Leveraging an intensive time series of young children's movement to capture impulsive and inattentive behaviors in a preschool setting.

Studying within-person variability in children's behavior is frequently hindered by challenges collecting repeated observations. This study used wearable accelerometers to collect an intensive time series (2.7 million observations) of young children's movement at school (N = 62, Mage = 4.5 years, 54% male, 74% Non-Hispanic White) in 2021. Machine learning analyses indicated that children's typical forward acceleration was strongly correlated with lower teacher-reported inhibitory control and attention (r = -.69). Using forward movement intensity as a proxy for impulsivity, we partitioned the intensive time series and found that (1) children modulated their behavior across periods of the school day, (2) children's impulsivity increased across the school week, and (3) children with greater impulsivity showed greater variability in behavior across days.

Scars from a Previous Epidemic: Social Proximity to Zika and Fertility Intentions during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We examine whether women's social proximity to Zika during the Zika epidemic predicts intentions to avoid a pregnancy because of the COVID-19 pandemic either directly or indirectly via subjective assessments of the pandemic. We apply path models on unique microdata from Brazil, the country most affected by Zika and an epicenter of COVID-19, to understand whether a novel infectious disease outbreak left lasting imprints shaping fertility intentions during a subsequent novel infectious disease outbreak. Findings show that Zika social proximity is associated with fertility intentions through an indirect path related to subjective assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings emerged regardless of whether a woman herself had or suspected she had Zika and speak to the transformative consequences of novel infectious disease outbreaks that go beyond mortality and health.

Attention and behavior problems in childhood predict adult financial status, health, and criminal activity: A conceptual replication and extension of Moffitt et al. (2011) using cohorts from the United States and the United Kingdom.

This study is a conceptual replication of a widely cited study by Moffitt et al. (2011) which found that attention and behavior problems in childhood (a composite of impulsive hyperactive, inattentive, and impulsive-aggressive behaviors labeled "self-control") predicted adult financial status, health, and criminal activity. Using data from longitudinal cohort studies in the United States (n = 1,168) and the United Kingdom (n = 16,506), we largely reproduced their pattern of findings that attention and behavior problems measured across the course of childhood predicted a range of adult outcomes including educational attainment (ßU.S. = -0.22, ßU.K. = -0.13) and spending time in jail (ORU.S. = 1.74, ORU.K. = 1.48). We found that associations with outcomes in education, work, and finances diminished in the presence of additional covariates for children's home environment and achievement but associations for other outcomes were more robust. We also found that attention and behavior problems across distinct periods of childhood were associated with adult outcomes. Specific attention and behavior problems showed some differences in predicting outcomes in the U.S. cohort, with attention problems predicting lower educational attainment and hyperactivity/impulsivity predicting ever spending time in jail. Together with the findings from Moffitt et al., our study makes clear that childhood attention and behavior problems are associated with a range of outcomes in adulthood for cohorts born in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s across three countries. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Ambient Temperature Increases and Preschoolers' Outdoor Physical Activity.

This cross-sectional study evaluates the association of high outdoor temperatures with children's engagement in physical activity during play.

Identifying hidden Zika hotspots in Pernambuco, Brazil: a spatial analysis.

BACKGROUND: Northeast Brazil has the world's highest rate of Zika-related microcephaly. However, Zika case counts cannot accurately describe burden because mandatory reporting was only established when the epidemic was declining in the region. METHODS: To advance the study of the Zika epidemic, we identified hotspots of Zika in Pernambuco state, Northeast Brazil, using Aedes-borne diseases (dengue, chikungunya and Zika) and microcephaly data. We used Kulldorff's Poisson purely spatial scan statistic to detect low- and high-risk clusters for Aedes-borne diseases (2014-2017) and for microcephaly (2015-2017), separately. Municipalities were classified according to a proposed gradient of Zika burden during the epidemic, based on the combination of cluster status in each analysis and considering the strength of the evidence. RESULTS: We identified 26 Aedes-borne diseases clusters (11 high-risk) and 5 microcephaly clusters (3 high-risk) in Pernambuco. According to the proposed Zika burden gradient, our results indicate that the northeast of Pernambuco and the Sertão region were hit hardest by the Zika epidemic. The first is the most populous area of Pernambuco, while the second has one of the highest rates of social and economic inequality in Brazil. CONCLUSION: We successfully identified possible hidden Zika hotspots using a simple methodology combining Aedes-borne diseases and microcephaly information.

