In the present study, longitudinal associations between parental depressive symptoms and child behavior (externalizing and internalizing problems and adaptive skills) were examined using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. The participants were 200 Finnish children (106 boys, 94 girls) and their parents. Both fathers and mothers reported their depressive symptoms and rated child behavior of their children at the ages of 4, 6, and 9. In the combined models including effects from both parents, the results showed that at the between-person level, maternal depressive symptoms were significantly correlated with child behavior, while paternal depressive symptoms were significantly correlated with maternal depressive symptoms yet not with child behavior. Significant within-person-level predictive panels from child internalizing behavior at child ages of 4 and 6 to maternal depressive symptoms at child ages of 6 and 9, and from paternal depressive symptoms at child age of 6 to child externalizing behavior and adaptive skills at child age of 9 emerged in the model identifying the unique effects of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Runsas ruutuaika on osa nykynuorten arkea ja vertaiskavereihin ollaan kasvavissa määrin yhteydessä digitaalisten välineiden avulla. Ruutuajan ja vertaissuhteiden laadun välisistä yhteyksistä tiedetään kuitenkin edelleen melko vähän. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin, ennustaako yläkouluikäisten nuorten ruutuaika myöhempää vertaissuhteiden laatua, sekä muokkaako nuorten itsetunto tätä yhteyttä. Vuosina 2015–2018 kerätty aineisto koostui 736:sta suomalaisnuoresta. Nuorten ruutuaikaa ja itsetuntoa arvioitiin 15-vuotiaana. Vertaissuhteiden laatua arvioitiin 18-vuotiaana kolmella osa-alueella: ongelmat kaverisuhteissa, luotettavien ystävien puute sekä yksinäisyyden kokemus. Tulokset osoittivat, että ruutuaika oli yhteydessä sekä samassa iässä arvioituun itsetuntoon, että ongelmiin kaverisuhteissa 18-vuotiaana; mitä enemmän ruutuaikaa nuorilla oli 15-vuotiaana, sitä huonompi itsetunto heillä oli samassa iässä ja sitä enemmän heillä oli ongelmia kaverisuhteissa kolme vuotta myöhemmin. Huonompi itsetunto 15-vuotiaana ennusti odotetusti heikompaa vertaissuhteiden laatua 18-vuotiaana. Itsetunnolla havaittiin lisäksi olevan ruutuajan ja yksinäisyyden kokemuksen välistä yhteyttä muokkaava vaikutus. Huonon itsetunnon omaavilla nuorilla vähäinen ruutuaika 15-vuotiaana ennusti suurempaa yksinäisyyttä 18-vuotiaana. Hyvän itsetunnon omaavilla yhteys oli kuitenkin päinvastainen, ja nuoret, joilla oli hyvä itsetunto ja vähän ruutuaikaa 15-vuotiaana olivat vähemmän yksinäisiä 18-vuotiaana. Tuloksista voidaan päätellä, että ruutuaika yläkouluiässä ennustaa jossain määrin vertaissuhteiden laatua kolme vuotta myöhemmin. Ruutuaikaa ei voida tulosten valossa pitää kaverisuhteiden laadun kannalta yksinomaan huonona tai hyvänä asiana, vaan ruutuajan vaikutukset riippuvat osin itsetunnosta. Avainsanat nuoret, ruutuaika, itsetunto, vertaissuhteet, ystävyyssuhteet, yksinäisyys, kaverisuhteen ongelmat

The long-term negative consequences of learning difficulties have been acknowledged. Nonetheless, research is still scarce regarding the prediction of adolescent difficulties in reading and arithmetic skills. The present study examines at which age phase and with what kind of constellation of parent- and child-related factors can adolescent difficulties in arithmetic and/or reading fluency be successfully predicted. A sample of Finnish children (N = 941) was followed from the onset of kindergarten (at age 6) through adolescence (ages 13-16). Children's cognitive skills were assessed in kindergarten, and arithmetic and reading fluency were examined in Grades 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9. Parents' self-report data were collected on their own learning difficulties and educational level. Scoring below the 16th percentile in both Grades 7 and 9 was set as the criterion for dysfluency either in reading (N = 87, 9.2%) or arithmetic (N = 84, 8.9%). Adolescent dysfluency in both domains was moderately predicted by parental measures and kindergarten cognitive skills. Although adding school-age fluency measures clearly increased both the predictability and specificity of models up to Grade 4 for both skills, knowledge of letters' names, counting, and visuospatial skills remained unique predictors of dysfluency in adolescence.

