Previous research has explored the role of growth mindset and parental socialization as drivers of undergraduate success. We propose that students' perceptions of their caregivers' growth mindset beliefs might be associated with their academic engagement. This study examined how undergraduates' own mindsets and perceptions of their caregivers' mindsets relate to four components of academic engagement. Survey data from American undergraduate students (N = 1,417) were analyzed using structural equation modeling. On average, students possessed a growth mindset and perceived their caregivers as holding a growth mindset. Student growth mindset was positively associated with behavioral and emotional engagement and negatively associated with behavioral and emotional disaffection. Perceptions of caregiver growth mindset were associated with lower behavioral disaffection. Student growth mindset moderated the association between perceived caregiver mindset and emotional engagement. Findings highlight the association between motivational beliefs and academic behaviors through the lens of students' experiences and perceptions of others.
Text data are increasingly accessible yet analytic approaches often rely on a single method that may obscure information or nuance. We introduce a complementary set of text methods to address this limitation using puberty as an example. Youth (N = 183, Mage=11.73 years, SDage=.88) wrote open-ended narratives about puberty experiences and we compared these to a matching set of ChatGPT generated responses to demonstrate source comparison. We applied sentiment analysis, frequency analysis, and pointwise mutual information to examine how puberty was represented across sources. Results across methods highlighted that overall sentiment masked negativity tied to socially evaluated or stigmatized changes and that sources differed in emphasizing or omitting changes. ChatGPT systematically underrepresented physical realities of puberty compared to youth, especially regarding menstruation. Findings underscore that no one method provided a complete account of puberty. Integrating complementary text methods can better support complex developmental questions and interpretations of developmental experiences.
Grounded in the Positive Youth Development paradigm, the Developmental Assets Framework identifies internal and external assets-a range of individual and environmental resources (e.g., self-esteem and family support)-that promote healthy development. This study operationalized a subset of 23 assets across adolescence form ages 12 to 17 using data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (n = 1245; 86% White, 80% French-speaking) to assess developmental trajectories, and associations to mental health and behavior in early adulthood. Growth curve models revealed that external assets at age 12-but not change over time-was associated with depressive symptoms and prosocial behaviors at age 20. In contrast, internal assets' initial levels and/or changes were associated with depressive symptoms, prosocial and antisocial behaviors, and problematic alcohol use at age 20. These findings highlight the potential long-term influence of youth resources on adult psychosocial functioning. Replication is needed in longitudinal studies using purpose-designed measures of developmental assets.
Dysregulated behaviors among rural children threaten psychological and social development. This study examined how depressive and anxiety symptoms predict dysregulated behaviors and whether father involvement and peer relationships moderate these associations within the ecological systems model. Data came from 735 rural children in China. Traditional regression analysis and Random Forest Regression (RFR) were applied. Depressive and anxiety symptoms significantly predicted dysregulated behaviors. While regression found no moderation, RFR revealed nuanced interactions: father involvement showed a stronger buffering effect than peer relationships, especially for children with mild to moderate depressive symptoms. The lowest dysregulation appeared among children with both high father involvement and strong peer relationships, but these protective effects weakened for severe depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the value of machine learning in detecting complex behavioral patterns often overlooked by traditional methods and emphasize the need for holistic interventions that combine family and peer support with targeted mental health services.
Guided by a cultural perspective, this study examined the longitudinal association between prosocial behavior and self-esteem among Chinese adolescents, within the framework of Confucianism and interdependent self-construal. It further explored the mediating roles of student-teacher closeness and peer alienation from a relational perspective. A total of 538 adolescents were recruited from Beijing, China (252 boys, 286 girls; Mage =12.47). The participants completed measures of prosocial behavior, self-esteem, student-teacher closeness, peer alienation, and demographics at baseline, and self-esteem again three months later. Results showed no significant direct association between prosocial behavior and later self-esteem, but revealed indirect associations via increased student-teacher closeness and reduced peer alienation. These findings highlight relational pathways through which prosocial behavior fosters self-esteem in adolescence, emphasizing the role of interpersonal feedback in Confucian and interdependent cultural contexts.
This study examines the relationship between socioemotional competencies (SECs) and quality of life (QoL) across age groups in a Portuguese sample of 1,225 individuals aged 16-90. SECs, crucial for psychological balance and social connection, strongly influence QoL. Data were collected online using the SEC-Q and WHOQOL-BRIEF. Results indicated moderately high SEC perceptions, with self-awareness and prosocial behavior most prominent. QoL was moderate, with the physical domain scoring highest. Adolescents showed the lowest SECs, while late adults reported the lowest QoL, except in the psychological domain. Moderation analysis revealed that age significantly moderates the SEC-QoL relationship. Intervention priorities vary by life stage: adolescents require broad SEC development, particularly decision-making; early adults benefit from strengthening self-management and decision-making; middle adults from enhancing social awareness and decision-making; and late adults from reinforcing prosocial behavior and social/self-awareness. These findings underscore the importance of targeted, stage-specific SEC interventions to promote QoL across the lifespan.
