Lasten ja nuorten oikeudet oppimiseen ja hyvinvointiin vaarantuivat koronapandemian aikana

Lasten ja nuorten oppimiseen ja hyvinvointiin liittyvät oikeudet vaarantuivatkorona-aikana. Osa lapsista ja nuorista ei saanut tarvitsemaansa ja toivomaansa tukea. Lasten ja nuorten väliset erot hyvinvoinnissa kasvoivat. Korona-aika lisäsi lasten ja nuorten yksinäisyyden kokemuksia. Tulevissa etäopetustilanteissa tulisi huolehtia siitä, että lasten ja nuorten hyvinvointiaja yhteenkuuluvuuden tunnetta tuetaan vahvemmin

Social engagement from childhood to middle age and the effect of childhood socio-economic status on middle age social engagement: results from the National Child Development study

Social engagement has powerful effects on wellbeing, but variation in individual engagement throughout the lifecourse is wide. The trajectories may differ by gender and be affected by socio-economic status (SES). However, long-term development of social engagement is little studied and the effect of childhood SES on later-life social engagement remains obscure. We aimed to describe the social engagement development from childhood to middle age by gender and test the effect of childhood SES on middle age social engagement. Data (N=16,440, 51.3% male) are drawn from the on-going National Child Development Study, following British babies born in 1958. Social engagement was measured by social activities, voluntary work and social contacts, with follow-ups at age 11, 16, 23 and 50. SES was measured by father's occupational social class and tenure status. Structural equation modelling suggested inter-individual stability in social engagement, showing that development of social engagement started in childhood and increased social engagement in middle age through adolescence and early adulthood. Longitudinal effects were detected within and across the social engagement domains. Lower childhood SES was significantly related to a lower level of voluntary work and social activity in middle age, but to higher levels of social contacts. Although stability in social engagement is moderate over the lifecourse, variation within and across the different social engagement domains is shaped by differences in childhood SES

Peer selection and influence

Peer reviewe

A Person-Oriented Approach to Diary Data : Children's Temperamental Negative Emotionality Increases Susceptibility to Emotion Transmission in Father-Child Dyads

The notion that some individuals are more prone to emotion transmission than others has prompted the need for a person-oriented approach to emotion transmission in parent-child dyads. The present study applied a person-oriented analysis to examine the patterns of emotion transmission that can be identified in the diary data of father-child dyads, and the extent to which children with high levels of temperamental negative emotionality are particularly susceptible to emotion transmission within the family. Mothers of 149 first grade children (age 6 to 7) completed questionnaires concerning their child’s temperament. Mothers and fathers maintained diary questionnaires (for a total of 7 days) concerning their child’s negative daily emotions, and fathers (n = 116) maintained diary questionnaires concerning their own negative daily emotions. Results of variable-oriented analyses with prospective change multilevel modeling showed, first, that emotions were, on average, not significantly transmitted in a father-child interaction. However, the person-oriented approach using multilevel mixture regression identified four qualitatively different patterns in the transmission of emotions. These results showed that the higher the level of a child’s temperamental negative emotionality, the more typical it was for the father-child dyad in their daily life to show interaction patterns wherein the father’s negative emotions were transmitted to the child.Peer reviewe

Heterogeneity of executive functions among preschool children with psychiatric symptoms

The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between internalizing and externalizing symptoms and deficits in executive functions (EF) as well as to examine the overall heterogeneity of EFs in a sample of preschool children attending a psychiatric clinic (n = 171). First, based on cut-off points signifying clinical levels of impairment on the parent-completed Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), children were assigned into groups of internalizing, externalizing, combined or mild symptoms and compared to a reference group (n = 667) with regard to day care teacher ratings of EFs on the Attention and Executive Function Rating Inventory-Preschool (ATTEX-P). Second, latent profile analysis (LPA) was employed to identify distinct subgroups of children representing different EF profiles with unique strengths and weaknesses in EFs. The first set of analyses indicated that all symptom groups had more difficulties in EFs than the reference group did, and the internalizing group had less inhibition-related problems than the other symptom groups did. Using LPA, five EF profiles were identified: average, weak average, attentional problems, inhibitory problems, and overall problems. The EF profiles were significantly associated with gender, maternal education level, and psychiatric symptom type. Overall, the findings suggest that the comparison of means of internalizing and externalizing groups mainly captures the fairly obvious differences in inhibition-related domains among young psychiatric outpatient children, whereas the person-oriented approach, based on individual differences, identifies heterogeneity related to attentional functions, planning, and initiating one's action. The variability in EF difficulties suggests that a comprehensive evaluation of a child's EF profile is important regardless of the type of psychiatric symptoms the child presents with.Peer reviewe