Objective: We studied the association between inattention and hyperactivity symptoms and other behavioral-emotional symptoms among children with mathematical disability after controlling for severity of the mathematical disability and comorbid reading disability. We also analyzed the effects of sex. Method: Participants were 362 Finnish elementary school children ( M age = 10.25; SD age = 1.08) who attended a clinic which specialized in assessment of learning disabilities. Inattention, hyperactivity, and other behavioral-emotional symptoms were assessed with teacher ratings (TRF/ASEBA). Mathematics and reading were assessed as part of the clinical assessment with grade-normed tests. The mathematical disability was identified during the assessment process. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to analyze the associations. Results: The percentages of children showing behavioral-emotional problems were high varying between 10 and 42% depending on the problem scale and sex. Problems of inattention and hyperactivity were also common, and the direct contributions of inattention to internalizing symptoms (explaining 2-20% of the variability) and of hyperactivity to externalizing symptoms (explaining 20-22% of the variability) were substantial. Mathematical disability severity and comorbid reading disability had minimal contribution, and inattention and hyperactivity partially negated these contributions. Inattention and hyperactivity had additional contributions to internalizing and externalizing symptoms moderated by sex. Inattention increased somatic (7%), affective (22%), and conduct symptoms (4%) only among boys. Hyperactivity increased oppositional defiant symptoms (21%), especially among boys. Conclusions: The results underline the importance of addressing behavioral-emotional problems among children with mathematical disability. As inattention symptoms and hyperactivity symptoms contribute to the occurrence of other behavioral-emotional symptoms, they should be considered in the assessment process and support planning of children with mathematical disability. Longitudinal design is needed to understand how especially inattention contributes to the formation of behavioral-emotional symptoms among children with mathematical disability.

Explicit morphology instruction has been recommended for poor readers. Still, hardly any studies have compared the effectiveness of both explicit and implicit morphology training in relation to business-as-usual support in improving reading proficiency. In this study, 277 poor readers in Grades 2 and 3 participated in a computer-assisted eight-week intervention focusing on suffixes in a randomised control trial, with pre-, post- and follow-up assessment in schools for Swedish-speaking children in Finland. Students were randomly allocated into two experimental groups and one control group. The first experimental group played a digital game with explicit instruction in lexical morphology (explicit). The other experimental group played the game without said instruction (implicit). Intervention and Grade effects were analysed using mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA). A significant time x group intervention effect was found only in the implicit vs. control group comparison between pre- and post-assessments; a moderate gain in identification of trained words assessed in a game-like manner was found in the implicit group unlike in controls. The difference in gain remained significant at follow-up for both grades. Additionally, third graders in the implicit group demonstrated a more significant improvement than controls in reading aloud pseudowords with trained suffixes, both in the pre‒post comparison and at follow-up. Results suggest that poor readers benefitted from implicit morphology training, but explicit instruction in lexical morphology (animations with verbal explanations) did not have a significant effect on reading proficiency.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore changes in pedagogical awareness of teaching early mathematical skills among teachers in early childhood education (N =7) when participating in a tailored professional development (PD) program in mathematics. The program, which was designed around principles of transformative learning, was aimed at strengthening the conscious and holistic teaching of early mathematical skills to 3- to 7-year-old children. Research Findings: Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews revealed that teachers enhanced their pedagogical awareness of teaching early mathematical skills concerning developmentally appropriate mathematical content, child-initiated mathematical learning and holistic mathematical teaching in different daily situations and play. Data obtained from pre-PD and follow-up questionnaires completed by teachers confirmed a sustainable increase in their pedagogical awareness of numerical and spatial reasoning. Recognizing children's interests, reflecting on and examining one's own practices individually and collaboratively, and taking actions to develop teaching and learning practices aligned with those of the PD program comprised the foundation for the transformative process. Practice or Policy: It was concluded that PD programs in mathematics enhance teachers' pedagogical awareness of teaching early mathematical skills holistically when they are tailored to the needs of teachers, include reflective elements, and follow principles of transformative learning.

