Developmental science has increasingly scrutinized how environmental hazards influence child outcomes, but few studies examine how contaminants affect disparities in early skill formation. Linking research on environmental inequality and early childhood development, this study assessed whether differences in exposure to neurotoxic lead explain…

Nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 (n = 14,370) were used to examine the grade-level and cumulative outcomes of school absenteeism between kindergarten and fifth grade for students' school performance in the United States. Students who were more frequently absent in any year of…

This meta-analysis reviewed 82 school-based, universal social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions involving 97,406 kindergarten to high school students (M[subscript age] = 11.09 years; mean percent low socioeconomic status = 41.1; mean percent students of color = 45.9). Thirty-eight interventions took place outside the United States.…

The impact of social group information on the learning and socializing preferences of Hong Kong Chinese children were examined. Specifically, the degree to which variability in racial out-group exposure affects children's use of race to make decisions about unfamiliar individuals (Chinese, White, Southeast Asian) was investigated. Participants…

This study examined factors that predicted children's gender intergroup attitudes at age 5 and the implications of these attitudes for intergroup behavior. Ethnically diverse children from low-income backgrounds (N = 246; Mexican-, Chinese-, Dominican-, and African American) were assessed at ages 4 and 5. On average, children reported positive…

Five- to 13-year-old European American children ("N" = 76) predicted characters' decisions, emotions, and obligations in prosocial moral dilemmas. Across age, children judged that characters would feel more positive emotions helping an unfamiliar child from the racial in-group versus out-group (African American), happier ignoring the…

This study assessed whether previous findings linking early maternal employment to lower cognitive and behavioral skills among middle-class and White children generalized to other groups. Using a representative sample of urban, low-income, predominantly African American and Hispanic families ("n" = 444), ordinary least squares regression…

Coparenting is associated with child behavior in families with heterosexual parents, but less is known about coparenting among lesbian- and gay-parent families. Associations were studied among self-reported divisions of labor, coparenting observations, and child adjustment ("M[subscript age]" = 3 years) among 104 adoptive families headed…

In the United States, racial-ethnic differences on tests of school readiness and academic achievement continue. A complete understanding of the origins of racial-ethnic achievement gaps is still lacking. This article describes social equity theory (SET), which proposes that racial-ethnic achievement gaps originate from two kinds of social process,…

This study investigates the link between the frequency of family breakfasts and dinners and child academic and behavioral outcomes in a panel sample of 21,400 children aged 5-15. It complements previous work by examining younger and older children separately and by using information on a large number of controls and rigorous analytic methods to…

Examined the relationship of newborns' 1-minute Apgar scores to their 8-month Bayley mental and motor scores and to 8-month classifications of their development as normal, suspect, or abnormal. Also investigated relationships between Apgar scores and race, longevity, and birth weight. (JMB)

Examined factor structure of the emotional Autonomy Scale (EAS) in 3 samples of adolescents, with each sample consisting of 3 racial/ethnic groups. Found that the EAS exhibited poor construct validity and behaved quite differently for different grade and ethnic groups. Suggested that the most credible solution may be to reexamine the conceptual…

From original data at age 13 years on 386 North American females, statistics are presented for 10 somatic variables. Findings are compared with those of other studies. (Author/SB)

Differences in language proficiency between social classes and races were studied to determine the effect of familiarity of the testing situation. Results showed no natural setting language differences. (ST)

This study examined how family structure affected children's delinquency and math test scores, parenting practices as a mediator, and racial differences in these effects. Findings indicated that single parenthood related to reduced well-being among European American children, but not African American children. Cohabitation related to greater…