This empirical cross-sectional study explored the effect of chronotypes on classroom behaviour. One hundred and forty young Portuguese children, from 1st to 4th grades, were examined regarding their chronotype and disruptive behaviours occurring in the classroom. Three groups of chronotypes (i.e., morning, intermediate and evening) were…

The present study examined longitudinal associations between preschoolers' executive function (EF) and adult educational attainment, impulse control, and general health directly and through its cascading effects on childhood and adolescent EF using a large, national, and prospective longitudinal sample of participants. Data were drawn from the…

Cognitive processes underlying a behavioural outcome (like reading ability) and the impact of familial risk (e.g., for dyslexia) have been studied in isolation. We present a novel design, linking the two avenues. How do familial influences impact on children's cognitive skills, which subsequently underlie reading development? Participants from the…

On the basis of longitudinal data across 9 years, this study examined the contribution of sustained attention and executive function to the poor cognitive and socioemotional adjustment of school-age children whose mothers had depressive symptoms during the child's infancy. Mothers (N = 1,364) reported depressive symptoms across their child's…

Objective: Exposure to heavy maternal cigarette smoking in pregnancy and severe maternal psychosocial stress during pregnancy appear to be important risk factors for the development of ADHD. This study aimed to determine whether these perinatal risk factors were associated with neuropsychological deficits commonly seen in ADHD. Method: We examined…

This study examined the relation between early television exposure and parental interaction style during infant-directed television programs on 2 outcomes: infant looking time and infant responsiveness. By quasi-experimental design half of the 12- to 18-month-old infants had prior exposure to the program content and the other half did not. Cluster…

Objective: Scholastic achievement in a nonclinical sample of ADHD children and adolescents was evaluated taking into consideration variables such as comorbid learning disorders, family income, and parental education which may also be associated with poor academic performance. Method: After screening for ADHD in 396 students, the authors compared…

Background: Earlier studies of young people with Down's syndrome have investigated a relatively limited range of variables which may influence their academic attainment. The relative strength of such influences and how they may vary during the school career, has also been under-researched. Aims: The aim of the paper is to identify the contemporary…

Among girls, little is known about the shared and unique associations that callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors and conduct problems have with aspects of emotional and behavioral dysregulation and with parenting practices. This study examined these associations using a large community-based sample of young girls (N = 990). The findings revealed that…

This paper investigates the determinants and malleability of noncognitive skills. Using data on boys from the National Education Longitudinal Survey, I focus on youth behavior in the classroom as a measure of noncognitive skills. I find that student behavior during adolescence is persistent. The variation in behavior can be attributed to…

An experiment was performed to assess if, and how, attention to a problem solving task varies with anxiety level. It was hypothesized that high anxious children would glance away from a task more often than less anxious children, in light of research literature which suggests that high anxious children are inattentive to tasks in order to avoid…

It is widely believed that television viewing has a negative impact on school achievement. This belief is supported by negative statistical associations sometimes found between school achievement and amount of television viewing; that is, heavy TV viewers tend to show poorer achievement than light viewers. One possible explanation of this…

A study examined whether reading aloud to kindergarten children on a regular basis would have an effect on their attention span. Subjects, 28 kindergarten students from a New Jersey school, were pretested and then assigned either to an experimental group or to a control group (14 in each group). The experimental sample received the treatment of…

Negative emotionality and poor attention may combine or interact as risk factors in development. Negative emotionality is considered a challenge for self-regulation, whereas good attention is a potential means of self-regulation. In the current study, composites of 1- and 2-year maternal ratings of negative emotionality and global ratings of…