Kindergartens In Shanghai Research Articles

Parental Feeding Practices, Weight Perception, and Children's Appetitive Traits Are Associated with Weight Trajectories in Preschoolers: A Longitudinal Study in China.

This study aimed to examine the trajectories of body mass index-for-age z-score (BAZ) in preschoolers and its association with parental feeding practices, weight perception, and children's appetitive traits. A total of 433 preschoolers and their parents from eight public kindergartens in Shanghai were assessed annually over two years. A group-based trajectory model was employed to identify distinct BAZ patterns. Logistic regression was utilized to investigate the baseline factors associated with the BAZ trajectories. Three distinct BAZ trajectories were identified among the preschoolers: "low-stable group" (n = 154, 37.3%), "moderate-stable group" (n = 214, 47.3%), and "progressive overweight and obesity group" (n = 65, 15.4%). The children perceived as overweight and obese by parents (OR = 10.57, 95% CI: 4.89-22.86), and those with lower satiety responsiveness at baseline (OR = 0.86, 95%CI: 0.76-0.97) were more likely to fall into the progressive overweight and obesity group as opposed to the moderate-stable group. Conversely, the children perceived as underweight by parents (OR = 457, 95%CI: 2.71-7.70) had a higher likelihood of being in the low-stable group rather than the moderate-stable group. This study unveiled three unique body weight trajectories among preschool children. Parental perception of children's weight and lower satiety responsiveness were associated with preschoolers' subsequent weight change, while parental feeding practices were not associated.

Child emotional problems: Associations with maternal distress and parenting practices

AbstractObjectiveThe primary aim of the present study was to explore the associations among COVID‐19 distress, maternal parenting practices (e.g., adaptive and maladaptive parenting), COVID‐19 exposure, and emotional problems of preschoolers (ages 3 to 6) in Chinese culture.BackgroundIn the current study, we focused on Shanghai kindergarteners who, due to the complete COVID‐19 citywide lockdown, experienced an interruption in learning and social interaction.MethodParticipants were 382 mothers of children (Mage = 5.49 years, SD = 0.62; 53.4% boys) from one kindergarten in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Upon obtaining consent, mothers completed the measures (administered via an online survey website) of COVID‐19 exposure, COVID‐19 distress, and maternal parenting practices and child's emotional problems.ResultsOur main finding showed that the relation between COVID‐19 exposure and children's emotional problems is serially explained by COVID‐19 distress and maladaptive parenting.ConclusionThe COVID‐19 pandemic has induced and exacerbated a variety of stressors that impact mothers' parenting behavior, which in turn exacerbated child emotional problems.ImplicationsThis research adds to our understanding of the negative impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on Chinese families.

Latent profiles of multi-dimensional sleep characteristics and association with overweight/obesity in Chinese preschool children

ObjectivesTo examine the association between latent profiles of multi-dimensional sleep characteristics and overweight/obesity (OWO) in Chinese preschool children. Study designThe cross-sectional analysis included 3204 preschool children recruited from 24 kindergartens in Shanghai. Parents reported children's demographics and sleep characteristics, including sleep duration, timing and disturbances. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify sleep subtypes. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between sleep characteristics/subtypes and OWO. ResultsShort sleep duration, late bedtime, long social jetlag and sleep disturbances were significantly associated with increased OWO. However, when considering the interplay of sleep duration and timing, there was no significant association between sleep duration and OWO for children sleeping later than 22:00. Three sleep subtypes were identified based on children's sleep duration, timing and disturbances: "Average Sleepers" (n = 2107, 65.8 %), "Good Sleepers" (n = 481, 15.0 %), and "Poor Sleepers" (n = 616, 19.2 %). "Good Sleepers" had reduced odds of being OWO (AOR, 0.72; 95 % CI, 0.56–0.93) compared to "Average Sleepers", while "Poor Sleepers" showed an increased risk of OWO (AOR, 1.36; 95 % CI, 1.11–1.67). ConclusionsThese findings highlight that improving multiple sleep characteristics simultaneously is a promising option to prevent and intervene childhood obesity.

