父母严厉管教与儿童问题行为的关系:儿童自我控制的中介作用

为探讨父母严厉管教、儿童自我控制与儿童问题行为间的关系,采用中文版亲子冲突解决策略量表、社会技能评定量表和儿童行为核查量表对济南市两所公立学校的1097名小学四到六年级儿童及其父母双亲进行测查。结果发现：（1）父母心理攻击和体罚与儿童自我控制均呈显著负相关,与儿童内化和外化问题行为均呈显著正相关,儿童自我控制与其内化和外化问题行为均呈显著负相关;（2）父亲心理攻击可以显著正向预测儿童内化和外化问题行为,母亲体罚可以显著正向预测儿童外化问题行为;（3）儿童自我控制在父亲心理攻击和母亲体罚与儿童内外化问题行为之间起中介作用,在母亲心理攻击和父亲体罚与儿童内外化问题行为关系间的中介作用不显著,中介作用模型不存在显著的儿童性别差异。综上,本研究发现父母严厉管教不仅直接影响儿童的内外化问题行为,而且会通过降低儿童自我控制水平间接导致儿童问题行为的增多。     

流动儿童歧视知觉与心理健康关系的元分析

本研究基于心理健康双因素模型,通过运用元分析技术探讨流动儿童歧视知觉与各项心理健康指标的关系,以及调节变量对二者关系的影响,以期为提升流动儿童心理健康提供有效借鉴。经过文献检索和筛选,共纳入原始文献30篇,含49个独立样本,被试总数达到40351名。根据同质性检验结果,选择随机效应模型分析发现,流动儿童歧视知觉与积极心理健康指标存在中等程度的负相关(r=-0.323,95%CI为[-0.378,-0.266]),与消极心理健康指标存在中等程度的正相关(r=0.41,95%CI为[0.36,0.458])。流动儿童歧视知觉测量工具、学龄段对流动儿童歧视知觉与积极心理健康的关系存在显著的调节效应,而对流动儿童歧视知觉与消极心理健康的关系不存在显著的调节效应。同时,元回归分析结果发现,性别对二者的关系不存在显著的调节效应。后续研究应该进一步探索流动儿童歧视知觉与心理健康间的调节变量,结合中国流动儿童心理发展特点,探索提升流动儿童心理健康水平的新路径。     

父母冲突对儿童青少年抑郁情绪的影响：有调节的中介模型

采用方便取样法选取山西、河南两省的2823名中小学生为被试,使用问卷法考察父母冲突与儿童青少年抑郁情绪之间的关系及机制。结果表明：（1）父母冲突、亲子关系、自尊均与抑郁呈显著相关;（2）父母冲突可以正向预测抑郁,亲子关系在其中起部分中介作用;（3）父母冲突影响抑郁的有调节的中介模型成立,其中自尊在前半段和后半段路径中均起调节作用,但作用有所不同。     

家庭社会经济地位对流动儿童认知能力的影响:父母教养方式的中介作用

以北京市某小学三、四年级的133名流动儿童和129名非流动儿童为被试,采用问卷和行为实验的方法,探讨家庭社会经济地位对流动儿童认知能力的影响,以及父母教养方式在其中的中介作用。结果发现：（1）流动儿童的工作记忆、元认知能力显著低于非流动儿童,家庭社会经济地位较非流动儿童更低,父母教养方式更消极;（2）流动儿童家庭社会经济地位与元认知显著正相关,父母教养方式中多个维度与元认知显著相关,而只有母亲过度干涉与保护与注意力显著负相关;（3）在流动儿童中,父亲情感温暖与理解部分中介家庭社会经济地位对儿童元认知的影响,效应量为30%。     

儿童资源获取行为对学校适应的影响——一个历时5年的跨文化追踪

以160名中国儿童和133名加拿大儿童为被试,采用实验室观察和问卷调查,考察儿童7岁时的资源获取行为对其11岁时学校适应的影响。结果表明：（1）轮流规则行为对儿童的学校适应具有消极的预测作用,且存在性别差异：男孩的轮流规则行为可以显著正向预测其焦虑,女孩的轮流规则行为可以显著负向预测其学校态度;（2）请求行为可以显著正向预测中国儿童攻击行为,加拿大儿童则没有发现该关系;（3）对于资源获取失败次数少的儿童,求助成人行为有积极的适应意义;（4）儿童资源获取行为的结果在儿童7岁时资源获取行为与11岁时学校适应之间发挥调节作用;对于资源获取成功次数少的儿童,请求行为可以显著地正向预测其攻击行为;对于资源获取失败次数少的儿童,请求行为则显著地负向预测其攻击行为,求助成人行为可以显著地负向预测其孤独感。     

