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This study explored associations between mothers’ language teaching practices and children’s language skills concurrently and longitudinally, while also taking into account the children’s sex and mothers’ education. Estonian mothers of 76 children reported their language teaching practices at child ages 3;0 and 4;0. Children’s language comprehension and production were measured via the examiner-administered New Reynell Developmental Language Scales (NRDLS). The results indicated that at Wave 1, girls scored higher on language comprehension and production than boys. Mothers’ higher education predicted higher scores on language production. Maternal corrective feedback was a negative predictor of children’s concurrent language comprehension. At Wave 2, neither maternal teaching practices, maternal education nor child’s sex predicted the language measures of interest. The longitudinal results showed that later language production scores were negatively predicted by mothers’ corrective feedback. Yet, the strongest predictors of both language scores were the scores of language comprehension and production measured 1 year earlier. Moreover, maternal language teaching practices at Wave 2 were predicted by mothers’ early language teaching practices, but not by children’s earlier language skills.

This study examined how values and their congruence with classmates’ values relate to psychological adjustment in 460 Estonian adolescents (Mage = 12.95 years). Participants rated the importance of...

Teachers in kindergartens and schools also fill an important role of values educators. The study examined teachers’ socialisation values and their links with teachers’ personal values, age, educati...

The aim of this study was to find out which differences appear in the structure and priorities of values of late preschool and early elementary school children. A total of 243 late preschool (M = 5.98) and early elementary school (M = 7.87) children from Estonia completed the Picture Based Value Survey for Children (Doring et al., 2010). The four higher-order values identified by Schwartz (1992) were evident in both age group's value structure. Nevertheless, there were some deviations from the theoretical model in preschool children. The results suggest that school children differentiate better between some of the values within the four higher-order values. Children seem to distinguish self-oriented values earlier than other-oriented values. Both preschool and school children prioritized self-transcendence values. Among preschool children, self-enhancement ranked second and was more important than among school children. Openness to change was of higher importance to school children. The study highlights some of the key changes in values during early childhood.

The study examines the value structure and priorities of Estonian primary school students by using the Estonian adaptation of the Picture-Based Value Survey for children (PBVS-C). Three hundred and thirty three elementary-school children (aged 7–14, M age = 10.0) completed the instrument. Eighty-eight older students (M age = 11.94) also filled out the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ). Multidimensional scaling confirmed the theorized structure of values. High correlations between the scores of four higher-order values measured by the two instruments supported the content validity of the Estonian PBVS-C. The value hierarchies of children and sex and age differences were similar to those previously reported. The study contributes to the literature by showing that students of higher educated mothers rated openness to change and self-enhancement more highly and self-transcendence less highly than children of lower educated mothers. Moreover, students from schools in the capital city attached more importance to openness to change and less importance to self-enhancement than students from schools in small towns and villages.

The present study examined associations between boys’ and girls’ self-reported psychological adjustment and a wide spectrum of peer-rated behaviours in the school context using a sample of 463 Estonian early adolescents (Mage = 12.90). Although girls had more internalised problems and boys more externalised problems, the associations between adolescents’ psychological adjustment and behaviour were not gender-specific. Among both boys and girls, hostility was positively associated not only with their peer-reported misbehaviour, but also with sociable behaviour and negatively with studiousness. Adolescents with negative self-esteem were perceived to exhibit high levels of self-centred competitive behaviour, misbehaviour and also sociable behaviour. Those with negative self-adequacy, on the contrary, were less likely to behave in a self-centred competitive and sociable manner. In general, the findings show that psychological maladjustment may appear not only in well-observed problematic behaviour but...

The study examined the extent to which the sociocultural context shapes mothers' values and parenting patterns and moderates associations between adolescents' perceptions of mothers' acceptance and control and adolescents' friendship satisfaction. Questionnaire data were collected from a total of 834 Estonian, German, and Russian middle adolescents and their mothers. The findings indicated culture-specific patterns and meanings of parenting. In all cultures, mothers who valued interdependence more highly considered children's social-oriented characteristics more important. German and Russian maternal behavior was linked to their parenting goals. For instance, German mothers who considered adolescents' obedience more important were more controlling. Although boys and girls perceived mothers' behavior somewhat differently, maternal acceptance (but not control) predicted both boys' and girls' friendship satisfaction in all cultures.

The study examined associations among adolescents’ perceived mother-child and father-child relationship quality (intimacy, conflict, and admiration), perceived peer acceptance, and their values (individualism and collectivism) in a sample of 795 Estonian, German, and Russian 15-year-olds. Adolescents from the three cultural contexts differed in terms of their relationships with parents and peers but were similar in valuing both individualism and collectivism highly. Individualistic values were positively linked to adolescents’ peer acceptance in individualistic cultures, whereas collectivistic values of adolescents were positively associated with the quality of their relationships with parents in all cultures. Across cultures, maternal and paternal admiration showed the strongest positive association with peer acceptance of adolescents. Among Estonian adolescents, further associations emerged: higher levels of intimacy with fathers and conflict levels in both mother-child and father-child relationship were related to adolescents’ lower peer acceptance. The results are discussed from a social-cultural perspective.

