Socioemotional Development Research Articles

I-MovE. An intervention to promote movement at childcare centers: Benefits for motor cognitive and socio-emotional development.

The present contribution aimed to analyze the effects of a motor program intervention (i.e., I-MovE intervention) implemented indoors and outdoors at nursery school, on children's motor, socio-emotional, and cognitive skills. The study uses a non-randomized pre-post test design. Participants were children attending twenty nursery schools in the North of Italy. The intervention activities were adapted to age: Level 1 activities were addressed to children between 6 and 12 months, and Level 2 activities were addressed to children between 13 and 43 months. Within each level, one group of children developed the intervention indoors (IN-group; Level 1: n = 10; Level 2: n = 104) and another group developed the intervention outdoors (OUT-Group; Level 1: n = 12; Level 2: n = 66). Finally, one additional group was involved as the control group (CONT-Group; Level 1: n = 15; Level 2: n = 98). Children's motor, cognitive, and socio-emotional skills were assessed before and after the intervention by nursery school teachers. The main results showed that the motor intervention promoted children's motor skills development in both groups (i.e., groups implementing Levels 1 and 2 activities) and the cognitive and socio-emotional skills in the older group (i.e., group implementing Level 2 activities), especially the group that performed the intervention outdoors.

What our children lost and gained at the time of school closure during the Covid-19 pandemic: a study on psychological distress, behavioural concerns and protective factors of resilience among preschool children in Kerala, India

BackgroundThe pandemic has put at risk the social and emotional development of children on account of the paucity of arenas for social interaction. This study from Kerala, India was conducted to assess the resilience factors, behavioural concerns, psychological distress symptoms among the children aged 3 to 5 years. We also tried to look into the lost opportunities that could have aided the social and emotional development of children like peer interaction, child care hours.MethodsThe cross-sectional study was conducted among the children aged 3 to 5 years. A total of 535 children attending the immunisation clinics were enrolled by consecutive sampling. Devereux Early Childhood Assessment P2 (DECA P2) questionnaire was used to assess the levels of resilient factors and behavioural concerns in the study population.ResultsWe observed a high proportion of children in the area of need category of protective factors under DECA P2. The proportion of children falling under area of concern was 64.5%, 49%, 68.4% for attachment/relationship, self-regulation, and initiative respectively. 24.9% study subjects have a behavioural concern score that puts them in the area of need category. The logistic regression model we created identified ‘Male Gender,’ ‘Mothers could spend only less time for child care’ and ‘electronic devices used as pacifier’ as significant predictors for belonging to Area of need Behavioural Concerns T score category.ConclusionA large proportion of children aged between 3 to 5 years with reported behavioural concerns and lack of protective factors for socioemotional development. This can be attributed partly to the ongoing pandemic and its associated restrictions. The increased child care hours invested by parents or grandparents could have sized down the full impact that the pandemic would have had on the socio emotional development of the child. Increased time spent using electronic devices coupled with dwindled opportunities for interaction with peers have been notable challenges.

COVID-19 pandemic effects: Examining prenatal internalizing symptoms and infant temperament.

For pregnant women, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented stressors, including uncertainty regarding prenatal care and the long-term consequences of perinatal infection. However, few studies have examined the role of this adverse event on maternal wellbeing and infant socioemotional development following the initial wave of the pandemic when less stringent public health restrictions were in place. The current study addressed these gaps in the literature by first comparing prenatal internalizing symptoms and infant temperament collected after the first wave of the pandemic to equivalent measures in a pre-pandemic sample. Second, associations between prenatal pandemic-related stress and infant temperament were examined. Women who were pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic endorsed higher pregnancy-specific anxiety relative to the pre-pandemic sample. They also reported greater infant negative emotionality and lower positive affectivity and regulatory capacity at 2months postpartum. Prenatal infection stress directly predicted infant negative affect. Both prenatal infection and preparedness stress were indirectly related to infant negative emotionality through depression symptoms during pregnancy and at 2months postpartum. These results have implications for prenatal mental health screening procedures during the pandemic and the development of early intervention programs for infants born to mothers during this adverse event.

