Interparental conflict dimensions and children's psychological problems: Emotion recognition as a mediator.

This study tested children's emotion recognition as a mediator of associations between their exposure to hostile and cooperative interparental conflict and their internalizing and externalizing symptoms. From 2018 to 2022, 238 mothers, their partners, and preschool children (Mage = 4.38, 52% female; 68% White; 18% Black; 14% Multiracial or another race; and 16% Latinx) participated in three annual measurement occasions. Path analyses indicated that Wave 1 observations of hostile interparental conflict predicted residualized increases in children's emotion recognition accuracy (i.e., angry, sad, and happy) at Wave 2 (ß = .27). Wave 2 emotion recognition, in turn, predicted residualized decreases in children's internalizing symptoms at Wave 3 (ß = -.22). Mediational findings were partly attributable to children's accuracy in identifying angry and high-intensity expressions.

White children's prosocial behavior toward White versus Black peers: The role of children's effortful control and parents' implicit racial attitudes.

White children's effortful control (EC), parents' implicit racial attitudes, and their interaction were examined as predictors of children's prosocial behavior toward White versus Black recipients. Data were collected from 171 White children (55% male, Mage = 7.13 years, SD = 0.92) and their parent in 2017. Prosocial behavior toward White peers was predicted by children's higher EC. When predicting prosocial behavior toward Black peers and prosocial disparity (the difference between White and Black recipients), parents' implicit racial attitudes moderated the relation between children's EC and children's prosocial behavior. Specifically, children's EC was positively associated with prosocial behavior toward Black peers (and negatively related to inequity in prosocial behavior) only when parents exhibited less implicit racial bias.

Sociodemographic Correlates of Contemporary Screen Time Use among 9- and 10-Year-Old Children.

OBJECTIVE: To determine sociodemographic correlates of contemporary screen time use among a diverse population-based sample of 9- and 10-year-old children. STUDY DESIGN: In 2021, we analyzed cross-sectional baseline (2016-2018) data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (n = 10 755). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to estimate associations between sociodemographic factors (sex, race/ethnicity, country of birth, household income, parental education) and 6 contemporary forms of screen time (television, videos [eg, YouTube], video games, social networking, texting, and video chat). RESULTS: On average, children reported 3.99 hours of screen time per day across 6 modalities, with the most time spent watching/streaming television shows/movies (1.31 hours), playing video games (1.06 hours), and watching/streaming videos (1.05 hours). On average, Black children reported 1.58 more hours of screen time per day and Asian children reported 0.35 less hours of screen time per day compared with White children (mean 3.46 hours per day), and these trends persisted across most modalities. Boys reported higher overall screen time (0.75 hours more) than girls, which was primarily attributed to video games and videos. Girls reported more time texting, social networking, and video chatting than boys. Higher income was associated with lower screen time usage across all modalities except video chat. However, in high-income households, Latinx children reported 0.65 more hours of screen time per day than White children. CONCLUSIONS: Given the sociodemographic differences in child screen use, guideline implementation strategies can focus on key populations, encourage targeted counseling by pediatricians, and adapt Family Media Use Plans for diverse backgrounds.

From Parent to Child to Parent: Associations Between Parent and Offspring Psychopathology.

Parental psychopathology can affect child functioning, and vice versa. We examined bidirectional associations between parent and offspring psychopathology in 5,536 children and their parents. We asked three questions: (a) are parent-to-child associations stronger than child-to-parent associations? (b) are mother-to-child associations stronger than father-to-child associations? and (c) do within- and between-person effects contribute to bidirectional associations between parent and offspring psychopathology? Our findings suggest that only within-rater bidirectional associations of parent and offspring psychopathology can be consistently detected, with no difference between mothers and fathers. Child psychopathology was hardly associated with parental psychopathology. No evidence for cross-rater child-to-parent associations was found suggesting that the within-rater child-to-parent associations reflect shared method variance. Moreover, within-person change accounted for a part of the variance observed.

