Children's Decisions Research Articles

Childhood Vaccination Decisions during the Pandemic: Tradition, Generational Influence, and Spiritual Perspectives

Background: Vaccination is an attempt to form active immunity in an individual. Vaccination is carried out as a preventive measure against infection, both in adults and children. This study aims to determine the effect of parental attitudes, generational influenced, and spiritual contexts on children's vaccination decisions, in this case, the COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional online survey method, with parents who have children aged 6–11 and willing to take part in this study as respondents. Data collection was carried out from November 2022 to April 2023. There were 66 participants who met the criteria, and then an analysis was carried out using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) method, which was processed using Partial Least squares (PLS). Results: According to research findings, parents' points of view play an important role in deciding whether to vaccinate their child or not. Up to 58% of respondents said they support vaccinating their children, in this case with the COVID-19 vaccination. Conclussion: Parental attitudes of vaccination in children in this research is strongly influenced by parents' views, so the right approach is needed for parents for the successful implementation of vaccination in children. Other influential factors are spiritual context and generational influence from family regarding COVID-19.

‘The voice of the child? The child has no voice’: an Irish study exploring the voice of young children in decisions regarding contact

Since January 2016, Irish family law courts have been obliged to take into consideration the voices of children in proceedings where decisions regarding contact with parents are being made. This article examines the findings of an Irish study that shed light on how young children’s voices are heard in decisions regarding contact with parents who do not, or no longer, live together. The views of key stakeholders who have some involvement with contact arrangements for young children in the 0–6 years age category are highlighted. A thematic analysis of the data was conducted in order to understand various perspectives on how and under what circumstances young children are heard in contact cases. The findings demonstrate that the voices of young children are virtually absent in family law decisions regarding contact. Determining factors relate to the infrastructure of the courts, a significant lack of resources to support the Irish family law system and significant variation in practice approaches between social and legal professionals. As a result of these findings, suggestions are proposed for informing practice and improving service delivery in family law in a way that best meets the needs and rights of young children.

KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF URBAN AND RURAL MOTHER IN AL MUKALLA CITY ABOUT VACCINATION, 2023

Vaccination is a critical public health strategy for preventing infectious diseases in children, yet vaccine hesitancy remains a significant challenge, particularly among mothers who influence their children's health decisions. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of mothers in urban and rural areas of Al-Mukalla, Yemen, regarding childhood vaccinations. A total of 581 women with at least one child under five participated, with data collected on their knowledge, sources of information, and attitudes towards vaccination. Results indicated that urban mothers had a higher level of awareness regarding the importance of vaccination compared to their rural counterparts, with 76% of rural mothers lacking knowledge about its significance. Urban mothers primarily relied on media (71%) and doctors (56%) as information sources, while rural mothers depended more on societal channels. Moreover, urban mothers demonstrated a more positive attitude towards vaccination, in contrast to the skepticism observed among rural mothers, influenced by cultural beliefs and misinformation. The findings highlight a critical need for targeted educational interventions to address knowledge gaps and enhance vaccine uptake, particularly in rural communities, ultimately aiming to improve child health outcomes in the region.

An Application of The Theory of Planned Behaviour: Factors Influencing Parental Decision on Children Involvment in Out-Of-School Music Education

In China's music education and training industry, the exploration of parents' and children's educational decisions on the demand side of the market is crucial to the healthy functioning of the music education market. The current study applies TPB theory and modelling to investigate the factors influencing parental decision-making in children's out-of-school music education participation. The study was conducted in Henan Province, China, with a sample of 650 parents from 21 music education institutions in seven cities in Henan Province. The results of data analyses showed that parental ATT, SN, and PBC all had significant positive effects on PI. PBC directly affected PD, while PI was the most significant influence on PD.