Maternal prenatal lead levels and neonatal brain volumes: Testing moderations by maternal depressive symptoms and family income

There is considerable evidence that prenatal lead exposure is detrimental to child cognitive and socio-emotional development. Further evidence suggests that the effects of prenatal lead on developmental outcomes may be conditional upon exposure to social stressors, such as maternal depression and low socioeconomic status. However, no studies have examined associations between these co-occurring stressors during pregnancy and neonatal brain volumes. Leveraging a sample of 101 mother-infant dyads followed beginning in mid-pregnancy, we examined the main effects of prenatal urinary lead levels on neonatal lateralized brain volumes (left and right hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, frontal lobes) and total gray matter. We additionally tested for moderations between lead and depressive symptoms and between lead and family income relative to the federal poverty level (FPL) on the same neurodevelopmental outcomes. Analyses of main effects indicated that prenatal lead was significantly (ps < 0.05) associated with reduced right and left amygdala volumes (βs = −0.23- -0.20). The testing and probing of cross-product interaction terms using simple slopes indicated that the negative effect of lead on the left amygdala was conditional upon mothers having low depressive symptoms or high income relative to the FPL. We interpret the results in the context of trajectories of prenatal and postnatal brain development and susceptibility to low levels of prenatal lead in the context of other social stressors.

Cultural adaptation, content, and protocol of a feasibility study of school-based "Let's learn about emotions" intervention for Finnish primary school children.

Emotional awareness and emotion regulation are crucial for cognitive and socio-emotional development in children. School-based interventions on socio-emotional skills have the potential to prevent these problems and promote well-being of children. The Japanese school-based program, Universal Unified Prevention Program for Diverse Disorders (Up2-D2), has shown preventive effects on mental health of children in Japan. The aims of this protocol paper are to describe the unique process of adapting the Up2-D2 from Eastern to Western context, and to present a feasibility study of the intervention, conducted in Finland. The cultural adaptation process started with the linguistic translation of materials, followed by the modification of language to fit the Finnish context. While the Japanese ideology was saved, some content was adapted to fit Finnish school children. Further modifications were made based on feedback from pupils and teachers. The Finnish version of the program was named "Let's learn about emotions" and consisted of 12 sessions and targeted 8- to 12-year-old pupils. A teacher education plan was established to assist Finnish teachers with the intervention, including a workshop, teachers' manual, brief introductory videos, and online support sessions. A feasibility study involving 512 4th graders in the City of Hyvinkää, South of Finland, was conducted. It assessed emotional and behavioral problems, classroom climate, bullying, loneliness, perception of school environment, knowledge of emotional awareness, and program acceptability. The originality of this study underlies in the East-West adaptation of a cognitive behavioral therapy-based program. If promising feasibility findings are replicated in Finland, it could pave the way for further research on implementing such programs in diverse contexts and cultures, promoting coping skills, awareness, social skills and early prevention of child mental health problems. The ethical board of the University of Turku gave ethics approval for this research. The educational board of the City of Hyvinkää accepted this study.

Commitment and training: professionalization narratives in the implementation of social and emotional learning policies in Chilean schools

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the discourse on mental health has strongly permeated educational spaces. This is evidenced by the proliferation of policies and initiatives related to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), which urgently emphasize socio-emotional development and the psychological and subjective well-being of students. This phenomenon makes it necessary to study how professionals should take responsibility and implement a series of practices to respond to these initiatives and policies, many of which are improvised and poorly understood by the community. The aim of this article is to analyze the narratives of professionalization produced by educational agents responsible for implementing SEL policies in Chilean schools. For this purpose, in-depth narrative interviews were conducted with 12 primary education actors, including principals, educational psychologists, school climate coordinators, and homeroom teachers. The participants were selected from different types of educational institutions, including public schools, subsidized private schools, and private schools. Through an inductive Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA), two main themes were identified that articulate the professional experience of implementing SEL policies among the interviewees: (1) commitment to SEL and the (dis)continuities between institutions and personal efforts, and (2) initial and ongoing training for the implementation of SEL. Moreover, from these two proposed themes, various sub-themes emerged, classified according to the types of professionals interviewed and the complexities associated with the types of schools where they work. These sub-themes demonstrate how discourses on the emotional dimension and SEL in schools translate into concrete implications, both subjective and material, regarding the daily work of the interviewees. Finally, the article discusses the complexity arising from the narrative differences among professionals, particularly in terms of their initial and ongoing training, as well as the importance of shared commitments among communities in recognizing the work carried out by these professionals.

