Child development最新文献

This study describes a novel measure of children's Theory of Mind (ToM) development—called the Comprehensive Assessment of ToM (CAT)—that addresses limitations in existing ToM measures. This behavioral measure includes three–six items each about diverse desires, diverse beliefs, knowledge access, knowledge expertise, false belief, and visual perspective taking, as well as nonsocial representational reasoning (i.e., false-sign). All items include a prediction, explanation, and general comprehension question. The measure is psychometrically valid and robust in 3- to 8-year-old children (n = 206; 104 boys; 101 girls; 1 gender fluid; 37.7% White non-Hispanic). Children's performance replicates prior findings with the commonly used Wellman and Liu (2004) ToM scale, but also reveals a novel and nuanced pattern of mental-state scaling over early to middle childhood.

Despite substantial improvements to memory precision in childhood, the neural mechanisms underlying these changes remain unclear. Here, 40 children (7–9 years; 22 females, 18 males; majority White) and 42 adults (24–35 years; 22 females, 20 males; majority White) modulated their approaches to memory formation—focusing on the specific details to encourage precision or general category to encourage imprecision. Children and adults alike formed more precise memories under the specific task, yet adults' neural states were more cohesive as a group than were children's. Moreover, children's adoption of an adult-like neural approach explained age-related gains in memory precision (β = 0.08). Development unfolds as children—initially varying in their memory control—eventually adopt an adult-like approach that benefits memory precision around age 9.

Using three-wave data from 962 Chinese adolescents (45.1% boys, M_age = 12.369, SD = 0.699 at T1, September 2022), this study examined the link between parental social comparison shaming and adolescents' life meaning, with adolescents' satisfaction of need for competence tested as a mediator and filial piety tested as a moderator. Parental social comparison shaming (T1) was negatively associated with adolescents' presence of life meaning (T3, September 2023, controlling for baseline) through a negative association with adolescents' satisfaction of competence need (T2, March 2023, controlling for baseline). The link between social comparison shaming and satisfaction of competence need was more pronounced among adolescents with higher (versus lower) reciprocal filial piety. The identified indirect effect was also stronger among adolescents with higher (versus lower) reciprocal filial piety.

Racial and ethnic disparities in children's diets are prevalent. Little is known about how fathers' food parenting practices may contribute to these disparities. We examined racial and ethnic variations in food parenting practices and their associations with 2–6-year-old children's diets in a cross-sectional sample of U.S. fathers surveyed in 2021–2023 (N = 1015; 16% Asian, 9% Black, 6% Hispanic, 70% White; M_age = 37 years) using path analysis. Fathers' food parenting practices were significantly associated with children's diets, yet little evidence emerged that fathers' food parenting practices explained racial and ethnic disparities in children's diets. These findings suggest the potential importance of structural constraints on healthy eating (e.g., access to healthy food) among minoritized children beyond fathers' food parenting practices.

Need for cognition (NFC) reflects the tendency to enjoy and engage in cognitive challenges. This study examines the relations between NFC and academic interest among 922 German secondary school students (academic track) assessed four times in Grades 5–7 (initial age M = 10.63, SD = 0.55; 41% female; 90% first language German) in mathematics, German, and English. Data were collected between 2008 and 2012 and were analyzed using autoregressive cross-lagged panel models. In all domains, NFC positively predicted subsequent academic interest (β = 0.03 to β = 0.17) but interest did not positively predict subsequent NFC. Findings were comparable after controlling for students' achievement, gender, socioeconomic status, and class type. They suggest that NFC is a potential facilitator of the development of academic interest in school.