Understanding explore-exploit dynamics in child development: current insights and future directions

Examining children's decisions to explore or exploit the environment provides a window into their developing metacognition and reflection capacities. Reinforcement learning, characterized by the balance between exploring new options (exploration) and utilizing known ones (exploitation), is central to this discussion. Children initially exhibit broad and intensive exploration, which gradually shifts toward exploitation as they grow. We review major theories and empirical findings, highlighting two main exploration strategies: random and directed. The former involves stochastic choices without considering information or rewards, while the latter is driven by reducing uncertainty for information gain. Behavioral tasks such as n-armed bandit, horizon, and patch foraging tasks are used to study these strategies. Findings on the n-armed bandit and horizon tasks showed mixed results on whether random exploration decreases over time. Directed exploration consistently decreases with age, but its emergence depends on task difficulty. In patch-foraging tasks, adults tend to overexploit (staying too long in one patch) and children overexplore (leaving too early), whereas adolescents display the most optimal balance. The paper also addresses open questions regarding the mechanisms supporting early exploration and the application of these strategies in real-life contexts like persistence. Future research should further investigate the relation between cognitive control, such as executive function and metacognition, and explore-exploit strategies, and examine their practical implications for adaptive learning and decision-making in children.

Of popsicles and crackers: when spatio-temporal memory is not integrated into children's decision-making.

Prior research has used innovative paradigms to show that some non-human animal species demonstrate behavioural choices (i.e. foraging for a food item at a specific location, and at a time that guarantees it has not yet decayed), reflecting episodic-like or 'WWW' memory (memory for 'what' happened, 'where' and 'when'). These results raised the question of whether similar approaches could be used to examine memory in young children in order to reduce verbal demands. The present research examines the extent to which children's WWW memory aligns with memory-based choices in 3- to 5-year-olds (n = 95; study 1) and in 7- to 11-year-olds and adults (n = 168; study 2). Results indicate that preschoolers' struggle with choice-based tasks probably reflects difficulty integrating their WWW memory with an understanding that certain items decay over time. Moreover, a convergence between verbal recall measures and choice-based measures is observable in 7-year-olds and beyond, reflecting a stronger integration of memory signals, understanding of state transformation, and decision-making. This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'.

In Spiderman we trust: The influence of familiar media characters on the decision-making of primary school children

Children are increasingly active consumers in the media world and are thus confronted with a wide range of information. Making good decisions in such an environment is a major challenge. Weighting valid information in decision-making is an important skill that children must learn and apply. Yet, how do children weight information and which weights do they use? We developed a measuring instrument for children's weighting of advices by cue validity – the so-called Space Treasure Hunt. It is an easy to understand, child-friendly decision game. By anchoring it in the reality of children's media lives, we are able to assess the influence of familiarity and affect on children's decision making. During a treasure hunt in game situated in outer space, children are confronted with various characters who provide contradictory advice regarding where to find treasures. One of the advice-givers was an expert (valid cue), whereas the other advice-giver varied in terms of its media familiarity and affect. In our study (N = 372), we found that media familiar characters had a strong influence on children's decision-making. Media idols showed an assimilation effect, meaning that children followed the expert's advice the least often when it contradicted their media idol. Conversely, media familiar but less liked characters showed a contrast effect, meaning that children followed the expert's advice most often when it contradicted the media familiar, less liked character. Moreover, we found differences between children in terms of a three-way split: One third of the children, respectively, systematically followed the expert's advice, the media idol, or made their decisions unsystematically. We discuss how our results indicate the use of different weights in children's decision making.

Factors Influencing Feeding Decisions in Children With Bronchiolitis on High-Flow Nasal Cannula.

High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is used in up to 50% of children admitted with bronchiolitis. Consensus recommendations for feeding these children have not been established, and there is variability in practice. We sought to identify factors influencing feeding decisions for general care patients admitted with bronchiolitis on HFNC from a national sample of interdisciplinary care team members. In this qualitative study, we conducted semi-structured virtual interviews with care team members involved in making feeding decisions at 10 US hospitals from June 2022 to March 2023. Eligible participants included 1 nurse, respiratory therapist, speech language pathologist, and physician from each site. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and conducted until reaching sufficiency. Three researchers analyzed transcript data using content analysis guided by the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety 2.0 model. We interviewed 29 participants, including 19 nurses, respiratory therapists, and speech language pathologists and 10 physicians. Participants identified 11 factors influencing feeding decisions related to hospital work systems and processes outlined in the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model, including people (child and parent characteristics, care team experience), tools and technology (guideline, protocol, ordersets), organization (institutional culture, education), environment (time of day, care location), task (interventions to optimize feeding), and process (clinical assessment, feeding trial, communication). Our findings suggest that feeding decisions are driven by factors related to the child, care team experience, institutional tools, and culture. These key factors may inform local improvement efforts to decrease variation in feeding children with bronchiolitis requiring HFNC.

