The present study examined children's diurnal cortisol as a moderator of the association between parenting sensitivity at bedtime and young children's executive functioning and emotion regulation. Fifty-one children (M[subscript age] = 4.47 years) and their families participated. Parenting sensitivity was assessed from video recordings of child…

Background: Externalizing problem behaviors, such as childhood aggression, have a significant impact on adolescent delinquency and even adult delinquency and violence. Mother's attitudes and behaviors can impact the self-control and regulation of preschoolers, which in turn reflect in preschoolers' externalizing problems. Objective: This…

Executive function (EF) is essential for developing social competence (SC) in early childhood. However, previous research has primarily taken a general perspective of SC and overlooked its components. Furthermore, although EF and SC are known to influence each other across childhood, the mechanisms of this interaction remain unclear. Therefore,…

This study investigated whether transitory and persistent poverty spells were associated with children's learning (literacy and numeracy scores) and executive function outcomes in Ghana. Children resided in the Greater Accra region (N = 2,154; 49% female; M[subscript age] = 5.2 years at wave-1) and were followed at four-time points over three…

Sensitive caregiving is an essential aspect of positive parenting that influences executive functions development, but the mechanisms underlying this association are less clear. Using data from the Family Life Project, a large prospective longitudinal sample of 1292 families residing in rural, predominately low-income communities, the current…

Executive function (EF) skills are consistently associated with global mathematics assessments. However, less is known about which specific mathematics skills invoke EF in early childhood. We adapted batteries of EF, numerical, and patterning tasks to be conducted via synchronous video conferencing with typically developing 4-year-old children (N…

Lying is a prevalent and normative behavior in young children. Conceptually, it is strongly linked with children's theory-of-mind development. However, empirical studies show that the link between children's lying and theory-of-mind is heterogeneous. This study examined whether parental control and parental warmth moderate the link between…

This study investigated whether transitory and persistent poverty spells were associated with children's learning (literacy and numeracy scores) and executive function outcomes in Ghana. Children resided in the Greater Accra region (N = 2,154; 49% female; M[subscript age] = 5.2 years at wave-1) and were followed at four-time points over three…

In the current investigation, we used structural equation mediation modeling to examine the relations between executive function (indexed by measures of working memory, shifting, and inhibition), decoding ability, and reading comprehension in a sample of 298 children aged 6 to 8 years (132 boys and 166 girls). Results indicated that executive…

Studies have demonstrated significant associations between executive function (EF) and reading ability. Many of these studies have evaluated this association through composite EF skills. In this study, we evaluated the indirect effects of working memory (WM) and cognitive flexibility (CF) in the relation between kindergarten socioeconomic status…

Purpose: Children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) are at increased risk for neurocognitive delays, which can have cascading effects on development. Associations between neurocognition and the content of parental language--specifically the use of mental state vocabulary--have been observed in typically hearing (TH) children. This study…

Several theories have been proposed to explain the presentation of intense interests in autism, including theories based on altered executive functioning, imbalanced reward sensitivity, and mitigating anxiety. These theories have yet to be examined in early childhood, yet knowledge of how intense interests emerge could provide insight into how…

Executive functions (EF) are domain-general cognitive skills that predict foundational academic skills such as literacy and numeracy. However, less is known about the relation between EFs and science achievement. The nature of this relation might be explained by the theory of mutualism, which states that development is the result of complex and…

We examined interactions between baseline hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity in relation to executive functions (EF) in a sample (n = 1,005) of children in low wealth, nonurban communities at age 48 months. Salivary cortisol and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) represented baseline HPA…

Executive functions (EF), including working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, vary as a function of socioeconomic status (SES), with children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds having poorer performance than their higher SES peers. Using observational methods, we investigated cognitive stimulation in the home as a mechanism…