(Press-News.org) Even kindergarteners know that thinking positively will make you feel better. And parents' own feelings of optimism may play a role in whether their children understand how thoughts influence emotions.
Those are the findings of a new study by researchers at Jacksonville University and the University of California, Davis. The study appears in the journal Child Development.
In the study, researchers looked at 90 mostly White children ages 5 to 10. The children listened to six illustrated stories in which two characters feel the same emotion after experiencing something positive (getting a new puppy), negative (spilling milk), or ambiguous (meeting a new teacher). Following each experience, one character has a separate optimistic thought, framing the event in a positive light, and the other has a separate pessimistic thought, putting the event in a negative light. Researchers described the subsequent thoughts verbally, then asked the children to judge each character's emotions and provide an explanation for those emotions. They were most interested in the degree to which children predicted different emotions for two characters in the same situation.
The researchers also had the children and their parents complete surveys to measure their individual levels of hope and optimism.
Children as young as 5 predicted that people would feel better after thinking positive thoughts than they would after thinking negative thoughts. They showed the strongest insight about the influence of positive versus negative thoughts on emotions in ambiguous situations. And there was significant development in the children's understanding about the emotion-feeling link as they grew older.
The study also found that children had the most difficulty understanding how positive thinking could boost someone's spirits in situations that involved negative events—such as falling down and getting hurt. In these coping situations, children's levels of hope and optimism played a role in their ability to understand the power of positive thinking, but parents' views on the topic played an even larger part.
"The strongest predictor of children's knowledge about the benefits of positive thinking—besides age—was not the child's own level of hope and optimism, but their parents'," reports Christi Bamford, assistant professor of psychology at Jacksonville University, who led the study when she was at the University of California, Davis.
The findings point to parents' role in helping children learn how to use positive thinking to feel better when things get tough, Bamford notes. "In short, parents should consider modeling how to look on the bright side."
###The study was supported by the National Science Foundation.
Young children understand the benefits of positive thinking
2011-12-22
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
How moms talk influences children’s perspective-taking ability
2011-12-22
Young children whose mothers talk with them more frequently and in more detail about people's thoughts and feelings tend to be better at taking another's perspective than other children of the same age.
That's what researchers from the University of Western Australia found in a new longitudinal study published in the journal Child Development.
"Parents who frequently put themselves in someone else's shoes in conversations with their children make it more likely that their children will be able to do the same," according to Brad Farrant, postdoctoral fellow at the Telethon ...
Security Solutions International - SSI and Patriot 3 Announce Partnership for Elevated Tactical Training
2011-12-22
"We feel very proud that we have been selected by Patriot 3 to train special response and SWAT teams on how best to use their Elevated Tactics Systems (ETS). This selection confirms SSI's hard-earned standing as a leading tactical trainer," states Sol Bradman, CEO of SSI.
SSI has created a two-day program that will help teams better understand and use ETS. ETS gives teams another card in their tactical deck by enabling access to elevated conveyances such as rooftops, upper window, ships at dock, aircraft, elevated sniper positioning and much more. But using ...
Study points to long-term recall of very early experiences
2011-12-22
Most adults can't recall events that took place before they were 3 or 4 years old—a phenomenon called childhood amnesia. While some people can remember what happened at an earlier age, the veracity of their memories is often questioned. Now a new longitudinal study has found that events experienced by children as young as 2 can be recalled after long delays.
The study, by researchers at the University of Otago (in New Zealand), appears in the journal Child Development.
To determine at what age our earliest memories occur, the researchers looked at about 50 children ...
School absenteeism, mental health problems linked
2011-12-22
School absenteeism is a significant problem, and students who are frequently absent from school more often have symptoms of psychiatric disorders. A new longitudinal study of more than 17,000 youths has found that frequently missing school is associated with a higher prevalence of mental health problems later on in adolescence, and that mental health problems during one year also predict missing additional school days in the following year for students in middle and high school.
The study, published in the journal Child Development, was conducted by researchers at the ...
Improving family consent in organ donation could save lives
2011-12-22
Research published today in the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests that organ donation rates in the UK could be increased if the current issues affecting declined consent are improved. At present, only 30% of the UK population are registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR). From 2003 to 2005, the overall consent rate for donation after brain death (DBD) was 59%. This figure remains largely unchanged with a consent rate of 63% for DBD in 2007-2009. The low consent rate for organ donation in the UK is the largest factor limiting actual organ donor.
Currently, ...
Mozella Perry Ademiluyi's Love Is A Mountain Retreats Provide an Answer to Holiday Stress and Focus on Intentions and Goals for 2012 -- Discover the Power of Your Story
2011-12-22
Winter is here, the holidays are upon us and some of us are anxiously awaiting the start of the New Year. The holiday season and the beginning of the New Year can be a stressful and hectic time for many people. According to the American Psychological Association, nearly half of all women in the United States experience heightened stress during the holidays, which puts their health at risk. In an article written by Connie Bennett for Psychology Today, the author offers taking a breather as one of seven tips for reducing stress during the frantic pace of the holiday season. ...
Alan Thicke Becomes Spokesperson for Cambridge Life Solutions
2011-12-22
Cambridge Life Solutions is pleased to announce Alan Thicke as the company's spokesperson.
Alan Thicke is a Canadian icon whose career as an actor and television personality covers more than 40 years. Mr. Thicke has devoted so much of his life towards helping others and supporting numerous charities. The Alan Thicke Centre was created in 1989 in London, Ontario to raise awareness to juvenile diabetes and to research a cure.
Cambridge Life Solutions devotes their time and services towards helping Canadians become debt free from their unsecured debts. This devotion ...
The Group Of Fools By Yaagneshwaran G: An Interesting Tale Of A Group Of Friends In Business School
2011-12-21
The Group of Fools is the story of a group of Business School friends. Each of them has a different background and different behavioral traits. They are ambitious to explore the business prospects but a sudden recession poses a setback to their opportunities. Moreover love complicates their lives. The tale is about the journey of this group of friends.
The author explores the various scopes that these students have. In his book he shows that one is entitled to make mistakes for it is human to err. The important thing is to overcome the situation with patience and tenacity. ...
AlphaDogs Helps Save The Earth's Water Supply
2011-12-21
Burbank based AlphaDogs Post Production has completed work on the American Film Institute thesis film Europa. The film is a sci-fi thriller set in a future where the earth is suffering a global water crisis.
Editor and Post Production Supervisor Gregory Goldman called upon the expertise of owner and founder at AlphaDogs, Terence Curren to complete color correction for the film. An editor and colorist by trade, Curren was able to complete work in the Avid Symphony while simultaneously inserting and seamlessly matching a total of 90 CGI shots throughout a film that was ...
Living In Style New York Introduces A New Affordable Luxury Antler Floor Lamp Collection
2011-12-21
Each room of the house is decorated with different kinds of lamps, keeping with the theme, mood and the ambience. Floor lamps are not attached or hung from the ceiling. They are independent lamps attached to stands made of different materials and kept on the floor. Floor lamps can be lit with candles, gas or electrical lighting devices.
Each Crestview item is meticulously designed with careful attention to detail, design and quality to ensure we always offer the look, the style and the selection to meet your buying needs. We know that you will find our website to be ...