Parent-Child Relationships: A Shield Against Maternal Depression in the Midst of Household Chaos.

Depression, a severe mental disorder, not only jeopardizes the health of mothers but also significantly negative impacts on families and their children. This study investigates the correlation between household chaos and maternal depression. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and used the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Parent-Child Relationship Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory to assess 1947 mothers of children in seven kindergartens in Shanghai, China. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between household chaos, marital conflict, and maternal depression. Marital conflict also showed a significantly positively correlated with maternal depression. Marital conflict mediates the relationship between household chaos and maternal depression. Parent-child relationships moderated the direct effect of household chaos on maternal depression. When parent-child relationships were low, household chaos had a greater predictive effect on maternal depression. Conversely, when parent-child relationships were high, the predictive effect of household chaos on maternal depression was reduced. This study reveals that parent-child relationships play a protective role in the impact of household chaos on maternal depression. This study significantly contributes to enriching the social support buffering model.

Unsociability and social adjustment in Chinese preschool migrant children: the moderating role of receptive vocabulary.

Peer relationships play an indispensable role in the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children. However, children exhibiting social withdrawal, such as unsociability, may face challenges in social adjustment. In collectivistic cultures like China, unsociability may be perceived negatively, aligning poorly with collective norms. The objective of the present investigation was to examine the associations between unsociability, receptive vocabulary, and indicators of social adjustment in a cohort of young migrant children residing in urban regions of mainland China. The study mainly aimed to investigate the potential moderating influence of receptive language on these associations. The study involved 148 young children (82 boys, 66 girls, Mage = 62.32 months, SD = 6.76) enrolled in preschools or kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Multiple sources of assessment were utilized, encompassing evaluations from mothers (about child unsociability), teacher (assessing social adjustment), and standardized tests (measuring receptive vocabulary). The results indicated that the relations between unsociability and peer exclusion were more positive among children with lower levels of receptive vocabulary but not significant for children with higher levels of receptive vocabulary. Similarly, the relations between unsociability and peer exclusion were more negative among children with lower levels of receptive vocabulary but not significant for children with higher levels of receptive vocabulary. Thus, this study informs us about how receptive vocabulary is jointly associated with unsociable children's development. As well, the findings highlight the importance of considering the meaning and implication of unsociability in Chinese culture.

Callous-unemotional behaviors and conduct problems in Chinese preschoolers: the moderating roles of surgency and gender.

Conduct problems in children are related to callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors. However, results of the relationships between CU behaviors and conduct problems among preschoolers mainly focused on Western countries, no studies have examined whether CU behaviors predict conduct problem in Chinese preschoolers. The primary objective of the current study therefore was to examine the associations between CU behaviors and conduct problems as well as the moderating effects of surgency and child gender in Chinese preschool children. The present study randomly selected 2,154 children (1,043 boys, Mage = 56 months, SD = 10.47) from six kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Mothers rated children's surgency and teachers reported children's CU behaviors and conduct problems. Results demonstrated that CU behaviors were positively associated with conduct problems. Surgency and child gender significantly moderated these associations. Specifically, CU behaviors were positively associated with conduct problems, with a stronger effect found for high levels of surgency. CU behaviors had a positive association with conduct problems, with a stronger effect found for boys. This study indicate that temperament and gender characteristics influence conduct problems in preschoolers who exhibit high levels of CU behaviors. As well, the findings emphasize the significance of considering the meaning and implication of CU behaviors in Chinese culture.

