Infant and Child Development最新文献

Parenting programs around the world target components of the “Nurturing Care Framework” (NCF)—including responsive caregiving and early learning—to improve early childhood development (ECD). However, it is difficult to optimally design culturally relevant programs without knowing how these components align with local cultural beliefs. This study explored how caregivers understand and encourage early learning and responsive caregiving, and analyzed how this aligns with existing conceptualizations from the NCF. We conducted individual qualitative interviews (n = 17) and one focus group (n = 8) with caregivers (18–62 years, 88% female) of children under 5 years of age in Cajamarca, Andean Peru. Caregivers discussed priorities, roles, learning and play, challenges, and support. We used the Framework Method for analysis and found considerable alignment between caregivers' perceptions and the NCF, as well as some culturally grounded factors. We provide recommendations to ensure that programs reflect local caregiving strengths and address areas of opportunity.

Child self-regulation has been considered a valuable skill that shapes a child's future life trajectory. Parents have crucial roles in its development, making parenting interventions a strategic means to promote child self-regulation. Nonetheless, there are no available measures of child self-regulation suitable for assessing outcomes in evaluations of parenting interventions, particularly in non-WEIRD countries. The present study developed the new Child Self-Regulation Scale (CSRS) and investigated its psychometric properties in the Indonesian context. A sample of 438 Indonesian parents of 3–12-year-old typically developing children participated in the study. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), convergent, discriminant and criterion-related validity, and internal consistency and test–retest reliability were examined. The results showed that the 19-item CSRS had good construct and criterion validity along with good internal and temporal reliability, indicating potential usefulness for clinical and research contexts in Indonesia.

Executive function (EF) measures used with African children heavily depend on task-based assessments normed in minority world settings. This reliance poses a challenge as it limits the understanding of how children display their EF behaviours within their own culture. Environmental factors including income and parenting are associated with children's EF development. In addition, culture-specific practices may shape what EF behaviours are adaptive. Therefore, tasks that do not incorporate culture-specific indicators of EF may lead to misinterpretation or underestimation of children's true EF capabilities in these settings. To bridge this gap, we used a qualitative approach to design a new observation scale for assessing EF in naturalistic classroom contexts. This paper describes the qualitative work leading to the design of the observation scale, which was later piloted in a quantitative study (reported elsewhere). To design the observation scale, we asked 16 preschool teachers (2 males and 14 females) in Nigeria to describe observable behavioural indicators of young children's EFs based on their own classroom experiences. Their responses were thematically analyzed using a deductive approach, based on the EF constructs of inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning. We used the codes from the thematic analysis to develop a set of initial items for an observation scale aimed at assessing EF in context. This set of items was shared with international experts on EF and teachers who provided feedback on the items' face validity; a final set of items was extracted to constitute the new observational measure. Our findings suggest that using qualitative approaches can help inform the cultural relevance of instrument design. The theoretical and practical significance of the findings are discussed.

Early language environments are considered to support children's language development; however, it is unclear to what extent early language environments relate to skills other than language abilities. We examined (1) whether the preschool language environment (measured as adult words heard and conversational turns) is associated with children's school readiness skills (i.e., emergent literacy, math and executive function [EF]), and (2) whether children's vocabulary skills explain these associations. Using Language Environment Analysis (LENA) devices, we collected student-level language environment data from 91 preschoolers (56.04% boys; 67.42% non-Hispanic White) across two school days. We found that there was a significant, positive association between adult words heard and children's math skills (β = 0.18, p = 0.037) and a significant, positive association between conversational turns and children's math (β = 0.22, p = 0.008) and emergent literacy (β = 0.26, p = 0.002) skills. However, these associations were substantially attenuated when accounting for children's vocabulary skills; after including children's scores on a vocabulary task in these models, none of these associations were statistically significant. Neither adult words heard nor conversational turns were associated with children's EF skills in any models run. Implications of these findings for theory and early educational practices are discussed.

This scoping review aimed to identify and evaluate apps designed to screen or monitor speech, language, and communication (SLC) development in young children. Early identification and intervention are crucial for children with SLC difficulties, but traditional assessments can be time-consuming and lack ecological validity. Technological advancements offer potential for more objective and user-friendly assessments through apps. A systematic search of five databases identified 14 papers representing 18 studies on apps for SLC screening in children under 5 years old. Ten apps were identified, targeting various SLC domains, with four processing data internally and others requiring external software. Studies spanned eight countries, with diverse purposes and sample sizes, targeting children from newborns to 9 years old (average 3.7 years). Most studies focused on app development and usability, with limited data on reliability and validity. More research is needed to assess these apps' effectiveness as surveillance tools for SLC needs.

Self-regulation is the ability to control cognitive, behavioural and social–emotional processes in service of one's goals. In the preschool years, self-regulation develops rapidly, and during this period, it is influenced by the plasticity of the underlying neurofunctional circuits. Since good early self-regulation skills favour positive developmental trajectories, numerous interventions have been proposed to enhance early self-regulation skills. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of one of these, the Preschool Situational Self-Regulation Toolkit (PRSIST), adapted to the Italian context. Two hundred and twenty-seven preschoolers were randomly assigned at the classroom level to an experimental group (EG, n = 117) and a control group (CG, n = 110). The EG was involved in the intervention for 6 months, delivered by the classroom teachers through: daily playful activities with self-regulation challenge, participating in teacher training of beneficial adult practices and parent newsletters. The EG showed significant improvement compared to the CG in: cognitive self-regulation; inhibition; cognitive flexibility; and prosocial behaviours. Children with low initial performance improved even more from the training. These results support the acceptability and efficacy of this intervention, which can be implemented by teachers within Italian preschool contexts to promote the self-regulation skills of preschoolers.