There is good evidence for an association between poor reading and anxiety, but the mechanisms responsible for this association are currently unknown. In this study, we used structural equation modeling of four large longitudinal databases from the United Kingdom (n = 7,870), the United States (ns = 8,001 and 7,160), and Australia (n = 768) to…

The purpose of this study was to estimate the longitudinal and reciprocal predictive relations between children's social skills, measured by an adaptation of the frequently used Social Skills Rating Scale, and their standardized academic achievement. A large nationally representative sample of elementary school students were assessed at least…

Conceptualizing both economic well-being (EWB) and children's development as multidimensional constructs, the present study examines their association using bioecological developmental theory and structural equation modeling with Zulu children (ages 7-10) in KwaZulu-Natal, a highly impoverished region of South Africa (N = 1,958). Relative EWB…

A close relationship between children's vocabulary size and the grammatical complexity of their speech is well attested but not well understood. The present study used latent change score modeling to examine the dynamic relationships between vocabulary and grammar growth within and across languages in longitudinal data from 90 simultaneous…

Bayesian structural equation modeling (BSEM) was used to investigate the latent structure of the Differential Ability Scales-Second Edition core battery using the standardization sample normative data for ages 7-17. Results revealed plausibility of a three-factor model, consistent with publisher theory, expressed as either a higher-order (HO) or a…

Social anxiety is a common mental disorder with an average age of onset in early adolescence. Current theories focus largely on risk factors that are present from early in life, but reasons for onset of the disorder as youth move into adolescence are rarely discussed. We recently proposed a model of the onset of certain mental disorders during the…

Mathematical giftedness (MG) is an intriguing phenomenon, the nature of which has yet to be sufficiently explored. This study goes a step further in understanding how MG is related to expertise in mathematics (EM) and general giftedness (G). Cognitive testing was conducted among 197 high school students with different levels of G and of EM. Based…

Listening comprehension is important for daily communication and at school, yet relatively little is known about the variables contributing to listening comprehension, especially in the upper elementary years. The aim of this study was to explore whether vocabulary, verbal memory, but also self-efficacy and self-reported concentration contribute…

Background: Parental school involvement is associated with social, psychological, and academic child outcomes. Beyond school, demographic, and individual influences, research on the relationship between family level processes and parental school involvement is limited. Coparenting is a unique family level relationship that influences parental…

Parents of children with disabilities are at risk for high stress and low marital quality; therefore, this study surveyed couples (n = 112) of children with Down syndrome (n = 120), assessing whether respite hours, stress, and uplifts were related to marital quality. Structural equation modeling indicated that respite hours were negatively related…

In this study whether the expectancy belief has a mediating role in the correlation between cost value perception and task value perception of gifted students towards mathematics was examined. It is predicted that the correlation between cost value and task value perceptions of gifted students towards mathematics can change according to their…

Semantic word representation changes over different ages of childhood until it reaches its adult form. One method to formally model this change is the word maturity paradigm. This method uses a text sample for each age, including adult age, and transforms the samples into a semantic space by means of Latent Semantic Analysis. The representation of…

We used structural equation modeling in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten Cohort (N = 17,020) to explore the influence of having an older sibling on kindergarten-age focal children's cognitive self-regulation. In model 1, we tested how having a sibling who is generally older than the focal child contributes to the focal child's…

The vast majority of studies on theory of mind (ToM) have focused on the preschool years. Extending the developmental scope of ToM research presents opportunities to both reassess theoretical accounts of ToM and test its predictive utility. The twin aims of this longitudinal study were to examine developmental relations between ToM, executive…

Background: The theoretical framework of the current study is based on mediated learning experience (MLE) theory, which is similar to the scaffolding concept. The main question of the current study was to what extent mother-child MLE strategies affect psychological resilience and cognitive modifiability of boys with learning disability (LD).…