Research Findings: Empathy plays an important role in children's early social-emotional development. However, there are not many instruments available for measuring the different aspects/levels of empathy in preschool children. Moreover, few studies examined the validity of the existing measures for empathy in Chinese children. The present study…

This study examined longitudinal associations between parental psychological distress (stress and depression) when the child was 2 to 4 years and a child's emotional and behavioural problems at ages 3 to 4, and social functioning (loneliness and social competence) at age 11 in very preterm born children. The participants were Finnish families of…

The purpose of the study was to explore whether gender or ethnicity moderated the links between language skills and teacher ratings of problem behaviour and between language and social skills in 386 English-speaking Hispanic and European American preschool children from low-income families. The "Preschool Language Scale-4" was…

The moment a child walks into a new classroom, teachers and classmates form an impression based on minimal information. Yet, little is known about the accuracy of such impressions when it concerns children's social functioning at school. The current study examined the accuracy of children's, teachers' and adults' impressions of 18 unacquainted…

Poorer language ability has been shown to predict the development of externalizing behavior problems such as aggression and conduct problems. However, the developmental process that links poorer language ability to externalizing problems is unclear. The present study examined (a) whether within-child changes in language ability predict…

At all ages, a child who can sustain attention, regulate emotions, inhibit impulsive behaviour, and relate appropriately to adults and peers is able to take advantage of learning opportunities in the classroom, and beyond. This study assesses differences in children's socio-emotional development according to family background, and whether early…

Research Findings: A successful transition from preschool to elementary school requires a high level of behavioral adaptation. The aim of our study was to analyze child-related factors in preschool that facilitate a positive behavioral adaptation in the transitional period to elementary school. A cluster analysis was conducted with the data from…

The study investigates child social competence a three different measurement levels (overall level, factor level, and item level), in a sample of parents and children participating in interventions towards emerging or present child problem behaviours. Parents of 550 children aged 3-12 (71% boys) evaluated social competence using the Home and…

Purpose: Early language difficulties are associated with later internalizing problems across different ages and for different aspects of language. The mechanisms behind this association are, however, less understood. In the current study, we investigated longitudinal associations between language difficulties at 5 years and internalizing problems…

Continuity of pre-k and kindergarten classroom experiences is a key area of interest for early childhood researchers interested in supporting public pre-k children's development over time. To advance the empirical evidence on this topic, this study examined whether differences in classroom experiences as children transition from pre-k to…

We assessed the psychometric properties of the Social Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ), a 30-item questionnaire evaluating social (e.g., disruptive behaviors, bullying) and emotional problems (e.g., anxiety, depression) among children aged 3.5-12 years. Children (n = 1,950, 50.21% boys) were drawn from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child…

We examined the relations between language skills and behavior problems and whether social skills mediated these relations among preschool children enrolled in Head Start programs. Participants included 242 preschool children and their parents in Head Start programs. Over a 2-year period, parents and teachers reported children's behavior problems…

Social anhedonia, a tendency toward experiencing social stimuli as less positive or pleasurable, is associated with maladaptive personality traits, poor interpersonal functioning, and psychopathology, and is typically elevated in males compared with females. However, the correlates of social anhedonia in youth have not been well defined. In this…

This study examined whether the mechanism linking changes in Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' depressive symptoms to children's subsequent self-regulation and academic readiness was via their emotion scaffolding when their children were 2, 3, 4, and 5 years of age. Data included home interviews with adolescent mothers (N = 204), observations of…

We examined representations of attachment security using story stem narratives (Manchester Attachment Story Task, MCAST) and a family drawing task in 50 Greek children between 4 and 6 years old. Additionally, we examined the association between attachment classification based on the family drawing task and maternal reports of social and emotional…