Developmental Review最新文献

In this review, I consider the developmental interactions between two domains sometimes characterised as at opposite ends of the human spectrum: early-developing arousal/regulatory domains, that subserve basic mechanisms of survival and homeostasis; and the later-developing ‘higher-order’ cognitive domain of effortful control. First, I examine how short-term fluctuations within arousal/regulatory systems associate with fluctuations in effortful control during early childhood. I present evidence suggesting that both hyper- and hypo-arousal are associated with immediate reductions in attentional and affective control; but that hyper-aroused individuals can show cognitive strengths (faster learning speeds) as well as weaknesses (reduced attentional control). I also present evidence that, in infancy, both hyper- and hypo-aroused states may be dynamically amplified through interactions with the child’s social and physical environment. Second, I examine long-term interactions between arousal/regulatory systems and effortful control. I present evidence that atypical early arousal/regulatory development predicts poorer attentional and affective control during later development. And I consider moderating influences of the environment, such that elevated early arousal/regulatory system reactivity may confer both cognitive advantages in a supportive environment, and disadvantages in an unsupportive one. Finally, I discuss how future research can further our understanding of these close associations between attentional and affective domains during early development.

About one eighth of people are exposed to adversities such as abuse and neglect. Life history theory suggests that early experiences of adversity are strongly associated with later engagement in risky sexual behaviors. Specifically, those exposed to early adversity tend to engage in sex at an earlier age, have casual sex, and have high numbers of partners. Interestingly, it is also known that individuals exposed to early adversity are more likely to engage in more same-gender behavior. Existing research clearly outlines the association between early adversity and sexual behaviors that are considered risky. However, we have yet to identify a potential mediating mechanism that explains the full range of sexual behaviors seen in those who experience early adversity including adult sexual risk taking and same gender behavior. Outlining the specific mechanisms that influence later sexual risk taking is critically important in understanding the unique developmental experiences of those who experience early adversity. Here we propose and support one mediator important in the association between early adversity and later sexual behavior. We hypothesize that an increased sensitivity to the potential for sexual rewards mediates the association between early experiences of adversity and later sexual behavior, both risk behavior and female same-gender behavior. In the present manuscript we review relevant theoretical and empirical research in support of our claims.

Positive psychology has highlighted the importance of personal positive qualities such as gratitude for human thriving. Reviews of research on gratitude are predominantly based on work with adults. We address this gap by considering the familial roots and well-being implications of gratitude in children. We conducted two systematic reviews examining children’s gratitude as it relates to parent–child relationships (N = 10) and children’s gratitude and well-being (N = 38). Children’s gratitude was higher when parents modeled gratitude, there was a more secure parent–child attachment, and parents employed more supportive, autonomy granting, and warm parenting. These findings align with attachment theory, social learning and emotion socialization theories, and the find-remind-and-bind theory. Additionally, children’s gratitude was positively related to greater life satisfaction, positive affect, and mental well-being in cross-sectional and intervention studies. These findings provide some support for the broaden-and-build theory, the adaptive cycle model, and the schematic hypothesis. The reviewed theoretical frameworks and empirical findings formed the basis of our proposed model whereby children’s gratitude is posited to mediate the relation between parent–child relationship factors and children’s well-being. Further, we identified several testable mechanisms that might explain why gratitude is related to well-being. Our proposed model is an important contribution to the current literature because it provides a novel, overarching synthesis of existing work on children’s gratitude that is intended to be a framework for future research to test potential mechanisms relevant to children’s gratitude development and well-being outcomes.

Almost one in three children globally live in households lacking basic necessities, and 356 million of these children were living in extreme poverty as of 2017. Disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic further increase rates of child poverty due to widespread job and income loss and economic insecurity among families. Poverty leads to unequal distribution of power and resources, which impacts the economic, material, environmental and psychosocial conditions in which children live. There is evidence that poverty is associated with adverse child health and developmental outcomes in the short term, as well as increased risk of chronic diseases and mental illnesses over the life course. Over the past decade, advances in genomic and epigenomic research have helped elucidate molecular mechanisms that could in part be responsible for these long-term effects. Here, we review evidence suggestive of biological embedding of early life poverty in three, interacting physiological systems that are potential contributors to the increased risk of disease: the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, the brain, and the immune system. We also review interventions that have been developed to both eliminate childhood poverty and alleviate its impact on pediatric development and health. Pertinently, studies estimate that the costs of child poverty, calculated by increased healthcare expenditures and loss of productivity, are immense. We argue that investing in child development by reducing child poverty has the potential to improve the health and well-being at the population level, which would go a long way towards benefiting the economy and promoting a more just society by helping all individuals reach their full potential.

Adolescence often is thought to be the age period of heightened risk taking (e.g., substance use, reckless driving, sexual risks, delinquency) by both researchers and the general public. In the present article we challenge this assumption by examining the prevalence of a wide variety of real-world risk-taking behaviors across different age groups. Focusing on North American data, we first explore types of risk-taking behaviors across different age groups, both within and across different domains of risk taking. Second, we consider historical trends in risk taking, given that prevalence and types of risk-taking behaviors can change over time. Overall, our review highlights that emerging adulthood (i.e., 19–29 years of age) is the age period when risk taking is most prevalent across multiple domains. Risk taking in many domains, however, is common across the entire adult lifespan, sometimes with the appearance of minimal differences among emerging adults and adults. Moreover, while the majority of risk-taking behaviors have declined over time, this pattern is not consistent for all behaviors and all age groups. Thus, our understanding of whether adolescence is a heightened period of risk taking requires answering the questions: “For what type of risk taking” and “How does that type of risk-taking behavior change or not change across age and historical time periods?”