This study examines early childhood pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards digital technologies and their relations to their self-perceived digital competence. Attitudes towards digital technologies were divided into core attitudes: general attitudes towards digital technologies; attitudes towards educational use of digital technologies; and perceived ease of digital technology use. Technological knowledge [TK] and technological content knowledge [TCK] dimensions of the TPACK framework were used to assess pre-service teachers’ self-perceived digital competence. Two structural equation models, a correlated-traits model and a second-order factor model, were used to analyse the relations between attitudes and digital competence. Based on the results, the early childhood pre-service teachers held positive attitudes towards digital technologies. Both models fit the data well, but the correlated-traits model explained a larger portion of variance in competence measures. Moreover, this model provided a more fine-grained picture of the associations between attitudes and competence. The general attitudes towards digital technologies and perceived ease of digital technology use were related to both TK and TCK, whereas attitudes towards educational use of digital technologies were not. Therefore, the correlated-traits model was viewed as better at describing the relations between attitudes towards digital technologies and digital competence. The study contributes to the development of teacher education. Instead of considering the current generation of pre-service teachers as a homogeneous group, this study aims to understand how they differ in their attitudes and how they perceive their own competence to use digital technologies.

PurposeReading fluency establishes the basis for strong literacy skills needed for academic success. We aim to trace how reading fluency develops from childhood till adulthood and identify factors that influence this development. MethodApproximately 200 Finnish families participated in the study. The dataset included children’s reading fluency assessments (in Grades 2, 3, and 8 and at age 23), their self-reports, and parental questionnaires. For data analysis, a latent growth curve model that included cognitive, motivational, and parental predictors was constructed.ResultsSignificant variations in both developmental rates and adult outcomes of reading fluency were found. The developmental rate was predicted by rapid automatized naming (RAN), letter knowledge and the formal home literacy environment (HLE) (measured in kindergarten), and reading motivation (measured in elementary school). The adult outcome (fluency at age 23) was predicted by RAN, letter knowledge, the formal HLE, and parental dyslexia. Further, those who had parents with resolving reading difficulties were more likely to follow a resolving trajectory themselves compared with those whose parents had persistent reading difficulties. ConclusionOur findings offer novel insights into how reading fluency develops into adulthood and identify key areas for future research to better understand the mechanisms behind reading fluency development.

Today, digital games are considered important tools for learning, but using them in early childhood education and care (ECEC) has raised the question of educators' roles when children play an educational digital game. The aim of this study was to explore how ECEC educators differed in their attitudes and perceptions toward and ways of supporting children's digital gameplay and how these differences were associated with children's gameplay. The data were collected by interviewing seven ECEC educators in four ECEC groups in which 30 children aged 5-6 years played an educational Emotion Detectives game. The log data were also analyzed. Research Findings: Based on the differences in support discovered, the educators were found to represent two groups: a non-supportive group (NSG) and a supportive group (SG). Compared to the NSG, the children in the SG played more and were more successful in their gameplay. Practice or Policy: The findings of this study emphasize the importance of organizing regular gameplay sessions when children's development is supported using educational games and of monitoring that all children have opportunities to get enough practice by playing. In addition, educators need to familiarize themselves with the game to be able to discuss it with children, motivate them to play, and help on demand.

Poor reading has been linked to negative outcomes on a wide range of emotional-behavioural dimensions in children. However, little is known about the time course of these associations. In this study we analyse data from a sample of Finnish children (N = 199; 106 boys) which included measures of reading fluency in grade 1 (age 7 or 8), and emotional (anxiety, depression, and somatization) and behavioural (adaptability, aggression, attention, atypicality, hyperactivity, social skills, and withdrawal) development at ages 4, 5, 6 (pre-school) and 9 (school-aged). In a series of stepwise regression models that controlled for non-verbal IQ and family risk for dyslexia, we tested if pre-school emotional-behavioural measures were associated with school-aged reading fluency, and whether school-aged reading fluency was associated with later emotional-behavioural development. We also tested if these associations were moderated by reported gender. Consistent with previous longitudinal studies, we found that poorer attention before school was associated with poorer reading in the early school years which in turn was associated with higher levels of anxiety and inattention in children in middle school. None of these associations were moderated by gender.

