Child development最新文献

Despite the long-standing debate over the assumed universality of maternal sensitivity predicting attachment security (i.e., sensitivity hypothesis), few long-term longitudinal investigations on attachment have been conducted outside the Western context. We leveraged data from a prospective 9-year longitudinal study of middle-class families (N = 356; female = 48.9%) in China to examine if early maternal sensitivity predicts attachment representations in middle childhood. Maternal sensitivity was assessed from lab-based observed interactions at 14 and 24 months. At 10 years old, children completed the Chinese version of the Attachment Script Assessment. Maternal sensitivity positively predicted the child's attachment representations at age 10 years (β = 0.20, p < 0.01). These results supported the view that maternal sensitivity is prospectively related to secure attachment across cultures.

This longitudinal study (data collected from 2019 to 2023) examines the relation between Spanish-English bilingual Latino toddlers' (n=46; F=22; M=24) early gesture production (Mage=18.67 months; SDage=1.02) and later language skills (Mage=36.87 months; SDage=0.81). Video recordings at child-age 18-months yielded counts of children's speech and gesture production; the latter included gesture words (different meanings) and gesture sentences (gestures-plus-speech combinations). Multiple regression analyses revealed that gesture words and sentences at 18 months of age positively predicted word- and sentence-level skills at 36 months of age, respectively, but only in English. These relations held despite controlling for children's speech production. These findings, that early gesture production selectively predicts language outcomes in bilingual children, suggest that gesture production may facilitate language-specific learning rather than reflecting a global communicative skill.

Growing up with multiple siblings might negatively affect language development. This study examined the associations between birth order, sibling characteristics and parent-reported vocabulary size in 6163 Norwegian 8- to 36-month-old children (51.4% female). Results confirmed that birth order was negatively associated with vocabulary, yet exhibited a U-shaped pattern. A data-driven measure of “child-to-caregiver ratio” in the household was developed, in which old-enough siblings—females 1–3 years earlier than males—were considered caregivers for their younger siblings. This measure explained variance in vocabulary better than birth order, and indicates sex-differences in the age at which older siblings contribute to, rather than deplete, available resources. A child-to-caregiver ratio might better capture the interplay between language-learning resources and demands within households.

This study examines associations between enrollment in high-quality PreK and growth in children's (N = 422; M_age = 5.63 years; 47% female; 15% Asian, 19% Black, 30% White, 31% Hispanic; 5% other or mixed race) academic, executive functioning, and social–emotional skills across kindergarten (2017–2018) and first grade (2018–2019). Associations between PreK enrollment and language and math skills were sustained through first grade. More convergence between PreK enrollees and non-enrollees in language skills occurred during first grade than kindergarten. Convergence patterns were stronger in math during kindergarten than in first grade. There were no associations between PreK enrollment and executive functioning by spring of first grade; most convergence occurred in first grade. All other associations were null by first grade.

This study examined bidirectional changes in adolescents' awareness of inequality and race consciousness between 2017 and 2018 in the USA and whether discriminatory experiences informed developmental pathways. The sample (N = 2645; M_age = 14.6, SD = 2.14; 56.5% female; > 0.01% transgender and gender diverse) was White (35.8%), Latinx (31.4%), multiple racial and ethnic groups (13.5%), Black (7.3%), and Asian (5.2%). Race consciousness predicted changes in awareness of inequality (B = 0.31, p < 0.001); awareness of inequality did not predict changes in race consciousness. Social locations and experiences of gender and racial discrimination informed pathways. Providing adolescents with opportunities to explore race and racism may help them reflect on how society is organized in systemically inequitable ways.

Using latent profile analysis, the study examined distinct joint parenting styles among Chinese families with preschoolers (N = 300; 51.7% girls; M_age = 55.97 months). This study incorporated maternal and paternal reports on multiple parenting dimensions that covered both Western- and Chinese-emphasized practices. Using data collected between 2017 and 2019 from Shanghai, four joint parenting styles emerged: authoritative (39.3%), moderately supportive (38.0%), strict-affectionate (14.3%), and authoritarian (8.4%). Authoritarian and moderately supportive parenting styles were linked to poorer child outcomes 1.5 years later compared to authoritative parenting. However, there were no significant differences in most child outcomes between authoritative and strict-affectionate parenting. These findings necessitate a reevaluation of the parenting typology and its effects on child development in the Chinese context.

Primal world beliefs (“primals”) capture understanding of general characteristics of the world, such as whether the world is Good and Enticing. Children (N = 1215, 50% girls), mothers, and fathers from Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States reported neighborhood danger, socioeconomic status, parental warmth, harsh parenting, psychological control, and autonomy granting from ages 8 to 16 years. At age 22 years, original child participants reported their primal world beliefs. Parental warmth during childhood and adolescence significantly predicted Good, Safe, and Enticing world beliefs, but other experiences were only weakly related to primals. We did not find that primals are strongly related to intuitive aspects of the materiality of childhood experiences, which suggests future directions for understanding the origins of primals.