Developmental Psychology最新文献

Literature suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted children's executive functioning (EF) development, but most studies rely on caregiver reports, cross-sectional data, or comparisons across cohorts. We build on the existing literature with repeated, direct assessments of EF from longitudinal pre-post COVID-19 data on a race-ethnically diverse cohort of elementary-aged children (N = 667) from low-income families. Random-intercept models estimate children's growth in two key EF skills between the fall of kindergarten (2018) and fifth grade (2023) as a function of school closures. We also test for moderation in children's growth trajectories by teachers' reports of children's compliance with remote learning expectations. Results indicate that children's EF growth stagnated during school closures, resulting in an estimated 11-12 months of lost growth compared to prepandemic trends. Postreopening, EF growth continued but at a 65%-74% slower rate than preclosures. Children who completed insufficient remote work demonstrated less stagnation in their inhibitory control/attention growth, which may have been driven by selection. Changes otherwise did not vary according to children's level of participation in remote learning during school closures. Findings underscore the need for interventions to support children's recovery of EF growth, as well as more research on the roles of school closures versus other pandemic-related stressors in the observed patterns. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Helping others may serve as a resiliency-promoting factor for adolescents during challenging times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study examined short- and long-term within-person associations between providing emotional support and mood (i.e., vigor) among adolescents. We used data from an eight-wave longitudinal study with 6 months in-between timepoints (May 2020 and December 2023) among 2,430 adolescents aged 12-25. We performed random intercept cross-lagged panel models to examine daily and half-yearly lagged associations between emotional support and vigor and tested how sense of contribution and purpose, and age moderated these associations. Results revealed bidirectional lagged effects. Higher levels in emotional support to family were followed by subsequent higher vigor levels a day later, while higher vigor was followed by higher levels of emotional support to friends a day later. However, at the half-year level, higher vigor was associated with lower levels of emotional support to friends. Moderation analyses revealed that for adolescents who have a higher sense of contribution and purpose, providing emotional support to friends is more strongly associated with vigor increases, whereas providing emotional support to family is less strongly associated with such increases. Preliminary evidence also suggested that emotional support to friends was more strongly associated with vigor for older adolescents, whereas support to family showed stronger associations with vigor for younger adolescents. Our study highlights the potential of prosocial behavior to buffer against the negative effects of societal challenges for today's youth through feelings of purpose. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal studies of emotion socialization are still lacking in the Majority World. Studies with father data are particularly scarce. The present study drew data from a 15-year longitudinal project of urban Chinese families and examined both concurrent and longitudinal associations between parental emotion socialization (ES) practices and youth psychosocial adjustment from early- to mid-adolescence. Youths (N = 272, 52.9% boys, M_age = 9.77 years, SD = 0.22) and their parents (247 mothers and 191 fathers) participated in the sixth wave of data collection when children were 10 years old (Year 10). Majority of them continued to participate 5 years later for the seventh wave of data collection (Year 15). Both mothers and fathers reported on their ES practices, and adolescents reported on their psychosocial adjustment outcomes at both waves. To examine how maternal and paternal ES were uniquely linked to adolescent psychosocial outcomes concurrently and across time, a series of multiple regression models were tested. Results showed that concurrently, maternal supportive ES (i.e., emotion encouragement, emotion talk or sharing, and emotion teaching) was positively linked to girls' self-esteem at Year 10, whereas paternal ES was inversely associated with boys' depressive symptoms at Year 15. Longitudinally, maternal supportive ES practices were uniquely related to girls' increases in self-esteem and decreases in depressive symptoms for all adolescents. Our findings suggest long-lasting associations between parental ES practices and adolescent psychological adjustment and unique roles of maternal and paternal ES in adolescent girls' and boys' development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

This study aimed to further our understanding of the predictors of the decline of students' intrinsic motivation in math in secondary school. Based on cognitive evaluation theory and stage-environment fit theory, we tested the hypotheses that changes in the three basic needs (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) can explain interindividual differences in the decline of students' intrinsic motivation. A sample of N = 337 German students (t1: M = 11.33 years, SD = 0.59) was followed for 5 years from the end of Grade 5 to the end of Grade 10. Students gave self-reports on their intrinsic motivation in math, perceived competence, autonomy, and social relatedness. Latent change score models showed declines in students' intrinsic motivation in math over the period of time. Moreover, we found interindividual differences in changes of students' intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, decreases in students' perceived competence, autonomy, and social relatedness significantly predicted the decline in students' intrinsic motivation. Therefore, the present findings provide suggestions as to how the decline of students' intrinsic motivation in secondary school could be explained. Implications for future research as well as for educational practice in schools are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

This study examined the direction of relations between values and prosocial sharing during middle childhood. A total of 299 children participated (age at first time point in months: M_{first grade} = 80.49, SD = 4.16; M_{second grade} = 92.98, SD = 4.84; 53% female, 47% male) completed a values questionnaire and participated in a resource allocation task over four annual assessments. A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model revealed stable associations between the variables. Prioritizing others' welfare (self-transcendence values) was associated with increases in costly sharing over time, to a stronger extent than costly sharing was also associated with later increases in self-transcendence values. These reciprocal effects were not observed for noncostly giving or self-enhancement values. The findings underscore the role of values in relations to prosocial sharing development, even in middle childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

