Developmental Psychology最新文献

Parents' critical consciousness has been theorized to facilitate race conversations that center on how social structures, policies, and historical factors perpetuate inequities, but few studies have investigated this link empirically. The current analysis examines the associations between Black and white parents' critical consciousness and their anti-racist socialization amid the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement. Participants were 725 parents (344 Black, 381 white, M_age = 38.08, SD = 7.00) of 8- to 11-year-old children who completed an online survey between October 2020 and January 2021, following the murder of George Floyd. Using latent profile analysis, the results show how Black and white parents' critical consciousness profiles are differentially related to whether and how they discussed Black Lives Matter with their children. Overall, both Black and white parents with higher levels of critical consciousness were more likely to engage in anti-racist socialization that countered dominant white supremacist and anti-Black ideologies, though fewer white parents did so than Black parents. The article discusses the implications of the findings for fostering critical racial socialization practices and offers a (re)conceptualization of racial socialization as a form of critical action for parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Moving is a common experience for U.S. families and may negatively affect the mental health of both parents and children. In this study, we examined how residential mobility is associated with changes in mental health over time among mothers and children in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (previously "Fragile Families") from the child's birth to age 15. Using path analyses, we found that moving frequently when children were young was associated with greater depression among mothers when their children were 5, which, in turn, was associated with maternal and child mental health outcomes in the middle childhood and adolescent periods. That is, maternal depression acted as a pathway through which early residential mobility was associated with both maternal and child outcomes over time. This study highlights the complex interplay between residential mobility and maternal and child mental health and the critical role of maternal depression. Results underscore the need to support mothers who move frequently to support their own and their children's mental health in the years to follow. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Families of color often face daily racist incidents that lead to dynamic interactions and race-based messaging between parents and children; however, few studies have examined this phenomenon in Asian American families. Using 60 days of daily-diary data from a national sample of 108 adolescents (53.7% girls; range = 11-18-year-old; M_age = 14.8 years, SD_age = 1.7, 29.6% low-income), this study examined (a) how different forms of parental racial-ethnic socialization (PRES) moderated associations between racial-ethnic discrimination (RED) and Asian American adolescents' psychosocial well-being and (b) how coping strategies mediated links between PRES and psychosocial outcomes. Results suggested that cultural socialization and post-discrimination emotional support protected Asian American adolescents from the effects of RED on their affect and problem behaviors, whereas preparation for bias intensified the negative impact of RED on youth's psychological well-being. Active problem solving mediated the relationship between effective PRES approaches and youth's psychosocial outcomes. This study highlights the need for evidence-based approaches to enhance racial-ethnic socialization skills among Asian American parents, as these efforts may be crucial for fostering resilience in their adolescent children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Based on Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017), this study examined longitudinal predictions of two types of prenatal maternal beliefs about child development: (a) belief in coercion and external control and (b) belief in intensive monitoring. Based on laboratory observations of first-time mothers (N = 305), maternal control and toddler noncompliance at age 2 years were examined in relation to each prenatal belief. A path analysis revealed that the two beliefs show different patterns of associations with child compliance and noncompliance 2 years postpartum, via two different types of maternal control: harsh and nonharsh. Mothers' prenatal belief in coercion and external control was associated with mothers' tendency to exercise harsh control (e.g., threats and punishments conveyed in an unpleasant tone), which, in turn, was positively associated with child defiance and negatively associated with child compliance. Mothers' prenatal belief in intensive monitoring was associated with nonharsh control (e.g., repetitive requests, expressions of disappointment, and dismissive redirection), which, in turn, positively predicted child passive noncompliance (i.e., ignoring maternal directives) and negatively predicted compliance. Our findings underscore the potential long-term effects of prenatal control-oriented beliefs on parenting behaviors, particularly in fostering postpartum control strategies that may contribute to varying forms of toddler noncompliance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

It has been established that whereas young children who use their fingers to solve arithmetic problems outperform those who do not, this trend reverses in older children around the age of 7. One possible interpretation is that finger counting is helpful for solving simple problems but becomes inadequate as problem complexity increases, leaving finger users reliant on strategies that are no longer efficient. Another possibility is that nonfinger users after the age of 7 are, in fact, ex-finger users who have already transitioned to efficient mental strategies. These contrasting interpretations carry significant theoretical and educational implications. In the first case, finger counting may be viewed as an ultimately limiting tool, potentially trapping children in immature strategies, and, in the second, as a powerful tool that has not only immediate benefit but also long-term positive effect on children's arithmetic development. To disentangle these interpretations, 192 children from middle to high socioeconomic status (mainly White, 96 girls) were followed from the age of 4.5 to 7.5 across seven testing points. While virtually all children were observed using their fingers at some point during the study, most nonfinger users by age of 6.5 were in fact ex-finger users. Importantly, they presented higher arithmetic performance than finger users and genuine nonfinger users of the same age. These original findings provide the first empirical evidence that finger counting acts as a developmental scaffold toward efficient mental arithmetic, rather than as a mere useful but limiting strategy eventually hindering development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Early language input to infants varies in lexical composition across languages and contexts. For instance, American-English input emphasizes nouns more than verbs, while Mandarin Chinese and Korean inputs provide more verbs than nouns, the difference of which is considered an influential factor in the child's early vocabulary acquisition. Furthermore, a possibility was raised that nonverbal input accompanying child-directed language provides additional support for verb meanings in verb-dominant caregiver input. However, these early verb dominance and support patterns have been derived from a handful of studies that examined very small samples. Thus, we aimed to systematically reexamine the verb dominance pattern in Korean caregiver input, considering both verbal and nonverbal aspects and their relative contributions to long-term vocabulary outcomes using a larger longitudinal sample. From 70 caregiver inputs to their 14- to 20-month-olds (41,349 utterances; 2,186 min, 30 s total), we found that the Korean language supports verb learning through lexical distribution and nonverbal extralinguistic input quality. Both the noun representation ratio and verb proportion positively predicted 54-month vocabulary outcomes, indicating that overall frequency is crucial for long-term vocabulary growth. Differences in caregiver nonverbal input quality between nouns and verbs explained 36-month vocabulary outcomes but did not predict long-term growth. These findings suggest that verbal and nonverbal inputs play different roles in long-term language development and that these might explain why Korean infants demonstrate better comprehension for verbs than nouns early on. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