Using a participatory action research approach to explore, understand and evaluate well-being among children living in socially deprived areas in Southern Sweden: a study protocol

IntroductionResearch suggests that participating in after-school leisure activities has been related to promoting health, well-being and safety among children living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The United Nations Child Rights Convention emphasises...

Visual processing and decision-making in autism and dyslexia: Insights from cross-syndrome approaches.

Atypical visual processing has been reported in developmental conditions like autism and dyslexia, and some accounts propose a causal role for visual processing in the development of these conditions. However, few studies make direct comparisons between conditions, or use sufficiently sensitive methods, meaning that it is hard to say whether atypical visual processing tells us anything specific about these conditions, or whether it reflects a more general marker of atypical development. Here I review findings from two computational modelling approaches (equivalent noise and diffusion modelling) and related electroencephalography (EEG) indices which we have applied to data from autistic, dyslexic and typically developing children to reveal how the component processes involved in visual processing and decision-making are altered in autism and dyslexia. The results identify both areas of convergence and divergence in autistic and dyslexic children's visual processing and decision-making, with implications for influential theoretical accounts such as weak central coherence, increased internal noise, and dorsal-stream vulnerability. In both sets of studies, we also see considerable variability across children in all three groups. To better understand this variability, and further understand the convergence and divergence identified between conditions, future studies would benefit from studying how the component processes reviewed here relate to transdiagnostic dimensions, which will also give insights into individual differences in visual processing and decision-making more generally.

Time pressure increases children's aversion to advantageous inequity.

The relative contribution of intuitive and reflective cognitive systems in cooperative decision making is a topic of hot debate. Research with adults suggests that intuition often favors cooperation, but these effects are contextually sensitive. Emerging evidence has shown that in many contexts children show a tendency toward intuitive cooperation, but research investigating these processes in children is sparse and has produced mixed findings. In the current study we investigated the influence of intuitive and reflective decision processes on children's fairness behavior by manipulating decision time. We tested (N = 158) pairs of children between 4 and 10 years of age from a rural community in Canada. Children's decisions to accept or reject allocations of candies were either made under time pressure or after a 10-s delay. We assessed the impact of decision time on children's aversion to inequitable distributions of resources by comparing their responses to equal allocations with either disadvantageous allocations or advantageous allocations. We found that children showed a greater age-related increase in advantageous inequity aversion when decisions were made under time pressure compared to when they were made after a delay. In contrast, we did not observe a significant impact of decision time on the development of disadvantageous inequity aversion. These findings suggest that intuitive decision processes may contribute to the development of fairness concerns in middle childhood.

Impact of Parenting Patterns Against Early Marriage

This article explores the impact that parents' parenting styles have on the tendency for early marriage in their children. In-depth research has revealed that parents' approach to raising children can have a major influence on children's perspectives, decisions and attitudes towards marriage in the future. From a rigid authoritarian parenting style to a supportive authoritative approach, as well as a permissive parenting style that tends to be loose, this article discusses how each of these parenting styles can shape a child's view of the institution of marriage. The analysis also includes the influence of family communication, the values that instilled, as well as the level of parental involvement in the child's life regarding marriage preparations. A number of relevant studies and scientific findings will be described to support the claim that parenting styles play a crucial role in encouraging or inhibiting the tendency for early marriage. This article seeks to provide a better understanding of how parental parenting styles can form the basis of children's decisions regarding marriage. The conclusion of this article provides in-depth thoughts about efforts that can be made, both in family education and parental guidance, to form parenting patterns that support their children to make more mature marriage decisions in the future.

