COVID-19 lockdowns and children's health and well-being

Acknowledgments We would like to acknowledge the seed grant from the institute of human development and social change, Steinhardt school of culture, education and human development, that partially funded this project.Peer reviewe

Linking maternal warmth and responsiveness to children's self-regulation

The present study demonstrated that a more differentiated view of positive parenting practices is necessary in the study of children's acquisition of self-regulation. Here, the unique contributions of maternal warmth and responsiveness to distress to children's self-regulation were tested in a sample of 102 German mothers and their kindergarten children (51 girls and 51 boys). Behavior regulation and internalization of rules of conduct were examined as specific components of children's self-regulation. As expected, maternal warmth was positively related to the child's behavior regulation. Responsiveness to distress was positively linked to the child's internalization of rules of conduct. No significant interactions between maternal parenting and either the child's gender or effortful control were found. The results are discussed with regard to the unique functions that different parenting practices have for children's self-regulation

The Role of Attention Shifting in Orthographic Competencies: Cross-Sectional Findings from 1st, 3rd, and 8th Grade Students

Attention shifting refers to one core component of executive functions, a set of higher-order cognitive processes that predict different aspects of academic achievement. To date, few studies have investigated the role of attention shifting in orthographic competencies during middle childhood and early adolescence. In the present study, 69 first-grade, 121 third-grade, and 85 eighth-grade students' attention shifting was tested with a computer version of the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS; Zelazo, 2006). General spelling skills and specific writing and spelling strategies were assessed with the Hamburger Writing Test (May, 2002). Results suggested associations between attention shifting and various orthographic competencies that differ across age groups and by sex. Across all age groups, better attention shifting was associated with less errors in applying alphabetical strategies. In third graders, better attention shifting was furthermore related to better general spelling skills and less errors in using orthographical strategies. In this age group, associations did not differ by sex. Among first graders, attention shifting was negatively related to general spelling skills, but only for boys. In contrast, attention shifting was positively related to general spelling skills in eighth graders, but only for girls. Finally, better attention shifting was associated with less case-related errors in eighth graders, independent of students' sex. In sum, the data provide insight into both variability and consistency in the pattern of relations between attention shifting and various orthographic competencies among elementary and middle school students

Examination of teacher–child interactions in early childhood education programmes in the United Arab Emirates

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Teacher–child interactions provide an important context for children’s development and learning. The study explored how teacher- and classroom-level factors were associated with quality of teacher–child interactions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We also investigated associations between teacher–child interactions and child outcomes. Teacher–child interactions were observed in 60 kindergarten classrooms using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, for the first time with this population. Pre-academic skills (letter and number knowledge), behavioural regulation (assessed with the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task), and stress response physiology (assessed with salivary cortisol levels) were measured in a sample of 115 five-year-old children, recruited from 22 of the 60 classrooms. Results provided moderate evidence for a three-domain structure of teacher–child interactions. Some differences in the quality of teacher–child interactions were related to teachers’ years of experience. Correlational findings suggest links between quality of emotional support with children’s pre-academic skills and behavioural regulation. Results are also discussed in relation to similar international studies to highlight any unique findings to the UAE context

Reciprocal Associations Between Social Competence and Language and Pre-Literacy Skills in Preschool

The present study examined reciprocal associations between children’s social competence and language and pre-literacy skills across the preschool year. Participants were 441 children (six-year-olds; 212 boys, 229 girls) and their teachers. Teachers rated children’s social competence in the autumn and again in the spring, using the Multisource Assessment of Social Competence Scale (MASCS), which produced sum scores for cooperating skills, empathy, impulsivity and disruptiveness. Children were tested by trained investigators on their pre-literacy skills in both the autumn and the spring, and, only in the spring, also on their receptive vocabulary. Parental education, each child’s age and time elapsed between the measurement points were used as control variables. The gender differences in the reciprocal associations were also investigated. The results showed that cooperating skills predicted a higher vocabulary. Associations between social competence and pre-literacy skills varied between boys and girls. For girls, empathy and cooperating skills predicted higher pre-literacy skills, whereas, for boys, pre-literacy skills predicted subsequent empathy. For boys, higher pre-literacy skills were related to lower disruptiveness and impulsivity, whereas, for girls, higher disruptiveness predicted lower pre-literacy skills. The findings highlight the reciprocal association between social-emotional and pre-literacy skills and emphasise the importance of promoting children’s overall development during the preschool year

Patterns of dialogic teaching in kindergarten classrooms of Finland and the United Arab Emirates