Parental involvement and Chinese children’s cognitive and social-emotional school readiness: Differential effects across family socioeconomic status

Children’s school readiness skills are strong predictors of their academic achievement in later schooling. This study examined the relationship between multiple types of parental involvement (i.e. home-based involvement, school-based involvement and home-school conferencing) and Chinese children’s cognitive and social-emotional school readiness as well as the moderating role of family socioeconomic status (SES) in these associations. A total of 311 parents (Mage = 35.50 years, SD = 3.60) and their five to six years old children (Mage = 5.53 years, SD = .50), from four kindergartens in Shanghai, China participated in this study. Results indicated that Chinese parental involvement had a stronger relationship with children’s cognitive readiness than social-emotional readiness. Home-based involvement was more related to children’s cognitive and social-emotional school readiness than school-based involvement and home-school conferencing. Family SES moderated the relationship between home-based involvement and home-school conferencing and children’s cognitive and social-emotional school readiness. Home-based involvement was more strongly related to low-SES children’s cognitive and social-emotional readiness and home-school conferencing was more strongly related to low-SES children’s cognitive readiness compared with their high-SES peers. Implications for research, practice and policy are discussed.

Establishment of noncycloplegic methods for screening myopia and pre-myopia in preschool children.

Pre-myopia, a non-myopic refractive state, is a key concern for myopia prevention because of its association with a significantly higher risk of myopia in children under 3 years of age. Amid the myopia pandemic, its onset at younger ages is increasing, yet research on screening methods for myopia and pre-myopia in preschool children remains limited. This study aimed to establish effective noncycloplegic screening methods for myopia and pre-myopia in preschool children. This cross-sectional study included 16 kindergartens in Shanghai, China. Uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) was recorded using a logMAR visual acuity chart. Pre- and post-cycloplegic refractions were obtained using an auto-refractor (TopconKR-800). Noncycloplegic axial length (AL) and corneal curvature radius (CR) were measured using the IOL Master-700. Logistic regression models were developed to establish accurate noncycloplegic screening methods for myopia and pre-myopia. A total of 1,308 children with a mean age of 4.3 ± 0.9 years were included; among them 640 (48.9%) were girls. The myopia prevalence rate was 2.8% (n = 36), and the prevalence of pre-myopia was 21.9% (n = 286). Pre-myopia screening (cycloplegic spherical equivalent [SE] ≤ -0.5 < SE ≤0.75 diopters [D]) using UDVA exhibited an area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 0.52, noncycloplegic SE had an AUC of 0.70 and AL had an AUC of 0.63. The accuracy of combining the SE and AL/CR ratio was among the best with the least number of checks used, and the AUC was 0.74 for pre-myopia screening and 0.94 for myopia screening (cycloplegic SE ≤ -0.5 D). The addition of UDVA did not further improve the accuracy. Using UDVA alone did not achieve good accuracy in pre-myopia or myopia screening of young children. Under non-cycloplegic conditions, the combination of AL/CR and SE demonstrated favorable results for pre-myopia and myopia screening of preschool children.

Shyness and Socio-Emotional Adjustment among Young Chinese Children: The Moderating Role of Screen Time.

The primary aim of the present study was to examine the potential moderating role of screen time in the links between shyness and indices of socio-emotional adjustment in young Chinese children. Participants were N = 211 children (112 boys, 99 girls) ages 43-66 months (M = 58.84 months, SD = 5.32) recruited from two public kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Mothers completed assessments of children's shyness and screen time, and both mothers and teachers completed measures of indices of children's socio-emotional functioning (prosocial, internalizing problems, learning problems). Among the results, shyness was positively associated with internalizing problems and negatively associated with prosocial behavior, whereas screen time was positively associated with internalizing problems. However, several significant shyness × screen time interaction effects were observed. The pattern of these results consistently revealed that at higher levels of screen time, links between shyness and indices of socio-emotional difficulties were exacerbated. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of shyness and screen time in early childhood.

Maternal COVID-19 Distress and Chinese Preschool Children's Problematic Media Use: A Moderated Serial Mediation Model.