How do first-time fathers and mothers share the care of their new infant at night? Using smartphone-based experience sampling, we compared parental reports during maternity and paternity leave. During maternity leave, mothers reported engaging in 2.70 more nighttime care events than fathers, performing approximately 77% of the nighttime checking or responding to infants. During paternity leave, fathers' reported share of nighttime care increased by about 17%, while mothers reported that their share decreased by 14%. However, mothers checked on their infants on average 1.43 times more than fathers during paternity leave. The total number of nighttime checks was similar between the maternity and paternity leave periods, despite infants being older during paternity leave, when sleep patterns typically stabilize. We also found considerable discrepancies between partners' reports: both parents consistently reported their partners doing less nighttime care than the partners reported themselves. The discrepancy was particularly pronounced in mothers' evaluations of father involvement during maternity leave. These findings reveal persistent asymmetries in parental nighttime care, even when fathers are on paternity leave. We suggest that the distribution of nighttime care, therefore, is not solely driven by parental leave status but might reflect established infant care routines, social norms, and other biological factors. These findings have implications for understanding the development of co-parenting dynamics and informing policies aimed at promoting father involvement in early infant care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

This study examined the bidirectional associations among maternal depressive symptoms, child social skills, and child executive function between 3 (T1) and 4 years (T2) of child age. Participants included 1,292 families and children (49% girls; 41% Black) from the Family Life Project, living in rural, low-income areas of the United States. Using an autoregressive and cross-lagged latent change score model, we found significant bidirectional associations between maternal depressive symptoms and child social skills, such that lower maternal depressive symptoms at T1 predicted a greater increase in child social skills from T1 to T2 and higher social skills at T1 predicted a greater decline in maternal depressive symptoms from T1 to T2. In addition, we found bidirectional associations between child social skills and executive function. Specifically, higher social skills predicted a greater increase in executive function from T1 to T2 and higher executive function at T1 predicted a smaller increase in social skills from T1 to T2. However, we found no evidence for the bidirectional relation between maternal depressive symptoms and child executive function. Our findings support the bidirectional model of child development and suggest that interventions targeting early maternal depression in underserved families may foster the growth of children's social skills during the preschool years. Additionally, enhancing child social skills may reduce maternal depressive symptoms and boost the growth of child executive function. The results also highlight the interactive nature between the growth of social skills and executive function during early childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Some scholars argue that punishment communicates information about punished individuals. We extended this theorizing by asking whether laypeople (237 5- to 6-year-olds, 221 7- to 8-year-olds, 220 adults) understand punishment as communicating messages about individuals not directly implicated in punishment-related scenarios and how this understanding might change across development. Three studies asked U.S. 5- to 8-year-olds and adults to indicate the extent to which they believe that adults' incarceration is attributable to their biological relatives. In Study 1, children were more likely than adults to indicate that people grow up to become incarcerated because of an incarcerated biological mother, and these judgments generalized across members of different racial groups. In Study 2, 5- to 6-year-olds, versus 7- to 8-year-olds and adults, more readily predicted that individuals born to an incarcerated mother would have contact with the legal system in the future. Study 3 showed evidence of age-related changes in essentialism using a questionnaire but did not find such evidence in a task that pitted essentialist and nonessentialist explanations against each other, suggesting that 5- to 6-year-olds may view both biological and social factors as important contributors to incarceration. Taken together, these studies highlight the importance of social learning and cognitive development in shaping reasoning about punishment's messages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Intergenerational risk within families, stemming from familial history of mental health problems and encompassing exposure to childhood adversity, poses challenges to adolescent adjustment. However, it is important to recognize that negative developmental outcomes associated with intergenerational risk are not inevitable. To better understand resilience in this context, there is a need for studies that systematically compare different models of resilience. Further, few studies have estimated what level of adjustment should be expected for youth with high intergenerational risk but also a diverse set of strengths and competencies. Here, an intergenerational risk pathway and compensatory and protective resilience models were evaluated in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,897, 52% female, 49% non-Hispanic Black at the age 15 assessment). The link between history of mental health problems in maternal grandparents and adolescent maladjustment (depressive symptoms, substance use, delinquent behavior, and troubles at school) was serially mediated through maternal mental health problems and its association with children's exposure to adversity. Data-driven trajectory analyses identified participants characterized by increased exposure to multiple types of adversity across childhood. Chronic exposure to multiple adversities, in turn, predicted increased adolescent maladjustment. Yet, resilience factors, including childhood social skills, perseverance, and connectedness at school, effectively offset intergenerational risks. Adolescents with high intergenerational risk who experienced high levels of these childhood assets demonstrated adjustment that was comparable to their average-risk and low-risk peers. These findings advance our understanding of pathways of intergenerational risk and provide new evidence for a compensatory model over a protective model of resilience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The present study examines the interaction between household chaos, parental control, and parental rejection/acceptance (i.e., warmth) in predicting adolescent executive function (EF) skills in a diverse sample. We tested a three-way interaction to understand the direct and interactive effects of household chaos, parental control, and parental rejection/acceptance on adolescent EF within a short-term longitudinal study design. Participants were 14- to 15-year-olds and their parents (n = 220 mother-adolescent dyads, n = 139 father-adolescent dyads, 48% females) from approximately equal numbers of African American (34%), Hispanic American (36%), and European American (29%) U.S. families. Mothers, fathers, and adolescents completed interviews and questionnaires, and adolescents completed EF tasks of cognitive control. Better adolescent EF was predicted by lower level household chaos, but no main effects of adolescent perceptions of control or rejection on adolescent EF were observed. For mothers, only a three-way interaction emerged among controlling behavior, rejection, and household chaos: Among mothers who showed higher levels of rejection (i.e., low warmth) toward their adolescents, the negative association between controlling behavior and adolescent EF was significant in more chaotic households. In contrast, no association between maternal controlling behavior and adolescent EF emerged in less chaotic households regardless of the extent of maternal rejection. When multiple risk factors such as maternal rejection and household chaos coexist, the detrimental impact of maternal controlling behavior on adolescent EF becomes pronounced. No similar effect emerged for fathers, suggesting that these processes may be specific to the mother-adolescent relationship. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).