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd The present study explored patterns of dialogic teaching in kindergarten classrooms across two countries with different educational systems and cultural backgrounds: Finland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In each country, transcripts of thirteen learning sessions were analyzed by identifying episodes of educational dialogue and categorizing them with regard to previously identified patterns of dialogic teaching. Results showed that teachers, rather than students, initiated dialogue. Further, teacher-initiated teaching dialogue of high quality was the dominant dialogue pattern. Comparisons across countries revealed less educational dialogue and more teacher-initiated questions in classrooms in the UAE, while more open space for sharing thoughts was found in kindergarten classrooms in Finland. The findings suggest variations in the structure of educational dialogue and instructional practices in kindergarten classrooms across contexts

Behavioral Self-Regulation and Relations to Emergent Academic Skills among Children in Germany and Iceland

The present study investigated a direct assessment of behavioral self-regulation (the Head-Toes-Knees- Shoulders; HTKS) and its contribution to early academic achievement among young children in Germany and Iceland. The authors examined the psychometric properties and construct validity of the HTKS, investigated gender differences in young children’s behavioral self-regulation, and explored relations between the HTKS and a teacher report of behavioral self-regulation (the Child Behavior Rating Scale; CBRS) and emerging academic skills. Findings supported the construct validity of the HTKS when used with young German and Icelandic children. Multilevel analyses revealed gender differences, particularly on the CBRS teacher-rated measure. Finally, higher levels of behavioral self-regulation were related to higher academic skills after important background variables were controlled, although some cross-cultural differences in the predictive utility of the HTKS and CBRS were observed. Overall, these results extend prior psychometric work on the HTKS to samples of young European children and support the importance of understanding of the role behavioral self-regulation in young children’s development.Keywords: Academic achievement, Europe, School readiness, Behavioral self-regulation, Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders Task (HTKS), Early childhoo

Eemian landscape response to climatic shifts and evidence for northerly neanderthal occupation at a palaeolake margin in northern germany

The prevailing view suggests that the Eemian interglacial on the European Plain was characterized by largely negligible geomorphic activity beyond the coastal areas. However, systematic geomorphological studies are sparse. Here we present a detailed reconstruction of Eemian to Early Weichselian landscape evolution in the vicinity of a small fingerlake on the northern margin of the Salzwedel Palaeolake in Lower Saxony (Germany). We apply a combination of seismics, sediment coring, pollen analysis and luminescence dating on a complex sequence of colluvial, paludal and lacustrine sediments. Results suggest two pronounced phases of geomorphic activity, directly before the onset and at the end of the Eemian period, with an intermediate period of pronounced landscape stability. The dynamic phases were largely driven by incomplete vegetation cover, but likely accentuated by fluvial incision in the neighbouring Elbe Valley. Furthermore, we discovered Neanderthal occupation at the lakeshore during Eemian pollen zone (PZ) E IV, which is chronologically in line with other known Eemian sites of central Europe. Our highly‐resolved spatio‐temporal data substantially contribute to the understanding of climate‐induced geomorphic processes throughout and directly after the last interglacial period. It helps unraveling the landscape dynamics between the coastal areas to the north and the loess belt to the south

Eemian landscape response to climatic shifts and evidence for northerly Neanderthal occupation at a palaeolake margin in northern Germany

The prevailing view suggests that the Eemian interglacial on the European Plain was characterized by largely negligible geomorphic activity beyond the coastal areas. However, systematic geomorphological studies are sparse. Here we present a detailed reconstruction of Eemian to Early Weichselian landscape evolution in the vicinity of a small fingerlake on the northern margin of the Salzwedel Palaeolake in Lower Saxony (Germany). We apply a combination of seismics, sediment coring, pollen analysis and luminescence dating on a complex sequence of colluvial, paludal and lacustrine sediments. Results suggest two pronounced phases of geomorphic activity, directly before the onset and at the end of the Eemian period, with an intermediate period of pronounced landscape stability. The dynamic phases were largely driven by incomplete vegetation cover, but likely accentuated by fluvial incision in the neighbouring Elbe Valley. Furthermore, we discovered Neanderthal occupation at the lakeshore during Eemian pollen zone (PZ) E IV, which is chronologically in line with other known Eemian sites of central Europe. Our highly-resolved spatio-temporal data substantially contribute to the understanding of climate-induced geomorphic processes throughout and directly after the last interglacial period. It helps unraveling the landscape dynamics between the coastal areas to the north and the loess belt to the south

The development of self-regulation and the transition from kindergarten to school: The role of maternal parenting and child temperament

