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Erken çocukluk döneminde yönetici işlev becerilerinin yordayıcıları: Kentsel ve kırsal yoksulluk
Executive function (EF) is an umbrella term of cognitive processes (working memory, inhibition, mental set shifting), which are important for achieving goal-directed behaviors. Several contextual and child factors influence EF development. Poverty is a risk factor for EF skills; however, the effects of urban and rural poverty might be different. The current study examined the differences in urban and rural poverty in terms of living conditions and parenting, EF differences in urban and rural poverty, and predictors of EF. The participants were 241 children and their mothers living in poverty. Children's EF was assessed via Corsi block tapping (visuospatial WM), forward and backward digit span (verbal WM), day-and-night (inhibition), and dimensional change card sort (mental set-shifting) tasks. The results indicated that urban and rural poverty differed in terms of the poverty level (i.e., income, education), home stimulation, neighborhood quality, and mothers' expectations about children's educational attainment, whereas they were similar in terms of parenting, conversations with children and mothers' beliefs about child development. The comparison of urban-rural poverty in terms of EF showed that children living in urban and rural poverty were not significantly different in their EF skills. Moreover, children's age, duration of attending kindergarten, receptive vocabulary, and children's perceptual sensitivity were associated with children's EF; and urban-rural poverty interacted with mothers' positive parenting predicting children's verbal WM and mental set-shifting. The findings of the study are important for describing urban-rural poverty differences in Turkey, and the findings have implications for future studies.
Algılanan ebeveynliğin öncüllerinin günlük hayatta ve COVID-19 pandemisinde incelenmesi: Aile süreçleri modeli perspektifi
This thesis examined the antecedents of parental rejection in everyday life and stressful conditions. Study 1 examined predictors of parenting separately for mothers and fathers by testing parent characteristics, namely, education, depression, and socialization goals; famil social context, namely, marital conflict, and social support child characteristics, namely child age, gender, and negative affect. Moreover, the dyadic link among parents in terms of socialization goals, authoritative parenting beliefs were tested for parental rejection. Study 2 examined perceived rejection amid the Corona Virus Disease- 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic by considering the role of pandemic-related risk and protective factors through the mediating role of mothers' psychological distress when controlling for pre-pandemic conditions. Study 1 showed that education level and social support was associated with less maternal rejection, whereas hierarchical relatedness goals was associated with increased maternal rejection. Moreover, social support for mothers was associated with less rejection, especially for girls with high negative affect. For fathers, depressive symptoms and children's negative affect were associated with paternal rejection. Autonomy supporting goals was associated with less perceived rejection by their sons. In cases of high marital conflict, fathers were perceived as less rejecting parents by their daughters and children with less negative affect. Dyadic analysis showed that fathers' authoritative parenting beliefs mediated the link between autonomy supporting goals and parental rejection for both parents. Study 2 showed the mediating role of maternal psychological distress for pandemic-related anxiety, chaos in the family environment but not for decrease in income in predicting maternal rejection. Neither marital satisfaction nor social support had a protective role for mothers.
Ebeveynlik bilişleri ile kuralları içselleştirme ilişkisinde ebeveynliğin aracı cinsiyet ve mizacın düzenleyici rolü
The aim of the present study was to examine the mediator role of parenting behaviors (positive and negative) in the relationships between parenting beliefs and the internalization of rules among children or adolescents. Also, the study aimed to test the moderator role of temperament (frustration and sensory processing sensitivity) in the association between parenting behaviors and the internalization of rules. Lastly, the study aimed to test whether the proposed relationships differ among girls and boys. In total, 374 children and adolescents (225 girls [60.2 %], and 149 boys [39.8 %]) with the age range from 7 to 18 years old (M = 11.02, SD = 2.26) and their mothers participated in the current study. Children and adolescents were asked to fill in parenting scales including warmth, hostility, neglect, undifferentiated rejection, comparison, psychological control, and inductive reasoning. Mothers were asked to fill out demographics, parental beliefs, temperament, and internalization of rules. Results revealed that there were significant associations between parenting beliefs, parenting behaviors, and internalization of rules, and these relationships showed differences for girls and boys. The interaction between sensory processing sensitivity and between negative parenting was also significant in predicting internalization of rules. Findings were discussed in light of the literature. Keywords: internalization of rule, parenting belief, parenting, temperament, gender
Koç Üniversitesi minik yürekler projesinin kurumda kalan korunmaya muhtaç çocuklar üzerindeki etkileri
Although institutions are one of the most common ways to look after needy children, the children in institutions often experience socio-emotional deprivation and even material deprivation in some institutions (MacLean, 2003; Smyke et al., 2007). Early deprivation that the children in institution experience may have effects on five different areas of development which are social development, language development and communication, emotional development, fine-motor coordination, and cognitive development (Giese & Dawes, 1999).The goal of the present study is to assess the trajectory of change of the social, emotional, motor and language development of the institutionalized children visited weekly by the volunteers of Koç University Minik Yürekler Project (KUMYUP).The sample of the present study consists of 16 children between 12 and 36 months old currently residing in the Bahçelievler Child Protection Center. The control group consists of 12 children in the same age group currently residing in institutions in Kocaeli and Bursa.In order to analyze children?s development, Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory was administered two times as a pre and post test. Also systematic observation for three months in each institution was made by the researcher.The results indicate that children who were weekly visited by the volunteers scored significantly higher in general development and social development areas of Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory. There were not statistically significant differences between the pre and post test scores for language development, fine motor development and gross motor development.Based on the findings of the study, some policy recommendations about institutionalization are made.
