High intelligence may be associated with emotional, behavioral and social difficulties. However, this hypothesis is supported by little compelling, population-based evidence, and no study has been ...conducted during the preschool period with a population-based sample.
Children (N=1100) from the EDEN mother–child cohort were assessed at the age of 5–6years. Behavioral, emotional and social problems (emotional symptoms, conduct problems, symptoms of hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behavior) were measured using the parent-rated Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQ). IQ scores were based on the WPPSI-III at 5–6years. Relevant covariates for children's cognitive development were also collected.
We found no significant differences in SDQ scores between gifted children (N=23; Full Scale IQ>130) and children with Full Scale IQ in the normal range (N=1058≥70 and ≤130), except a marginally significant association between high-IQ and emotional difficulties at 5–6years. Further sensitivity analyses did not support the association between high-IQ and emotional difficulties.
During the preschool period, gifted children do not seem to manifest more behavioral, emotional and social problems than children with normal IQ.
•Previous studies on gifted children have been conducted on biased samples•We used data from a large population-based sample of French children aged 5–6years•We found no increase in behavioral, emotional and social problems among high-IQ
The aim of the study was to examine the effect of parents’ life position on the prediction of behavioral problems of preschool children. The sample of the study consisted of 364 children enrolled in ...independent kindergartens and preschools of primary schools affiliated to Altındağ District Directorate of National Education in Turkey and their parents (290 mothers and 97 fathers). In the study, the survey model, which aims to determine the current situation among quantitative research methods, and the relational model, which aims to reveal the link between two or more variables and the strength of the link, were used (Frankel et al., 2011). The data obtained from the study in which “Family Information Form, Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scale and Life Positions Scale” were used as data collection tools were analyzed with Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Regression analysis methods. When the findings of the research were examined, it was found that as the “I am Okey, You are Okey” life position of the parents increased, the children’s total behavior problems, which consisted of internalizing, externalizing and a combination of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, decreased whereas “I am not Okey, You are Okey” and “I am not Okey, You are not Okey” life positions increased, the children’s internalizing, externalizing and total behavior problems increased. Moreover, the regression analysis results of the study showed that parents’ life positions had a statistically significant effect in predicting their children’s behavior problems.
Growing evidence points to the theoretical and statistical advantages of continuous (rather than categorical) assessments of child-caregiver attachment. The Preschool Attachment Rating Scales (PARS) ...is a continuous coding system to assess preschool attachment that is complementary to the categorical MacArthur Preschool Attachment Coding System (PACS). The current study aims to evaluate the reliability and validity of the PARS to measure both child-mother and child-father attachment during the preschool period. Participants included 144 preschool-aged children (M = 46.89 months, SD = 8.77; 83 girls) and their parents. Results support the reliability and validity of the PARS: good inter-rater reliability, expected associations between scales, convergence with the PACS, and association with parental sensitivity and child externalizing problems. These findings support the application of continuous assessments of child-caregiver attachment in the preschool years. They also align with previous work on child-mother attachment, and present avenues for future research on child-father attachment.
Abstract
Objective
To document longitudinal changes in internalizing and externalizing behavioral symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) sustained in early childhood (i.e., between 18 and ...60 months of age).
Methods
Participants (N = 226) were recruited to one of three groups: children with mTBI, typically developing children and orthopedic injured children. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to document the presence of internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 6, 18, and 30 months postinjury. Linear mixed-model analyses were used to examine group effects on the trajectory of internalizing and externalizing behavioral manifestations over 30 months postinjury.
Results
Children who sustain mTBI during the preschool period have higher rates of internalizing and externalizing behavioral symptoms at the initial assessment time point and these symptoms persist up to 30 months postinjury. Moreover, results indicate that for up to 18 months postinjury, significantly more children with mTBI present behavioral difficulties that may require some form of clinical attention (i.e., scores in the borderline or clinical range), than do their orthopedically injured and noninjured peers.
Conclusions
Sustaining mTBI early in life may lead to long-lasting behavioral changes in young children (i.e., at least 30 months). These changes are likely the product of a complex interplay between neurological and non-neurological factors, both contributing to generating and maintaining behavioral difficulties.
It is often assumed that adequate sleep is a key ingredient of children's school success. Research to date, however, suggests modest associations between child sleep and academic achievement. ...Adopting a developmental perspective, this report investigates the associations between age‐related changes in sleep across the preschool period and academic achievement at school entry. Sleep was assessed by actigraphy at ages 2, 3 and 4 among 128 children from mostly White middle‐class families, and their performance in reading and mathematics was tested in Grade 1. The results revealed that children whose sleep duration decreased more rapidly across the preschool period showed better performance in both reading and mathematics. These results suggest that age‐related developments may be a key characteristic of sleep in the preschool years.