The study examined adolescents' strategies for managing hypothetical conflicts with the same-sex best friend and their reasons behind these strategies. The sample included 905 14-year-old Estonian adolescents. The findings indicated that negotiation was the most frequently suggested strategy by adolescents. At the same time, adolescents' strategies and reasons strongly depended on the source of conflict. Coercive strategies and self-oriented reasons were more common in case of severe conflicts that could damage interpersonal relatedness or pose a threat to the attainment of autonomy. Girls reported having conflicts more frequently and suggested more negotiation than boys in all conflict situations. Sex differences did, however, occur only in adolescents' strategies. Boys' and girls' reasons behind their strategies were similar. Implications will be discussed.

The study examined cultural similarities and differences in how adolescents deal with conflicting expectations of parents and peers. It was tested to what extent adolescents’ interdependence values and satisfaction with family and friendships predict the way they would solve the disagreement, where they had planned to go out with friends, but their parents wanted them to stay at home to do chores. Moreover, adolescents’ reasons for their reported actions were examined. The sample included 894 Estonian, German, and Russian adolescents ( M age around 15 years). Russian adolescents were more likely than their Estonian and German peers to comply with parents’ requests. This was possibly due to interdependence values being more important for them. Satisfaction with family relationships and friendships was not linked to adolescents’ compliance. Adolescents from all cultures were similar in terms of suggesting self-oriented reasons for noncompliance, while Estonian and German adolescents expressed their need for autonomy more explicitly. Russian adolescents were, however, more oriented to maintaining good relationships with parents and friends, respectively, in their reasons for compliance and noncompliance. They were also less likely to suggest compromise.

The study examined the relative importance of the quality of relationships with parents and grandparents, maternal acceptance and control, the structure of the family, the number of siblings, and adolescents’ own attachment style to their perceived peer acceptance. The sample consisted of 300 adolescents (mean age = 15.5) and 300 mothers (mean age = 41.5). Regarding the role of family relationships, the results indicated that only the quality of the mother–child relationship was related to adolescents’ peer acceptance. Maternal acceptance and control, however, were unrelated to youth’s perceptions of acceptance by peers. Adolescents who had more siblings, lived in a single-mother family, and were high in anxious attachment reported lower peer acceptance. During adolescence, serious transformations take place in adolescents’ family and peer relationships with peers and being accepted among them becoming increasingly important (Collins & Laursen, 2004; Steinberg & Silk, 2002). Rubin, Bukowski, and Parker (2006) discussed several outcomes of low peer acceptance: It might lead to academic difficulties and to externalizing (e.g., behavior problems and substance abuse) and internalizing problems (e.g., low self-esteem and depression). The concept of peer acceptance has thus been

We examined the relationship between adolescent bystanders’ strategies for intervening in the bullying-like situation and their gender, values, and cultural origin. The sample consisted of 682 Estonian and Russian-Estonian adolescents ( Mage = 13.02 years). They were shown a video of a bullying-like situation with a non-intervening adult bystander and asked to describe what they would do if they, instead of the adult, witnessed that situation. Only 10% said that they would not intervene. Girls were more likely than boys to suggest multiple actions. Adolescents who valued conformity were less likely to propose using physical aggression. Doing nothing was less likely suggested by those who placed more importance on conformity and less on power. Estonian adolescents were more likely than their Russian-Estonian peers to suggest finding out what is going on, and less likely to say that they would do nothing. The findings suggest that although most adolescents express willingness to help the victim, they might not actually know how to intervene.

The study examined associations between Estonian children's language performance and their mothers' self-reported language teaching practices, and factors related to the frequency of using these language teaching practices. Mothers reported their language teaching practices, child-rearing value orientation, and their children's expressive vocabulary at 36 months (N = 88; Mage = 35.85) via the ECDI-II. Language comprehension and production were directly assessed using the New Reynell Developmental Language Scales (NRDLS). Girls outperformed boys on language production. Children of mothers with university education scored higher than others on all language measures. Mothers with stronger autonomy orientation and fewer children reported more frequent use of informal language stimulation and corrective feedback. Self-reported informal language stimulation was positively related to children's expressive vocabulary and language comprehension, whereas corrective feedback was negatively linked to children's language comprehension and production. This study highlights the importance of engaging language-learning children into conversations rather than explicitly correcting their speech.

Research Findings: The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of individual and situational factors on nursery school children's conflict management strategies. This observational study of triadic interaction was carried out among 69 children whose mean age was 48 months. The video-recorded data were coded for the type of conflict, the conflict initiator, and the conflict management strategy (aggressive, prosocial, or avoidance strategy). The results of the study showed that individual factors such as gender, age, and teacher-reported behavioral problems were not related to children's conflict management strategies. Children's conflict behavior was, however, associated with the type of conflict and the conflict partner's strategy. Partner's gender had no effect in the present study. Practice or Policy: The study suggests that, in addition to individual factors, situational factors should be taken into account when exploring children's conflict management skills and planning interventions.

Although adolescence is considered to be the formative period of values, relatively few studies have addressed values held by adolescents. The present short-term longitudinal study explores value priorities of early adolescents from two social groups (among ethnic Estonians and Russian-speaking minority) in terms of the 10 value types defined by Schwartz, and the question whether values change during one year. 575 early adolescents filled out a 21-item version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire. Adolescents' value priorities differed from the pan-cultural value hierarchy of adults (Bardi, Lee, Hoffmann-Towfigh, & Soutar, 2009) by attributing more importance to hedonism and stimulation, and less importance to benevolence and conformity. Although Russian-speaking students rated Self-Enhancement and Openness to Change more highly than Estonians, the value hierarchy of adolescents from two social groups was rather similar. Boys considered Self-Enhancement more important than girls. More value change was observable in Russian-speaking students, and boys.