Learning to Trust Yourself: Decision-Making Skills Among Parents of Children With Medical Complexity

ContextChildren with medical complexity have substantial medical needs and their caregivers must make many challenging decisions about their care. Caregivers often become more involved in decisions over time, but it is unclear what skills they develop that facilitate this engagement. ObjectivesTo describe the skills that caregivers developed as they gained experience making medical decisions. MethodsEligible caregivers had a child who met referral criteria for their centre's Complex Care program for >1 year, were adults responsible for their child's medical decisions, and spoke English or a language with an available interpreter. We followed a semistructured interview guide to ask caregivers to describe and reflect on two challenging medical decisions that they made for their child—one early and one recent. Guided by interpretive description, we identified and refined themes in an iterative process. ResultsWe conducted 15 interviews with 16 parents (14 [88%] women, two [13%] men) of a child with medical complexity (aged 1–17 years). Parents described 1) becoming more adept at managing decisional information, 2) recognizing the influence of the decision's context, 3) building stronger relationships with providers, and 4) becoming more effective at guiding their child's care as a decision-maker. As parents built these skills, they developed a greater sense of agency and confidence as decision-makers. ConclusionParents of children with medical complexity change how they approach decision making over time as they acquire relevant skills. These findings can inform the development of interventions to support skill-building among new caregivers.

Applying Justice Aspects as an Impact of Emergence of Judicial Review Decisions in Children's Cases Against the Law

The study aims to describe the emergence of aspects of justice in juvenile crimes in decision number 131/PK/Pid.Sus/2015. This descriptive study uses a normative juridical approach. The data source is secondary data in the form of Judicial Review Decision Number 131/PK/Pid.Sus/2015 used library data collection methods, which were then analysed using qualitative methods with deductive logic. Based on the discussion carried out, it can be seen that the emergence of aspects of justice for children dealing with the law who are victims of wrongful arrest due to new evidence, so that the trial process from the beginning cannot bring up aspects of distributive justice by the state before the emergence of Judicial Review Decision Number 131/PK/Pid.Sus/2015, in which the panel of judges made mistakes in the first level process so that the justice that the child should have obtained is new. In addition, to provide distributive justice if there is a wrong arrest, new evidence that appears takes time. Keywords: Wrongful arrest; Juvenile justice; Law enforcement.

Developmental differences in children and adults' enforcement of explore versus exploit search strategies in the United States and Turkey.

Across development, as children acquire a deeper understanding of their environment, they explore less and take advantage, or "exploit," what they already know. Here, we test whether children also enforce exploration-oriented search behaviors onto others. Specifically, we ask whether children are more likely to encourage a search agent to explore versus exploit their environment, and whether this pattern varies across childhood (between 3 and 6 years). We also ask whether this pattern differs between children and adults, and generalizes across two different sociocultural contexts-Turkey and the United States-that differ on dimensions that might relate to children's decisions about exploration (e.g., curiosity-focused educational practices, attitudes toward uncertainty avoidance). Participants (N=358) watched an agent search for rewards and were asked at various points whether the agent should "stay" (exploit) in their current location, or "go" (explore) to a new location. At all points in the experiment, children enforced exploration significantly more often than adults. Early in the agent's search, children in the US enforced exploration more often than children in Turkey; later in the search, younger children (from both sociocultural contexts) were more likely to continue enforcing exploration compared to older children. These findings highlight that children are not only highly exploratory themselves, but also enforce exploration onto others-underscoring the central role that exploration plays in driving early cognitive development across diverse sociocultural contexts. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: The current study examined developmental and cross-cultural differences in children and adults' enforcement of explore-exploit search strategies. Children in the US and Turkey enforced exploration more than adults, who enforced exploitation more often; results were generally consistent across cultures with small differences. Mirroring developmental changes in children's own search behavior; the tendency to enforce exploration decreased between 3- to 6-years of age. Findings underscore the central role of an "exploration mindset" in children's early decision-making-even when exploration has no direct benefits to the child themselves.

An Insight into Knowledge, Perspective, and Practices of Indian Optometrists towards Childhood Myopia.