Early Oral Language Comprehension, Task Orientation, and Foundational Reading Skills as Predictors of Grade 3 Reading Comprehension

The present five-year longitudinal study from preschool to grade 3 examined the developmental associations among oral language comprehension, task orientation, reading precursors, and reading fluency, as well as their role in predicting grade 3 reading comprehension. Ninety Finnish-speaking students participated in the study. The students’ oral language comprehension (vocabulary knowledge, listening comprehension, and inference making) and task orientation were assessed in preschool, kindergarten, and grade 3. Reading precursors (letter knowledge and phonological awareness) were assessed at the first two timepoints and reading fluency at the third timepoint. Structural equation modeling showed that oral language comprehension, reading fluency, and task orientation each contributed uniquely to concurrent reading comprehension, and together they accounted for 76% of variance in reading comprehension. A reciprocal relationship was found between oral language comprehension and task orientation from preschool through kindergarten to grade 3, a finding that extends our knowledge of the longitudinal determinants of reading comprehension.</p

Word Reading Skills and Externalizing and Internalizing Problems from Grade 1 to Grade 2 - Developmental Trajectories and Bullying Involvement in Grade 3

School bullying is associated with externalizing and internalizing problems, but little is known about whether reading difficulties also play a part. We asked how, in Grades 1 and 2, word reading skills and externalizing/internalizing problems predict the degree to which students are involved in bullying in Grade 3. Using a sample of 480 Finnish children (M age = 7 years 2 months at the beginning of the study), developmental profiles were identified using mixture modeling based on reading skills, as well as externalizing and internalizing problems. In Grade 3, one fifth of the students were involved in bullying as victims, bullies, or bully/victims. Poor readers with externalizing/internalizing problems were most involved as bullies and bully/victims but not as victims. Average readers with externalizing/internalizing problems were also involved in bullying, whereas students with only reading difficulties were not. Skilled readers displayed little externalizing/internalizing problems and were not involved in bullying.<br /

Adaptive Number Knowledge in Secondary School Students: Profiles and Antecedents

The present study aims to examine inter-individual differences in adaptive number knowledge in secondary school students. Adaptive number knowledge is defined as a well-connected network of knowledge of numerical characteristics and arithmetic relations. Substantial and relevant qualitative differences in the strategies and expression of adaptive number knowledge have been found in primary school students still in the process of learning arithmetic. We present a study involving 879 seventh-grade students that examines the structure of individual differences in adaptive number knowledge with students who have completed one year of algebra instruction. Results of a latent profile analysis reveal a model that is similar than was previously found in primary school students. As well, arithmetic fluency and the development of arithmetic fluency are strong predictors of adaptive number knowledge latent profile membership. These results suggest that adaptive number knowledge may be characteristic of high-level performance extending into secondary school, even after formal instruction with arithmetic concludes. </p

Parenting Styles and Children’s Emotional Development during the First Grade : The Moderating Role of Child Temperament

This study investigated the associations between parenting styles (affection, behavioral control, and psychological control) and children’s emotional development (emotion expression) during the first grade of primary school, and the moderating role of children’s temperament (easy, difficult, and inhibited) in these associations. Mothers and fathers of 152 children responded to a questionnaire concerning their parenting styles and their child’s temperament at the beginning of their child’s first grade (Time 1). They also filled in a structured diary questionnaire concerning their child’s negative and positive emotions over seven successive days (diary) at the beginning (Time 1) and at the end (Time 2) of their child’s first grade. The results showed that mothers’ psychological control at Time 1 was associated with a subsequent high level of negative emotions among children, independently of the child’s temperament. Mothers’ high affection, in turn, was associated with subsequently low levels of negative emotions, particularly among children with inhibited temperament. Mothers’ behavioral control, on the other hand, was associated with low levels of negative emotions among children with difficult temperament. Fathers’ psychological control was associated with subsequently high levels of negative emotions among children with difficult temperament. No associations were found between parenting styles and children’s positive emotions.Peer reviewe

Factors Anticipating Adolescents' Adherence and Dropout in an Online ACT Intervention During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examined factors anticipating adolescents’ (N=232) adherence and dropout in an online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention targeted at promoting well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, results showed that adolescents with high academic achievement and educational expectations were more likely to participate in the induction meeting and start the program. Second, adolescents in the human supported model fulfilled the adherence criterion more often than adolescents supported by the virtual coach only. Finally, while male participants were less likely to participate in the study, the participants who started the online program were likely to adhere to it regardless of gender.Peer reviewe