Developmental trajectories of sensory patterns from infancy to school age in a community sample and associations with autistic traits

This prospective study examined the latent growth trajectories of sensory patterns among a North Carolina birth cohort (N = 1517; 49% boys, 87% White) across infancy (6–19 months), preschool (3–4 years), and school years (6–7 years). Change rates of sensory hyper- and hyporesponsiveness better differentiated children with an autism diagnosis or elevated autistic traits from those with other developmental conditions, including non-autistic children with sensory differences. More sensory hyper- and hyporesponsiveness at infancy followed by steeper increases differentially predicted more autistic traits at school age. Further, children of parents with higher education tended to show stable or improving trajectories. These findings highlight the importance of tracking sensory patterns from infancy for facilitating early identification of associated challenges and tailored support for families.     

Developmental trajectories of goal orientations and math skills from grades 7 to 9

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The current study focuses on the developmental trajectories of mastery and performance goal orientations and their relationships with math skills along...     

Links between systems of inhibition from infancy to preschool years

Links between early and late emerging inhibitory characteristics of young children are poorly understood. Based on existing evidence, this study proposed an indirect link between reactive inhibition to novelty (fearfulness) and later emerging effortful inhibition of prepotent response tendencies. A model was tested that posits that fearful children have opportunistic advantages in developing a nonimpulsive approach style in contexts that are not imbued with salient novelty cues. That nonimpulsive approach style, in turn, facilitates future effortful inhibition. Longitudinal panel data, all based on observational measures, at 9, 14, 22, 33, and 45 months were used to support the proposed indirect link. The implications for understanding regulatory influences of fearful behavior and developmental complexity in child characteristics are discussed.     

The role of inhibition in overcoming arithmetic natural number bias in the Chinese context: Evidence from behavioral and ERP experiments

The natural number bias (NNB) in arithmetic operations refers to the application of natural number properties to reasoning about rational numbers. Previous studies found the NNB interferes with students’ problem-solving. However, few studies have examined it in the Chinese context or the underlying mechanism by which it can be overcome. Addressing these gaps, in Experiments 1a (n = 31) and 1b (n = 30), we found that Chinese students demonstrate the NNB despite linguistic differences between Chinese and western languages. Experiment 2 (n = 38) adopted a negative priming paradigm and found that inhibitory control was necessary to overcome the NNB. Experiment 3 (n = 34) employed the event-related potential technique; we observed increased P2 amplitude when students solved congruent problems, and increased N2 and decreased P3 amplitude when they solved incongruent problems. These results indicated that the NNB is rooted in intuitive thinking, and overcoming this bias relies on inhibition.     

Cumulative environmental risk and youth maladjustment: the role of youth attributes

Using data from 5,070 youth ages 11 to 18 years old who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, concurrent and longitudinal associations among cumulative risk, protective factors, and youth maladjustment were examined. Cumulative risk was associated with concurrent conduct problems and depressed mood. For conduct problems, a compensatory effect was found for scholastic achievement and problem-solving ability. For depressed mood, a compensatory effect was found for scholastic achievement. A protective-reactive effect of self-esteem was found for both forms of maladjustment. Youth gender, grade, and ethnicity moderated these associations. Cumulative risk predicted change over time in depressed mood. Scholastic achievement and self-esteem compensated for this risk. Findings indicate that youth attributes offer limited protection when adolescents experience risk factors across life domains.     

Educating children to environmental behaviours with nudges: the effectiveness of social labelling and moderating role of age

Abstract

Relying on a nudge—a simple, non-paternalistic tool that spontaneously triggers behaviours in a volitional, predictable and expected way—as an education instrument, and more particularly relying on social labelling, this paper demonstrates that an extremely frugal protocol can foster children’s intentions to behave pro-environmentally. In an experiment conducted among 115 children (aged between 7 and 12?years), whose gender and levels of environmental perception before the experiment were controlled for, we show that applying an ‘eco-friendly’ label is sufficient to trigger more subsequent intentions to behave ecologically than what was observed in the control group. We also provide evidence that the most effective age for using this nudge is above 10. Our results show that the intentions to behave ecologically persist a week after labelling. This on-going effect suggests that the influence of social labelling is not limited to the immediate response. An ethical discussion on the issue closes the paper.     

