Developmental Psychology Research Articles

Effectiveness of Poverty Reduction Programs on Psychological Development of Children and Adolescents at Risk of Poverty: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Considering the potential detrimental impact of poverty on psychological development and the resulting harmful cycles, implementing poverty alleviation interventions is necessary for children and adolescents. Although several meta-analyses have demonstrated the effectiveness of monetary poverty reduction programs, there remains a significant gap in understanding how multidimensional poverty reduction strategies boost psychological development. This meta-analysis aims to address this gap by disclosing the impact of multifaceted anti-poverty interventions on the psychological development of children and adolescents. A comprehensive search was conducted through 12 electronic databases. This review identified nine studies, which included a variety of intervention elements such as educational support, skill training, and cognitive cultivation, and collectively involved 1434 participants. A random effect model by RevMan v5.4 software was adapted to carry out the meta-analysis. The findings reveal a significant effect of anti-poverty programs on promoting positive psychological development (e.g. resilience, grit, and self-esteem) and mitigating negative psychological outcomes (e.g. depression, anxiety and disengagement). Subgroup analyses showed that smaller groups (100 or fewer participants) led to greater improvements in positive psychological outcomes. Professional providers (e.g., psychologists, social workers) had a stronger impact on improving positive psychological outcomes, while non-professional providers (e.g., school teachers) were more effective at alleviating psychological difficulties.

Optimizing Football Player Development in Indonesia and Malaysia: Sports Psychology's Take on the Affective Domain

Introduction: Problems with the characteristics of young players often threaten the continuity of their careers in football. Negative behaviours such as ego, lack of discipline, star syndrome, and fickle commitment are some of the many examples that occur among young football players. The affective domain assesses the psychological adaptability of young football players in the development path, both in calm situations and when facing the pressure that often arises in matches or training. Objective: The aim is to make young players excel in both psychomotor and affective aspects, which are important domains in sustainable football coaching. This research seeks to discover the urgency of the affective domain of psychology in the development pathway of football players in Indonesia and Malaysia. Methodology: This study used a qualitative method with a grounded theory approach, and data were collected through interviews, observations, and document analysis of 25 licensed football coaches with at least 5 years of experience as coaches in Indonesia and Malaysia. Results: The role of coaches in paying attention to emotional and mental training is the basis for the development of sports psychology in children. Discussion: Children's involvement in football provides opportunities to develop life skills and trains them to have good character that will be useful in social life Conclusions: This research is expected to evaluate the implementation of mental training in fostering potential football players and supporting character development programmes through football.

Transmission of shame? The psychoanalytic treatment of a child with OCD

ABSTRACT Psychoanalysis is not ranked as a recommended treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder. Even so, in the case here presented, psychoanalysis began with a latency-age child with OCD based on an intuitive certainty that it might help him. The patient had suffered from OCD since the age of five and had received three types of shorter treatments, which had at first helped, but the effect had disappeared after some time. He expressed exhaustion over his symptoms and wished for a longer treatment. With psychoanalysis, the patient’s symptoms eased and his psychological development in the areas that had slowed down could progress. The object of my interest is what in our psychoanalytic collaboration helped him, but also, what significance the entity of shame might have had in the persistence of his symptoms. I also consider the applicability of psychoanalysis as a treatment for children by comparing my case with a case published in 2005 about the successful psychoanalysis of a 10-year-old boy with OCD. I reflect on the factors on whose basis psychoanalysis may be recommended as a treatment, even though the position of cognitive-behavioural and SSRI medication as primary treatments is superior in the light of scientific research.

Reflection of the phenomenon of altruism in the interdisciplinary context of social work

ABSTRACT This theoretical study provides a multidisciplinary perspective on the phenomenon of altruism with the aim of reflecting on its significance in the social work profession. Considering its origins in religious traditions, the authors point to its significance within Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Subsequently, the importance of altruism within philosophical concepts, developmental psychology and, last but not least, personality psychology is presented. As social work adopts insights from other disciplines, the authors do not neglect to emphasize altruistic concepts in the context of maintaining professional ethics related to professional boundaries in the social worker-client relationship. The aim is also to highlight the reflection of altruism in an interdisciplinary context that can contribute to the strengthening of the relationship between social workers and clients, which can contribute to good social work practice.