Maternal distress increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly impacting children's media use. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence mechanism of maternal COVID-19 distress on preschoolers' problematic media us through a moderated mediation model; specifically, we examined the possible mediating roles of parenting stress and negative instrumental use of media in parenting and the moderating role of supportive co-parenting. An online survey was conducted in a sample of 1357 children (Mage = 4.01, SD = 1.06; 47.4% boys) and their parents from six public kindergartens in Shanghai, China. The mothers provided information by completing measures on their levels of distress related to COVID-19, parenting stress levels, digital parenting practices, and perception of supportive co-parenting from their partners. Additionally, both parents rated their children's problematic media use. (1) maternal COVID-19 distress was significantly and positively related to children's problematic media use; (2) this relationship was sequentially mediated by parenting stress and parents' negative instrumental use of media in parenting; and (3) supportive co-parenting moderated the serial mediation path by reducing the effect of maternal COVID-19 distress on parenting stress. The findings provide some support and guidance for preventing children's problematic media use and enhancing parental adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic or in potentially adverse situations.

Social avoidance and social adjustment in Chinese preschool migrant children: the moderating role of teacher-child relationships.

This study aimed to explore the moderating role of teacher-child relationships in the relations between social avoidance and social adjustment (i.e., prosocial behavior, peer exclusion, and anxious-fearful behavior) in Chinese migrant preschoolers. Participants were 148 migrant children aged 4-6 years (82 boys, Mage = 62.32, SD = 6.67) attending kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Mothers reported children's social avoidance, and teachers rated teacher-child relationships and children's social adjustment. Results indicated that social avoidance was positively related to peer exclusion and negatively related to prosocial behavior. Teacher-child relationships moderated those associations. Specifically, teacher-child closeness buffered the relationship between social avoidance and peer exclusion, whereas teacher-child conflict exacerbated the relations between social avoidance and peer exclusion and anxious-fearful behavior. The current finding informs us of the importance of improving teacher-child closeness and reducing teacher-child conflict to buffer the negative adjustment among socially avoidant young children who migrated from rural-to-urban China. The findings also highlight the importance of considering the meaning and implication of social avoidance for migrant preschoolers in Chinese culture.

Parent-Grandparent Co-Parenting and preschoolers’ Self-Control in China : The Roles of Maternal and Grandparental Parenting Styles

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine the association between parent-grandparent co-parenting and children’s self-control as well as the potential moderated mediation mechanisms. Participants were 367 children aged from 3 to 6 years from two public kindergartens in Shanghai and Guangzhou, China. Their mothers were asked to complete multiple questionnaires including the parent-grandparent co-parenting scale, parenting style scale, and children’s self-control, as well as their grandparents were asked to rate parenting practices. Research Findings: The results showed that: (1) parent-grandparent co-parenting was positively correlated with maternal authoritative parenting, grandparental authoritative parenting, and children’s self-control, whereas negatively correlated with maternal authoritarian parenting and grandparental authoritarian parenting. (2) maternal authoritarian parenting mediated the relation between parent-grandparent co-parenting and children’s self-control; (3) grandparental authoritarian parenting moderated the relations between parent-grandparent co-parenting, maternal authoritative parenting, and children’s self-control. To be specific, for children whose grandparents adopted less authoritarian parenting, their self-control level was higher, and the parent-grandparent co-parenting could predict their self-control via maternal authoritative parenting. Practice or Policy: These findings provide valuable information on the importance of maternal and grandparental parenting styles between parent-grandparent co-parenting and preschoolers’ self-control in Chinese culture.

Parenting style and Chinese preschool children's pre-academic skills: A moderated mediation model of approaches to learning and family socioeconomic status.

This study examined the mediating role of children's approaches to learning (ATL) in parenting style and Chinese preschoolers' pre-academic skills (i.e., literacy and numeracy) as well as the moderating role of family socioeconomic status (SES) in the mediating process. Participants were 307 children aged five to six years old from four public kindergartens in Shanghai, China. Parents provided demographic information and reported their parenting style (i.e., authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive) and teachers rated each child's ATL and pre-academic skills. Results indicated that: (1) authoritative parenting positively related to children's pre-academic skills while no significant relationships were identified either for authoritarian or permissive parenting with pre-academic skills; (2) children's ATL partially mediated the relationship between authoritative parenting and children's pre-academic skills; (3) family SES moderated the relationship between children's ATL and pre-academic skills. Specifically, children's ATL was more strongly related to pre-academic skills for children from low SES families as compared to their high-SES peers. These findings contribute to the understanding of the effects of parenting styles on Chinese children's early academic achievement and underscore the importance of ATL to children's pre-academic skills, especially for low-SES children.