This critical review is one of the first to take a lifespan approach to examine the emotion regulation (ER) and coping strategies used by African Americans in response to racial-related adversities (e.g., discrimination, racism, prejudice) and to discuss why African Americans may engage in these specific strategies. The current review found that African Americans continue to experience racial discrimination throughout the lifespan. The most prominent coping and ER strategies among African American in response to racial discrimination appear to be negative emotion expression suppression, avoidant coping, social support, and religion/spirituality. The review discusses various factors that may underlie these patterns (e.g., power differentials, African Americans’ history and African culture) and also limitations of current ER and coping research. By examining stability and changes across the lifespan, time, and varying situations, more inferences about patterns of coping and ER and contributing factors can be made to better determine ways to help decrease or mitigate the effects of racial stress on African Americans’ lives.

A wealth of research and theorizing has been dedicated to the idea that children’s theory of mind (ToM) development is contingent upon qualities of their social contexts (e.g., parents’ mental-state language use, the presence of siblings). We highlight the importance of considering the child as an active observer and participant in these social contexts, and thus an agent in their own ToM development. Drawing on research and theory that emphasizes the child’s active role in ToM development, we identify child-level social factors that may be critical in explaining individual differences in this development. Specifically, we focus on variability in children’s ‘social tendencies’—how they attend to social contexts, and how they interact within and shape those contexts. These tendencies may influence the social information that children garner from social contexts—information that they use to construct a ToM. We review and integrate a growing body of research that has established empirical links between individual differences in children’s ToM and their social tendencies—specifically, factors such as their social attentiveness, shyness, anxious-withdrawal, and aggressiveness. Taken together, these findings inform continued debates on whether and how social contexts and children’s participation in those contexts influence children’s ToM, particularly with regard to how children construct their ToM. We conclude with suggestions for continued research on these topics.

Adolescents are commonly thought of as risk takers. However, adolescents often avoid social risk taking, that is, the risk of being socially excluded by their peers. Here, we review evidence showing that the negative effects of social exclusion and loneliness are particularly high during adolescence, and that adolescents actively seek peer approval and avoid being excluded by peers. Evidence suggests that social belonging is especially important during adolescence and, given that social exclusion and loneliness have negative effects on adolescents’ immediate and longer-term well-being, young people tend to be especially motivated to avoid social risk. We review evidence that suggests that the motivation to avoid social risk might lead to heightened peer influence in adolescence. Heightened peer influence can lead to a range of behaviours, from increased health risk taking to prosocial and healthy behaviour, depending on peer norms, that is, the types of behaviour endorsed by the peer group. The evidence reviewed suggests that adolescents are not always risk takers, but are often motivated to avoid social risk taking.

In this systematic review, we investigate executive functioning (EF) in a selected population: children and adolescents with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS). Studying a selected subset of the population can inform our understanding of typical development by reducing the etiological variability associated with phenotypic expression of EF. In 22q11DS, EF deficits are, at least in part, the consequence of the deletion on chromosome 22. However, the expression of EF phenotype in 22q11DS varies and is possibly influenced by certain risk factors that occur at increased rates in this population. As such, 22q11DS allows us to study the impact of these factors on EF in the context of one underlying genetic etiology.

This review shows that inhibition and shifting are impaired in children with 22q11DS, while updating may be spared in childhood. Notably, EF deficits are found in this population after controlling for intellectual abilities, supporting the hypothesis that EF and intelligence do not reflect the same construct. Current evidence suggests that risk factors previously identified in the general population, such as congenital heart defects or low socioeconomic status, may not impact EF in a similar way in 22q11DS. In the process of demonstrating how studying the 22q11DS population can inform and advance our understanding of EF development, we identify gaps in the literature and highlight opportunities for future research.

In this paper, we address how the concept of self-regulation relates to emotion regulation in young children. We define self-regulation as the ability to regulate one’s emotions, attention, behavior, and cognition, and emotion regulation as the intrinsic processes used to manage and change one’s experience of emotions, emotion-related states, and the behavioral expression of emotions. “Hot” and “cool” processes of self-regulation, and the two primary theoretical perspectives on self-regulation, executive functioning and effortful control are then discussed, delineating the primary dimensions of each, and how both intersect with emotion regulation. Although theory and research on emotion regulation and self-regulation is not typically integrated, conceptually, we view self-regulation as a broader construct within which the intrinsic aspects of emotion regulation are included. Our attempt to integrate both self-regulation perspectives with emotion regulation includes explaining how inhibitory control (a primary executive functioning and effortful control skill) relates to the regulation of emotion, the relative emphasis of emotion and cognition in each theory, and the distinction between automatic (often described as “hot”) and conscious (“cool”) regulation processes. We then recommend an integration of the theoretical perspectives and employment of multi-method assessment regulation strategies. In addition to using both parent-rated and lab-based observational methods, ongoing and future work in this area will incorporate both executive functioning and effortful control assessments, and neurophysiological measures. One final future research direction will be to focus on emotion regulation and emotional reactivity in the same longitudinal investigations during early childhood, examining optimal regulation for best moderating emotional reactions.