A comparative effectiveness study of the Breaking the Cycle and Maxxine Wright intervention programs for substance-involved mothers and their children: study protocol

BackgroundChildren of substance-involved mothers are at especially high risk for exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poor mental health and development. Early interventions that support mothers, children, and the mother-child relationship have the greatest potential to reduce exposure to early adversity and the mental health problems associated with these exposures. Currently, there is a lack of evidence from the real-world setting demonstrating effectiveness and return on investment for intervention programs that focus on the mother-child relationship in children of substance-involved mothers.MethodsOne hundred substance-involved pregnant and/or parenting women with children between the ages of 0–6 years old will be recruited through the Breaking the Cycle and Maxxine Wright intervention programs, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, respectively. Children’s socioemotional development and exposure to risk and protective factors, mothers’ mental health and history of ACEs, and mother-child relationship quality will be assessed in both intervention programs. Assessments will occur at three time points: pre-intervention, 12-, and 24-months after engagement in the intervention program.DiscussionThere is a pressing need to identify interventions that promote the mental health of infants and young children exposed to early adversity. Bringing together an inter-disciplinary research team and community partners, this study aligns with national strategies to establish strong evidence for infant mental health interventions that reduce child exposure to ACEs and support the mother-child relationship. This study was registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05768815) on March 14, 2023.

The Role of Mothers in the Education of their Preschool Children: A Comparative Qualitative Study

The objective of the study was to analyze the role of mothers in preschool education before and after the pandemic. The design used was descriptive-comparative with a qualitative approach. Nine mothers of preschool children from two public educational institutions in Lima-Peru participated. The verbal data was collected through in-depth interviews. Four subcategories were found: support in homework, support in learning activities, expectations and concerns, needs in terms of resources and forms of communication. In conclusion, before the pandemic, education was primarily teacher-centered. Currently, due to the lack of psychomotor, socioemotional, and communicative development caused by the pandemic, mothers are more involved and understand that the roles of parents and teachers are shared to ensure children's learning.&#x0D; &#x0D; Received: 20 September 2023 / Accepted: 22 December 2023 / Published: 5 January 2024

Negative associations between maternal prenatal hair cortisol and child socioemotional problems

Maternal prenatal distress can participate in the programming of offspring development, in which exposure to altered maternal long-term cortisol levels as measured by hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) may contribute. Yet, studies investigating whether and how maternal prenatal HCC associates with problems in child socioemotional development are scarce. Furthermore, questions remain regarding the timing and potential sex-specificity of fetal exposure to altered cortisol levels and whether there are interactions with maternal prenatal distress, such as depressive symptoms. The subjects were drawn from those FinnBrain Birth Cohort families that had maternal reports of child socioemotional problems (the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment [BITSEA] at 2 years and/or the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ] at 5 years) as follows: HCC1 population: maternal mid-pregnancy HCC measured at gestational week 24 with 5 cm segments to depict cortisol levels from the previous five months (n = 321); and HCC2 population: end-of-pregnancy HCC measured 1–3 days after childbirth (5 cm segment; n = 121). Stepwise regression models were utilized in the main analyses and a sensitivity analysis was performed to detect potential biases. Negative associations were observed between maternal HCC2 and child BITSEA Total Problems at 2 years but not with SDQ Total difficulties at 5 years, and neither problem score was associated with HCC1. In descriptive analyses, HCC2 was negatively associated with Internalizing problems at 2 years and SDQ Emotional problems at 5 years. A negative association was observed among 5-year-old girls between maternal HCC1 and SDQ Total Difficulties and the subscales of Conduct and Hyperactivity/inattentive problems. When interactions were also considered, inverse associations between HCC2 and BITSEA Internalizing and Dysregulation Problems were observed in subjects with elevated prenatal depressive symptoms. It was somewhat surprising that only negative associations were observed between maternal HCC and child socioemotional problems. However, there are previous observations of elevated end-of-pregnancy cortisol levels associating with better developmental outcomes. The magnitudes of the observed associations were, as expected, mainly modest. Future studies with a focus on the individual changes of maternal cortisol levels throughout pregnancy as well as studies assessing both maternal and child HPA axis functioning together with child socioemotional development are indicated.

