Research Findings: Despite the fact that the universal two-child policy had a significant impact on family structure and parenting behaviors, there is still a paucity of study on the mechanisms underlying this policy's effects. This study explored the role of social competence and sibling presence in the relationship between maternal warmth and…

A complex dynamic systems perspective was applied to explore how mother and child mutually shape interpersonal coordination. Applying a microanalytic design, this study examined the moment-to-moment interaction behavior of 39 Dutch mothers and their three- and four-year-old children (53.8% girls, predominantly White) during a collaboration task.…

Research Findings: The present study investigated the potential mediating role of maternal parenting in the intergenerational effects of maternal childhood traumatic experiences (CTEs) on prosocial behaviors of their offspring and examined whether the offspring's sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) moderates this association using a 1-year…

This study aimed to examine the influence of parent-grandparent co-parenting on children's problem behaviors and its potential mechanisms. Participants were 412 children aged 3 to 6 years from four kindergartens in Shanghai, China. Their mothers were asked to complete a series of questionnaires including the parent-grandparent co-parenting scale,…

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…

Research Findings: Immigrant families who represent a growing share of the early schooling population face unique challenges related to involvement in their children's education. This study examined whether and to what extent home-based parent involvement and parental warmth are associated with the socio-emotional and academic outcomes of children…

Research Findings: This study examined the characteristics of mothers' and fathers' scaffoldings that facilitate Chinese children's initiative-taking in different types of problem-solving activities. A sample of 96 Chinese children together with their mothers and fathers participated in this study. All children completed a worksheet, a game, and…

Research findings: This study examined cross-cultural differences in the structure of preschoolers' narratives, cross-cultural differences in maternal elaboration during reminiscing and the links between the two. We report evidence from middle-class, monolingual samples from Costa Rica and the United States. Results revealed that U.S. children…

Research Findings: The present study examined the relationship between poverty (income-to-needs ratio [INR], parent education, material hardship, and food insecurity) and children's school readiness (vocabulary, mathematic skills, and phonological awareness) through the mediating roles of stimulation and chaos in the home environment, maternal…

Research Findings: Exuberant temperament, characterized by high approach and positive affect, is linked to socioemotional outcomes including risk of externalizing symptoms across development. Externalizing problems interfere with children's school readiness and lead to disruptive behavior in the classroom. While some moderating factors help…

Research findings: No research to date has compared mental state language (MSL) in conversations between children and different adult talk partners, such as mothers and educators. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of MSL (verbalization of mental states such as remembering, knowing and thinking) by children, educators, and mothers…

Research Findings: Positive parenting is widely recommended as a viable mechanism for boosting children's early cognitive skills across the world. Drawing on data from the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Surveys, associations were determined between maternal, paternal, and other household members' engagement in play, book reading, and storytelling and…

Research Findings: The present study examined (a) whether children's negative emotionality traits (anger proneness and unsoothability) interactively predict mothers' authoritarian parenting (AP) and (b) whether children's negative emotionality moderates the associations between AP and children's performance on a spatial cognitive task. Eighty…

Research Findings: This study examined how child negative emotionality interacted with mothers' self-reported parenting in predicting different aspects of social functioning among very young Chinese children. A total of 109 Chinese nursery children in Hong Kong participated with their parents. Maternal supportive and aversive parenting practices…

Research Findings: This study considered the interplay between infant temperament and maternal caregiving behaviors in relation to early language. A total of 118 mother-infant dyads participated in the study. Mothers rated infant positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), and maternal behaviors were coded during a free-play task when infants…