Student–teacher relationships are crucial for adolescents’ adjustment in the school context. The aim of the present study was to examine the role of teacher closeness in academic emotions and achievement among adolescents with and without learning difficulties during the first year in lower secondary school. Students’ learning difficulties (LDs) were identified based on tested reading and math skills. In addition, students evaluated their teacher relationships and rated academic emotions in literacy and math domains. The results indicated that higher teacher closeness was related to increasing positive emotions and increasing literacy achievement during seventh grade, whereas lower levels of teacher closeness were associated with increasing learning-related anger and boredom. The results were mostly similar for students with and without LDs, which indicates that students in general benefit from close teacher relationships during the first year in lower secondary school.

This study examines longitudinal associations among reading skills, math skills and emotional well-being in a Finnish sample (n = 586) followed from the end of comprehensive school (Grade 9, age 15–16) to age 20. In particular, we determine whether the associations between skills and well-being are mediated by self-concept beliefs. In Grade 9, the participants’ reading fluency, PISA reading comprehension and math skills were assessed in classrooms, and questionnaires were used to assess self-concept (global and skill-specific) and internalising problems. At age 20, questionnaires were used to self-report emotional well-being and educational attainment. The results showed no direct predictive association between academic skills and age-20 emotional well-being, while indirect effects from academic skills on emotional well-being were found for reading skills through reading comprehension self-concept belief and educational attainment and for math skills through global self-concept belief. In addition, adolescent global self-concept and internalising problems predicted age-20 emotional well-being. The results suggest that adolescent self-concept beliefs and internalising problems, rather than academic skills per se, can predict emotional problems in young adulthood.

This study investigated how single and co-occurring difficulties in reading and arithmetic fluency developed among Finnish children across Grades 1-9 (N = 2151). Latent profile analysis among 391 children who had reading and/or arithmetic fluency difficulties in Grade 9 revealed profiles that followed three distinct patterns: reading difficulties (N = 121), mathematical difficulties (N = 94), and comorbid difficulties (N = 176). The profiles and typical performers were compared on parental reading and mathematical difficulties, parental education, the early home learning environment, and parental assistance with school homework across Grades 1-9. Results showed that although parents whose children had difficulties provided them with domain-specific support across all grades, the amount of support gradually declined and the performance gap between the profiles increased.

Poor reading has been linked to negative outcomes on a wide range of psychosocial dimensions in children. However, little is known about the time course of these associations. In this study we analyse data from the Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia (N=199; 106 boys) which included measures of adaptability, aggression, anxiety, attention, atypicality, depression, hyperactivity, social skills, somatization and withdrawal at ages 4, 5, 6 (pre-school), 8, and 9. Reading fluency was assessed in Grade 1 (age 7 or 8). In a series of stepwise regression models, we assessed whether pre-school psychosocial measures were associated with reading fluency, and whether reading fluency was associated with later psychosocial development, after controlling for family-risk of dyslexia and the children’s non-verbal IQ. We also examined whether associations between reading and psychosocial development differed between boys and girls. Consistent with previous longitudinal studies, we found that of the pre-school measures, only symptoms of attention difficulties were associated with poorer reading outcomes in Grade 1. Associations between reading fluency and pre-school measures of atypicality and somatization (not significant as main effects) interacted with gender, but are difficult to interpret. Also consistent with other studies, we found that poor reading fluency in Grade 1 was associated with increased symptoms of anxiety in children at ages 8 and 9. Gender did not moderate any associations between reading fluency and later measures of psychosocial development.

