In this study we investigated the impact of parental language input on language development and associated neuroscillatory patterns in toddlers at risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Forty-six mother-toddler dyads at either high (n = 22) or low (n = 24) familial risk of ASD completed a longitudinal, prospective study including free-play,…

Currently, no culturally and linguistically adapted autism screening tools are available in South Africa. The aim was to determine the reliability and concurrent validity of the adapted English and Northern Sotho-translated Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers--Revised with Follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F). Reliability was confirmed with near-perfect…

This study tested a 5-year sequential mediation model linking paternal mind-mindedness in toddlerhood to child early academic achievement through a developmental process unfolding in the preschool years. A sample of 128 mostly White middle-class families (68 girls) living in Montreal, Canada was assessed for paternal mind-mindedness when children…

The overarching goal of the Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation (MIHOPE) is to provide information about whether families and children benefit from Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program-funded early childhood home visiting programs as they operated from 2012 to 2017, and if so, how. The MIECHV Program…

Family systems research has identified two key processes (spillover and compensatory), linking interparental relationship quality to the parent-child relationship. However, previous research has focused on the parent as the sole initiator and had not often considered the role of the child in these processes. The present study adds to the…

This study investigated how parenting behaviors and child committed compliance predicted internalization of rules and externalizing behaviors throughout early childhood. Participants were 95 Chinese mother-child dyads. Maternal respect for autonomy and negative control were observed in free-plays at 14 and 25 months. Toddlers' committed compliance…

Objective: The tendency to vocalize toward objects is ubiquitous among young infants. However, little is known about the range of this tendency and its contribution to language development. Therefore, this longitudinal study objective was to explore the role of three forms of vocal behavior (vocalization, babbling, and speech) directed toward…

There is a lack of feasible and psychometrically sound instruments assessing social-emotional development in young children in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) in two West-African…

Mirror self-recognition (MSR) is considered to be the benchmark of objective self-awareness--the ability to think about oneself. Cross-cultural research showed that there are systematic differences in toddlers' MSR abilities between 18 and 24 months. Understanding whether these differences result from systematic variation in early social…

Emotion regulation (ER) is a source of risk and resilience for psychological development and everyday functioning. Despite extensive research on various early contextual predictors of child ER capacity, few studies have integrated them into the same study. Therefore, our longitudinal study investigated the joint and independent contributions of…

The ability to regulate one's emotions and behaviors is essential for adaptive functioning in society. We investigated whether parental mind-mindedness--parents' tendency to treat their children as mental agents--in infancy and toddlerhood predicts school-age children's self-regulation. The sample consisted of 125 mostly Dutch and White families.…

Potentially serving as the primary national literacy initiative, the Reading Seed Programme (RSP) by PUSTAKA Negeri Sarawak aims to enculturate a reading culture from an early age. For instance, RSP was invented to promote reading culture by having the pregnant mother read to their infant until the child was three years old. The process is vital…

Parenting is a key factor for the development of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Therefore, early intervention programs should target parenting behaviors to improve children's developmental outcomes. The present study analyzed the effect of parental behaviors and other family factors on the cognitive and linguistic…

This study investigated responsive and directive speech from 60 Finnish mothers to their 2-year-old children, as well as correlations with concurrent and later vocabulary. Possible gender differences with regard to both maternal speech and children's vocabulary skills were considered. There were no gender differences in maternal utterance…

Several studies have analysed the impact of attending early childhood education centres on communication, regulatory skills and social-emotional development. These educational institutions have increased in presence annually, partially due to the access of women to the labour market. It has been found that infant education may modulate development…