"Research Findings:" This study examined the engagement of 494 preschool children in Sweden (M = 53.44 months, SD = 10.64) using both teacher questionnaires to measure global engagement (trait) and observations to measure momentary engagement (state). Using a person-oriented approach with cluster analysis, we identified five distinct…

Research Findings: Emotion knowledge is one facet of social and emotional learning (SEL) that emerges in early childhood. Various interventions and measures target preschoolers' emotional skills to bolster these foundational competencies prior to formal schooling. One measure of emotion knowledge specifically with preschool children is the Affect…

We examined the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) compared to a social-emotional empathy-based intervention (EBI), and a passive control group in promoting compassion among Jewish-Israeli kindergartners. Three middle-class public kindergartens were randomly assigned to the MBI (n = 26;M[subscript age] = 5.03), EBI (n =…

Research Findings: The goal of the present study was to examine the moderating role of child effortful control (EC) in the relation between shyness and social-emotional adjustment difficulties among young Chinese children. Participants included 195 children (117 boys, 78 girls, Mage = 4.28 years, SD = 0.31) enrolled in 6 classes attending…

Research Findings: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the education system faced unprecedented challenges, including global school closures, the cancellation of face-to-face teaching, and ultimately school step-wise or partial reopening. Childcare providers have faced additional significant stressors from the beginning of the outbreak. The present…

Research Findings: In the present study, we investigated the roles of children's social competence and immigrant background in the prediction of the quality of children's relationships with peers and teachers and school adjustment. Participants were N = 212 children (M[subscript age] = 58.32 months, SD = 10.72; n = 98 with an immigrant background)…

Research Findings: Although crucial in early childhood, social and emotional learning (SEL) was seldom integrated in preschool classrooms until recently. This study reports the implementation and evaluation of an SEL program devised to assist Chinese preschoolers, a population that has been understudied. With cultural values/practices impacting…

Today, digital games are considered important tools for learning, but using them in early childhood education and care (ECEC) has raised the question of educators' roles when children play an educational digital game. The aim of this study was to explore how ECEC educators differed in their attitudes and perceptions toward and ways of supporting…

Research Findings: Previous studies have found that a growth mind-set was associated with optimal learning and well-being outcomes. However, much of this research has been conducted among adolescents and young adults. Relatively little is known as to whether these associations also apply to young children. The present study aimed to examine…

Research Findings: This study investigated 1220 kindergarten teachers in the Chinese context, exploring the relationships among their perception of servant leadership, emotional labor strategies and relative outcomes. The results showed that surface acting and the natural expression of felt emotions mattered for teachers' organizational commitment…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a wide range of psychological problems among parents and posed significant challenges to their mental health. However, there is a lack of research exploring the antecedents and consequences of parents' psychological distress during the pandemic. This study investigated the familial and individual antecedents and…

According to the perspective of multiple attachments, children establish significant relationships with individuals outside their family, such as teachers and peers. The aim of this research was to observe which dimensions of attachment behaviors that preschoolers show toward their teachers are associated with greater social preference and social…

Research Findings: Parental responsiveness and social mastery motivation are important correlates of children's social-emotional development, but little research has examined the relationships among these factors. The present study investigated the direct and indirect relationships among paternal and maternal responsiveness, social mastery…

Research Findings: This study aims to explore the possible mediators between social support and parenting competence in Chinese mothers of preschoolers. Altogether 538 Chinese mothers were sampled and surveyed with the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Psychological Capital Scale (PCS-24), and the Chinese versions of the Parenting Sense of…

The present investigation examined the links between preschool teachers' self-reported emotional exhaustion (n = 117) with the quality of their classroom interactions and the dosage and rigor of their instruction. Research Findings: Although teachers' experience of emotional exhaustion was not associated with the dosage and rigor of instruction,…