Trajectories of maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms and child's socio-emotional outcome during early childhood

Maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety during pregnancy and early postnatal years are suggested to impose differential negative effects on child's socio-emotional development depending on the characteristics of the symptoms, such as timing, intensity, and persistence. The aim of this study was to identify trajectories of maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms from pregnancy until 2 years postpartum and to examine their relationship with child socio-emotional problems and competence at 2 and 5 years of age.The sample included 1208 mother-infant dyads from FinnBrain Birth Cohort study. Latent growth mixture modelling (LGMM) was utilized to model the trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms, measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and general anxiety, measured with Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) at 14, 24, and 34 weeks' gestation (gw) and at 3, 6 and 24 months postpartum. Maternal depression was also assessed at 12 months. Child socio-emotional problems and competence were evaluated using the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) at 2 years and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at 5 years. Relevant background factors and maternal concurrent symptomatology were controlled for.The trajectories of maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms were associated negatively with differential aspects of child long term socio-emotional outcomes from early toddlerhood to preschool years. The trajectories of depressive symptoms and high-level persistent symptoms that continued from pregnancy to two years of child age had the strongest negative association with child outcomes. This highlights the importance of identifying and treating maternal symptomatology, especially that of depression, as early as possible.

PERKEMBANGAN SOSIO-EMOSI KANAK-KANAK MELALUI PEDAGOGI PERMAINAN DRAMA KREATIF [DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIO-EMOTIONAL ASPECTS IN CHILDREN THROUGH CREATIVE DRAMA PEDAGOGY

This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of drama games on the socio-emotional development of empathy, self-confidence, and friendship among six-year-old children. The study has two objectives, which is to identify Drama Games that are attractive, unique, and suitable for the socio-emotional development of six-year-old children and to analyze the effectiveness of the selected Drama Games in addressing negative traits that contradict the socio-emotional aspects of children. This study involves six sample kanak-kanak among six-year-old children divided into two groups, three childrens from experimental group kanak-kanakts (EG) and three childrens from control group kanak-kanakts (CG). The study was conducted at two Kemas Kindergartens located in Penang. The research instrument employed is a qualitative method through observations in the form of video recordings, pictures, and field notes. Data obtained from video recordings were used to observe the level of socio-emotional development, which was then recorded in the form of checklists, anecdotal records, and subsequently interpreted in a scale rate. The study findings have shown that the medium of Drama Games can stimulate the socio-emotional development of preschool children in terms of empathy, self-confidence, and friendship.

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF TEACHER SUPPORT FOR STUDENT LEARNING IN DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS: A FOCUS ON STUDENTS' SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUSES

The educational landscape is an intricate ecosystem where students' growth is significantly influenced by their interactions with teachers and peers. In this context, teachers assume multifaceted roles as facilitators, mentors, and motivators, providing crucial support for students' learning. However, disparities in teacher support based on demographic factors, such as parental income and parental education, can contribute to educational inequalities. This research paper delves into the realm of teacher support for student learning, with a focus on its relationship with students' socio-economic backgrounds. The population of the study is senior secondary school children in Sri Lanka. A total of 1350 secondary school children from the North, South, East, West and Central parts of the country served as participants in this study. A stratified sampling technique was used to select the sample for this study. A survey research design and quantitative research approach were used to conduct the study. A self-administered questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale was used as the instrument for data collection from students. Data are analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23. One-way MANOVA and Two-way MANOVA are used for data analysis. The study found no statistically significant differences based on the educational levels of both fathers and mothers. This indicates that teacher support remains consistent irrespective of variations in parental education. Similarly, the study examined the impact of parental income on teacher support and found no statistically significant differences among different income groups. However, students from families with incomes between Rs. 46,001 and Rs. 150,000 received the highest level of teacher support. In conclusion, this research highlights the pivotal role of teacher support in students' academic and socio-emotional development. It demonstrates that teacher support is generally consistent, regardless of parental educational levels or income. While these findings are encouraging, they also emphasise the need for further research and policy interventions to ensure equitable distribution of teacher support and reduce educational disparities. Ultimately, this research contributes valuable insights to foster a more inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students, regardless of their socio-economic background, parental education, or income level.

Child Neurodevelopment After Multidomain Interventions From Preconception Through Early Childhood

Multidomain interventions in pregnancy and early childhood have improved child neurodevelopment, but little is known about the effects of additional preconception interventions. To evaluate the effect of a multifaceted approach including health; nutrition; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); and psychosocial support interventions delivered during the preconception period and/or during pregnancy and early childhood on child neurodevelopment. In this randomized trial involving low- and middle-income neighborhoods in Delhi, India, 13 500 participants were assigned to preconception interventions or routine care for the primary outcome of preterm births and childhood growth. Participants who became pregnant were randomized to pregnancy and early childhood interventions or routine care. Neurodevelopmental assessments, the trial's secondary outcome reported herein, were conducted in a subsample of children at age 24 months, including 509 with preconception, pregnancy, and early childhood interventions; 473 with preconception interventions alone; 380 with pregnancy and early childhood interventions alone; and 350 with routine care. This study was conducted from November 1, 2000, through February 25, 2022. Health, nutrition, psychosocial care and support, and WASH interventions delivered during preconception, pregnancy, and early childhood periods. Cognitive, motor, language, and socioemotional performance at age 24 months, assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development 3 tool. The mean age of participants at enrollment was 23.8 years (SD, 3.0 years). Compared with the controls at age 24 months, children in the preconception intervention groups had higher cognitive scores (mean difference [MD], 1.16; 98.3% CI, 0.18-2.13) but had similar language, motor, and socioemotional scores as controls. Those receiving pregnancy and early childhood interventions had higher cognitive (MD, 1.48; 98.3% CI, 0.49-2.46), language (MD, 2.29; 98.3% CI, 1.07-3.50), motor (MD, 1.53; 98.3% CI, 0.65-2.42), and socioemotional scores (MD, 4.15; 98.3% CI, 2.18-6.13) than did controls. The pregnancy and early childhood group also had lower incidence rate ratios (RRs) of moderate to severe delay in cognitive (incidence RR, 0.62; 98.3% CI, 0.40-0.96), language (incidence RR, 0.73; 98.3% CI, 0.57-0.93), and socioemotional (incidence RR, 0.49; 98.3% CI, 0.24-0.97) development than did those in the control group. Children in the preconception, pregnancy, and early childhood intervention group had higher cognitive (MD, 2.60; 98.3% CI, 1.08-4.12), language (MD, 3.46; 98.3% CI, 1.65-5.27), motor (MD, 2.31; 98.3% CI, 0.93-3.69), and socioemotional (MD, 5.55; 98.3% CI, 2.66-8.43) scores than did those in the control group. Multidomain interventions during preconception, pregnancy and early childhood led to modest improvements in child neurodevelopment at 24 months. Such interventions for enhancing children's development warrant further evaluation. Clinical Trials Registry-India CTRI/2017/06/008908.

