Development of social skills during middle childhood: Growth trajectories and school-related predictors

This study examined the development of social skills across five measurement points from 4th through 7th grade, and the influence of child gender and school-related factors on the level and growth of social skills, in a large sample of normally developing children in Norway (N = 2,076). On average, children’s social skills scores increased slightly, girls received higher scores than boys, and individual order stability was fairly high over time. Growth mixture modeling (GMM) identified three distinct trajectory classes, one with stable average scores over time (72%), and two (14% each) with high initial and declining scores and low initial and increasing scores, respectively. The school-related factors (e.g., student–teacher relationships) predicted social skills development differently within the trajectory classes.publishedVersio

Mother-Child Interactions in Families With Internationally Adopted Children and Families With Biological Children at Age 2: Similarities and Differences

Videotaped observations of mother–child interactions in adoptive and biological dyads showed some significant differences in overall quality of interactions at age 2. The differences included both mother and child observed behavior during a free-play and teaching setting. There were no significant differences in adoptive and biological mother’s sensitivity/responsiveness toward their children, which has been documented to be important for children’s favorable social and emotional development. Taking into consideration the late establishment of mother–child interaction in adoptive families and the children’s adverse preadoption experiences, this result must be considered quite propitious. However, there were significant differences in both mother’s and children’s behavior. Adoptive mothers expressed less positive regard for their children in both settings and displayed more intrusive behavior in the free-play setting compared to biological mothers. Furthermore, adopted children showed less positive mood and engagement of their mothers in both settings and lower degree of sustained attention in the teaching setting than the biological children. Notably, the children’s age at adoption was not connected to either mothers’ or children’s observed behavior during the interaction tasks

Development of social skills during middle childhood: Growth trajectories and school-related predictors

This study examined the development of social skills across five measurement points from 4th through 7th grade, and the influence of child gender and school-related factors on the level and growth of social skills, in a large sample of normally developing children in Norway (N = 2,076). On average, children’s social skills scores increased slightly, girls received higher scores than boys, and individual order stability was fairly high over time. Growth mixture modeling (GMM) identified three distinct trajectory classes, one with stable average scores over time (72%), and two (14% each) with high initial and declining scores and low initial and increasing scores, respectively. The school-related factors (e.g., student–teacher relationships) predicted social skills development differently within the trajectory classes

Early maternal spatial support for toddlers and math skills in second grade

The aim of this study is to investigate whether maternal spatial support during two types of joint manipulative toy play tasks with 2-year-old children was longitudinally associated with math screening test scores in second grade. The interaction between spatial support and maternal education was explored as well. We also investigated predictions of a teacher rating of math performance at second grade, although these effects were less robust. Data were drawn from BONDS (The Behavior Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study), a longitudinal study of Norwegian children and their families. Participants were a subsample of 932 mothers and their 2-year-olds. Mothers were asked to help their children solve both a puzzle task and a shape-color sorting task. Mothers’ spatial support included spatial language, gestures, and placement of objects. Results showed that higher levels of spatial support during mother-child interaction tasks at 2 years of age was significantly associated with fewer math difficulties in second grade. This was the case for a puzzle task (a task associated with spatial visualization skills), but not for a shape-color sorting task (a task associated with shape and color feature discriminations). Conclusions are drawn with respect to the importance of identifying optimal parental spatial strategies associated with better math outcomes. These findings on parental facilitation of spatial skills during joint early play may be useful for future training interventions directed at parents of children at risk for poor math skills.N/