In this 3-year longitudinal study, we examined the interplay of children's motivational orientations, spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) and number sequence and arithmetical skills from kindergarten (at age 6) to grade 1 (at age 7). We also examined the direct and indirect contributions of motivation and SFON to the acquisition of…

Reciprocal associations between the Big Five personality traits and parenting stress--including both parents' feelings of their distress and perception of their incompetence as parents--were studied with 248 participants (49% of which were males). Longitudinal data, collected at ages 33/36, 42 and 50 years, were used. Cross-lagged path analysis…

This study examined the longitudinal associations between children's academic skills and the instructional support teachers gave individual students. A total of 253 Finnish children were tested on reading and math skills twice in the first grade and once in the second grade. The teachers of these children rated the instructional support that they…

This longitudinal study, conducted among a sample of Finnish primary-school children, examined the proposition that a single high-quality relationship (either with a teacher or a parent) can buffer against adjustment problems. Teachers rated the externalizing problems and prosocial behaviors of 378 children in Grade 1 and again in Grade 2.…

The main purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate the role of motivational climates, perceived competence and motivational regulations as antecedents of self-reported physical activity during junior high school years. The participants included 237 Finnish students (101 girls, 136 boys) that were 13 years old at the first stage of the…

This study examined cross-lagged associations between positive teacher and peer relations and academic skill development. Reading and math skills were tested among 625 students in kindergarten and Grade 4. Teacher reports of positive affect toward each student and classmate reports of peer acceptance were gathered in Grades 1-3. The results…

A longitudinal field study conducted in Turku, Finland, traced the development of aggression as a function of the viewing of violence by children from the ages of 7 and 9 to the ages of 15 and 17 to explore the connection between violence viewing and viewers' aggression, and to shed light on the question of causality. The 220 subjects, both male…