Anaokulu çocuklarının deneysel gözleme dayalı kızgınlık ve üzüntü ifadelerinin anne raporlarına dayalı içselleştirme ve dışsallaştırma belirtisiyle olan ilişkisi
Emotional development in preschool age is essential for concurrent and later social and academic adjustment (Cole, Michel, & Teti, 1994; Saarni, 1999; Denham, 1998). Emotional reactivity, in particular negative emotionality, and its relations to adjustment problems has been theoretically and empirically studied in the literature of developmental psychopathology (Crick & Zahn-Waxler, 2003; Nigg, 2006; Patrick & Bernat, 2006). However, literature provides limited information on the specific mechanisms that link negative emotionality, especially anger and sadness expressions, to internalizing and externalizing symptoms. In addition, our understanding on the basic normative aspects of anger and sadness expressions in response to different eliciting contexts during preschool age is limited. The present study has two major goals: First goal was to assess contextual variability in anger and sadness expressions of preschoolers as a function of age and gender. Anger and sadness expressions of 130 children were observed in two different laboratory contexts, interpersonal and non-interpersonal. The second goal of the study was to concurrently predict maternal reports of preschoolers? internalizing and externalizing symptoms using their observed anger and sadness expressions and contextual variability in emotional reactivity. Results showed that, anger and sadness expressions of children significantly differed across the two contexts. All children showed greater levels of anger and sadness expressions in the interpersonal contexts. Observed anger and sadness expressions failed to concurrently predict mother reports of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results of the study were discussed in relation to observed effects of contextual variability in emotion expressions on symptom elevations with moderating effects of age and gender. Further, limitations of the findings were discussed in terms of generalizability, and strengths of the study within the theme of measurement confound.
Ebeveyn kontrol davranışlarının, çocuğun dışsallaştırma davranış problemlerine etkisi
This study examined the effect of parental control (behavioral, psychological, and physical) and its correlates (parental warmth, parental use of inductive reasoning, and SES) on the externalizing behaviors of 3 year-old children in Turkish culture. The study encompassed conceptual and empirical work to define parental control. It was proposed that cross cultural generalizability of dimensions of parenting and their effects on children?s externalizing behaviors can be achieved by eliminating implicit assumptions regarding the coexistence of various conceptually distinct aspects of parenting such as parental control and lack of parental warmth. The data were collected by qualitative methods on parent-child interactions and quantitative methods with questionnaires (N=123) from the participants of the Study of Early Childhood Developmental Ecologies in Turkey (ECDET). The results indicated that (i) Turkish mothers preferred to exercise three types of parental control simultaneously; (ii) children of mothers who impose higher parental control displayed higher externalizing problems compared to others; (iii) the non-linear effects of behavioral control on child externalizing behaviors suggesting an optimum level for the behavioral control; (iv) there were interactive effects of behavioral and psychological control with parental warmth. The major contributions of the current study were to investigate the effects of three types of parental control on child externalizing behaviors of 3 year- old children in Turkish context with studying the independent and interactive effects by both qualitative and quantitative means.
Türk annelerin gelişimsel beklentileri, ebeveynlik davranışları ve aile ortamlarında yerleşim alanının ve eğitimin rolü
The major aim of this study was to investigate differences and similarities in developmental expectations, parenting practices, and quality of home environment in Turkish mothers of preschoolers who live in a megacity and a rural-city. Another aim was to examine the role of maternal education in these parenting variables. The participants were 161 mothers of preschoolers living in Istanbul and 73 mothers living in Konya, Kayseri, and Nevsehir. Differences between groups were examined using MANOVAs and MANCOVAs, and results revealed that mothers who lived in rural-cities reported higher levels of obedience-demanding behaviors and punishment; had earlier developmental expectations about traditional/moral rules; and provided healthier physical environment than megacity mothers. It was also found that compared to low-educated mothers, high-educated mothers reported less obedience-demanding behaviors and more permissiveness and cognitive stimulation; expected earlier development in the physical, cognitive, social, self-control, autonomy, obedience, family orientation, and agency domains; and provided more learning materials and healthier physical environment. The results partially supported the hypotheses. Taken together, the findings implied that the mothers who live in a megacity and a rural-city have some similarities and differences in terms of developmental expectations, child-rearing practices, and home context. In addition to the differences related to social environment, results showed that parenting variables differ according to mothers? education level, which is consistent with child development literature.