The current understanding of clinical approaches and barriers in managing childhood myopia among Indian optometrists is limited. This research underscores the necessity and relevance of evidence-based practice guidelines by exploring their knowledge, attitude, and practice towards childhood myopia. A self-administered internet-based 26-item survey was circulated online among practicing optometrists in India. The questions assessed the demographics, knowledge, self-reported clinical practice behavior, barriers, source of information guiding their management, and extent of adult caregiver engagement for childhood myopia. Of 393 responses, a significant proportion of respondents (32.6-92.4%) were unaware of the ocular complications associated with high myopia, with less than half (46.5%) routinely performing ocular biometry in clinical practice. Despite the growing awareness of emerging myopia management options, the uptake remains generally poor, with single-vision distance full-correction spectacles (70.3%) being the most common mode of vision correction. Barriers to adopting optimal myopia care are medicolegal concerns, absence of clinical practice guidelines, and inadequate consultation time. Own clinical experience and original research articles were the primary sources of information supporting clinical practice. Most (>70%) respondents considered involving the adult caregiver in their child's clinical decision-making process. While practitioners' awareness and activity of newer myopia management strategies are improving, there is plenty of scope for its enhancement. The importance of evidence-based practice guidelines and continuing education on myopia control might help practitioners enhance their clinical decision-making skills.

Our business, not the robot's: family conversations about privacy with social robots in the home.

The targeted use of social robots for the family demands a better understanding of multiple stakeholders' privacy concerns, including those of parents and children. Through a co-learning workshop which introduced families to the functions and hypothetical use of social robots in the home, we present preliminary evidence from 6 families that exhibits how parents and children have different comfort levels with robots collecting and sharing information across different use contexts. Conversations and booklet answers reveal that parents adopted their child's decision in scenarios where they expect children to have more agency, such as in cases of homework completion or cleaning up toys, and when children proposed what their parents found to be acceptable reasoning for their decisions. Families expressed relief when they shared the same reasoning when coming to conclusive decisions, signifying an agreement of boundary management between the robot and the family. In cases where parents and children did not agree, they rejected a binary, either-or decision and opted for a third type of response, reflecting skepticism, uncertainty and/or compromise. Our work highlights the benefits of involving parents and children in child- and family-centered research, including parental abilities to provide cognitive scaffolding and personalize hypothetical scenarios for their children.

Giving children pocket money to help them understand economic principles in personal budget management and reduce gender gaps in financial matters: Does it work?

AbstractMost children who receive pocket money have no idea how to manage it as they have never been taught financial literacy. However, the existing literature does not focus on the level of financial education and guidance children receive or the degree to which parents supervise their children in making decisions about pocket money. This research aims to fill the gap. This study focuses on the financial decisions of children aged 12–16, comparing 105 parent–child dyads in which the child gets pocket money to 101 parent–child dyads in which the child does not get pocket money. The study's results demonstrate that, unlike previous studies, getting pocket money has no impact on children's excessive consumption of fast food and sweets, whereas society's impact on children's consumer decisions increases when they are given pocket money. In contrast, if children believe their parents make good financial decisions and if parents share the household financial decisions with them, children will make better financial decisions themselves. In addition, consistent with previous research, girls – more than boys – see themselves as influenced by their friends in the context of consumer decisions and perceive of themselves as excessive consumers. Implications for parents as well as government policy are discussed.

Relationship between perception of resource inequality and children's and adolescents' resource allocation decision: a protocol for systematic review and narrative synthesis

Social inequalities are worsened by the decision about how resources are to be allocated. Considering that children and adolescents are likely to become future leaders and decision-makers, understanding which principles they follow regarding resource allocation in situations of inequality is crucial. This paper aims at presenting a protocol for systematic review of the relationship between perception of resource inequality and allocation decisions made by children and adolescents. Method: A systematic search will be conducted in the PsycINFO, PsycArticles, Web of Science (Core Collections), Scopus, ERIC and LILACS databases. The paper will also include empirical studies from the authors’ personal files, studies obtained through contact with the main authors of the articles included, and through backward and forward snowballing. The studies’ quality will be assessed using the Quality Assessment with Diverse Studies (QuADS). Finally, a narrative synthesis will be conducted to review and synthesize data. This protocol was outlined following the PRISMA-P guidelines. The protocol is registered at the Open Science Framework (OSF) under the code DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/D96MY. The systematic review will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, and will be reported according to the PRISMA 2020 reporting guidelines. Discussion: The results of this review will be relevant to policy makers, decision-makers, educators, and researchers.

Empowering Children's Decision-Making: The Transformative Role of Mindful Parenting - A Systematic Review

Empowering Children's Decision-Making: The Transformative Role of Mindful Parenting - A Systematic Review