British Journal of Developmental PsychologyVolume 41, Issue 2 p. i-iv Issue InformationFree Access Issue Information First published: 02 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12420AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Volume41, Issue2June 2023Pages i-iv RelatedInformation

Previous studies mainly investigated working memory (WM) and math anxiety (MA) leaving almost unexplored other aspects of executive functions (EFs) in middle school period. Filling the gap in the literature, the aims of this study were: (1) to better examine the relationship between MA and math performance, (2) to better examine the relationship between EFs and math performance and (3) to investigate the interplay between EFs and MA on math performances. This study confirmed a significant and negative relationship between MA and math performance, indicates a significant and positive relationship between visuospatial WM and math performance, shifting and math performance and highlight a scarcely investigated indirect influence of MA through the measure of shifting on math performance. Our findings shed further light on the mediating role of EFs between MA and math performance and underline some future perspectives.

Children who learn to cycle at a young age do this by using training bicycles that simplify control requirements compared with regular bicycles, such as bicycles with training wheels or balance bikes without pedals. The primary purpose of the current study was to investigate whether the two types of training bicycles result in a different age of onset of independent cycling on a regular bicycle. We asked parents of 4‐ to 6‐year‐old children (n = 173) to complete a questionnaire regarding their child's bicycling history. The results showed that children who had practised with a balance bicycle started practising at a younger age, had shorter practice duration, and were able to cycle independently at a younger age in comparison to children who had practised with a bicycle with training wheels (or with both training bicycles). We argue that the observed advantage of balance bicycle is associated with the balance bicycle actively challenging postural control. Further research is needed to uncover the impact of training bicycles on the further development of the foundational skill of cycling.

Detecting an error signals the need for increased cognitive control and behavioural adjustments. Considerable development in performance monitoring and cognitive control is evidenced by lower error rates and faster response times in multi‐trial executive function tasks with age. Besides these quantitative changes, we were interested in whether qualitative changes in balancing accuracy and speed contribute to developmental progression during elementary school years. We conducted two studies investigating the temporal and developmental trajectories of post‐error slowing in three prominent cognitive conflict tasks (Stroop, Simon, and flanker). We instructed children (8‐, 10‐, and 12‐year‐old) and adults to respond as fast and as accurately as possible and measured their response times on four trials after correct and incorrect responses to a cognitive conflict. Results revealed that all age groups had longer response times on post‐error versus post‐correct trials, reflecting post‐error slowing. Critically, slowing on the first post‐error trial declined with age, suggesting an age‐related reduction in the orienting response towards errors. This age effect diminished on subsequent trials, suggesting more fine‐tuned cognitive control adjustments with age. Overall, the consistent pattern across tasks suggests an age‐related change from a relatively strong orienting response to more balanced cognitive control adaptations.

Individual differences have become increasingly important in the study of child development and language. However, despite the important role parents play in children's language, no work has examined how parent personality impacts language development. The current study examines the impact of parent personality as well as child temperament on language development in 460 16- to 30-month-old children and 328 31- to 42-month-old children. Findings from both groups suggest multiple aspects of children's language abilities are correlated with their parent's personality. Specifically, parent consciousness, openness, and agreeableness positively correlate with child vocabulary size and other language abilities. Results also replicate and expand research on child temperament and language - child effortful control and surgency were positively correlated, and negative affect negatively correlated with most language abilities even after controlling for parent personality. Critically, parent and child traits appear to impact a child's language abilities above and beyond well-known predictors of language, such as age.

Adolescence is a high-risk period for body image disturbance and appearance concerns. In a cascade model, we examined interrelations of body dysmorphic symptoms (BDS) with appearance rejection sensitivity (ARS) and tested gender moderation. Participants were 397 Australian adolescents (T1 Mage=11.7, SD=0.91; 56% girls) who completed six surveys over 4years. In a random-intercept cross-lag model, two (of five possible) paths showed ARS predicted higher subsequent BDS, and three (of five possible) paths showed BDS predicted higher subsequent ARS. Girls reported more BDS and ARS than boys, and random intercepts of BDS and ARS were correlated with the correlation stronger in girls than boys. Cross-lag BDD-ARS associations over the six waves were not significantly moderated by gender. Overall, girls are at higher risk of appearance concerns than boys, but BDD-ARS cascade effects do not differ between girls and boys.

Four studies (total n=961) developed and validated the Adolescent Conspiracy Beliefs Questionnaire (ACBQ). Initial items were developed in collaboration with teachers. An exploratory factor analysis (Study 1, n=208, aged 11-14) and a student focus group (N=3, aged 11) enabled us to establish the factor structure of a 9-item scale. This was replicated via confirmatory factor analysis in Study 2 (N=178, aged 11-17), and the scale displayed good convergent (i.e., relationship with paranoia and mistrust) and discriminant validity (i.e., no relationship with extraversion). Study 3a (N=257) further tested convergent validity with a sample of 18-year-olds (i.e., relationship with adult-validated measures of conspiracy beliefs) and demonstrated strong test-retest reliability. Study 3b (N=318) replicated these findings with a mixed-age adult sample. The ACBQ will allow researchers to explore the psychological antecedents and consequences of conspiracy thinking in young populations.

Children display intergroup bias in relation to gender. The present study examined whether children's self-perceived same- and other-gender similarity were related to their same- and other-gender positivity and negativity, respectively. Children aged 6-10years (N=149) were interviewed about their self-perceived similarity to girls and to boys and about the extent to which they thought positive and negative characteristics applied to boys and to girls. Among girls, greater self-perceived other-gender similarity was associated with more negativity towards the same gender. Similar to previous research, intergroup gender bias was more pronounced among girls, and children rated themselves as having more same- than other-gender similarity, with this pattern being more pronounced in boys. Thus, this study provides evidence suggesting that other-gender similarity is related to girls' negative attributions towards girls. It also replicates previous findings regarding gender differences in children's intergroup gender bias and gender similarity, respectively.

We investigate the relationship between adolescents' construction of a transgression relating to a hypothetical temptation and bystander behaviour and bullying (offline and online). A total of 331 Swiss eighth graders completed an electronic questionnaire on bystanding, bullying, moral disengagement, and empathy. Moral functioning was assessed in a hypothetical scenario, using different moral judgements (deontic and self-judgement, judging the transgression; paper-and-pencil measure). Cluster analyses were used to identify patterns of moral functioning. For the open situation (deontic and self-judgement), happy transgressors, happy moralists, ashamed moralists, and indifferent moralists were differentiated, and for the transgression (accomplished deed) moralists and happy opportunists. The analyses yielded significant differences between the different cluster groups. Happy transgressors (open situation) reported higher levels of assisting the bullying than unconcerned moralists. Happy transgressors also reported lower levels of helping than ashamed and happy moralists. Opportunists (accomplished deed) reported higher levels of assisting the bullying, offline bullying, and lower levels of helping the victim. The multivariate GEE analyses showed that happy transgressors reported higher levels of assisting the bully and online bullying than the moralist groups (open situation). The study shows that adolescents who construct a favourable interpretation of yielding to temptation in a hypothetical scenario displayed higher levels of both assisting the bully and online bullying, emphasizing the need for incorporating targeted moral education in bullying prevention.