Conditionings of being perpetrator or victim in adolescence

The aim of the article is to investigate the thesis of a direct and indirect link between sex, gender, and aggressive and victim behavior from the perspective of bio–, social and psychological development. The meta-analysis of the previous study identifies risk factors and protective factors for becoming an aggressor or a victim and the role of sex and gender in that process. The work consists of two parts. The first part of the chapter is the review of the latest research in the field of aggression and adolescence focused on conditions of violence among youth. And the second part is the presentation of the latest research of the author. In the study, model were considered: bio, psycho and social factors such as sex, temperament; attachment; aggressiveness; family, teacher, and classmate support; resilience; and the previous victim or aggressor experiences

Psychometric properties of the flourishing scale in Italian adolescents

ABSTRACT Flourishing in adolescence is a crucial aspect of psychological development, encompassing well-being and effective functioning. Flourishing refers to the good life, feeling good, and effectively performing human actions. The Flourishing Scale (FS) is a brief measure of self-perceived success concerning relationships, self-esteem, purpose, and optimism. This was the first study to assess the psychometric properties of the FS in a sample of 291 Italian adolescents (M = 16.47 years, SD = 1.65; 39.86% male). The results confirmed the one-dimensional structure of the FS. Reliability was good, and measurement invariance between sex and age groups was established. There were no sex or age differences in flourishing. The latter correlated positively with life satisfaction and negatively with rumination and depression. These results suggest that the FS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing flourishing among Italian adolescents.

Dharmagita and Character Education: An Ethnographic Perspective on Literary Traditions among Ubud Youth

This ethnographic study examines the influence of Dharmagita, a traditional Balinese literary form, on character education among youth in Ubud. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observations, and analysis of Dharmagita texts, engaging 30 Balinese youths aged 15-21. The study employs semiotic analysis to decode the symbolic representations within the texts and psychoanalytic theory to explore their impact on the psychological development of moral values. The findings highlight Dharmagita’s role in embedding values such as care, fairness, honesty, forgiveness, cooperation, responsibility, and community awareness into the fabric of youth education. Integrating these values into everyday life through literary traditions provides a dual benefit: moral development and cultural continuity. Additionally, the study notes Dharmagita's entertaining elements enhance its receptivity among youth, suggesting its potential as an accessible tool for moral instruction. Limitations regarding the diverse interpretations of Dharmagita and its applicability across different educational settings are discussed. This research contributes to the dialogue on culturally responsive pedagogy, offering Dharmagita as a model for integrating indigenous literary practices into character education frameworks.

Insights from a Career at the Border of Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience

Much has changed since I started my PhD research in 1980. Neither the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience nor the term “executive functions” existed then. In some ways this piece is backward-looking, such as discussing how our research introduced the importance of the executive function of inhibitory control for cognitive development and that infants and young children are much smarter than we thought. The way our field has queried infants and young children often prevented us from seeing their competencies. That is still too true in studying children from different backgrounds. In other ways, this piece is forward-looking, such as when discussing evidence that the conceptualization of working memory as an executive function and as the key function of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex has been too narrow. It is not just separation in time that must be bridged (traditionally the province of working memory) but also separations in space, and the latter are just as important for cognitive development and just as dependent on the executive function brain network, including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. It is also forward-looking in discussing the critical importance of motor, social, and emotional development for cognitive development and executive functions, as well as bidirectional relations among these different facets of development. Study of the different aspects of human development are still far too siloed, as are the different fields of science. Examples are provided of how the fields of neuroscience (including neurochemistry and molecular genetics) and child development inform and complement one another. Implications for educators, parents, and researchers are interwoven throughout.

Implementation of stop smoking support by mental healthcare professionals: cross-sectional analysis of why nothing much happens

Smoking is highly prevalent and persistent among people with mental illness, but implementation of smoking cessation care by mental healthcare professionals (MHCPs) is lagging behind. This study took a broad approach to understanding implementation of stop smoking support (SSS) by MHCPs (N = 220 for main analyses), incorporating background characteristics, psychosocial factors, client factors, and organizational/environmental factors. Variable selection was based on previous work and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Cross-sectional survey data were collected online in the Netherlands from 2021 to 2022, and analyzed using logistic regression and regression tree analyses. Participants were 81 nurses, 74 psychologists, 40 psychiatrists, 12 child psychologists and 13 other MHCPs; aged 42 on average, 24% male, 14% currently smoked and 32% quit smoking. Results show that most MHCPs do not ask about smoking, do not advise or motivate clients to quit smoking, and do not refer clients motivated to quit to SSS. In order to improve this situation, proactive efforts should be undertaken to target MHCPs’ perceptions of clients’ responsibility and quit success, preferably through strategies that reach MHCPs regardless of their affinity with SSS, taking MHCPs’ profession and own smoking status into account.

Isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia and three-year neurodevelopmental outcomes.

To retrospectively investigate the developmental outcomes at 3 years of age in patients with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) using a multicenter collaborative research approach. We evaluated patients with CDH and no other malformations born between 2010 and 2016 in seven facilities in the Japanese CDH Research Group. The developmental quotient (DQ) at 3 years of age was evaluated using the Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development 2001, the most standardized scale in Japan. Factors associated with a DQ score < 85 were also analyzed. Of 196 patients, developmental assessments at 3 years of age were performed in 132 patients (67%). Among these, 99 patients (75%) had a DQ score ≥ 85, 25 (19%) had a DQ score between 70 and 84, and 8 (6%) had a DQ score < 70. Multivariate analysis showed that the observed/expected lung area-to-head circumference ratio was an independent predictor of a DQ score < 85, with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.62 (95% confidence interval: 0.40-0.96; p = 0.03). Generally, isolated CDH is associated with good developmental outcomes for survivors, even after intensive care. However, there is a risk of neurodevelopmental impairment if pulmonary hypoplasia is present. This research highlights the observed/expected lung area-to-head circumference ratio (o/e LHR) as a crucial indicator to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes in 3-year-old children diagnosed with isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Our results provide robust evidence from a large multicenter cohort, emphasizing the importance of o/e LHR in early risk stratification and prolonged neurodevelopmental follow-up. These findings highlight the need for comprehensive management and tailored follow-up care in CDH patients, potentially improving clinical protocols and enhancing the quality of life and outcomes for affected children.

Psychosynthesis in Positive Psychotherapy

This article examines the integration of psychosynthesis and positive psychotherapy as a holistic therapeutic approach. Psychosynthesis, developed by Roberto Assagioli, emphasizes integrating conscious and unconscious aspects of personality to foster personal growth and spiritual fulfillment. Positive psychotherapy, introduced by Nossrat Peseschkian, focuses on activating individual resources to address psychological challenges through a structured, transcultural framework. The integration of these modalities combines psychosynthesis’s spiritual depth with the practical tools of positive psychotherapy, offering a comprehensive strategy for addressing complex clinical issues such as identity crises, existential challenges, and developmental trauma. While highlighting their compatibility, the article also addresses potential risks, emphasizing the importance of systematic frameworks and rigorous training. This synthesis broadens the scope of therapeutic applications, enhancing client-centered, flexible, and effective interventions. The proposed model demonstrates the transformative potential of integrating distinct psychotherapeutic approaches for holistic personal and psychological development.

Influence of Screen Time and Childhood Trauma on Attachment Styles and Emotional Regulation in Adulthood

Childhood trauma refers to negative or distressing experiences during childhood, such as abuse, neglect, or loss, which can significantly impact an individual's emotional and psychological development. The purpose of the present work is to examine the effect of screen time habits and childhood mistreatment on the attachment patterns and affect management in adults by targeting a sample of the Lahore City in Pakistan. This study is quantitative in nature with data collected by the use of structured measuring tools on 300 adults. The Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) were employed to analyze the participants’ attachment patterns as well as the experienced difficulties in regard to emotion regulation. In terms of the quantitative analysis, correlation and regression analyses were used to compare the screen time, childhood trauma, and the effect of these parameters on different types of attachment and on the quality of emotional regulation. Present research evidence suggests direct positive correlations between screen time and childhood trauma, as well as insecure adult attachment patterns, respectively. These findings suggest the desirability of early efforts to target the duration of screen time as well as childhood maltreatment in order to enhance healthy attachment and cope with negative emotions at an adult age.