We explored youths' anti-racist sociopolitical development between 2020 and 2022 through retrospective participatory interviews in November 2022 with 27 emerging adult college students across the USA (Mage = 21.7; SD = 0.8) who were members non-dominant sociodemographic groups. Our study sample was 52% cisgender women, 19% transgender and gender diverse; 48% LGBQ+; 33% Asian, 33% White, 15% Black, 11% Multiracial, 7% Latine. We used reflexive thematic analysis to identify four sociopolitical trajectories: Sustained Intersectional Engagement in Anti-Racism, Temporary Increased Interest in Racial Justice Related to Racial Identity, Temporary Anti-Racism Ignited Activism on Other Social Issues, and Sustained Sociopolitical Engagement Not Related to Anti-Racism. Findings suggest that youths' positionality, use of social media, and engagement in civic organizations contributed to their sociopolitical trajectory, with mixed implications for wellbeing. Given that many young people did not engage in anti-racism beyond 2020, sustained opportunities for anti-racism are needed for emerging adult college students.
Applied developmental scientists are often interested in how school contexts-critical proximal environments that shape students' developmental pathways-relate to long-term outcomes. However, school contexts are dynamic, and student mobility is common, creating challenges for researchers attempting to model developmental processes within changing school environments. Traditional multilevel models assume that each student is nested within a single, stable school context, an assumption that is violated when students attend multiple schools over time. Multiple membership multilevel modeling is an approach that can be used to account for students' experience of multiple school contexts, yet it has not been widely applied in practice. In this manuscript, we demonstrate multiple membership modeling and compare it to single membership multilevel modeling approaches, highlighting the differences that emerge. We provide implications for selecting modeling strategies that align with the research question, developmental theory, and the dynamic nature of school contexts.
Teachers are uniquely positioned to promote racial and immigration justice in schools. This study draws on interviews with a U.S. educator sample (N = 26; 50% ethnoracially minoritized; 42.3% pre-K or elementary, 15.4% middle school, 34.6% high school) from a needs assessment for a public scholarship effort aimed at providing resources to advance anti-racism and anti-xenophobia. Combining a rigorous and accelerated data reduction (RADaR) method and reflexive thematic analysis, we developed 8 themes: 5 pertaining to substantive issues, 2 to format concerns, and 1 integrating both substance and format issues. Our expansive approach in the present study, including educators from early childhood through adolescence, allowed us to note both shared and unique needs for supporting race- and power-conscious ethnic-racial socialization, underscoring the importance of this process across developmental periods. These insights could help professional development providers and facilitators, program developers, and school leaders implement teacher-informed approaches to support teachers' racial learning.
Despite evidence of academic benefits, it remains unclear whether pre-kindergarten (pre-K) attendance predicts social and behavioral skills. Using a nationally representative sample of children entering kindergarten in 2010 (N = 6,545), this study extended prior research by using propensity score matching and multilevel piecewise growth modeling to examine whether and how children's social and behavioral trajectories from kindergarten through grade 5 differ by pre-K attendance, dosage, and program type. We also tested whether kindergarten teachers' beliefs about school readiness, perceptions of classroom behavior, and classroom management efficacy moderated these associations. Findings indicate that, compared with nonattenders, children who attended pre-K for 20 or more hours per week exhibited lower self-control and interpersonal skills and more externalizing problems in the fall of kindergarten (|ES| = 0.08-0.16), with differences persisting through grade 5. There was no consistent evidence that these associations varied by kindergarten teachers' beliefs and perceptions.
Emotion regulation (ER) is a critical socio-emotional skill that develops early and is strongly shaped by social experiences. Using the Social Relations Model, this study examined how individual characteristics and emotion-related behavior in dyadic interactions influence observed ER in preschoolers (N = 86, M-age=46.23 months, 46.4% girls) during semi-standardized peer play in Swiss playgroups. Results revealed that although ER was largely stable and trait-like, with actor variance accounting for most variability, relationship variance indicated that ER was also significantly shaped by specific peer interactions. Trait-like ER was positively linked to focal children's own reported ER skills and positive peer relationships and negatively related to their behavioral difficulties. Moreover, play partners' calm, positive emotion expressions enhanced focal children's dyad-specific, unique ER, while play partners' distraction, avoidance, aggression, and expressions of jealousy or embarrassment diminished it. These findings highlight the importance of both individual ER capacities and peer dynamics in early emotional development.
Police murders of unarmed Black people in the United States are recurring sociocultural events rooted in racist systems and ideologies. Developmental research has examined the content and frequency of parent-child conversations in response to such events, yet how these discussions may reflect a cultural script of race and policing remains underexplored. Using the master narrative (MN) framework (McLean & Syed, 2015), which describes how cultural scripts shape (re)constructions of sociocultural events, we examined whether Black (n = 343) and white (n = 371) parents told their 8-to-11-year-old children about the murder of George Floyd and how their retellings reinforced or disrupted a color-evasive, ahistorical, individualistic, and dehumanizing MN of racialized policing. Our mixed-method analysis revealed that 77.31% of parents reported discussing George Floyd; of the 552 who did, 46.01% disrupted the MN, the majority of whom were Black. We present qualitative findings and discuss implications for antiracist parental racial socialization.
