Background: Adaptation is key to survival. An organism must adapt to environmental challenges in order to be able to thrive in the environment in which they find themselves. Resilience can be thought of as a measure of the ability of an organism to adapt, and to withstand challenges to its stability. In higher animals, the brain is a key player in…

Manual dexterity is known to gradually progress with developmental age. In this study, we evaluate the performance of unimanual and bimanual actions under perturbed and unperturbed conditions in children between 4 and 10 years of age. Behavior was assessed by means of trajectory measurements and degree of bimanual coupling. The results showed that…

Background: There is a need for a more accurate characterisation of higher level restricted and repetitive behaviour (RRB) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including why it might be considered problematic and events associated with its occurrence. Method: We selected one form of higher level RRB--arranging and ordering--that was rated as severe…

Youth in pain often show self-defeating and destructive patterns of behavior which should be seen as calls for help and positive support. Instead, deep-seated brain programs and cultural beliefs about discipline can trigger angry or avoidant behavior by adults who deal with these young people. This brief introduction to the Conflict Cycle…

The structure of the human brain changes in several ways throughout childhood and adolescence. Perhaps the most salient of these changes is the strengthening of white matter tracts that enable distal brain regions to communicate with one another more quickly and efficiently. Here, we sought to understand whether and how white matter changes…

The aim of the current pilot study was to evaluate the implementation of a "routines-based early childhood intervention" (RBECI) model by Australian Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) professionals. The RBECI model consisted of four key components: (a) Routines-Based Interviews (RBIs), (b) participation-based goals, (c) home visits, and…

In this article, we contrast evolutionary and psychobiological models of individual development to address the idea that individual development occurring in prototypically risky and unsupportive environments can be understood as adaptation. We question traditional evolutionary explanations of individual development, calling on the principle of…

Despite the large literature on the long-term effects of parental divorce, few studies have analyzed the effects of parental divorce on spouse selection behavior. However, the characteristics of one's spouse can have important effects on economic well-being and on marital success. We use discrete-time, event-history data from Finnish population…

Although theoretical work has suggested that reciprocal behavior patterns between parent and child may be important in the development of childhood anxiety, most empirical work has failed to consider the bidirectional nature of interactions. The current study sought to address this limitation by utilizing a sequential approach to exploring…

The association between thoughts of self-harm and help-seeking among youth with symptoms of depression was examined. Data were drawn from the Health Behavior of School-aged Children Study ("n" = 15, 686), a nationally representative sample of youth in the United States. Analyses focused on comparing help-seeking behaviors among youth…

This article addresses the question of why the emotions children and adolescents anticipate in the context of hypothetical scenarios have been repeatedly found to predict actual (im)moral behavior. It argues that a common motivational account of this relationship is insufficient. Instead, three links are proposed that connect cognitive…

Objective: To use confirmatory factor analysis to test the construct validity of the proposed "DSM-5" symptom model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in comparison to alternative models, including that described in "DSM-IV-TR." Method: Participants were 708 verbal children and young persons (mean age, 9.5 years) with mild to severe autistic…

This study examined the relations between behavioral inhibition, Big Five personality traits, and anxiety disorder symptoms in non-clinical children (n = 147) and clinically anxious children (n = 45) aged 6-13 years. Parents completed the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire-Short Form, the Big Five Questionnaire for Children, and the Screen for…

The present study examined the joint development of substance use and externalizing problems in early and middle adolescence. First, it was tested whether the relevant groups found in previous studies i.e., those with an early onset, a late onset, and no onset or low levels of risk behavior could be identified, while using a developmental model of…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experience of how sensory-related behaviors of children with autism affected family routines. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with four primary caregivers regarding the meaning and impact of their child's sensory-related behaviors on family routines that occurred…