The present study assessed both concurrent and early influences of the maternal caregiving environment to examine unique contributions of each to variation in children's emotional responses to COVID-19 pandemic. Preschoolers (3-5 years; M = 4.12, SD = 0.49) previously assessed in infancy, several years prior to pandemic outbreak, were re-assessed…

Early life stress (ELS) is associated with lower IQ and academic achievement; however, it remains unclear whether it additionally explains their discrepancy. In 2,401 children (54% girls, 30.2% migration background) from the population-based study Generation R Study, latent factors of prenatal and postnatal (age 0-10) ELS were estimated, and…

This meta-analysis examined the relationship between prenatal maternal stress and/or anxiety and the outcomes of children aged 3 months to 9 years. Of the 8754 studies published before June 2021 that were synthesized, 17 conducted in Western countries were included in the meta-analysis (N[subscript total] = 23,307; M[subscript males] 54%;…

We examined whether family care following early-life deprivation buffered the association between stressful life events (SLEs) and executive functioning (EF) in adolescence. In early childhood, 136 institutionally reared children were randomly assigned to foster care or care-as-usual; 72 never-institutionalized children served as a comparison…

Prosocial and health protective behaviors are critical to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, yet adolescents have been difficult to engage. Attachment security promotes adolescents' capacities to navigate stress, and influences prosocial and health behaviors. Drawing on a diverse sample of 202 adolescents (48% female; 47.5% Latinx) this study…

Adversity-exposed youth tend to score lower on cognitive tests. However, the hidden talents approach proposes some abilities are enhanced by adversity, especially under ecologically relevant conditions. Two versions of an attention-shifting and working memory updating task--one abstract, one ecological--were administered to 618 youth (M[subscript…

Experiences of war and displacement can have profound effects on children's affective development and mental health, although the mechanism(s) underlying these effects remain unknown. This study investigated the link between early adversity and attention to affective stimuli using a free-viewing eye-tracking paradigm with Syrian refugee (n = 31,…