Infant joint attention, temperament, and social competence in preschool children.
Infant joint attention has been observed to be related to social-emotional outcomes in at-risk children. To address whether this relation is also evident in typically developing children, 52 children were tested at 12, 15, 24, and 30 months to examine associations between infant joint attention and social outcomes. Twelve-month initiating and responding to joint attention were related to 30-month social competence and externalizing behavior, even when accounting for 15-month temperament ratings, 24-month cognition and language, and demographic variables. These results suggest that, in addition to associations with language and cognition, infant joint attention reflects robust aspects of development that are related to individual differences in the emergence of social and behavioral competence in childhood.
Vaughan Van Hecke
Amy
A
University of Miami, USA. amyvanhecke@yahoo.com
Mundy
Peter C
PC
Acra
C Françoise
CF
Block
Jessica J
JJ
Delgado
Christine E F
CE
Parlade
Meaghan V
MV
Meyer
Jessica A
JA
Neal
A Rebecca
AR
Pomares
Yuly B
YB
D001288:Attention; D001364:Awareness; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007223:Infant; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007804:Language Development; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment; D013694:Temperament; D014796:Visual Perception