Entry into school represents as much a challenge for children as it does for their parents. The authors examined the ways in which transition practices help children and their families feel prepared for school entry, as measured by the child's emotional adaptation during the first days in class and the family's sense of being prepared for this…

Background: Having breakfast is correlated with health and academic benefits; yet, many children do not consume breakfast, and participation in the federal School Breakfast Program remains low. The purpose of this study was to examine parent perceptions of school breakfast and identify relationships between those who consume breakfast at school…

Two independent studies were conducted to examine the relationship of problem solving styles to parenting styles. Both studies used VIEW: An Assessment of Problem Solving Style and the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ). Study 1 included 173 adults recruited using Mechanical Turk and Study 2 included 131 adults recruited using Qualtrics. Data…

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the correlates of child behavior change over time in a replication of the KEEP intervention. Method: The study sample was drawn from the treatment group of the Maryland replication of KEEP (n=65). Change over time was analyzed using multilevel linear mixed modeling. Results: Parents' use of…

Over the past three decades, the United States has experienced a significant increase in the use of security measures in public and private secondary schools. Measures including police officers, metal detectors, and security cameras are becoming more common in the hallways of American schools. Following this surge, a number of academics have…

Children develop linguistic competencies during interactions with more knowledgeable others. Consequently, one way to support this development is by enhancing the home literacy environment (HLE) in which children live. In this study a non-intensive intervention procedure was developed to improve HLE and linguistic competencies of 125 German…

This study explored unique constructs of fantasy orientation and whether there are developmental benefits for fantasy-oriented children. By age 3, children begin developing executive functions, with some children exhibiting high fantasy orientation in their cognitions and behaviors. Preschoolers ("n" = 106) completed fantasy orientation…

The present study examined the extent to which preschool classroom supports--relational support (RS) and instructional support (IS)--are associated with children's language development and whether these associations vary as a function of children's language ability. The language skills of 360 children within 95 classrooms were assessed using an…

Background: Parents' behaviors, practices, beliefs, and attitudes greatly influence children's active play behavior; however, little research has examined these parental influences on preschool children's sedentary behavior (SB). Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between parental influences on preschool SB. Methods:…

The current study examined interactions among genetic influences and children's early environments on the development of externalizing behaviors from 18 months to 6 years of age. Participants included 233 families linked through adoption (birth parents and adoptive families). Genetic influences were assessed by birth parent temperamental…

Family educational involvement is consistently and positively associated with child achievement, but little work has closely examined the involvement practices of families of color, particularly immigrant families. Utilizing data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort 1998-99 (ECLS-K), this study used Hierarchical Linear…

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which participation in a county-wide prevention program leads to improvements in protective factors associated with child abuse prevention (CAP) and whether improvements in measured protective factors relate to decreased odds of child abuse. Method: Using multilevel growth modeling,…

Background: Chronotype refers to individuals' preference for morning or evening activities. Its two dimensions (morningness and eveningness) are related to a number of academic outcomes. Aims: The main goal of the study was to investigate the incremental validity of chronotype as a predictor of academic achievement after controlling for a number…