Self-determination theory proposes that intrinsic values foster, while extrinsic values hinder well-being and integrated functioning. Yet, little is known about how these values are configured within individuals, or how holding many goals-intrinsic and extrinsic alike-is associated with youth's experiences during major education transitions. Using a person-centered approach, we identified value profiles among 623 final-year secondary school students (60% girls; Mage = 16.7) who reported on their values, well-being, career decision-making difficulties, and anticipated sacrifices. Latent profile analysis revealed four groups: three differing primarily in overall valuing (high, moderate, low), and one predominantly intrinsic group. Youth strongly endorsing both intrinsic and extrinsic values reported the highest levels of anxiety, career decision-making difficulties, and willingness to sacrifice well-being and relationships. Findings suggest that simultaneously prioritizing intrinsic and extrinsic values may generate inner tensions, complicating adaptive transitions, whereas a clearer intrinsic orientation may serve as an inner compass, supporting healthier development.
This study investigated socioeconomic disparities in Grade 1 achievement across four cohorts of participants from the nationally representative China Family Panel Studies. It considered the roles of preschool duration and the home learning environment (HLE) in the socioeconomic status (SES)-achievement relation. The analytic sample included 1,686 children (46.09% girls; 10.48% ethnic minorities; Mage = 3.26, SD = 0.64 years). Results indicated that SES-based disparities in achievement persisted but weakened across cohorts. Moderated mediation models showed that both duration of preschool education and HLE mediated the SES-achievement relation, with HLE accounting for a larger proportion of the overall association. The association between SES and preschool duration declined significantly in later cohorts, whereas the association between HLE and SES remained stable. These findings highlight the central role of the HLE in reflecting family advantage, and the observed cohort patterns align with the broader context of China's early education policy.
Children's attentional skills develop rapidly during early childhood and are influenced by both environmental and biological factors. Attention is critical for school readiness, and early childhood teachers play a vital role in shaping its development. However, their understanding of attention remains underexplored. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 early childhood teachers in Shanghai, China, to explore their knowledge of attentional skills and development, attributions of children's (in)attention, and teaching practices supportive of attention. Findings revealed that teachers held nuanced conceptual knowledge of attention and related behavioral indicators. They recognized the roles of both external (contextual) and internal (individual) factors in impacting attention. Teachers also demonstrated responsibility and agency in creating and modifying classroom experiences to foster attention, as well as in understanding and responding to students' needs and interests. This study offers implications for professional development designed to deepen educators' understanding of attention and cognitive development in early childhood education.
Pursuing a purpose benefits individuals and strengthens the communities and causes purposeful individuals serve; however, the search for purpose can be an uncomfortable process. Theoretical research suggests patience may facilitate and optimize the search for purpose. The present study offers empirical support for this claim and sheds light on how patience may benefit individuals searching for purpose. Featuring interviews with religious and non-religious young adults (N = 60), the present study finds patience can facilitate the search for purpose by catalyzing the development of other virtues, helping participants view their search for purpose against a wider backdrop, and supporting an intentional and thoughtful approach to searching. Although both religious and secular youth benefited from searching for purpose with patience, religious youth reported greater access to patient role models, values, and practices that supported the growth of patience. Implications and directions for future research are addressed.
Online civic engagement among young people may represent a form of positive youth development in digital spaces. However, its impacts on youth's well-being remain unclear, partly due to a lack of validated measures that capture the unique features of the internet and incorporate youth voices. To address this gap, we developed and validated a scale of multidimensional online civic engagement for youth aged 15 to 25 years (MOCE-Y) using an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach. Qualitative interviews with 12 youth supported the multidimensional structure derived from literature, from which we developed an initial 40-item scale. Exploratory (N = 159) and confirmatory (N = 244) factor analyses with two independent samples further validated the multidimensionality of the scale, consisting of civic behaviors and skills. The final 26-item scale demonstrated discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity as well as internal consistency. MOCE-Y lays the groundwork for future research on youth civic engagement online.
Computing reliability depends on the data set structure. In intensive longitudinal designs (ILDs), reliability for within- and between-person variation (level-specific reliability) must be computed; however, most multilevel studies fail to report reliability at both levels. Commonly used estimates of reliability do not account for the temporal dependency between subsequent measurement occasions (i.e. autocorrelation) or individual differences in measurement properties including person-specific factor loadings or within-person residual variance (i.e. random innovation variance). We illustrate how to compute level-specific and person-specific reliability while addressing multilevel measurement invariance. We analyzed ILD data on preschool-age children's daily self-regulation, collected from 39 parents up to 100 days (observations = 3359). Using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) and dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM) with fixed and random effects, we computed level-specific reliabilities. Person-specific reliabilities were derived from the random effect DSEM model. This work demonstrates how MCFA and DSEM meets challenges to understanding reliability across levels and people.