Çocukların Sosyal Anlayış Ölçeği-kısa formunun psikometrik özelliklerinin otizmli çocuklar üzerinden incelenmesi
Researchers have examined theory of mind (ToM) via individual assessments, depending on participants' behavioral performance. Recently, Tahiroğlu and colleagues developed a parent-report, the Children's Social Understanding Scale (CSUS), to assess fine-tuned individual differences in children's ToM. The CSUS has been found reliable and valid in measuring ToM of typically developing preschool-aged children in North America (Tahiroğlu et al., 2014) and Turkey (Tahiroğlu & Yağmurlu, 2014). Another group where ToM has been widely examined is individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who have varying degrees of difficulty in understanding others' mental states. However, using individual assessments to measure ToM can be problematic in ASD, since the behavioral tasks are complex, have significant linguistic and cognitive demands, and are not good at revealing nuanced individual differences. In the present study, we examined the psychometric properties of the short form of the CSUS in ToM assessment of children with ASD in Turkey. The participants were 106 children with ASD (Mage = 12.06 years, SD = 2.91) and their parents. Children's ToM was measured via the CSUS and behavioral assessments: one low-verbal and one first-order ToM task. Their ASD severity level, receptive language, nonverbal intelligence, emotion recognition, and social competence were also measured to analyze the validity of the CSUS. Reliability analysis revealed very high internal consistency for the CSUS. The CSUS score was negatively associated with children's ASD severity level and positively associated with low-verbal ToM performance, receptive language, nonverbal intelligence, and social competence. When children's ASD severity level and receptive language were controlled, the associations among the CSUS score and behaviorally measured ToM scores were non-significant. Hierarchical regression analysis was also used to test the predictive value of children's ASD severity level, receptive language, nonverbal intelligence, emotion recognition, and social competence on their CSUS score. The results revealed that better receptive language and higher social competence were significantly associated with higher CSUS score. The findings showed that the CSUS is a reliable and valid tool in measuring ToM of children with ASD in Turkey.
Sosyal bağlamda zihin kuramı: Kültür, sosyal ortam ve hedefteki kişinin özelliklerinin rolü
Theory-of-mind (ToM) describes the ability to understand mental states of others. According to the perspective of theory-theory, social context is critical for children's development and use of ToM ability as variety of experiences in social context provide children with rich input about diverse nature of others' mental states. In line with the perspective of theory-theory, the current dissertation with its three separate studies investigated the role of social context (e.g., broad cultural norms and family characteristics, general setting of the social interaction, and targets' characteristics) in development and use of ToM in children and young adults. The first study examined the developmental acquisition of ToM steps in Turkish children and explored whether this acquisition could be linked with socio-demographic factors of children's families. The results showed that majority of Turkish children in the sample displayed collectivist ToM acquisition pattern with earlier understanding of Knowledge Access (KA) than Diverse Beliefs (DB). However, further analyses focusing only on achievement in individual items of KA and DB revealed that those children who evidenced DB but not KA understanding were living in more crowded households with higher number of adults than children who evidenced KA but not DB. The findings implied that children's development of ToM takes places in line with the general norms of the society and in the context of Turkey where individualist and collectivist values co-exist, family characteristics play a critical role in determining whether children's ToM acquisition sequence would fit to individualist vs. collectivist pattern. The second study focused on the importance of children's ToM abilities in the context of peer play and tested test if acquisition of ToM transforms children's social interactions, particularly, their display of lower disruptive actions (e.g., opposition, rule breaking, yelling and aggressing) within play situation. This study also examined the role of emotion understanding and empathy as two critical socio-emotional skills associated with social behaviors of children. The findings demonstrated that not higher ToM or emotion understanding but higher empathy predicted lower disruptive behaviors of preschoolers in peer context. Although accurate interpretation of others' minds in ongoing social interactions can give rise to smooth peer relationship, in the context of peer play, ToM emerged as a general socio-cognitive ability (a cold comprehension skill) and high performance in ToM did not necessarily pave the way of more coordinated peer play behaviors. These results were in line with the claims stating that ToM is a cold comprehension skill (as opposed to empathy—affective sharing of others' emotions) which can be used either to harm or please others depending on individuals' motivation. Finally, the third study examined whether cultural characteristics of the target and associated social perceptions (e.g., perceived similarity, prejudice and threat perception) could influence accuracy of young adults' ToM performance. The results displayed that Turkish young adults performed higher mindreading accuracy toward Turkish targets than Syrian and Norwegian targets. Moreover, analyses conducted within each target group revealed complex interactions between perceived similarity, realistic threat and prejudice, documenting that both target characteristics and perceptions about these targets impact understanding minds of outgroup members. Overall, in line with the theory-theory's contention, these three studies showed that although humans are endowed with the capacity to make sense of others' subjective minds, their social experiences are critical in guiding development and later utilization of this capacity in childhood and early adulthood years.