Playing with language, creating complexity: Has play contributed to the evolution of complex language?

We argue that enhanced play may have contributed to the emergence of complex language systems in modern humans (Homo sapiens). To support this idea, we first discuss evidence for an expansion of playing behavior connected to the extended childhood of modern human children, and the potential of this period for the transmission of complex cultural traits, including language. We then link two of the most important functions of play-exploration and innovation-to the potential for cumulative cultural evolution in general and for the emergence of complex language in particular. If correct, the shorter childhood of Neanderthals-involving restrictions on time to experiment and innovate-may have restricted their language (and other symbolic) system/s. Consequently, fully investigating the role that play may have had in the transmission of language and the development of symbolic cultures in both modern humans and Neanderthals provides a new avenue of research for Paleolithic archaeology and related disciplines.

Embracing Death: Mexican Parent and Child Perspectives on Death.

A mixed-method approach was used to explore parent and child perspectives on death in Mexico. Parents' and children's death-related experiences and understanding of death were examined. While all children in this sample displayed a biological understanding of death, older children were less likely to endorse that all living things die. Children also displayed coexistence of beliefs related to death that can be attributed to both their biological and spiritual understanding of death. We also found that older children were more likely to report that a child should feel sad following the death of a loved one. These findings highlight how cultural practices shape the development of cognitive and affective processes related to death.

Associations Between Perceived Material Deprivation, Parents' Discipline Practices, and Children's Behavior Problems: An International Perspective.

This study investigated the association between perceived material deprivation, children's behavior problems, and parents' disciplinary practices. The sample included 1,418 8- to 12-year-old children and their parents in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Multilevel mixed- and fixed-effects regression models found that, even when income remained stable, perceived material deprivation was associated with children's externalizing behavior problems and parents' psychological aggression. Parents' disciplinary practices mediated a small share of the association between perceived material deprivation and children's behavior problems. There were no differences in these associations between mothers and fathers or between high- and low- and middle-income countries. These results suggest that material deprivation likely influences children's outcomes at any income level.

Discrimination and Ethnic-Racial Socialization Among Youth Adopted From South Korea Into White American Families.

The current study examined how discrimination relates to adjustment outcomes in a sample of internationally, transracially adopted Korean Americans from the Minnesota Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (N = 456 adoptees; Mage at T1 = 14.9, Mage at T2 = 18.3, Mage at T3 = 22.3). The moderating roles of ethnic socialization and preparation for bias by parents (i.e., ethnic-racial socialization) were also examined. Results indicated that discrimination predicted higher levels of depressive and externalizing symptoms in youth who reported less preparation for bias. In those experiencing more preparation for bias, associations were not significantly different from zero. Ethnic socialization did not moderate these associations. Such findings provide important information for adoptive parents regarding how to prepare their children to cope with discrimination.

Cross-cultural variation in how much, but not whether, children overimitate.

Children from Western industrialized populations tend to copy actions modeled by an adult with high fidelity even if these actions are functionally irrelevant. This so-called overimitation has been argued to be an important driver of cumulative cultural learning. However, cross-cultural and developmental evidence on overimitation is controversial, likely due to diverging task demands regarding children's attention and memory capabilities. Here, children from a recent hunter-gatherer population (Hai||om in Namibia) were compared with urban Western children (Germany) using an overimitation procedure with minimal cognitive task demands. Although the proportion of children engaging in any overimitation was similar across the two populations, German overimitators copied irrelevant actions more persistently across tasks. These results suggest that the influence of culture on children's overimitation may be one of degree, not kind.

The development of social comparisons and sharing behavior across 12 countries.

