Developmental Psychology Journal Articles

Developmental Psychology Journal Articles

The five journal articles I examined were all from a

journal titled Developmental Psychology, May 2000. The first

journal article that I observed was "Sleep Patterns and

Sleep Disruptions in School-Aged Children." This study

assessed the sleep patterns, sleep disruptions, and

sleepiness of school-age children. Sleep patterns of 140

children (72 boys and 68 girls; 2nd-, 4th-, and 6th-grade

students) were evaluated with activity monitors

(actigraphs). In addition, the children and their parents

completed complementary sleep questionnaires and daily

reports. The findings reflected significant age differences,

indicating that older children have more delayed sleep onset

times and increased reported daytime sleepiness. Girls were

found to spend more time in sleep and to have an increased

percentage of motionless sleep. Fragmented sleep was found

in 18% of the children. No age differences were found in any

of the sleep quality measures. Scores on objective sleep

measures were associated with subjective reports of

sleepiness. Family stress, parental age, and parental

education were related to the child's sleep-wake measures.

The next article I observed was "Shared Caregiving:

Comparisons Between Home and Child-Care Settings." The

experiences of 84 German toddlers (12-24 months old) who

were either enrolled or not enrolled in child care were

described with observational checklists from the time they

woke up until they went to bed. The total amount of care

experienced over the course of a weekday by 35 pairs of

toddlers (1 member of each pair in child care, 1 member not)

did not differ according to whether the toddlers spent time

in child care. Although the child...

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mothers and their fathers on separate occasions in their

families' homes. Parent-child pairs played for 8 minutes

each with a feminine-stereotyped toy set (foods and plates)

and a masculine-stereotyped toy set (track and cars). Levels

of affiliation (engaging vs. distancing) and assertion

(direct vs. non-direct) were rated on 7-point scales every 5

seconds from the videotapes for both parent and child.

Overall, the play activity accounted for a large proportion

of the variance in parents' and children's mean affiliation

and assertion ratings. Some hypothesized gender-related

differences in behavior were also observed. In addition,

exploratory analyses revealed some differences between the

different ethnic groups. The results highlight the

importance of role modeling and activity settings in the

socialization and social construction of gender.