Development of motor-life-skills: variations in children at risk for motor difficulties from the toddler age to preschool age

This article explores variations in development of everyday motor-life-skills in 661 children (329 girls and 332 boys) in Norwegian kindergartens of ages 2:9 (T1) and 4:9 (T2) years:months. The particular focus is on children at risk for problems in motor development (the 10% weakest children in the sample). The methodological approach chosen is authentic assessment, applying the Early Years Movement Skills Checklist (EYMSC). All correlations between motor-life-skills at ages 2:9 and 4:9 are statistically significant (p < 0.01), varying between r = 0.26 to 0.38 for the four section scores of EYMSC (Self-help skills, Desk skills, General classroom skills and Recreational and playground skills) and r = 0.39 for the EYMSC total score. The group composition of children assumed to be at risk for motor difficulties changes considerably between ages 2:9 and 4:9. Approximately, two-thirds of the 10% weakest at T1 do not belong to the 10% weakest at T2. Logistic regression failed to identify children at risk at T1 being among the 10% weakest at T2. However, for two sections of EYMSC (Self-help skills; Recreational and Playground skills), it was possible to distinguish between stable and flux groups.     

The developmental trajectories of mathematics anxiety: Cognitive,personality, and environmental correlates

Students who are highly anxious about mathematics-related activities generally exhibit lower mathematics achievement and motivation compared to their less anxious counterparts. Despite negative implications of mathematics anxiety (MA) on mathematics learning, there is a paucity of research examining how MA develops over time. Using the Longitudinal Study of American Youth dataset (N = 3116), the present study investigated two main questions regarding the development of MA in secondary school: (1) Is the development of MA characterized by a heterogeneous subset of growth trajectories? (2) How are time-varying personal and environmental factors (e.g., mathematics achievement; perceptions of math teachers) related to specific MA growth trajectories? Student MA was repeatedly assessed in six annual waves spanning across middle and high school. Using growth mixture modeling, we identified four growth trajectories of MA: (1) The non-anxious group that exhibited chronically low MA; (2) The highly anxious group which displayed moderately high MA over time; (3) The resilient group that exhibited high initial MA that steadily decreased over time; and (4) The vulnerable group that reported low initial MA that drastically increased over time. In addition, significant differences in the development of mathematics achievement, personality hardiness, and perceptions of mathematics teachers were found in these four MA groups. Findings highlight heterogeneity in the development of MA, identify middle school as a critical period for MA development, and emphasize the importance of examining developmental changes in cognitive, personality, and environmental factors to help clarify distinct MA trajectories across middle and high school.     

The meaning of risk and protective factors in infancy

Recent psychological research on infants and newborns led to discoveries of early competencies in young infants hitherto unbelieved by most scientists and difficult to account for in traditional models of child development. On the other hand, accumulated empirical longitudinal evidence challenged long-held preconceptions of the enduring impacts of early experience on later development. The risk concept, adapted from pediatrics and psychiatrics, was introduced with the expectation of identifying those subgroups of infants that are of increased risk of later behavioural or developmental maladaptation. The risk concept, however, turned out to be imprecise, having too many different meanings, being too abstract, and applicable only to populations or groups, not to individuals. Combinations of the risk concept with recently developed more sophisticated models of early development, such as transactive and systemic models of development, include such concepts as vulnerability/resilience as stable personality characteristics, protection or risk as setting characteristics, and coping in the face of actual stress as situational process variables. Implications for prevention, intervention and early education are discussed with respect to some selected groups of infants considered at-risk.     

