Child development最新文献

This study investigated the relation between affect labeling and emotion regulation among Chinese preschoolers. In the full sample (N = 334, Mage = 62.30 months; 189 boys), preschoolers with stronger emotion labeling abilities-emotion recognition and emotion vocabulary-demonstrated better emotion regulation, as reported by parents (β = 0.28) and teachers (β = 0.19). A subsample (N = 181, Mage = 58.91 months; 104 boys) completed a 14-day daily diary. At the within-child level, daily affect labeling was associated with faster same-day emotional recovery. At the between-child level, children with stronger emotion labeling abilities used these practices more effectively to regulate emotions. Findings highlight affect labeling as a potential practice supporting preschoolers' emotion regulation.

This study tested whether parents' social mobility is associated with parent-child interactions. Data came from 719 Dunedin Parenting Study members (mean age: 32.7; 52.3% female, 90.2% New Zealand European ethnicity) who have been followed from birth to midlife and participated in parenting assessments with their 3-year-old children (50% female). Upwardly mobile parents provided more sensitive parenting and cognitively stimulating environments than parents from stable-low socioeconomic backgrounds, but less sensitive parenting and cognitively stimulating environments than parents from stable-high socioeconomic backgrounds. These results were not fully explained by pre-existing differences between parents in experienced parenting and childhood characteristics. Our findings underscore the importance of supporting families with fewer socioeconomic resources through a life-course and intergenerational approach to caregiving environments.

Racial-ethnic identity development may help adolescents cope with racial-ethnic discrimination. Exploration reflects efforts to understand one's racial-ethnic background, whereas commitment represents a sense of connection to one's racial-ethnic group. The present study investigated whether these identity components moderated associations between discrimination and psychopathology symptoms one year later among 1,184 adolescents of color (ages: 11-12; 52% female, 48% male; 35% Black, 36% Latino, 3% Asian, 26% Other youth of color; Waves 3-4: 2019-2022) nested within 656 families. In sibling fixed-effect models, adolescents reporting greater racial-ethnic identity exploration than their siblings showed weaker associations between discrimination and psychopathology symptoms. Racial-ethnic identity commitment did not moderate these associations. Findings underscore the developmental significance of identity exploration as a protective process during early adolescence.

Little is known about children's judgments of teacher biases. US 8-14-year-olds (N = 303, Mage = 11.49, 51% female, 47.5% Black, 36.9% White, 15.5% Asian) viewed vignettes in 2023-2024 of a teacher allocating academic recognition to only Asian, Black, or White students. With age, children evaluated the teacher's bias more negatively (ηp2=.066 = -.19). Participants evaluated the teacher's biased allocation as more wrong than an equal allocation when the teacher preferred Asian or White students, but not when the teacher preferred Black students (ηp2=.066). Children who perceived themselves to be in the ethnic-racial minority at school evaluated the teacher's biased recognition more negatively ( β = .24) and showed a stronger preference to rectify it (β = -.12).

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.