We used network analysis to examine the structure and development of arithmetic fluency in Chinese students from Grades 3 to 6-a critical period during which fluency across the four operations becomes increasingly integrated. In two preregistered studies, students completed timed fluency tasks in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In Study 1, we compared network structures in Grade 3 (N = 1,072; M_age = 9.1 years) and Grade 6 (N = 1,160; M_age = 12.1 years). We found that students in Grade 6 demonstrated more strongly interconnected and uniformly structured networks than those in Grade 3. In Study 2, students (N = 1,055; M_age = 9.8 years) were assessed in a longitudinal design at four time points in Grades 4 and 5. Addition and subtraction consistently emerged as central operations, forming the foundational core of the arithmetic network. Division reflected significant integration of knowledge from other operations, whereas multiplication generally showed weak connections with the other operations. Overall, development was highly interdependent, with improvements in one operation closely linked to gains in others. This research provides empirical evidence that arithmetic knowledge evolves from a differentiated structure into a unified and interconnected system, highlighting the value of viewing arithmetic development as a dynamic network of associations that consolidate over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

The current work uses ecological momentary assessment data in an age and cognitively diverse group of adults to explore if, when, and why individuals feel purposeful in daily life. Seven times per day for 9 days, young adults (age: M = 27.36; 51.4% men, 47.1% women, 1.4% additional gender; 7.0% Asian/Asian American, 28.6% as Black/African American, 1.4% as Indigenous, 5.7% as Latine/Hispanic, 1.4% Middle Eastern, 58.6% White/European American), older adults without cognitive impairment (age: M = 75.18; 32.6% men, 67.4% women; 23.6% Black/African American, 1.1% Latine/Hispanic, 74.2% White/European American), and older adults with mild cognitive impairment (age: M = 76.97; 50.0% identified as men, 50.0% as women; 31.7% identified as Black/African American, 65.0% White/European American) reported their current sense of purpose and their current activity (N = 219). On average, older adults had higher momentary sense of purpose and less variability in momentary sense of purpose than young adults regardless of cognitive status. Across age and cognitive status groups, individuals felt more purposeful when they were at work/school, engaged in physical activity, volunteering, doing errands/chores, or doing a hobby, and felt less purposeful when they were engaged with media/TV/internet. Individuals often felt more purposeful when they had recently engaged in a social interaction, especially when that social interaction was pleasant and not uncomfortable. Interactions with coworkers were associated with a higher sense of purpose across all groups, though face-to-face interactions versus other interactions (e.g., phone calls, video calls) were not differentially related to momentary sense of purpose. Findings highlight activities that individuals may engage in to bolster their sense of purpose across development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Singapore's aging population and the geographical proximity of Singaporean families may contribute to comparatively high rates of grandparental caregiving. This study describes the prevalence of grandparental caregiving and investigates concurrent and longitudinal effects of grandparental care on infant and preschool-aged children's preacademic, executive function, and socioemotional outcomes for the first time in Singapore. In the present study, grandparental caregiving was operationalized as time spent and as children's preferences for their grandparents. Data from three longitudinal studies conducted over the past decade were used (259 from Growing Up in Singapore Toward Healthy Outcomes [GUSTO], 122 Singapore Preconception Study of Long-Term Maternal and Child Outcomes [S-PRESTO], and 39 from Singapore Parenting and Cognition in Early Childhood [SPACE]). Results suggested that grandparental care may be on the decline in recent years and most of the grandparental care-child outcome associations were not significant. Still, when effects were observed, the majority were negative when time spent was considered and positive when preference was considered. Furthermore, maternal sensitivity significantly moderated the association between grandparental care and child outcomes, exemplifying the importance of considering children's larger caregiving network when examining the effects of grandparental care. A greater understanding of how to support grandparental caregiving for optimal child outcomes will be beneficial. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

For ethnic-racial minoritized children, ethnic-racial affect-feelings about their group and heritage-is a key part of identity development. However, little is known about how positive (e.g., pride about one's group or heritage) and negative (e.g., shame about one's group or heritage) ethnic-racial affect develops over time in children. Examining the developmental trajectories and factors that shape these feelings can help elucidate how to ensure positive child development even in the face of experiencing racism. Therefore, in our 3-year longitudinal study with 117 ethnic-racial minoritized mother-child dyads from the Netherlands (Turkish heritage = 59%, West African or Caribbean heritage = 41%), we used a multimethod approach and multilevel modeling to examine children's ethnic-racial affect development from middle childhood to early adolescence. We were specifically interested in whether and to what extent mothers' ethnic-racial socialization (i.e., messages and practices that convey information about ethnicity and race-related topics), measured through questionnaires and video observations, contributes to ethnic-racial affect development. Our findings indicate that children's positive ethnic-racial affect remained stable over time, while their negative ethnic-racial affect decreased over time. Notably, mothers' higher observed cultural socialization about identity-related topics, such as skin color, national identity, and cultural heritage, was associated with a decrease in children's negative ethnic-racial affect across time. Findings suggest that parent-child conversation about identity-related topics may promote positive child development in the face of experiencing racism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).