Preschoolers' executive functions following indoor and outdoor free play.

BACKGROUND: Children's executive functions develop rapidly during the preschool years and are critical for attending to lessons and meeting classroom expectations. Engaging in periods of outdoor play that have lower regulatory requirements and that provide opportunities for physical activity may help children maintain control over their behavior when they are back in settings with higher regulatory requirements. However, little work has formally examined this proposition in early childhood. METHODS: This study used a quasi-experimental design to examine preschoolers' executive functions following indoor compared to outdoor play. A total of 72 children (mean age = 4.5 years, 46% female, 73% non-Hispanic White) participated in task-based assessments of attention shifting and inhibitory control and in classroom observations of attention and inhibitory control. A subsample of the children (n = 51) was assessed for physical activity using accelerometry to examine the extent to which young children's physical activity during outdoor play predicted their subsequent executive functions better than their physical activity during indoor play. RESULTS: Children showed greater attention during classroom circle time following outdoor play compared to after indoor play (d = .34). Children's non-sedentary activity during indoor play was not related to their subsequent task-based executive functions but showed negative associations with their subsequent classroom-based executive functions. Children's percentage of time spent in non-sedentary physical activity during outdoor play showed a quadratic association with subsequent task-based inhibitory control but linear associations with subsequent classroom-based attention and inhibitory control during circle time. CONCLUSION: Periods of outdoor play that involve recommended amounts of physical activity may help young children engage executive functions when they return to the classroom.

Parent involvement and children's academic achievement: Evidence from a census of public school students in Brazil.

In order to broaden findings beyond high-income countries, this study used path models to test associations between parent involvement and student achievement in Brazil using a 2017 census of public school students in fifth grade (N = 2,167,729, Mage  = 11, 49 % female, 44% Parda, 29% White, 11% Black, 3% Asian, 3% Indigenous) and ninth grade (N = 1,782,899, Mage  = 15, 51% female, 46% Parda, 29% White, 12% Black, 4% Asian, 3% Indigenous). Parent involvement showed positive associations with student reading and math achievement for fifth graders (ßs = .11 & .09) but essentially null associations for ninth graders (ßs = -.01). Students' homework completion mediated associations in both grades (ßs = .03). Parent education was not a strong moderator of associations.

Fertility trends during successive novel infectious disease outbreaks: Zika and COVID-19 in Brazil.

This study aims to estimate fertility trends in Brazil in the 2010s and early 2020s during a period of back-to-back novel infectious disease outbreaks - Zika virus and COVID-19. We use Brazilian Ministry of Health and Association of Civil Registrar data from 2011-2021 to measure general fertility rates at the national and state levels. We also used seasonal ARIMA model to forecast fertility rates by month and state in 2021 and compared these forecasts with observed fertility rates. We find that fertility rates were steady over 2011-2015 with no statistically significant variation, followed by a sharp decline during the Zika outbreak in 2016 followed by a return to pre-Zika levels after the end of the epidemic. Furthermore, to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, we make comparisons with observed and forecast rates from 2020-2021, showing that declines were generally larger for observed than for forecast rates, yet statistically insignificant. We argue that the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 might lead to further declines, as women might have not had enough time to adjust rebound from either the effects of the Zika epidemic. We also discuss the importance of timely availability of live births data during a public health crisis with immediate consequences for fertility rates.

Total Play Time Needed for Preschoolers to Reach Recommended Amount of Non-Sedentary Activity.

Health guidelines suggest that caregivers provide preschoolers with opportunities to be physically active for 3 h per day (roughly 15 min per waking hour), but because children are not continuously active, it is unclear what amount of time is needed to reach this goal. This naturalistic study enrolled 67 children (M = 4.5 years, 46% female) who wore accelerometers to measure their activity during indoor and outdoor free -play (N = 315,061 s). An hour of indoor play was insufficient for most children to reach 15 min of physical activity. When outside, most children reached 15 min of physical activity after slightly more than 30 min. Children engaged in outdoor activity sporadically (1.7 starts/stops per minute). Most physical activity occurred in bouts shorter than 20 s. Indoor free-play does not, on its own, provide sufficient opportunity for preschoolers to engage in physical activity consistent with health guidelines. As a result, outdoor play for at least 30 min at a time has a key role in meeting these guidelines.