The impact of artistic sports on academic self-efficacy

IntroductionArtistic sports have a more positive impact on adolescents on the basis of basic sports. This study delves into the beneficial effects of Artistic sports compared to basic sports in enhancing academic self-efficacy in college students, and investigates the mediating roles of mindfulness, social anxiety, and academic procrastination in this process.MethodsA questionnaire survey was conducted among students in some universities in Gansu Province, collecting a total of 1,976 online questionnaires, including 263 males and 1,713 females, with 1,543 participants in Artistic sports courses and 433 participants in basic sports. Data processing was carried out using SPSS 26.0 software and its plugin PROCESS.ResultsThe analysis results indicate significant differences in mindfulness, social anxiety, academic procrastination, and academic self-efficacy among different types of sports training (ps &amp;lt; 0.05); significant correlations were found among all variables (ps &amp;lt; 0.001). Sports training types can directly predict academic self-efficacy (β = 0.069, t = 3.155, p &amp;lt; 0.01), further confirming that sports training types can directly predict academic self-efficacy. Moreover, mindfulness, social anxiety, and academic procrastination play a chain mediating role between Artistic sports and academic self-efficacy.DiscussionThese findings highlight the potential value of Artistic sports in enhancing academic self-efficacy and provide practical guidance for education policymakers, school administrators, teachers, parents, and students to promote adolescent academic and psychological health development. It is recommended to enhance the promotion and training of Artistic sports.

Beyond the disclosure debate in donor-conception: how do we help families to discuss origin stories with their children?

Families have been subject to enormous transformations with the emergence of artificial reproductive technology and the appearance of donor-conceived children. These new families are challenged to disclose origins with their children and parents feel concern that conception stories might have an emotional impact on their children. Fertility counsellors still feel ill-equipped on what to recommend to parents because developmental psychology has not designed systematic evidence-based guidelines to address a three-dimensional matter: 'what', 'when', and 'how' to discuss conception stories. The argument developed herein is that professionals working with families in fertility clinics, could benefit from understanding these new family conversational processes of origin storytelling from these three perspectives, not only on 'what' and 'when' but also on the less elaborated 'how' to talk about it. For this purpose, understanding elaborative reminiscing as a specific way of talking about the past that helps children to build autobiographical memories and develop their identity might be key.

Maternal education and prenatal smoking associations with adolescent executive function are substantially confounded by genetics.

Twin studies have suggested extremely high estimates of heritability for adolescent executive function, with no substantial contributions from shared environment. However, developmental psychology research has found significant correlations between executive function outcomes and elements of the environment that would be shared in twins. It is unclear whether these seemingly contradictory findings are best explained by genetic confounding in developmental studies or limitations in twin studies, which can potentially underestimate shared environment. In this study, we use genetic and phenotypic data from 5,939 participants, 4,827 participant mothers, and 2,903 participant fathers in the Millennium cohort to examine the role of genetics in explaining common environmental associations with executive function, assessed by the spatial working memory (SWM) task and Cambridge Gambling task. Bivariate genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA) revealed that single-nucleotide polymorphism effects were the sole significant predictor of the association between SWM and both maternal education and prenatal smoking. maternal GCTA and trioGCTA also found no significant evidence of indirect genetic effects on SWM, indicating that genetic nurture is unlikely to explain the bivariate GCTA results. The Cambridge Gambling task showed no significant single-nucleotide polymorphism heritability, suggesting that genetic influences on hot executive function may differ significantly from those on cool executive function. This study supports the twin study claim that the working memory component of executive function is primarily a genetic trait with minimal influence from shared environment, emphasizing the importance of using genetically sensitive designs to ensure that genetic confounding does not falsely inflate estimates of environmental influences on traits. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Famous at five: risk assessing digital child labour

ABSTRACT Commercialised representations of children and babies have been normalised as content on social media platforms in the same way as child models and actors have in traditional media. This paper explores the impact of this workload on children in practice, evidencing a range of potential risks of harm which are not currently provided for in policy or practice. This paper synthesises approaches to parental digital sharing (sharenting) alongside child labour considerations in order to analyse this legal lacuna, which is not constituted within any privacy, child labour, or child online safety laws within the UK. It proposes that pre-existing legal frameworks cannot effectively address these risks, which extend beyond issues surrounding data protection and financial security, and include impacts on children’s identity, dignity, and psychological development. This paper suggests alternative contemporary approaches to policy and practice, which could provide new and enhanced safeguarding processes for children working in digital spaces.

Quality of life assessment after minimally invasive operative treatment in children with pectus excavatum: A single-center study and literature review.

