Child development最新文献

Contextual stress experiences in early adolescents may predict distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms and anxiety across the course of adolescence. Data from 604 Mexican-origin adolescents collected from 2012 to 2020 (54% female; Mage = 12.92, SD = 0.92) showed that youth with high stress levels in multiple domains (Broadly Stressed) and those with high stress in language brokering domain only (Language Brokering Stressed) had similar levels of internalizing symptoms in early adolescence, and both groups reported higher stress than youth experiencing occasional levels of stress across domains (Occasionally Environmentally Stressed). However, youth in the Language Brokering Stressed group experienced slightly decreased depressive symptoms from early to late adolescence, while those in the other 2 groups experienced increased or stable internalizing symptoms over time.

Cheating is common in early childhood. However, limited empirical studies have explored the mechanism underlying the role of parenting in children's cheating. This study (N = 479 Singaporean families; 219 female children; 55% Chinese, 27% Malay, 18% Indian; data collected between July 2014 and April 2017) examined whether and how authoritarian parenting at 4.5 years predicted children's cheating 1.5 years later. When children were 4.5 years old, their self-criticism was assessed through the Etch-a-Sketch task, and mothers reported on both parents' authoritarian parenting. At age 6, cheating was assessed using the Dart Game. Results showed that paternal authoritarian parenting predicted a higher likelihood of cheating, mediated by children's self-criticism. Our findings can provide insights into promoting honesty within family environments.

Norms shape social behavior starting early in development. However, little is known about what makes norm information effective in guiding children's behavior. This research addresses this gap through 3 preregistered studies examining descriptive norms about generosity. Five-year-old children (N = 328, Mage = 67.41 months, 163 girls; middle-class Han Chinese, collected 2024-2025) decided whether to give an extra sticker to another child. Results show that negative descriptive norms (highlighting what is typically not done) are more effective than positive descriptive norms (highlighting what is typically done) in promoting prosocial behavior. These findings suggest that emphasizing atypical behavior can enhance generosity in children. More broadly, they demonstrate that how norms are framed plays a key role in shaping early social decision-making.

Research on selective social trust has primarily focused on how labels related to knowledge and traits affect children's preferences. However, interactive dynamics like coordination, which have well-established prosocial effects, also play a key role in social decision-making. This study explored whether children prefer informants who provide instructions in a coordinated manner during a problem-solving task. We tested 183 Chinese children aged 3-6 (90 females, f = 0.15), evaluating their preference for coordinative versus noncoordinative informants on game-playing ability, willingness to engage, and whether their preference generalizes to unrelated tasks. Children consistently preferred the coordinative informant, perceiving them as more competent and trustworthy. These findings underscore the importance of coordination in selective learning.

Individuals sometimes engage in dishonest behavior to help others rather than to benefit themselves. The present research examines whether this form of dishonesty in early childhood can arise from a perceived obligation to reciprocate. Across 7 experimental studies (2023-2025 in China; total N = 527; 258 male; 3- and 5-year-olds; Han nationality), an experimenter asked children to lie to help her cheat in a game. Children were more likely to do so when the experimenter had previously helped them, revealing a reciprocity effect in which lying increased in response to invoked social obligations. By age 5, this effect was robust, even when lying was costly. These findings suggest that reciprocity norms can promote unethical behavior early in development.

This study investigated how children evaluate people whose occupations involve intellectual or physical labor. Children made inferences about the traits (N = 66, ages 6-11, 33 female, 42% White, tested in 2024) and hierarchical positions (N = 66, ages 6-11, 33 female, 53% White, tested in 2024) of people with different occupations. Analyses revealed that children thought intellectual laborers were smarter and higher in social rank, while physical laborers were more hard-working. Children's tendency to view intellectual laborers as smarter and higher in social rank increased with age; their tendency to associate physical laborers with hard work lessened with age. The findings reveal children's early use of occupational information when evaluating others. Furthermore, this study offers a method for studying children's apprehension of social roles-a critical aspect of children's intuitive sociology.

This study used latent difference score modeling to identify parent- and child-reported discrepancies in parental cultural socialization (teaching about one's racial group) and preparation for bias (teaching about racism and coping) reports and relations to youth ethnic-racial identity in two samples of Black parent-adolescent dyads. Across Study 1 (collected 2016, cross--sectional, Ndyads = 604, youth Mage = 15.44, 47.5% girls, 84.6% mothers) and 2 (two waves, collected 2021-2022, Ndyads = 149, youth Mage = 14.93, 57% girls, 87.9% mothers), dyads did not report discrepant levels of parental cultural socialization. In Study 1, youth reported receiving more preparation for bias than parents reported giving; the opposite pattern emerged in Study 2. Between-study differences highlight complex relational processes underlying socialization and identity.

We examined potential processes by which children decide to make hard as opposed to easy choices to accomplish a goal. Five- to 7-year olds (N = 100, 52 girls, 61% White, 7% Hispanic or Latine, 5% Asian or Asian American, 5% Black or African American, 2% Native American, American Indian, or Alaskan Native, 13% Mixed Race, 7% not reporting) constructed a gear machine by choosing between easy and hard building instructions. Children chose to take on more difficult instructions based on their accuracy on previously difficult choices (OR = 3.60). Accuracy on easy choices did not relate to their subsequent decisions. These results suggest that children monitor performance on more challenging decisions and use this information to control their decision making about future efforts adaptively.

Applying intergroup contact theory to children's thinking about social inequalities, this study investigated whether and why 8- to 12-year-old American children (N = 379, 50% girls, 48% white, SSS M = 6.92, in 2023-2024) who experienced more direct or indirect intergroup contact with immigrants also treated immigrants more fairly in a scenario reflecting a social inequality. Older children and children with more indirect intergroup contact were more likely to detect and negatively evaluate discrimination, because they knew more about what it means to be an immigrant and had stronger social preferences for immigrants, respectively; βs .39-.16. Children who perceived immigrants faced more barriers in society distributed more resources to immigrants; β = .10. Intergroup contact can inform children's thinking about societal intergroup relations.

This three-wave longitudinal study (2016 to 2018; N = 1,749; Mage = 13.83, SD = 1.67; 50.1% male; 67.8% White, 32.2% Black) in the US examined the reciprocal association between math engagement and perceived teacher expectations over time and their impact on math achievement and explored racial and socioeconomic status differences in these dynamics. Results showed that both math engagement and perceived teacher expectations positively influenced math achievement. Math engagement predicted higher next-year perceived teacher expectations (b = 0.204, SE = 0.050, p < .001), but the reverse was not observed. This effect was stronger among White (vs. Black) and high-SES (vs. low-SES) students. These findings underscore student agency in shaping teacher-student interactions and persistent racial and SES disparities in educational experiences.