Research Findings: Social constructivist theories have proposed that caregivers' perceptions of children as morally responsible agents are an important factor in children's moral development. However, there is substantial variance in caregivers' ascriptions of moral agency to young children. The present study examined caregiver social conformity…

Research Findings: Prosocial behavior in early childhood can be assessed by various informants and methodologies, but the information each provides may differ in meaningful ways. The present study measured and compared young children's (N = 486; age: M = 48.51 months, SD = 8.22) prosocial behavior based on parent reports, teacher reports, and…

Parents play a vital role in identifying children's needs for support and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) features that support children's well-being. This study examined parental perspectives on features of ECEC that foster young children's well-being under and above the age of 3 years by interviewing 359 parents across nine European…

Valid information on early social-emotional competence is essential to diagnose, treat, and prevent behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Particularly in young children, social-emotional competence is frequently measured using parent and teacher ratings that frequently exhibit low agreement. Therefore, the present study on n = 532…

Although there are many studies on the use of childcare, most German research has focused on the role of socio-economic factors such as parents' level of education, household income, or migration background. Little is known about the role of child characteristics such as health or temperament. Using longitudinal data from the National Educational…

"Children Crossing Borders" was an ambitious study of the intersection of im/migration and early childhood education in five countries: England, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States. This article looks back at this study a decade later, presenting the main findings and proposing suggestions about how in the contemporary climate…

This study investigates the role played by parents as mediators of young children's access and engagement with digital technologies. In Belgium, Germany, Latvia and Portugal, qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 families in each country, including one child between 6 and 7 years old. Our findings show that parents of young…

This study examines the similarity of socialization goals of a group of mothers with different cultural backgrounds and their children's respective preschool teachers in Germany. Additionally, the researchers were interested in the relationship between the degree of mother-teacher similarity and maternal satisfaction with child care. Questionnaire…

This study compared how parents in Germany and the United States perceive the quality of early childhood education services received by their children. In both countries, parents indicated high importance for the aspects measured in the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. Parents assigned substantially higher quality scores to their…

The cultural patterning of respect is examined in two first- and second-generation migrant groups: Puerto Rican mothers in Connecticut and Turkish mothers in Bochum, Germany. Cultural and generational influences were found for three aspects of respect: proper interpersonal behavior, relations within the family, and esteem within the community.…

A total of 87 children were observed in play with unfamiliar peers at 4, 6, and 8 years of age, and judged by their parents for inhibition. Observed inhibited behavior and parental judgments of inhibition became increasingly associated with solitary-passive activity. With increasing age, inhibited children spent longer periods in solitary-passive…

Reviews six books on child cognitive and emotional development. The books address the following topics: the assessment of cognitive competence; children's theories of mind; early grammatical development; the psychological consequences of parental belief systems for children; the role of culture in human development; and perspectives from…

A survey of 984 mothers in Bavaria of young children with disabilities investigated their views regarding cooperation and what they expect to achieve from parent-expert partnerships. Results indicate dialoguing with professionals and model learning during intervention is the most helpful way for parents to learn how to cope with their child.…