The physiology and psychology of behavioral inhibition in children

Longitudinal study of 2 cohorts of children selected in the second or third year of life to be extremely cautious and shy (inhibited) or fearless and outgoing (uninhibited) to unfamiliar events revealed preservation of these 2 behavioral qualities through the sixth year of life. Additionally, more of the inhibited children showed signs of activation in 1 or more of the physiological circuits that usually respond to novelty and challenge, namely, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the reticular activating system, and the sympathetic arm of the autonomic nervous system. It is suggested that the threshold of responsivity in limbic and hypothalamic structures to unfamiliarity and challenge is tonically lower for inhibited than for uninhibited children.     

The development of children at familial risk for dyslexia: Birth to early school age

Children at risk for familial dyslexia (n = 107) and their controls (n = 93) have been followed from birth to school entry in the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal study of Dyslexia (JLD) on developmental factors linked to reading and dyslexia. At the point of school entry, the majority of the at-risk children displayed decoding ability that fell at least 1 SD below the mean of the control group. Measures of speech processing were the earliest indices to show both group differences in infancy and also significant predictive associations with reading acquisition. A number of measures of language, including phonological and morphological skill collected repeatedly from age three, revealed group differences and predictive correlations. Both the group differences and the predictive associations to later language and reading ability strengthened as a function of increasing age. The predictions, however, tend to be stronger and the spectrum of significant correlations wider in the at-risk group. These results are crucial to early identification and intervention of dyslexia in at-risk children.     

Early childhood maltreatment and trajectories of behavioral problems: Exploring gender and racial differences

The current study aimed to examine the trajectory of child behavior problems over time as a function of early maltreatment. We anticipated that early alleged maltreatment would have a substantial impact on both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The impact of gender and racial differences in the trajectories were also examined. Using the LONGSCAN archived data, a total of 484 children were selected for the study from varying sites. Two groups were formed: children with early allegations of maltreatment from birth to age 4 and children without any report. Children included did not have further allegations of maltreatment from ages 4 to 12. Additionally, they must have completed a behavioral assessment using the Child Behavior Checklist at the age 4 baseline interview. Multilevel modeling using the SAS PROC MIXED procedure was used to examine the effects of early allegations of maltreatment on the trajectories of both internalizing and externalizing problems. Although race was not significant, gender was found to differ in trajectory of behavioral problems among children with early allegations of maltreatment. For boys, the impact of early maltreatment was strongest at the most proximal assessment of behavioral outcomes and then decreased gradually over the course of subsequent periods. For girls, although no significant impact was observed at each measurement point, the impact of early maltreatment increased and became pronounced over time. Findings support the importance of early intervention/prevention to decrease the likelihood of presenting behavioral problems in later childhood years with consideration to gender.     

From mother to child: Maternal betrayal trauma and risk for maltreatment and psychopathology in the next generation

The objective of this study was to investigate whether experiences of high betrayal trauma (BT; maltreatment by a parent/caregiver) during mothers' own childhoods may influence the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment and its associated psychopathology from mothers to their children. A prospective, longitudinal design was utilized to assess maternal physical and sexual betrayal trauma in relation to children’s own maltreatment experiences, and child mood and behavioral symptoms during pre-adolescence. Data from 706 mothers and children who participated in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) was analyzed, including: mothers’ physical and sexual maltreatment histories, child protective services’ documented physical and sexual maltreatment during children’s first twelve years of life, and mother- and child-reports of child internalizing and externalizing symptoms at age 12. Children of mothers who survived high BT (maltreatment by a caregiver) were 4.52 times more likely to experience maltreatment than children of no BT mothers (mothers whom were not maltreated), and 1.58 times more likely than children whose mothers survived low BT (maltreatment by a non-caregiver). Higher levels of maternal physical BT significantly predicted more internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children at age 12, according to both mother (CBCL) and child (YSR) reports. More incidents of child physical maltreatment partially mediated associations between maternal physical BT and child symptoms. Incidents of sexual maltreatment also partially mediated associations between maternal sexual BT and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms (CBCL only). These findings have implications for understanding the role of betrayal trauma in perpetuating the cycle of maltreatment across generations.     