Complex posttraumatic stress disorder in intergenerational trauma transmission among Eritrean asylum-seeking mother-child dyads

ABSTRACT Background: Traumatic stress among forcibly displaced people has a variety of adverse consequences beyond individual mental health, including implications for poor socioemotional developmental outcomes for their children post-displacement. Objective: This study explored the intergenerational transmission of maternal ICD-11 Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) and depression among asylum-seeking mothers for their children’s internalizing and externalizing difficulties. Method: Participants were 127 trauma-affected Eritrean mothers of preschool-aged children in Israel. The severity of child difficulties was compared between mothers with probable ICD-11 CPTSD (94.5% comorbid depression), ICD-11 PTSD (48.5% comorbid depression), unimorbid depression, and healthy mothers, using multivariate analyses of variance, while controlling for children’s direct exposure to adverse life experiences. Results: Probable ICD-11 CPTSD and PTSD were present in 23.6% and 26.0% of mothers, respectively. Relative to maternal PTSD, CPTSD was significantly and strongly associated with elevated child internalizing symptoms (d = 2.44) and marginally significantly, although strongly, associated with child externalizing symptoms (d = 1.30). Post-hoc exploratory analyses documented that, relative to maternal PTSD and depression, CPTSD and depression comorbidity was marginally significantly but strongly associated with child internalizing (SMD = .67), but not externalizing symptoms (SMD = .35). Conclusions: Findings implicate maternal CPTSD and comorbid depression in child socio-emotional development and inform clinical assessment, prevention, and intervention to attenuate poor development among children in unstable post-displacement settings.

Within-Year Teacher Turnover in Head Start and Children’s School Readiness

Teachers in early childhood education (ECE) settings are central to providing children with high-quality experiences that promote both early development and long-term well-being; unfortunately, rates of teacher turnover are high in ECE settings. There are strong theoretical reasons to assume turnover is negatively linked with children’s academic and socioemotional development, but few empirical studies test this hypothesis. Using an econometric fixed effects approach in two waves of data from the nationally representative Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, this study provides the first national estimate of the relationship between within-year lead teacher turnover and children’s development in Head Start. I find an annual within-year turnover rate of ~9%, about twice that of K–12, and that turnover is negatively associated with children’s language outcomes alongside suggestive evidence for behavioral outcomes.

Examining the influence of child nutritional disorders on early childhood development in Bangladesh: insights from the multiple indicator cluster survey.

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between various forms of child nutritional disorders and early childhood development in Bangladesh. We analysed data from the nationally representative cross-sectional 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. Early childhood development was evaluated using the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI), which comprised 10 yes-or-no questions across four domains: literacy-numeracy, physical well-being, socio-emotional development, and learning abilities. Nutritional disorders (e.g. stunting, wasting, and underweight) were measured based on the World Health Organization's height and weight guidelines. To investigate the relationships between child development and nutritional disorders, we used multilevel logistic regression models. Bangladesh. Data of 9,455 children aged 3 and 4 years. Approximately 38 % of the children analysed experienced a nutritional disorder, with stunting being the most prevalent at 28·15 %. Overall, 25·27 % did not meet expected developmental progress measured by the ECDI. Stunted children were more likely to be off track developmentally, while those without any nutritional disorder were more likely to be on track. Socio-demographic factors, including age, sex, attendance in early childhood education programme, maternal education, maternal functional difficulties, region, and income, were identified as determinants of ECDI. Childhood nutrition and socio-demographic factors significantly affect multiple developmental domains and overall ECDI among children aged 3-4 years. Prioritising policies and programmes that improve nutrition and address these determinants are crucial for fostering optimal development in children.

Understanding the Emotional Detachment of Adolescents from Their Parents: A Qualitative Study

An individual’s attachment is the foundation for their socioemotional development and their capability to establish and maintain meaningful relationships. In contrast, emotional detachment is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals find themselves lacking emotional attachment or connection towards other people. The present study aimed to understand adolescents’ emotional detachment from their parents and what it entails to be emotionally detached. Previous studies have shown that the issue of children being emotionally detached to their parents persists to this day, and that it is a pressing matter that the child can be burdened with until adulthood. However, only a few have touched on the emotional detachment of adolescents, despite adolescence being a crucial period in an individual’s life that comes with heightened sensitivity and vulnerability. Thus, the present study was conducted in search of answers to this question by interviewing emotionally detached adolescents and coding techniques to utilize thematic analysis in the analysis of their answers. The findings show that the emotional detachment of adolescents from their families stems from various factors within their family dynamics. This affects not only the individual’s emotions within themselves but also towards other people. It gives the implication that families, especially parents, must be mindful of their children as they depend on them not just financially, but emotionally. If they don’t, the child could grow up carrying the burden of being emotionally detached which they could potentially pass on to their future offspring as well.