An observational approach for exploring variability in young children's regulation-related skills within classroom contexts.

Prior work has conceptualized children's executive function and self-regulation skills as relatively stable across short periods of time. Grounded in long-standing contextual theories of human development, this study introduces a new observational tool for measuring children's regulatory skills across different naturally occurring situations within early childhood classrooms. Using 460 observations of 91 children (M age = 5.54 years) in 16 socio-demographically diverse Prekindergarten and Kindergarten classrooms, we found that this tool-the Regulation-Related Skills Measure (RRSM)-reliably captured observed dimensions of young children's attention control and inhibitory control, but failed to appropriately represent more "internal" regulatory processes (e.g., working memory). Associations between the RRSM and other measures of children's executive function and self-regulation (i.e., direct assessments, adult reports) were low to moderate (r = 0.03 to 0.44), suggesting these tools are likely to be complementary in that they provide overlapping but ultimately distinct information regarding children's regulatory performance. Finally, results suggested substantial within-child variation in regulatory behaviors across different situations within the classroom, with the same children demonstrating consistently stronger attention control and inhibitory control during transitions than during either teacher- or student-directed activities. These findings underscore the situationally-dependent nature of children's self-regulatory performance, with implications for both theory and practice. Future research is needed to replicate these findings in more diverse, representative samples of children.

Amount and type of physical activity as predictors of growth in executive functions, attentional control, and social self-control across 4 years of elementary school.

This paper used a nationally representative sample of children from the United States to examine the extent to which physical activity and sports participation may promote growth in children's executive functions (EFs), attention, and social self-control over time. Using data from the ECLS-K:2011 (N = 18,174), findings indicated that regular physical activity predicted growth in EFs and attention from 3rd to 4th grade (ßs = 0.03-0.05) but not from kindergarten to 1st grade. After controlling for the frequency of physical activity, participation in group sports predicted increases in EFs, attention, and social self-control during both periods (ßs = 0.02-0.04). Though modest in size, the findings suggest that encouraging children to engage in more frequent and more team-based activity will benefit the development of their EFs and related skills, and especially so for children in middle childhood.

Measuring children's behavioral regulation in the preschool classroom: An objective, sensor-based approach.

Children's abilities to regulate their behaviors are critical for learning and development, yet researchers lack an objective, precise method for assessing children's behavioral regulation in their everyday environments such as their classrooms. This study tested a sensor-based approach to assess preschool children's behavioral regulation objectively, precisely, and naturalistically. Children wore accelerometer devices as they engaged in center-based play in their preschool classrooms for roughly 45 min (N = 50 children, 48% female, mean age = 4.5 years). Set to record data each second, these devices collected information about children's movement (N = 140,564 observations). From these data, the authors extracted concrete behaviors hypothesized to index behavioral regulation and compared them with teacher and observer ratings of the same. Initiating movement more frequently, staying seated in activities for shorter amounts of time, and spending a greater amount of time in motion were related to lower ratings of attention and inhibitory control by teachers and by observers of classroom group time, median r = .45, p < .01. These same objectively measured behaviors showed only weak associations with children's performance on assessments of cognitive regulation, median r = .11, p = .47. The findings indicate that ambulatory accelerometers can capture movement-based indicators of children's behavioral regulation in the classroom setting and that performance on measures of cognitive regulation does not strongly predict children's behavior in the classroom. As an unobtrusive and objective measure, actigraphy may become an important tool for studying children's behavioral regulation in everyday contexts.

Fertility trends during successive novel infectious disease outbreaks: Zika and COVID-19 in Brazil / Tendências de fecundidade durante sucessivas epidemias de doenças infecciosas novas: Zika e COVID-19 no Brasil / Tendencias de fecundidad durante los sucesivos brotes de nuevas enfermedades infecciosas: Zika y COVID-19 en Brasil

This study aims to estimate fertility trends in Brazil in the 2010s and early 2020s during a period of back-to-back novel infectious disease outbreaks - Zika virus and COVID-19. We use Brazilian Ministry of Health and Association of Civil Registrar data from 2011-2021 to measure general fertility rates at the national and state levels. We also used seasonal ARIMA model to forecast fertility rates by month and state in 2021 and compared these forecasts with observed fertility rates. We find that fertility rates were steady over 2011-2015 with no statistically significant variation, followed by a sharp decline during the Zika outbreak in 2016 followed by a return to pre-Zika levels after the end of the epidemic. Furthermore, to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, we make comparisons with observed and forecast rates from 2020-2021, showing that declines were generally larger for observed than for forecast rates, yet statistically insignificant. We argue that the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 might lead to further declines, as women might have not had enough time to adjust rebound from either the effects of the Zika epidemic. We also discuss the importance of timely availability of live births data during a public health crisis with immediate consequences for fertility rates.