Unsociability and social adjustment of Chinese preschool migrant children: The moderating role of resilience.

The present study examined the moderating effect of children's resilience on the relations between unsociability and social adjustment (i.e., prosocial behaviors, peer exclusion, interpersonal skills, internalizing problems) in Chinese preschool migrant children. Participants were N = 148 children (82 boys, M age = 62.32 months, SD = 6.76) attending two public kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Mothers provided ratings of children's unsociability and resilience; teachers assessed children's social adjustment outcomes, and children reported their receptive vocabulary. Unsociability was positively associated with peer exclusion and internalizing problems, and negatively associated with prosocial behaviors and interpersonal skills among Chinese preschool migrant children. Moreover, children's resilience significantly moderated the relationship between unsociability and social adjustment. Specifically, among children with lower levels of resilience, unsociability was significantly and positively associated with peer exclusion and internalizing problems, while among children with higher levels of resilience, unsociability was not associated with social adjustment difficulties. The current findings inform us of the importance of improving children's resilience to buffer the negative adjustment among Chinese migrant unsociable young children. The findings also highlight the importance of considering the meaning and implication of unsociability for preschool migrant children in Chinese culture.

Maternal Overcontrol and Young Children’s Internalizing Problems in China: The Roles of Social Competence and Teacher-Child Conflict

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study aimed to explore the mediating role of social competence and the moderating role of teacher-child conflict in the relation between maternal overcontrol and Chinese preschooler’s internalizing problems. Participants were 216 children aged 3–4 years, from two kindergartens in Shanghai, China. Mothers completed the observation of mother-child interaction task. Teachers completed the assessment of children’s social competence, internalizing problems, and teacher-child conflict. Result of mediation showed that maternal overcontrol indirectly predicted child internalizing problems through its negative association with child social competence. Moderated mediation results show that teacher – child conflict moderated the relation between maternal overcontrol and child social competence. Moreover, lower levels of teacher-student conflict can buffer the negative impact of maternal overcontrol on child social competence, and thus reduce children’s internalizing problems. Practice or Policy: Maternal overcontrol as a negative parenting is related to children’s maladjustment in current China. Reducing teacher-child conflict might alleviate the negative effects of maternal overcontrol on child social adjustment.

PS-P04-4: BLOOD PRESSURE VARIABILITY IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Objective: To investigate the blood pressure variability (BPV) and its relevant factors in preschool children. Design and method: A total of 497 preschool children from two public kindergartens in Shanghai were enrolled. Blood pressure (BP) was standardized measured three times consecutively in a sitting position. Demographic information was collected. The measures used for BPV were the difference between the third and the first systolic blood pressure (SBP) (Delta-SBP), the difference between the third and the first diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (Delta-DBP), standard deviation of SBP (SBPSD) and DBP (DBPSD), and coefficient of variation of SBP (SBPCV) and DBP (DBPCV). Statistical analysis was performed by SAS9.4. Results: The subjects were on average 4.5 ± 0.8 years and 49.7% male. Mean blood pressure was 96/56mmHg. BPV was not significantly different between sex, however, it was significantly different among different SBP grade groups. According to the quartile of the first SBP, the subjects were divided into four groups. SBPSD and SBPCV were greater with the increase in SBP level. DBPSD and DBPCV were not significantly different among groups. Multiple linear regression showed that Delta-SBP was negatively correlated with the first SBP (Fig. 1), that was, the higher the first SBP, the magnitude of decrease from the third SBP to the first SBP was greater. After adjustment for sex, age, height, and weight, the first SBP was positively correlated with SBPCV. Conclusions: This study revealed that the higher the first SBP in preschool children, the greater the blood pressure variability may be.

The Impact of Mothers' Perceived Unsupportive Intergenerational Co-Parenting on Children's Social Competence: Evidence from China.

