, avaliadas no seu autoconceito aos quatro e aos cinco anos de idade, através da Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children – PSPCSA. As crianças apresentaram resultados muito elevados em todos os domínios do autoconceito, em ambas as idades Os dados parecem indicar que os elevados valores do autoconceito começam a declinar já no fi m do período pré-escolar, pelo menos em alguns domínios, sugerindo, dessa forma, um desenvolvimento diferenciado do autoconceito, consoante os diferentes domínios avaliados. Finalmente, parecem existir diferenças no autoconceito relacionadas com o sexo das crianças, favorecendo os rapazes. Os nossos resultados contribuem para uma melhor compreensão do processo de desenvolvimento do autoconceito