O objetivo desta contribuição de dados é estimar as tendências de fecundidade no Brasil nos anos 2010 e início dos anos 2020 durante epidemias consecutivas de doenças infecciosas novas, ou seja, Zika vírus e COVID-19. Utilizamos dados do Ministério da Saúde e do Registro Civil Nacional de 2011-2021 para calcular as taxas mensais de fecundidade nos níveis nacional e estadual. Também utilizamos o modelo ARIMA sazonal para prever taxas de fecundidade por mês e por estado em 2021, e comparamos essas previsões com as taxas de fecundidade observadas. Encontramos que as taxas de fecundidade eram estáveis entre 2011 e 2015, sem variação significativa, seguido por um declínio abrupto durante o surto de Zika em 2016, e seguido por sua vez por um retorno aos níveis pré-Zika depois do fim da epidemia. Além disso, para avaliar o efeito da pandemia de COVID-19, comparamos as taxas observadas e previstas de 2020-2021, mostrando que as quedas geralmente eram maiores nas taxas observadas do que nas previstas, porém sem significância estatística. Argumentamos que o recrudescimento da pandemia de COVID-19 em 2021 poderá levar a mais quedas nas taxas, na medida em que as mulheres não tenham tido tempo suficiente para reagir e se ajustarem aos efeitos da epidemia de Zika. Também discutimos a importância da disponibilidade oportuna de dados sobre nascidos vivos durante uma crise de saúde pública com consequências imediatas para as taxas de fecundidade.

El objetivo de esta aportación de datos es estimar las tendencias de fecundidad en Brasil en la década de 2010 y principios de 2020, durante el período de brotes consecutivos de nuevas enfermedades infecciosas -ZIKV y COVID-19. Se usaron datos procedentes del Ministerio de Salud y del Registro Civil Nacional (ARPEN) desde 2011-2021 para calcular mensualmente las tasas de fecundidad en nivel nacional y en el estado. Se utilizó el ARIMA estacional para pronosticar las tasas de fecundidad por mes y estado en 2021, y se compararon estas predicciones con las tasas de fecundidad observadas. Encontramos que las tasas de fecundidad se mantuvieron estables entre 2011 y 2015, sin variaciones significativas, seguido de un fuerte descenso durante el brote de Zika en 2016, para posteriormente volver a los niveles anteriores al Zika tras el fin de la epidemia. Asimismo, con el fin de evaluar el efecto de la pandemia de COVID-19, hicimos comparaciones con lo observado y la previsión de tasas desde 2020-2021, que muestran que los descensos fueron en general mayores para los índices observados que para los previstos, aunque insignificantes desde el punto de vista estadístico. Sostenemos que el resurgimiento de la pandemia de COVID-19 en 2021 podría provocar nuevos descensos, ya que las mujeres podrían no haber tenido suficiente tiempo para adaptarse a los efectos de la epidemia de Zika. También se discute la importancia de disponer a tiempo de los datos de los nacidos vivos durante una crisis de salud pública con consecuencias inmediatas para las tasas de fecundidad.

Impacts of Early Childhood Education on Medium- and Long-Term Educational Outcomes.

Despite calls to expand early childhood education (ECE) in the United States, questions remain regarding its medium- and long-term impacts on educational outcomes. We use meta-analysis of 22 high-quality experimental and quasi-experimental studies conducted between 1960 and 2016 to find that on average, participation in ECE leads to statistically significant reductions in special education placement (d = 0.33 SD, 8.1 percentage points) and grade retention (d = 0.26 SD, 8.3 percentage points) and increases in high school graduation rates (d = 0.24 SD, 11.4 percentage points). These results support ECE's utility for reducing education-related expenditures and promoting child well-being.