Early childhood teachers routinely facilitate play-based learning experiences in their physical classrooms; however, the pivot to virtual teaching platforms created a barrier for providing age appropriate, play-based learning opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are few studies exploring how to promote play in the virtual classroom or…

While nature contact is increasingly recognized for its health benefits, its role in human development and learning remains insufficiently examined. The present meta-analysis aimed to investigate (a) the extent to which nature contact predicts social functioning, cognitive functioning, and academic performance, (b) whether these associations vary…

This research focused on the transactions between the social competence of the child, positive maternal parenting, and the maternal perception of the father's support for the mother from early childhood to adolescence. Specifically, whether the transactions between these domains are consistent or limited to certain developmental periods and…

Play during childhood is essential to growth and learning. Little is known about whether categories of toys moderate play behaviors at different ages, or how children interact with toys that are simple, appropriate, or complex for their developmental level. Two hundred and forty-three children between the ages of 1 and 8 years, divided into four…

Four longitudinal models are used to present a short review of research into adolescent psychosocial development. This review reveals adolescent development to proceed in a regular manner. This process of regular development suggests that it might be possible to uncover rules of intra-individual development. The aim of this paper is to propose a…

Incarceration in the United States affects not only the individuals incarcerated, but also the whole family system, including children. 1.5 million children younger than 18 have had parents incarcerated at some point in their life (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021), and children have been called the hidden victims of the mass incarceration that is…

According to previous findings, math anxiety already occurs at early school age and is negatively correlated with math achievement. So far, however, little is known about the nature of math anxiety in young children. To fill this gap, we present the results of a longitudinal study on the math anxiety of children that were followed in the first…

Undocumented immigrants arriving in the United States as minors navigate tremendous constraints as they transition into adolescence and adulthood. Exclusionary immigration laws profoundly shape and complicate the attainment of important milestones and the decisions undocumented minors make about their adult futures. A significant body of research,…

What do cows drink? The correct answer is water, but many are tempted to say milk. The disposition to override an intuitive response (milk) with a more analytic response (water) is known as "cognitive reflection." Tests of cognitive reflection predict a wide range of skills and abilities in adults. In this article, we discuss the…

Presenting pictures of faces side by side is a common paradigm to assess infants' attentional biases according to social categories, such as gender, race, and language. However, seeing static faces does not represent infants' typical experience of the social world, which involves people in motion and performing actions. Here, we assessed infants'…

The current study examined financial stress, career-related optimism, and psychological distress from the age of 19 (2013; n = 5,787), until the age of 25 (2019; n = 2,933) using the Longitudinal Surveys of Australia Youth (2009 cohort). Longitudinal mediation using latent growth curve modeling observed trajectories of change across young…

The interaction between a mother and child stands as one of the most profound and intricate human connections, weaving a rich tapestry of behavioral and emotional bonds during the formative years. Although mother-child interactions have received substantial attention in the developmental science literature, few studies have tapped into the…

Researchers and practitioners need robust measurement tools for evaluating knowledge of child development to better support parents and their children during pregnancy and the transition to parenthood. We addressed this need by evaluating the psychometric properties of the Domains of Development Instrument (DoDI) for measuring knowledge of…

Recently, biological aging has been quantified in DNA-methylation samples of older adults and applied as so-called "methylation profile scores" (MPSs) in separate target samples, including samples of children. This nascent research indicates that (1) biological aging can be quantified early in the life course, decades before the onset of…

Infancy is a period of significant change for both the brain and behavior. During the first two years of life, the brain experiences an explosion of synaptic connections and myelination, alongside rapid development in motor, linguistic, and social behavioral abilities. Understanding the relationship between brain development and behavioral…