Humans are social beings, and acts of prosocial behavior may be influenced by social comparisons. To study the development of prosociality and the impact of social comparisons on sharing, we conducted experiments with nearly 2500 children aged 3-12 years across 12 countries across five continents. Children participated in a dictator game where they had the opportunity to share up to 10 of their stickers with another anonymous child. Then, children were randomized to one of two treatments. In the "shared a little" treatment children were told that another child from their school had shared 1 sticker, whereas in the "shared a lot" treatment children were told that another child from their school had shared 6 stickers in the same game. There was a strong increase in baseline sharing with age in all countries and in both treatments. The "shared a lot" treatment had a positive treatment effect in increasing sharing overall, which varied across countries. However, cross-cultural comparisons did not yield expected significant differences between collectivist and individualist countries. Our results provide interesting evidence for the development of sharing behavior by age across the world and show that social information about the sharing of peers is important for children's decision making.

Relationship between diet and acculturation among South Asian children living in Canada.

INTRODUCTION: Diet and South Asian ethnicity are both associated with early onset of cardiovascular risk factors. Among youth of South Asian origin, little is known about the role of culture in determining healthy dietary patterns. We aimed to assess dietary patterns and their relationships with acculturation to Western and traditional lifestyles among South Asian youth in Canada. METHODS: The Research in Cardiovascular Health - Lifestyles, Environments and Genetic Attributes in Children and Youth (RICH LEGACY) study targeted South Asian children and adolescents aged 7-8 and 14-15 years in two Canadian cities. In this cross-sectional study, acculturation questionnaires and food frequency questionnaires were administered to assess the correlations between Western and traditional culture scores, immigration status (generation and length of residency) in Canada and intake frequency of various foods. RESULTS: Among 759 youth, those who ate fruits and vegetables more often consumed dairy and whole grains more often (all r = 0.17-0.22, all p < 0.001), while those who ate fast food more often consumed meat, sweets and sugared drinks more often (all r 0.24-0.38, all p < 0.001). Traditional culture scores were weakly positively correlated with whole grain intake frequency (r = 0.12, p = 0.001), and negatively with meat intake frequency (r = -0.14, p < 0.001). Western culture scores positively correlated with high intake frequency of meat (r = 0.23, p < 0.001), fast food (r = 0.14, p < 0.001) and sweets (r = 0.14, p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Children who are more acculturated with Western lifestyle consumed foods associated with increased metabolic risk. However, whether this eating pattern translates into increased risk of obesity and cardiovascular diseases needs to be further explored.

The relationship between fraternal birth order and childhood sex-atypical behavior among the Istmo Zapotec muxes.

Research on male androphilia (i.e., sexual attraction towards adult males) consistently finds that androphilic males tend to have more older biological brothers than males who are gynephilic (i.e., sexually attracted to adult females). This fraternal birth order effect (FBOE) has been well replicated among androphilic males who present publically in a male-typical (cisgender) and a female-typical (transgender) manner. There is some evidence that the FBOE is more pronounced among transgender androphilic males. However, no studies have directly compared both forms of male androphilia within the same culture. This study tested the FBOE, and its association with childhood sex-atypical behavior (CSAB), among the Istmo Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico, where both forms of male androphilia are referred to as a third gender, muxes. Our results indicated that both cisgender muxe nguiiu (n = 124) and transgender muxe gunaa (n = 120) were more likely to be later born among brothers than gynephilic men (n = 194). However, the number of older brothers did not differentiate between transgender and cisgender muxes, nor did it predict CSAB among muxes. These findings replicate the FBOE among both cisgender and transgender muxes but show no evidence that it is more pronounced among transgender androphilic males.

Play in Mexican-American mothers and toddlers is frequent, multimodal, and rich in symbolic content.

