Objective: Executive Function (EF) is thought to be a core component of various cognitive processes. Two common ways to measure EF are through report-based measures that assess EF by collecting informant(s) reports on children's behaviors, and performance-based measures that assess EF through the completion of a task related to EF dimension(s).…

Using piecewise growth curve trajectory modeling, we investigated kindergartners' physiological responses to receiving critical feedback from an adult during a laboratory drawing task. Further, we tested how children's independent self-regulated behavior, as well as the quality of parent-child co-regulation, related to physiological reactivity to…

Self-regulation in early childhood is an important predictor of success across a variety of indicators in life, including health, well-being, and earnings. Although conceptually self-regulation has been defined as multifaceted, previous research has not investigated whether there is conceptual and empirical overlap between the factors that…

Audio-visual recording and location tracking produce enormous quantities of digital data with which researchers can document children's everyday interactions in naturalistic settings and assessment contexts. Machine learning and other computational approaches can produce replicable, automated measurements of these big behavioral data. The…

Parent-child coregulation, thought to support children's burgeoning regulatory capacities, is the process by which parents and their children regulate one another through their goal-oriented behavior and expressed affect. Two particular coregulation patterns--dyadic contingency and dyadic flexibility--appear beneficial in early childhood, but…

Parental depressive symptoms are associated with greater variability and inconsistency in parenting behavior as well as children's emotional and behavioral dysregulation. The present study whether such relations extended to dyadic processes, examining whether maternal and paternal depressive symptoms at child age 3 ½ interacted with concurrent…

Viewed through a social justice lens, preschool expulsion is an educational equity issue. This study focused on prior expulsion from preschool and child-care in a longitudinal study of 203 autistic children, ages 4 to 7. By parent report, 16%--one out of six autistic children--had been expelled from a preschool or child-care setting prior to…

Research Findings: The current study examined whether collective small-group behavioral engagement and teacher behavior management during small-group instruction predicted print knowledge, phonological awareness, letter writing, and expressive vocabulary gains for preschoolers at-risk for literacy difficulties. This study, part of a larger…

Establishing causal links when experiments are not feasible is an important challenge for psychology researchers. The question of whether parents' spanking causes children's externalizing behavior problems poses such a challenge because randomized experiments of spanking are unethical, and correlational studies cannot rule out potential selection…

Research Findings: This study examined the relation between classroom behavioral composition and teacher-child interactions in preschool classrooms and the potential for teachers' experience, education level, and area of study to buffer against the challenges of teaching in classrooms with high levels of disruptive behaviors. Classroom behavioral…

Despite the high prevalence of and documented impairment associated with pediatric anxiety disorders, less than half of youth access mental health services. This study examined: (1) the utilization of eight school services and supports (e.g., seen a school counselor for a mental health reason, placement in a special class for a behavior or…

Increasingly, "children of incarcerated parents" is becoming the label to describe a growing number of children with a history of parental incarceration. However, while these children and families frequently experience a variety of challenges, the web of interacting influences they face is complex. This variation makes it difficult to…

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of multiple types of sleep problems in young adolescents with ADHD. Method: 262 adolescents comprehensively diagnosed with ADHD and their caregivers completed well-validated measures of sleep problems and daytime sleepiness. Participants also completed measures related…

The majority of early education programs promote children's learning through a mix of experiences in child- and teacher-managed contexts. The current study examined time spent in child- and teacher-managed contexts and the nature of children's experiences with teachers in these contexts as they relate to children's skill development. Participants…