Developing a comprehensive model of risk and protective factors that can predict spelling at age seven: findings from a community sample of Victorian children

The paper reports on a study designed to develop a risk model that can best predict single-word spelling in seven-year-old children when they were aged 4 and 5. Test measures, personal characteristics and environmental influences were all considered as variables from a community sample of 971 children. Strong concurrent correlations were found between single-word spelling and single-word reading while expressive language and, to a lesser extent, receptive language were less strongly correlated. Predictors of single-word spelling at ages 4 and 5 were dominated by child-related factors such as letter knowledge, a history of speech impairment and expressive language along with maternal word reading ability. Based on the strength of the predictive factors identified at both age 4 and 5, our results provide initial support for using a targeted model for screening pre-schoolers at risk of not mastering spelling in a timely manner.     

Refusing to settle for pigeons and parks: urban environmental education in the age of neoliberalism

The institutionalization of neoliberal reforms that began to take hold in the 1970s were by and large ‘common-sense governance’ by the 1990s. While the growing predominance of neoliberal discourse and marginalization of alternatives in environmental education is disconcerting on the level of policy, this paper explores an equally troubling phenomenon: the deepening of a neoliberal logic, such that it pervades the way we understand and relate with the world. Specifically, this paper draws upon an experience at a recent environmental education conference whereby participants were invited to explore three place-based inquiries inspired by Aldo Leopold in an urban environment: what is happening here? what has happened here? and what should happen here? Although the intention of the workshop was to explore some of the challenges involved in implementing a critical pedagogy of place, many of the participants seemed unwilling to criticize the way in which an urban downtown core suppresses the more-than-human aspects of place. We contend that environmental education is a key arena for debating the limits of neoliberalism and explore how these well-intentioned, but ultimately uncritical responses, run the risk of being appropriated by the ecologically destructive logic-informing neoliberal natures.     

The stability of attachment security from infancy to adolescence and early adulthood: general introduction

Current attachment theory hypothesizes that attachment security during infancy influences individual differences in adult representations of attachment. We present three long-term longitudinal studies using three different samples relevant to this hypothesis. Each study assesses infant attachment by using the Ainsworth Strange Situation and adult attachment by using the Berkeley Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Attachment security was significantly stable in the first two studies. Discontinuity in all three studies was related to negative life events and circumstances. Comparison of the results across these complementary studies affords a degree of replication and sheds light on alternative interpretations. Various mechanisms underlying the stability and instability of attachment security are discussed.     

The stability of attachment security from infancy to adolescence and early adulthood: general discussion

For over three decades, critics of the developmental and psychometric paradigms have argued that individual differences are neither stable, coherent, nor clinically significant. The present studies extend a long line of research demonstrating the coherence of individual development in attachment security. They make it clear that attachment security can be stable from infancy through early adulthood and that change in attachment security is meaningfully related to changes in the family environment. The task now is to better understand the roles of cross-age consistency in caregiver behavior and the structure of mental representations of early experience in stability and change.     

Developmental trajectories of children's spatial skills: Influencing variables and associations with later mathematical thinking

Few studies have examined the long-term relations between children's early spatial skills and their later mathematical abilities. In the current study, we investigated children's developmental trajectories of spatial skills across four waves from age 3–7 years and their association with children's later mathematical understanding. We assessed children's development in a large, heterogeneous sample of children (N = 586) from diverse cultural backgrounds and mostly low-income homes. Spatial and mathematical skills were measured using standardized assessments. Children's starting points and rate of growth in spatial skills were investigated using latent growth curve models. We explored the influence of various covariates on spatial skill development and found that socioeconomic status, language skills, and sex, but not migration background predicted children's spatial development. Furthermore, our findings showed that children's initial spatial skills––but not their rate of growth––predicted later mathematical understanding, indicating that early spatial reasoning may play a crucial role for learning mathematics.