歧视知觉与流动儿童社会疏离感的关系:一个有调节的中介模型

采用问卷法对1101名流动儿童进行调查研究,考察歧视知觉对流动儿童社会疏离感的影响,同时考察认同整合在其中的中介作用,以及该过程是否受到社会支持的调节。结果表明：（1）在控制了性别、学校性质、转学次数之后,歧视知觉对流动儿童社会疏离感具有正向预测作用;（2）认同整合在流动儿童歧视知觉和社会疏离感关系中起到部分中介作用;（3）认同整合的中介作用受到社会支持的正向调节,相对于社会支持水平低的流动儿童,中介作用对社会支持水平高的流动儿童更显著。因此,歧视知觉对流动儿童社会疏离感的影响是有调节的中介效应。这些结果对于综合解释城市适应过程中环境与个体因素对流动儿童社会疏离感的作用路径与机制具有重要意义。     

Theory of Mind and Executive Functions in Young Bilingual Children

Few studies have explored the relationship between theory of mind (ToM), executive function (EF), and bilingualism at the same time. In this study 14 young bilingual children were compared with monolingual children on a test battery composed of 5 ToM tests, 5 EF tests, and 1 test of general language ability. The result showed that despite significantly lower verbal ability, the bilingual children outperformed the monolingual ones on tests of EF. There were no differences in ToM performance. The authors argue that there is a strong relationship between bilingualism and EF, but, contrary to results from earlier studies, they could not find any relationship between bilingualism and ToM. EF did not predict ToM performance. Lack of a significant relationship could be due to the children's young age and consequently their low scores on the ToM tasks.     

Embedding spirituality in young children: an inter-generational challenge

This study reports on the inter-generational transmission of faith values to young children (three to six years) from the perspectives of parents, grandparents, and religion teachers. The study was conducted at two religious education centres in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Through a qualitative rapid ethnographic approach (interviews, focus groups, and observations), we explored the practices and challenges in realizing the practice of faith as part of children’s everyday life. Eleven themes elicited which were further reflected in three overarching trends – ‘Building the foundation – on the right path’; ‘Meeting the challenges-embedding faith’; ‘Creating a conducive environment – brining us together’. Key findings revealed that although parents were keenly interested in spiritual development of their young children, they felt challenged by time deficits, multiple priorities, and secularization. Grandparents and religious education teachers were critical of the lack of parental commitment to spiritual development, seeing themselves often becoming surrogate drivers for this imperative. In conclusion, parents requested the institutions to schedule weekly practical classes in prayer and rituals. They also indicated that grandparents’ involvement in religious education activities are enabling and supportive to the parents in nurturing children’s spirituality. As a result there is a clear indication of the role for inter-generational involvements in embedding spirituality in young children.     

Effects of targets embedded within words in a visual search task

Visual search performance can be negatively affected when both targets and distracters share a dimension relevant to the task. This study examined if visual search performance would be influenced by distracters that affect a dimension irrelevant from the task. In Experiment 1 within the letter string of a letter search task, target letters were embedded within a word. Experiment 2 compared targets embedded in words to targets embedded in nonwords. Experiment 3 compared targets embedded in words to a condition in which a word was present in a letter string, but the target letter, although in the letter string, was not embedded within the word. The results showed that visual search performance was negatively affected when a target appeared within a high frequency word. These results suggest that the interaction and effectiveness of distracters is not merely dependent upon common features of the target and distracters, but can be affected by word frequency (a dimension not related to the task demands).     

Is positive thinking in anticipation of a performance situation better than distraction? An experimental study in preadolescents

The current study compares the effects of experimentally induced positive anticipatory thinking and distraction in preadolescents aged 12–13. Eighty‐seven participants were instructed to either engage in positive anticipatory thoughts or perform a distraction task while preparing to perform a sporting activity in front of their peers. Results revealed that trait social anxiety was associated with more negative estimates of sport performance and catastrophic thoughts relating to the impending sport activity. Additionally, compared to children who distracted, children in the positive anticipation condition showed significantly increased anxiety levels, more catastrophic thoughts and more negative predictions of sport performance and appearance, although these effects did not appear to interact with trait social anxiety. Finally, no significant manipulation effect on participants’ observable behavior was found. The findings further highlight the utility of distracting from an impending, anxiety‐provoking situation to keep anxious feelings to a low level.