By investigating children whose parents have dyslexia, family risk (FR) studies are expanding our understanding of the intergenerational transmission of dyslexia. These studies, however, vary in their identification of FR, and how the use of different identification methods influences research findings and conclusions is yet to be systematically investigated. This study aims to evaluate the association between two FR identification methods-parental self-reports and direct skill assessments-and their unique contributions in the prediction of children's reading. The study employed two datasets: a prospective FR sample (half of the parents in the sample had dyslexia and the remaining half did not) and an unselected sample. Parental self-reports and direct skill assessments correlated strongly (.60) in the prospective FR sample and moderately (.42) in the unselected sample. Moreover, both FR identification methods were almost equally predictive of children's reading (explaining 5%-9% of the variance at different time points) in the prospective FR sample only. In the prediction of the children's skills, the two methods complemented each other only for some of the measures. At the same time, in the unselected sample, parental skills were not predictive of children's reading, whereas self-reports were. The two FR identification methods seem to have equally high predictive power when the variability in parental data is high. However, they lose their predictive power when either the lower or higher end of the parental reading distribution is underrepresented.

This study aimed to gain better understanding of the associations between literacy activities at home and long-term language and literacy development. We extended the home literacy environment (HLE) model of Senechal and LeFevre (Child Development [2002], Vol. 73, pp. 445-460) by including repeated assessments of shared reading, oral language, and reading comprehension development, including examination of familial risk for dyslexia as a moderator, and following development over time from ages 2 to 15 years. Of the 198 Finnish participants, 106 have familial risk for dyslexia due to parental dyslexia. Our path models include development in vocabulary (2-5.5 years), emerging literacy (5.5 years), reading fluency (8 and 9 years), and reading comprehension (8, 9, and 15 years) as well as shared book reading with parents (2, 4, 5, 8, and 9 years), teaching literacy at home (4.5 years), and reading motivation (8-9 years). The results supported the HLE model in that teaching literacy at home predicted stronger emerging literacy skills, whereas shared book reading predicted vocabulary development and reading motivation. Both emerging literacy and vocabulary predicted reading development. Familial risk for dyslexia was a significant moderator regarding several paths; vocabulary, reading fluency, and shared reading were stronger predictors of reading comprehension among children with familial risk for dyslexia, whereas reading motivation was a stronger predictor of reading comprehension among adolescents with no familial risk. The findings underline the importance of shared reading and suggest a long-standing impact of shared reading on reading development both directly and through oral language development and reading motivation. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).

This study explored teaching early mathematical skills to 3- to 7-year-old children in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and pre-primary education. Teachers in ECEC (N = 206) answered a web survey. The first aim was to determine whether teaching frequency or pedagogical awareness of teaching early mathematical skills varied according to the category of skills (numerical skills, spatial thinking skills and mathematical thinking and reasoning skills) and whether children's age group moderated these differences. The second aim was to explore to what extent teacher-related characteristics and children's age group explained variations in teaching frequency concerning early mathematical skills. Results from repeated MANOVAs demonstrated that the frequency and pedagogical awareness of teaching early mathematical skills depended on the skill category and that children's age group moderated these differences. In 5- to 6-year-olds and 6- to 7-year-olds, numerical skills were taught more often than spatial thinking skills, whereas in 3- to 5-year-olds, they were taught as frequently. In all age groups, mathematical thinking and reasoning skills were taught the least. Pedagogical awareness was lowest in teaching spatial thinking skills in all age groups, but only in 6- to 7-year-olds was teachers' pedagogical awareness in teaching numerical skills higher than in the two other categories. According to a univariate analysis of variance, pedagogical awareness and mathematics professional development programmes were strongly associated with teaching frequency in all skill categories. The results emphasise that children's opportunities to learn early mathematical skills depend on teachers' characteristics.

This study investigated special educational needs (SEN) teachers' (n = 29) assessment practices and the accuracy of their ratings of the students' (M age = 12.75 years, n = 55) skill levels in reading fluency and reading comprehension. Teachers rated their sixth grade students' fluency and comprehension on a three-point scale, and the students were also tested in group tests. Results showed that SEN teachers used several assessment practices simultaneously but mostly relied on observations. The correlations between the teacher ratings and the test scores were significant but moderate in fluency and weak in comprehension. Only two thirds of low-performing students having difficulties in fluency or comprehension were identified. Additionally, identification of students with typical reading comprehension was inaccurate.