Infant and Child Development最新文献

This study examines metacognitive monitoring in Turkish preschoolers aged 48–66 months, crucial for their learning and development. A specialised paired-association task was designed to assess higher-order thinking skills in this age group. Data from 160 children (52.5% girls, 47.5% boys; mean age 57.6 months, standard deviation 4.8) were analysed. The Metacognitive Thinking Test includes Recall and Judgement sections, where children rate confidence after recall attempts. Factor analysis of the Judgement Part revealed a two-factor structure with 14 items demonstrating memory-confidence alignment. The overall test's Cronbach's alpha value is 0.820. Notably, children tended to overestimate inaccurate recollections, aligning with the Dunning–Kruger effect. Despite limitations, the study sheds light on the complex relationship between confidence and accuracy in young children's metacognitive monitoring development, laying the foundation for further research in this area.

The transition to and through kindergarten is consequential for the academic, social, and emotional wellbeing of children. Policies and practices are in place to smooth that transition. Researchers are working to understand which practices work best and for whom, particularly as the student population in U.S. schools continues to diversify. In this study, we analysed data from a large longitudinal study of racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse families, children, and their teachers. We used multi-level modelling to examine the factors associated with families' reports of strong home–school interactions at the transition to and through kindergarten on the Family Involvement Questionnaire. We found that children having attended preschool and lower class size were associated with family reports of strong interactions. Surprisingly, we also found that teacher–family language match, teachers' self-efficacy for working with families, and teachers' beliefs about children were not significantly associated with families' reports of strong or weak interactions. This work has implications for family engagement policy and practice as children transition to and through kindergarten.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, research indicated increased psychological distress among adolescents. However, limited research has investigated the association between COVID-19-related stress and the adolescent hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, a critical stress response system. To address this gap, we conducted a longitudinal study exploring the relationship between COVID-19 stressors and adolescent HPA activity. We recruited 121 adolescents (M _age = 10.02) and their parents. One parent reported COVID-19 stressors and their own anxiety, while adolescents reported parenting behaviours. Diurnal cortisol levels in adolescents were assessed 4 months later. Our results found that the association between COVID-19 stressors and diurnal cortisol levels was sequentially mediated by parental anxiety and indifference, but not parental caring. These findings underscore the detrimental effects of negative parental behaviours on adolescent HPA axis during the pandemic. Therefore, interventions targeting reduced parental anxiety and negative parental behaviours may effectively protect adolescents' mental health in such circumstances.

Generic descriptions (e.g., ‘girls are emotional’) are argued to play a major role in the development of essentialist reasoning about social categories. Although generics are prevalent across languages, studies exploring if and how generic language leads to essentialism have almost exclusively been conducted in English-speaking communities and among Western samples. This is a significant limitation as scholars posit that generic language is a universal cue that signals which categories are culturally relevant. However, without research asking whether generics have similar consequences across diverse cultural and linguistic contexts, it is impossible to make a claim of universality. Here, we will fill this gap, by replicating and extending a previous U.S.-based study assessing the effects of generic language in a sample of Persian-speaking 6 to 9-year-old children (N = 160) and adults (N = 160) in Iran. Participants will hear generic (‘Foolies’) or specific (‘This Foolie’) statements (between subjects) that ascribe biological or cultural features to the novel social category of Foolies. We will measure the degree to which exposure to these statements leads to kindhood reasoning (i.e., offering formal explanations for category features) and essentialist reasoning in terms of inheritability. Identifying similar patterns in the Iranian sample as in prior US-based work will support the hypothesis that generic language signals category importance and licences kindhood but does not contribute directly to reasoning about social categories as biologically inheritable. This work contributes to diversifying the field and critically informs theories of social essentialism.

This research explores how decision-making autonomy and social distance impact young children's sharing behaviour. In Study 1, findings from 159 Chinese children (total N = 159, 72 boys, aged 3–6 years) revealed that children aged 5–6 exhibited significantly more sharing behaviours in the controlled condition, however 3–4 years-olds showed no variance between the two conditions, indicating that the impact of decision-making autonomy on sharing behaviour surfaces around the age of 5–6 years. Study 2 examined the effects of social distance and decision-making autonomy on sharing behaviours among Chinese children aged 5–6 years (total N = 57, 29 boys). Results showed that irrespective of the decision-making condition, children in this age group exhibited a greater tendency to share with close friends. Furthermore, the controlled condition intensified this effect. These findings suggest that the perceived sense of autonomy among Chinese children aged 5–6 when deciding to share may not be as stable as expected, with social distance playing a pivotal role in guiding their sharing decisions. This study enhances our comprehension of how decision-making autonomy and social factors shape young children's prosocial behaviour, underscoring the significant role of social context in influencing sharing behaviours during childhood development.

Previous research on children's knowledge about the mind has primarily focused on their comprehension of false beliefs, leaving the conceptualization of thoughts and thinking less explored. To address this gap, we developed a new assessment tool, the interview about the mind (IaM), to assess children's understanding of the mind. Two studies involving Polish preschool and early school-aged children were conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the tool: a cross-sectional study with 212 preschoolers aged three to 6 years (106 boys, M = 59 months) followed by a longitudinal study with approximately 200 children (110 boys) assessed at ages 5.5, 6.5, and 7.5 years. We found that the IaM possesses robust psychometric properties and a one-factor structure. Younger children recognize that thoughts are imperceptible to the senses and identified the mind's location as the head. Older children exhibited difficulties with analogical or abstract definitions of thoughts. As expected, a linear developmental trajectory was evident from ages 5.5–7.5, with children's language abilities showing a positive correlation with IaM scores. Future research should explore the relationship between knowledge about the mind and theory of mind (ToM), as well as cross-cultural differences in children's mind conceptualization.