Long-term music instruction is partially associated with the development of socioemotional skills.

This study aims to investigate the development of pitch-matching, rhythmic entrainment, and socioemotional skills in children who received formal music instruction and other non-music based after school programs. Eighty-three children, averaging 6.81 years old at baseline, were enrolled in either a music, sports, or no after-school program and followed over four years. The music program involved formal and systematic instruction in music theory, instrumental technique, and performance. Most control participants had no music education; however, in some instances, participants received minimal music education at school or at church. Musical development was measured using a pitch-matching and drumming-based rhythmic entrainment task. Sharing behavior was measured using a variation of the dictator game, and empathy was assessed using three different assessments: the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescence (trait empathy), the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (theory of mind), and a Fiction Emotion-Matching task (state empathy). Results revealed no time-related associations in pitch-matching ability; however, formal music instruction improved pitch-matching relative to controls. On the contrary, improvements in rhythmic entrainment were best explained by age-related changes rather than music instruction. This study also found limited support for a positive association between formal music instruction and socioemotional skills. That is, individuals with formal music instruction exhibited improved emotion-matching relative to those with sports training. In terms of general socioemotional development, children's trait-level affective empathy did not improve over time, while sharing, theory of mind, and state empathy did. Additionally, pitch-matching and rhythmic entrainment did not reliably predict any socioemotional measures, with associations being trivial to small. While formal music instruction benefitted pitch-matching ability and emotion-matching to an audiovisual stimulus, it was not a significant predictor of rhythmic entrainment or broader socioemotional development. These findings suggest that the transfer of music training may be most evident in near or similar domains.

Psychometric evaluation of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire in Polish mothers.

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) refers to a parent's capacity to reflect on and understand the inner mental states of their child, their own mental states with regard to their child, and how these mental states may influence their behavior and interactions. This capacity has been shown to foster secure attachment in children and their socio-emotional development. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Polish translation of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ), a brief screening measure of PRF, in a large community sample of Polish mothers of children aged 0-5 years (N = 979). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized three-factor structure of the PRFQ, which consists of three subscales: prementalizing modes, certainty about mental states, and interest and curiosity in mental states. However, item loadings suggested that the 15-item version fitted the data better than the original 18-item version. These three PRFQ subscales exhibited satisfactory and moderate six-month test-retest reliability. They also correlated in theoretically expected ways with several criterion measures such as maternal attachment, maternal parenting stress, parental role restriction, depression severity, and borderline symptoms. In conclusion, this study is the first to provide preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the PRFQ as a measure of parental reflective functioning in Polish mothers.

An Open World of Stories: A Critical Examination of Open-Access Global Digital Picturebook Platforms

Abstract: This article presents a critical examination of four open-access global digital picturebook platforms to determine the messages the books could convey to readers about specific cultural groups, and what opportunities are provided for young readers to make important cross-cultural connections to strengthen their socioemotional development and prepare them to engage with diverse individuals in a global society. The sample included five books from each of the open-access platforms. Using both visual content analysis and semiotics, researchers examine how cultures are illustrated—in character demographics, themes, color choices, use of cultural symbols, and any notable differences or similarities between the books in each platform. Each platform was evaluated for its ability to provide opportunities for readers to make important connections with characters in the books, as well as for its potential to support the United Nations Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals of preserving and providing access to the world's culture and heritage. The study provides insight into how children's books in open-access platforms represent different cultures and how this in turn influences the potential for readers to make cross-cultural connections.