Empathy is an essential building block for successful interpersonal relationships. Atypical empathic development is implicated in a range of developmental psychopathologies. However, assessment of empathy in children is constrained by a lack of suitable measurement instruments. This article outlines the development of the Kids' Empathic…

Behavioral and emotional strengths are important to consider when understanding youth mental health and treatment. This study examined the association between youth strengths and functional impairment and whether this association is modified by race/ethnicity. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to estimate the effects of strengths on…

An experimental task with accompanying apparatus was developed for use in the study of developmental and cultural differences in the cooperative-competitive behavior of children in a small Mexican town and in California. Two groups of 20 Mexican children (aged 7-8 and 10-11), from an elementary school in a town in Baja, California, Mexico, were…

Developmental differences in behavior and self-perception were examined in 44 children suspected of having been sexually abused and 41 comparison children. Results suggest that subjects' self-perception varied by their developmental level, and that some preschool children responded to abuse with elevated perceptions of themselves. No group…

Decribes age trends in television viewing time and visual attention of children and adults videotaped in their homes for 10-day periods. Shows that the increase in visual attention to television during the preschool years is consistent with the theory that television program comprehensibility is a major determinant of attention in young children.…

It was hypothesized that children in age-heterogeneous kindergartens would be more prone to behave altruistically than would children in age-homogeneous kindergartens. It was found that children who were studying in heterogeneous classes were more altruistic than were children from homogeneous classes. (Author)

Investigates the extent to which sex stereotypes impose competence (e.g., not knowing about objects) versus performance limitations (e.g., not performing for lack of reward) and the effects of sex stereotypes on exploration among 56 4- to 9-year-old children. (HOD)

Age trends in conformity and independence, using a sample of 366 children from the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th grades were investigated. Three types of stimuli were used: (1) visual judgments; (2) opinion statements; and (3) delay of gratification preferences. Age-trends were observed for unanimous peer pressure, adult influence, and peer pressure…

This special issue of the "Courrier," a journal for professionals concerned with issues related to the physical and psychological development of children, provides (1) an overview of 25 years of internationally coordinated research, (2) a selection of papers published by the research teams, and (3) a description of the teams and their…