Girls, more than boys, experience a decrease in the severity of autism symptoms during childhood. It is unclear, however, which specific autistic behaviors change more for girls than for boys. Trajectories of autism symptoms were evaluated using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-calibrated severity scores (ADOS-CSS). Change in the…

Purpose: Conversational entrainment is the tendency for individuals to modify their behavior to more closely converge with the behavior of their communication partner and is an important aspect of successful interaction. Evidence of entrainment in adults is robust, yet research regarding its development in children is sparse. Here, we investigate…

A number of training interventions have been designed to improve executive functions and inhibitory control (IC) across the lifespan. Surprisingly, no study has investigated the structural neuroplasticity induced by IC training from childhood to late adolescence, a developmental period characterized by IC efficiency improvement and protracted…

Background: Swallowing difficulties are common and complex in children with physical, behavioural, and cognitive needs. This study (i) describes mealtime management and (ii) identifies barriers and facilitators to implementation of a guideline for school-aged children with feeding difficulties in one specialist school. Method: Three data sets were…

Background: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented preventive measures towards reducing infections. These conditions can affect the mental health of children and adolescents; however, this has not yet been fully explored. Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze changes in symptomatology and positive emotions in…

Previous research has found that when children engage in social and moral transgressions, they take steps to either remedy or explain their behavior. However, no prior systematic investigation has examined the strategies children employ to 'correct' their behavior in future situations. The present study employed a domain theory lens to investigate…

The present meta-analysis integrates research from 1,435 studies on associations of parenting dimensions and styles with externalizing symptoms in children and adolescents. Parental warmth, behavioral control, autonomy granting, and an authoritative parenting style showed very small to small negative concurrent and longitudinal associations with…

The current study examined the development of bullying and defending over a 1-year period as related to friends' influence and individual and friends' moral disengagement (i.e., self-justification mechanisms that allow one to avoid moral self-censure of transgressive actions) in children and young adolescents. Via longitudinal social network…

High rates of behavior and emotional problems have been consistently reported in children and adolescents with autism. Elevated rates of mental health problems have also been reported in adults with autism. Little is known, however, about the longitudinal development of behavior and emotional problems in autism. This study followed a cohort of…

Objectives: Successful childhood obesity intervention models that build sustainable behavioral change are needed, particularly in low-income, ethnic minority communities disparately affected by this problem. Method: Families were referred to Taking Steps Together (TST) by their primary care provider if at least one child had a body mass index…

In the first study, observation and labeling behavior were investigated in 5-, 8-, 11-year-olds, and adults. Subjects were asked to find differences in stimuli. In the second study, an attempt was made to determine whether children can learn to adapt their attention to tasks requiring exhaustive or selective observation and to transfer such…

This study was conducted in order to assess the link between exposure to television advertising for snack foods and children's actual snack choices. One hundred and forty 5-to 8-year-old low income children attending summer camp were randomly divided into two experimental groups each of which contained equal numbers of younger and older children.…

Examined the relationship between child psychopathology, age, and adjustment to environmental changes resulting from divorce, in 79 children who completed change measures and a behavior checklist. Identified types of changes, changes in parent-child relationships, and increased demands on the custodial parent as processes leading to…

This study examined developmental changes in concept formation, rule switching, and perseverative behaviors of children in the WCST by altering visual features of the test and using a new test score--the "zigzag" error score--which shows the number of shifts made between two incorrect concepts or rules. Instead of the original four 3-dimensional…

Fifth-grade and kindergarten boys and girls were exposed to a violent televised episode introduced as a fictional portrayal or as a news broadcast or were not exposed to the violent episode. Aggressive reponses and helping responses were recorded immediately following exposure. Results revealed girls were less aggressive in the no-TV and reality…