Fear of darkness is prevalent in childhood, yet how children explain it remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate how preschoolers make sense of fear of darkness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted through Zoom with 4- to 5-year-old Russian children (n = 31; 13 girls). Reflexive thematic analysis revealed that…

This research with two studies examined whether young children's moral judgments of honesty and dishonesty predict their actual cheating behavior. Participants were 200 children aged 3-6 years (2021-2022. Study 1: N = 80, M[subscript age] = 4.96, 40 girls; Study 2: N = 120, M[subscript age] = 4.98, 60 girls; all middle-class Han Chinese). Children…

Disparities in socioeconomic status (SES) may affect individuals' risk preferences, which have important developmental consequences across the lifespan. Yet, previous research has shown inconsistent associations between SES and risky decision-making, and little is known about how this link develops from a young age. The current research is among…

The aim of this study was to examine gender stereotyping by pre-school children in selecting a picture book cover and assigning gender to animal characters in illustrations. We aimed to explore which gender children would assign to bear characters, when these are portrayed in different more or less gender stereotyped activities, occupations or…

Delay discounting tasks measure the relation between reinforcer delay and efficacy. The present study established the association between delay discounting and classroom behavior and introduced a brief measure quantifying sensitivity to reward delays for school-aged children. Study 1 reanalyzed data collected by Reed and Martens (J Appl Behav Anal…

This research explores how decision-making autonomy and social distance impact young children's sharing behaviour. In Study 1, findings from 159 Chinese children (total N = 159, 72 boys, aged 3-6 years) revealed that children aged 5-6 exhibited significantly more sharing behaviours in the controlled condition, however 3-4 years-olds showed no…

Technology use has been identified as a key contributor to the decrease in youth mental health (Children's Bureau, 2019; Lebrun-Harris et al., 2022; Dwyer, 2022; Mojtabai et al., 2016; Yasakci, 2019; Odgers & Jensen, 2020). The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to investigate how school district administrators are…

This study investigated the use of playgroups as a play-based intervention for Early Intervention aged children with developmental delays. Children currently enrolled in Early Intervention National, across New York State, and locally are being provided with fewer services than in prior years due to provider shortages. Children from diverse…

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is an early-appearing temperamental trait characterized by intense negative affect and withdrawal behaviors to novel and challenging situations. Inhibited children are more likely to display social withdrawal and experience an increased risk for internalizing problems. Trait inference, the way children interpret…