This study examined whether parenting styles mediated the relationship between unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting and children's social competence, and whether the first stage of the mediating process, as well as the direct association between unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting and children's social competence, was moderated by maternal psychological flexibility. The theoretical model was tested using data collected from 412 mothers of children aged 3-6 years at four kindergartens in Shanghai, China. The results showed that: (1) unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting was negatively associated with children's social competence through decreased maternal authoritative parenting and increased authoritarian parenting and (2) the first stage of the mediation mechanism was moderated by maternal psychological flexibility. Specifically, unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting was significantly associated with authoritative and authoritarian parenting for mothers with low and high psychological flexibility, respectively, and the magnitude of the association was higher for mothers with low psychological flexibility. These findings extend the understanding of how and when unsupportive intergenerational co-parenting impacts children's social competence.

Chinese Preschoolers’ Pattern Creation: Performance and Predictors

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Pattern creation (PC) is creating a pattern unit based on children’s own understanding of the concept of pattern, without being provided with a pattern unit as a reference, and the repetition of this pattern unit to create a complete structure. This study explored the performance and predictors of pattern creation (PC) among Chinese preschoolers at five to six years of age. Altogether 48 children (Mage = 5.44 years, SD = 0.38, 56% girls) from one public kindergarten in Shanghai participated in two experiments designed to test individual PC abilities and cognitive and mathematical skills. The results indicated that: (1) 5 to 6-year-old Chinese preschoolers could create basic patterns of different types (single linear patterns, multiple linear patterns, and circular patterns) and different levels (one-dimensional Pattern, multi-dimensional Pattern, and no Pattern) with various self-designed patterning strategies (e.g., unit extraction, one-to-one appearance matching, counting elements with different colors and shapes, and self-talking); (2) visual working memory and series relations in reasoning ability were significantly related to children’s PC performance, among which the visual working memory served as a unique predictor of children’s overall PC competence. Practice or Policy: These findings provided empirical evidence and a profound understanding of young children’s PC competence and patterning strategies and highlighted the impact of visual working memory and series relations on PC in early learning.

Chinese child unsociability, maternal maladaptive parenting, and peer exclusion among preschoolers: A cross‐lagged model

AbstractPrevious research has consistently found that unsociability is linked to adjustment difficulties in Chinese children. However, far less attention has been paid to how parents and peers react when confronted with unsociable children. In this study, we explored the longitudinal linkages among Chinese preschoolers' unsociability, maladaptive parenting, and peer exclusion. Participants were mothers and teachers of N = 391 (Mage = 4.4 years, SD = 0.91 years; 54.5% boys) preschoolers attending eight kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China, followed over 8 months. Multi‐source assessments were employed. Mothers rated children's unsociability and their maladaptive (physical hostility, verbal hostility, punishment) parenting practices, and teachers rated children's peer exclusion at each time point. Our results indicated that child unsociability contributed to later increases in both maladaptive parenting and peer exclusion. However, maladaptive parenting and peer exclusion could not predict later increases in unsociability. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of unsociability among Chinese children.

The Impact of Block Play on Young Children’s Production of Intrinsic Frame of Reference: A Quasi-Experiment

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Although the importance of block play to children’s spatial ability has been recognized globally, little is known about children’s use of spatial frames of reference during spatial processing. This study investigated the intervention with guided block play to promote children’s use of their intrinsic frame of reference, an identified effective frame of reference for spatial information. Participants included 42 kindergarten children ( months, SD = 3.91, 48% girls) and 42 pre-kindergarten children ( months, SD = 3.63, 57% girls) from one public kindergarten in Shanghai, China. A quasi-experiment method was used with a four-month intervention program designed for the experiment groups. Statistically significant differences were identified in the performance of the spatial tasks between the experiment and control groups in both kindergarten and pre-kindergarten children after the intervention. The results revealed that block-play interventions can effectively increase children’s ability to use their intrinsic frame of reference and their preference in using this frame for spatial representations. Practice or Policy: These findings provided a new perspective on analyzing children’s spatial competence and supported the benefits of block play interventions with empirical evidence.