Play offers rich opportunities for toddlers to develop motor, social, cognitive, and language skills, particularly during interactions with adult caregivers who may scaffold toddlers to higher levels of play than toddlers achieve on their own. However, research on play has narrowly focused on children from White, middle-income backgrounds, leaving a dearth of knowledge about dyadic play in diverse cultural communities. We videorecorded 222 Mexican-American mothers playing with their 2-year-old toddlers with a standard set of toys. Play behaviors were coded as nonsymbolic or symbolic (play type) and as expressed through manual, verbal, or multiple channels (play modality). Play between toddlers and mothers was frequent, high in symbolic content, and toddler play closely corresponded with mother play in type and modality: Toddlers' nonsymbolic play related to mothers' nonsymbolic play; toddlers' symbolic play related to mothers' symbolic play; toddlers' manual play related to mothers' manual play; and toddlers' multimodal play related to mothers' multimodal play. Play in Mexican-American mothers and toddlers is frequent, multimodal, and symbolically rich, offering new directions for future research and practice.

Grandmothers' Developmental Expectations for Early Childhood in Botswana.

Urban and rural grandmothers (n = 20) in Botswana participated in focus groups to learn their expectations for the acquisition of skills by preschool children. Their expectations for self-care, traditional politeness, and participation in household chores were dramatically earlier than developmental timetables reported for Western middle-class populations. There are some differences, however, in the urban and rural grandmothers' expectations. Rural grandmothers had earlier expectations for self-care skills and participation in household chores, and they had more specific expectations for mastering Setswana cultural customs. In addition, some urban grandmothers, who were generally more educated, described using more reciprocal communication, and they believed in playing with their grandchildren, whereas the rural grandmothers' communication was more instructional, and they insisted that children should play away from adults. Strikingly, there was no mention of school readiness goals or activities by either group, suggesting a "cultural misfit" between the standard early childhood curriculum, largely imported from the United States and other Western countries, and the cultural backgrounds of Batswana families. To create a more workable partnership between preschool teachers and grandparents-important caretakers of young children, both traditionally and currently-will require efforts to acknowledge and promote the values and expectations of both groups.

Adultification of Black Children in Pediatric Anesthesia.

BACKGROUND: Unconscious racial bias in anesthesia care has been shown to exist. We hypothesized that black children may undergo inhalation induction less often, receive less support from child life, have fewer opportunities to have a family member present for induction, and receive premedication with oral midazolam less often. METHODS: We retrospectively collected data on those <18 years of age from January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2018 including age, sex, race, height, weight, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status, surgical service, and deidentified anesthesiology attending physician. Outcome data included mask versus intravenous induction, midazolam premedication, child life consultation, and family member presence. Racial differences between all outcomes were assessed in the cohort using a multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS: A total of 33,717 Caucasian and 3901 black children were eligible for the study. For the primary outcome, black children 10-14 years were 1.3 times more likely than Caucasian children to receive mask induction (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-1.6; P = .001). Child life consultation was poorly documented (<0.5%) and not analyzed. Black children <15 years of age were at least 31% less likely than Caucasians to have a family member present for induction (AOR range, 0.4-0.6; 95% CI range, 0.31-0.84; P < .010). Black children <5 years of age were 13% less likely than Caucasians to have midazolam given preoperatively (AOR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.8-0.9; P = .012). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that disparities in strategies for mitigating anxiety in the peri-induction period exist and adultification may be 1 cause for this bias. Black children 10 to 14 years of age are 1.3 times as likely as their Caucasian peers to be offered inhalation induction to reduce anxiety. However, black children are less likely to receive premedication with midazolam in the perioperative period or to have family members present at induction. The cause of this difference is unclear, and further prospective studies are needed to fully understand this difference.

Young Children From Three Diverse Cultures Spontaneously and Consistently Prepare for Alternative Future Possibilities.

This study examined future-oriented behavior in children (3-6 years; N = 193) from three diverse societies-one industrialized Western city and two small, geographically isolated communities. Children had the opportunity to prepare for two alternative versions of an immediate future event over six trials. Some 3-year-olds from all cultures demonstrated competence, and a majority of the oldest children from each culture prepared for both future possibilities on every trial. Although there were some cultural differences in the youngest age groups that approached ceiling performance, the overall results indicate that children across these communities become able to prepare for alternative futures during early childhood. This acquisition period is therefore not contingent on Western upbringing, and may instead indicate normal cognitive maturation.