Most patients with chest wall deformities have a negative body image, which affects their self-esteem and quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in patients' QoL after minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum (MIRPE). A prospective, single-center study was conducted between 2019 and 2023. We included 20 pediatric patients at a median age of 15 years and 9 months who underwent MIRPE. Two QoL questionnaires were used: the KIDSCREEN-52 and the EQ-5D-Y. The data were statistically analyzed with the Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests. All patients and their parents were asked to complete questionnaires preoperatively and 12 months after surgical treatment. All patients were followed up during the 12-month study period. The study group was comprised of 65% male patients. The median Haller index was 5.0 standard deviation (SD) = 1.58). The assessment of general health condition was higher among the boys (with postoperative improvement), though this finding was not statistically significant. Routine daily activities were easier for all patients after MIRPE (p = 0.048). The patients showed improved physical activity (p = 0.038) and psychological wellbeing (p = 0.013) after elevation of the anterior chest wall. There was no impact on relations with parents, free time or school environment, but we found better patient contact with peers in the postoperative period. A high correlation was confirmed between the parents' and the patients' responses in each questionnaire. Chest wall deformities can have a strong impact on the patient's wellbeing, which is a very important part of psychological development in adolescents. Our study showed that improved QoL should be always considered as an indication for surgical treatment of chest wall deformities in children.

Larry l. Jacoby (1944-2024).

Memorializes Larry L. Jacoby (1944-2024), a pioneering cognitive psychologist, who passed away in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 15, 2024. Jacoby earned his undergraduate degree at Washburn University, where he took pride in being a football lineman and met his lifelong partner, Carole. He pursued graduate studies at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, earning both his MA and PhD under the supervision of Robert Radtke (in 1970). Larry began his academic career at Iowa State before spending nearly 25 years at McMaster University. He later held positions at the University of Utah and New York University, and he served as the David Wechsler chair at the University of Texas at Austin. He concluded his career at Washington University in St. Louis, where he was a faculty member for nearly 2 decades before retiring. Larry was best known for his innovative research on unconscious influences on memory, memory attributions, and the effects of cognitive aging on memory. In the late 1980s, he introduced the "logic of opposition," an innovative method for examining unconscious, automatic processes. This research culminated in the development of the "process dissociation procedure" in 1991, a highly influential method that quantifies the separate contributions of conscious recollection and familiarity-based responses during task performance. His impact extended broadly to fields such as cognitive neuroscience and social, personality, and developmental psychology. Larry's contributions were recognized with numerous accolades, including the William James Fellow Award from the Association for Psychological Science and the Norman Anderson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Experimental Psychologists. His impact on the field continues through the work of his many close colleagues and a generation of researchers he thoughtfully mentored. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Language style (mis)matching: Consuming entertainment media from someone unlike you is linked to positive attitudes

Prior work suggests people often match with conversational partners by using a common rate of style words (e.g., articles, pronouns). Indeed, such language style matching (LSM) has associated positively with downstream social and psychological dynamics like cooperation, liking, and well-being. To what degree is LSM predictive of positive attitudes in entertainment media settings? The current two-study paper addressed this question by collecting participants’ writing style with three diverse prompts, and then having them consume a random selection of TED talks (Study 1) and videotaped podcast narratives (Study 2). The evidence suggested less LSM was associated with positive attitudes (e.g., an interest in watching another video by the speaker, feeling connected to the speaker). Mediation analyses revealed the negative relationship between LSM and positive attitudes was explained by one’s novelty need satisfaction. Implications for LSM research, plus character construction and narrative development in media psychology, are discussed.

Психологические аспекты восприятия человеком городской среды в контексте устойчивого развития

The aim of this study is to examine the theoretical concepts of research on the formation of urban environment perception psychology. The study employs an interdisciplinary approach that combines theoretical developments in environmental psychology, urban psychology, architectural psychology, and urban studies. The primary research methods include the analysis and systematization of scientific literature, comparative analysis, and synthesis. The study demonstrates the relationship between urban environment characteristics, psychological mechanisms of human adaptation to these characteristics, and the level of psychological well-being of urban residents. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of various urban environment factors on human psyche and offers practical recommendations for applying knowledge about the peculiarities of human spatial perception to create a more comfortable and psychologically favorable urban environment. The research results can be used to develop theoretical concepts on the interaction between humans and the urban environment, particularly to refine and develop the concept of psychological resilience and adaptation in urbanization conditions, as well as to develop new methods and approaches to studying urban space perception. Conclusions are drawn that human perception of the urban environment is complex and multifactorial, determined by both the objective characteristics of the city and the individual psychological characteristics of the person. Furthermore, there is a need to develop new approaches to urban environment design and development, based on considering human psychological needs and aimed at improving their well-being.