Little is known about the development of procrastination, the tendency to postpone undesirable but necessary tasks, during early childhood. Only one study has measured procrastination behavior in preschool children using a single behavioral task (Sutter et al., 2018). Thus, the present study investigated the emergence and development of everyday…

Animal fears are common, emerging in early childhood and often continuing into adulthood. This study explores the outcomes of positive and negative storybooks about animals on children's attitudes and behaviors. Ninety-six children (ages 4-8 years) were exposed to either negative or positive information about two animals (snakes and frogs) via…

There is increasing evidence that zoos and aquariums do, as intended, educate their visitors. However, even though most zoos offer a wide array of educational experiences, few studies have considered if the duration of an educational experience affects learning or whether learning lasts beyond the immediate visit. The current study used…

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented families around the world with extraordinary challenges related to physical and mental health, economic security, social support, and education. The current study capitalizes on a longitudinal, cross-national study of parenting, adolescent development, and young adult competence to document the association…

One of the deficits observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is impaired imaginative play. One form of imaginative play common in many typically developing (TD) children is having an imaginary companion (IC). The occurrence of ICs has not been investigated extensively in children with ASD. We examined differences in parent report of IC between…

Research Findings: The study explored everyday parenting behaviors and their relations to parents' involvement in their children's digital activities during the COVID-19 lockdown, among Israeli Jewish and Arab parents of young children. We studied parents' behaviors through the prism of the Parenting Pentagon Model (PPM), which integrates five…

Purpose: A number of studies with large sample sizes have reported lower prevalence of stuttering in children with significant hearing loss compared to children without hearing loss. This study used a parent questionnaire to investigate the characteristics of stuttering (e.g., incidence, prevalence, and age of onset) in children who are hard of…

Understanding factors that influence mothers' beliefs about appropriate levels of supervision for their children may assist in efforts to reduce child injury rates. This study examined the interaction of child (i.e. age, gender, and injury risk behavior) and maternal perception of environmental hazard (i.e. hazard level, injury likelihood,…

Children base trait inferences about people on direct observations of behavior. In some situations, these inferences might conflict with information supplied by others. This study examined 3- to 6-year-olds' willingness to change their own trait attributions about an actor after receiving a consistent or inconsistent trait label from an authority…

Early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) practitioners participating in the Child Outcomes Summary (COS) process must understand age-expected development, the ages at which children typically acquire different skills. This resource provides answers to commonly asked questions about age anchoring as it applies to the COS…

Teacher-child relationships in early childhood are a crucial prerequisite for children's emotional, social and academic development. Therefore, it is important to be able to measure accurately the quality of interactions among them. The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is a widely accepted instrument in measuring the quality of…

Research shows that school environment impacts significantly on students' mental health, future aspirations and feelings of school connectedness, which in turn can improve academic outcomes. The UK has seen rising numbers of academy schools in recent years which have been scrutinised for academic performance but overlooked in terms of important…

Cyber victimization is a contemporary problem facing youth and adolescents (Diamanduros, Downs, & Jenkins, 2008; Kowalski & Limber, 2007). It is imperative for researchers and school personnel to understand the associations between cyber victimization and student social-emotional outcomes. This article explores (a) gender differences in…

Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have mealtime problems. Diagnosis and the social environment may influence eating behaviours. We examined whether children with ASD have more mealtime problems than their typically developing siblings, and whether age and sex are associated with mealtime problems. Forty-eight families participated…

Research shows that Looked After Children (LAC) may experience emotional instability which can reduce their capacity to engage with education. This study evaluates an attachment based therapeutic Theraplay® intervention designed to bridge the gap between the emotional well-being of LAC and their engagement in education. Twenty LAC between the ages…