Do Varieties of Spanish Influence U.S. Spanish-English Bilingual Children's Friendship Judgments?

Latinos are the largest minority group in the United States (U.S. Census, 2014), yet this term comprises individuals from multiple ethnicities who speak distinct varieties of Spanish. We investigated whether Spanish-English bilingual children (N = 140, ages 4-17) use Spanish varieties in their social judgments. The findings revealed that children distinguished varieties of Spanish but did not use Spanish dialects to make third-person friendship judgments until 10-12 years; this effect became stronger in adolescence. In contrast, young children (4-6 years) made friendship judgments based on a speaker's language (English, Spanish). Thus, using language varieties as a social category and as a basis for making social inferences is a complex result of multiple influences for Spanish-speaking children growing up bilingual in the United States.

Developmental Precursors of Relational Aggression From Late Childhood Through Adolescence.

Relational aggression-a psychological form of aggression-has numerous negative consequences for physical and emotional health. However, little is known about the risk factors that lead youth to engage in relational aggression. Using multimethod data from a longitudinal research of 674 Mexican-origin youth, this study examined the influence of parents, siblings, and peers on the development of relational aggression. Increases in relational aggression from age 10 to 16 were associated with: (a) low levels of parental monitoring and (b) increased association with deviant peers and siblings. These results held across gender and nativity status. The findings suggest that multiple socialization agents contribute to the development of relational aggression. We discuss the practical implications for reducing relational aggression during adolescence.

Everyday life situations in which mothers experience difficulty stimulating healthy energy balance-related behavior in their school-age children: a focus group study.

BACKGROUND: Parental support is an important element in overweight prevention programs for children. The purpose of this study was to examine everyday life situations in which mothers encounter difficulties encouraging healthy energy balance-related behavior in their school-age children. METHODS: We formed four focus groups containing 6-9 participants each. The participants were mothers of Dutch, Turkish, or Moroccan descent with a child 8-13 years of age. All focus group sessions were recorded, transcribed, and coded. Content was analyzed conventionally using ATLAS.ti 6. RESULTS: Twenty-seven difficult everyday life situations were identified in 14 settings. The five most frequently reported situations were a daily struggle regarding eating vegetables, eating breakfast on time before going to school, eating candy and snacks between meals, and spending excessive time watching television and using the computer. A perceived loss of parental control, the inability to establish rules and the failure to consistently enforce those rules were the most commonly cited reasons for why the mothers experience these situations as being difficult. CONCLUSIONS: We identified five difficult everyday life situations related to healthy energy balance-related behavior. These five difficult situations were used as the input for developing a web-based parenting program designed to prevent children from becoming overweight. We reasoned that if we use these situations and the underlying reasons, many parents would recognize these situations and are willing to learn how to deal with them and complete the e-learning.

Child Temperament, Maternal Feeding Practices, and Parenting Styles and Their Influence on Obesogenic Behaviors in Hispanic Preschool Children.

Although obesogenic behaviors (physical activity and/or sedentary behavior and dietary intake) are known predictors of childhood weight status, little is known about mother and child behaviors contributing to obesogenic behaviors and obesity in Hispanic preschool children, whose obesity rate is higher than in non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks. The purpose of this cross-sectional, descriptive study was to examine relationships among child temperament, maternal behaviors (feeding practices and parenting style), child obesogenic behaviors, and child weight status in 100 Hispanic preschool children. Results showed that higher scores on the negative affectivity dimension of child temperament were associated with higher scores on the dimension of permissive parenting, and permissive parenting was associated with less time spent in sedentary behaviors (B = -3.53, confidence interval [-7.52, -0.90]). Findings can guide school nurses in developing interventions that consider child temperament and parenting style to promote nonobesogenic behavior in Hispanic preschoolers.