The paper looks at the relevance of W.R. Bion's 'Theory of Thinking' to the interpretation of young child observations. Bion describes a process whereby emotional experience, when contained by a caregiver, gives rise to a capacity for symbol formation, which is at the root of imagination and language. The study consists of eight written hour-long…

To successfully pull a practical joke on someone, children need to understand that their victims do not know what they themselves know, be able to intentionally manipulate others' beliefs, and maintain a straight face to safeguard the integrity of the joke. This study examined the relationship between children's developing theory of mind (ToM),…

The current study was part of a large project focusing on bilingual development in the preschool classroom context. Its aim was to theorize free play as a social and language learning activity that provides opportunities for young learners to move towards second language production. The role of free play for language development in general, and…

Thirty-one children of gay single fathers and 28 children of heterosexual single fathers, all born through surrogacy, were compared with 31 children of gay partnered fathers through surrogacy and 30 children of heterosexual partnered fathers through in-vitro fertilization on their perceptions of self-worth and their father- and caregiver-reported…

Guided by the transactional approach, this grounded theory study examined the reciprocal relations between the effects of participation in a preschool education intervention program on Syrian refugee children and their mothers' parenting practices and concept of child. 128 children participated in a school-based intervention program in…

Behavioral inflexibility (BI) has been highlighted to occur across genetic and neurodevelopmental disorders. This study characterized BI in two common neurogenetic conditions: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and Down syndrome (DS). Caregivers of children with FXS (N = 56; with ASD = 28; FXS only = 28) and DS (N = 146) completed the Behavioral…

Self-monitoring interventions for students with challenging behavior are often teacher-managed rather than self-managed. Teachers direct these interventions by completing parallel monitoring procedures, providing feedback, and delivering contingent reinforcement to students when they monitor accurately. However, within self-monitoring…

This study explores the behavioural effects of COVID-19 confinement in preschool children (aged 3-5) based on their parents' perceptions. Now that policy makers in numerous countries are drawing up new policies on teleworking and psychological support systems, the aim of this research was to test how parents' working situations had affected…

DC:0-5™: Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (ZERO TO THREE, 2016) emphasizes the centrality of relationships for young children's development and psychopathology. The authors share the story of a young child and his mother to illustrate the use of DC:0-5, with an emphasis on how…

A randomized, 13-weeks, placebo-controlled double-blind study in 125 subjects aged 2-17.5 years with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Smith-Magenis syndrome and insomnia demonstrated efficacy and safety of easily-swallowed prolonged-release melatonin mini-tablets (PedPRM; 2-5 mg) in improving sleep duration and onset. Treatment effects on child…

This article is based on video observations of three-year-old children's empathic expressions in the context of playful interactions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions in Norway. The data were analysed within a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, searching for a system of the children's self-initiated empathic expressions…

Problem behavior occurring during public outings can limit children's participation in these activities and can be disruptive for families. The current study included two children referred for the assessment and treatment of problem behaviors occurring during public outings. Clinic-based functional behavior assessments indicated problem behaviors…

This study examined three potential sources of variance in teacher ratings of the socioemotional skills of children: occasion, child, and teacher. The ratings were prepared using the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment. In total, 344 children were assessed in both the fall and spring of kindergarten and first grade, providing a total of 1,067…

The experience of having a rare disorder was summarised in a large study as 'falling outside the vast field of knowledge of the professionals'. Parents (31 mothers and 17 fathers) of 32 persons with Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) participated in this study. A phenomenological approach was used to analyse the data into topics and themes. Four themes…

The current study is an examination of contributions of difficult temperament and qualities of parent-child relationship to Turkish children's peer relations, with a specific focus on the moderating role of parent-child relationships (closeness and conflict) on difficult temperament when predicting children's peer relations. Participants were 94…