Although the Positive Discipline Program is used extensively internationally, there are very few evidence-based studies on it. This study aims to examine the experimental results of the Positive ...Discipline Program.
This randomized-controlled study had the following types of groups: intervention, active control, and non-contact control. The study sample consisted of 72 parents with children aged between 3 and 6 years. The intervention group participated in an eight-session online Positive Discipline Program, the active control group participated in an eight-session online free interaction program, and the non-contact control group received no intervention.
Parents in the intervention group demonstrated an increase in cooperation with their children after the training and during the follow-up period. In the intervention group, parents’ oppressive and authoritarian attitudes decreased after the training and during the follow-up period; spouses’ democratic attitudes increased after the training and their overprotective attitudes decreased in the follow-up period. Parent–child communication and unhindered listening increased in the intervention and active control groups. The problem-solving skills of the intervention group increased after the training and during the follow-up period, and sensitivity increased in the follow-up period.
As one of the few experimental studies implementing the Positive Discipline Program, this study revealed the strengths of the program as well as culture-specific aspects that need to be improved. Further, this program was effective in improving parents’ relationships with their children, attitudes, and problem-solving skills, and it provided evidence for the program’s positive contributions to raising a child.
The Positive Discipline Program can guide parents in solving the developmental and school-related problems of preschool children as well as school and adolescence children.
Purpose of the research is to examine the peer relationships of children aged 5-6 in terms of some demographic variables. The sample of the study selected by simple random sampling method, consisted ...of 504 children (237 girls and 267 boys) between the ages of 5-6 who attend formal and private independent kindergartens located in Yunusemre and Şehzadeler counties of Manisa and their teachers. In this study “The General Information Form” and “Ladd-Profilet Child Behaviour Scale” were used. In the study, Independent Groups t-Test, Mann-Whitney U Test, One Way Anova, Kruskal Wallis-H Test were used to analyze of data. According to the results of this study, prosocial behaviors towards peers differ based on age and gender; asocial behaviors towards peers differ based on age and type of kindergarten; anxiousness-fearfulness of children differs based on age, gender and type of kindergarten; exclusion by peers differs based on age, gender and type of kindergarten; hyperactivity of children differs based on age, gender and type of kindergarten; aggression towards peers differs based on gender and type of kindergarten and all these relationships are found to be significant. On the other hand, it was found that prosocial behaviors towards peers, asocial behaviors towards peers, anxiousness-fearfulness of children, exclusion by peers, hyperactivity of children and aggression towards peers did not show statistically significant differences according to the number of siblings and birth order of the child. The findings of the study were discussed, interpreted and appropriate suggestions were given within the scope of the literature.
Background
Preschoolers' temperament characteristics are associated with children's long‐term development. Such links underscore the importance of understanding factors that shape temperament during ...preschool. This is the first study to examine genetic and environmental sources of developmental growth in three temperament dimensions: surgency, negative affectivity, and effortful control, during the preschool period.
Methods
Biometric latent growth curve modeling was used to examine genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental contributions to the invariant level of and developmental growth in temperament, using a sample of 310 same‐sex twin pairs (MZ = 123, DZ = 187) assessed at 3, 4, and 5 years of age. Temperament was assessed using primary caregiver's report on the Child Behavior Questionnaire‐Short Form.
Results
All three temperament dimensions demonstrated linear increases from ages 3 to 5 years. The invariant levels of all three temperament dimensions were explained by genetic and nonshared environmental factors. Growth in surgency was fully explained by nonshared environmental factors, while growth in negative affectivity was mainly explained by genetic factors. Growth in effortful control was explained by genetic and nonshared environmental factors, although neither were significant due to large bootstrap standard errors. For negative affectivity and effortful control, the genetic factors that contributed to developmental growth were independent from those associated with their invariant levels.
Conclusions
Collectively, these findings indicate that both genetic and nonshared environmental factors play important roles in the invariant levels of temperament. Findings also accord a critical role of children's nonshared environment in the development of surgency and to a lesser extent negative affectivity and effortful control. It is also notable that novel genetic effects contribute to developmental growth in negative affectivity and effortful control as children age, emphasizing the importance of integrating developmental models in genetic research.
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