Der Eintritt in die Schule stellt für Kinder und ihre Familien eine ganz besondere Herausforderung dar. Gute Schulleistungen und angemessenes Verhalten im Unterricht sind wichtige Indikatoren für das Gelingen der Adaptation an die Schulsituation. Als wesentliche Voraussetzungen für schulische Lernerfolge gelten ausreichende intellektuelle Fähigkeiten. Bislang unklar ist die Bedeutung nicht-kognitiver Fähigkeiten für die Schulanpassung und den Schulerfolg. In diesem Zusammenhang wird die Bedeutung der Bereitschaft und Fähigkeit zur Selbstregulation am intensivsten diskutiert.Ziel der Studie war es, die Rolle der Selbstregulation im Vorschulalter für die erfolgreiche Adaptation an die Schule unter Berücksichtigung der kognitiven Fähigkeiten zu untersuchen. Einbezogen wurden Betrachtungen zu Entwicklungsbedingungen von Selbstregulation im Vorschulalter. Ferner wurden mögliche Wechselwirkungen zwischen der Selbstregulation, den kognitiven Fähigkeiten sowie dem Verhalten im Unterricht und den Schulleistungen am Ende der ersten Klasse analysiert.Im Rahmen der Studie wurden 28 fünf- bis sechsjährige Kinder im Quer- und Längsschnitt betrachtet. Verschiedene Beobachtungsverfahren, Fragebögen und standardisierte Testverfahren wurden eingesetzt zur Erfassung der Selbstregulation, des Temperaments, der nonverbalen Intelligenz, der sprachlichen Fähigkeiten, der Aufmerksamkeitsleistung, der Schulleistungen und des Verhaltens des Kindes im Unterricht sowie der mütterlichen Wärme und des Bindungserlebens der Mutter. Während der ersten Untersuchungsphase im Vorschulalter wurden Daten von Kindern und deren Müttern erhoben und während der Folgeuntersuchung ein Jahr später zusätzlich Informationen von den Lehrern und Lehrerinnen berücksichtigt.Im Hinblick auf die Entwicklungsbedingungen von Selbstregulation im Vorschulalter zeigte sich ein signifikanter Zusammenhang zwischen der mütterlichen Wärme in der Erziehung und der Selbstregulation des Kindes. Zwischen der Selbstregulation des Kindes und seinem Temperament bzw. seiner nonverbalen Intelligenz fanden sich keine bedeutsamen Zusammenhänge. Hinsichtlich möglicher Einflussfaktoren auf das Ausmaß an mütterlicher Wärme in der Erziehung konnte weder ein Zusammenhang zwischen mütterlicher Wärme und dem Bindungserleben der Mutter noch zwischen mütterlicher Wärme und dem Temperament des Kindes nachgewiesen werden.Im Längsschnitt ergaben die Analysen, dass die Selbstregulation des Kindes im Vorschulalter mit den Schulleistungen und dem Verhalten im Unterricht am Ende der ersten Klasse zusammenhing. Kinder mit einer höheren Bereitschaft und Fähigkeit zur Selbstregulation im Vorschulalter zeigten am Ende der ersten Klasse bessere Schulleistungen und weniger Problemverhalten im Unterricht. Ferner ergab sich, dass das Problemverhalten im Unterricht einen Mediator für den Zusammenhang zwischen der Selbstregulation im Vorschulalter und den Leistungen im Lesen und Rechtschreiben darstellt. Die vermutete Moderatorfunktion der nonverbalen Intelligenz für einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Selbstregulation im Vorschulalter und dem Erfolg der Anpassung des Kindes an die Schulsituation deutete sich lediglich für das Problemverhalten im Unterricht an: Kinder mit einer hohen Bereitschaft und Fähigkeit zur Selbstregulation wurden unabhängig von ihrer nonverbalen Intelligenz von den Lehrerinnen als unproblematisch beschrieben, wohingegen niedrige nonverbale Fähigkeiten mit mehr Problemverhalten einhergingen, wenn weniger effektive Selbstregulationsstrategien zur Verfügung standen.Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Arbeit weisen auf eine zentrale Bedeutung früher Selbstregulationskompetenzen für die Adaptation eines Kindes an die Schulsituation hin. Selbstregulation im Vorschulalter liefert unabhängig von der nonverbalen Intelligenz einen eigenständigen Beitrag zur Vorhersage der Schulleistungen am Ende der 1. Klasse. Ferner belegen die Befunde eine frühe Entstehungsgeschichte von Verhaltensproblemen. Eine geringe Selbstregulation im Vorschulalter ist mit einem problematischen Verhalten des Kindes im Unterricht verbunden.Defizite in der Selbstregulation im Vorschulalter sind nach den im Rahmen der Studie gewonnenen Ergebnissen als Risiko für die Adaptation eines Kindes an den Kontext Schule anzusehen. Die Studie weist auf die Notwendigkeit einer frühen und gezielten Förderung von Selbstregulationskompetenzen hin, um so die Entwicklungsperspektiven von Kindern mit Schwächen in der Selbstregulation langfristig zu verbessern