ABSTRACTHealthy human relationships incorporate empathy; yet empathy may sometimes be a risky strength. Here we examine whether links between parent and child depressive symptoms are moderated by child empathy in early school age children. Children's empathy (empathic concern and hypothesis testing) and empathy‐related responding (personal distress and prosocial behaviors) were observed during a structured laboratory task during which an examiner showed distress. Parents also completed questionnaires and interviews about their own and their children's depressive symptoms. In our sample, mothers were primarily the main caregivers and showed higher depressive symptoms than fathers. Both mother and father depressive symptoms were related to child depressive symptoms, with this relationship being moderated by children's higher empathic concern toward the examiner for mothers only. Children's concern for others can be stressful and often co‐occurs with personal distress; both feelings can precede or signal depression. Though empathic concern is an indicator of social competence, it is also a risky strength, as it is linked to personal distress and a higher risk of depressive symptoms, especially in children with depressed mothers. These dynamics suggest processes relevant to intergenerational transmission of depressive symptoms from caregivers to offspring.

ABSTRACTNavigating challenging peer experiences is typical during early adolescence, and youths’ social cognitions—social appraisals and social self‐efficacy—about such challenges have implications for their subsequent peer interactions. Parents can play a role in shaping youth social cognitive skills by socializing youth on how to think about challenging peer situations (i.e., cognitive restructuring advice), and the extent to which youth seek parental advice could affect the parent socialization–youth outcome link. Thus, this study aimed to examine parents’ cognitive restructuring advice in response to peer challenges (thinking about the situation in non‐threatening ways) and the association with youths’ social appraisals and self‐efficacy about 1 year later. Youth support seeking was tested as a moderator of this association. Aims were tested with a community sample of predominantly rural low‐income African American (AA) families, which included 90 AA adolescents and their parents at T1; 87 families returned at T2. We found that parents’ cognitive restructuring suggestions ranged from none or vague cognitive restructuring advice to elaborated cognitive restructuring advice; on average, parents reported vague advice. Results from hierarchical regression analyses revealed that main effects of T1 parents’ cognitive restructuring advice and T1 youth‐reported support seeking did not emerge for either T2 youth‐reported social appraisals or self‐efficacy. However, youth support seeking emerged as a moderator, such that more elaborated parental cognitive restructuring advice was linked with youths’ more positive social appraisals, whereas vague to no cognitive restructuring advice was associated with less positive social appraisals but only among youth who reported higher support seeking.

ABSTRACTEffective emotion regulation is critical for establishing and maintaining positive relationships, and it has previously been linked to several indicators of social competence. Theories agree that one core characteristic of adaptive emotion regulation is the ability to flexibly adapt emotion regulation strategies to situational demands (i.e., strategy flexibility). However, little is known about the development of this ability and its association with social competence at preschool age. We hypothesized a positive association of preschoolers’ strategy flexibility with age, with overall regulation effectiveness as well as with different indicators of their social competence. To test these assumptions, we examined the emotion regulation strategies (i.e., distraction, gaze aversion, reappraisal, self‐instruction, and self‐soothing) of 60 preschoolers (M = 59.67 months; SD = 8.18; 45% girls) in two standardized situations, namely a frustration‐eliciting persistence task and a challenging waiting situation, in which attentional deployment strategies have opposing effects, requiring flexible strategy use across situations. Children's social competencies in interaction with caregivers, peers, and task demands were assessed through teacher reports. Results reveal that the effectiveness of attentional deployment strategies changed as predicted. Furthermore, preschoolers’ ability to adapt their emotion regulation strategies to the corresponding task demands was positively associated with age and overall regulation effectiveness. Concerning teacher‐reported facets of children's social competence, strategy flexibility was significantly associated with children's integration into their peer group.

Abstract Despite increasing racial diversity in the United States, and the particular growth of multiracial populations, questions about how children perceive others’ (bi)racial identities remain poorly understood. In two preregistered studies, we asked White and racially minoritized American children (N = 157; 4–11‐years old) and White and multiracial adults (N = 226) how acceptable it was for monoracial people (Black or White; Study 1) and/or biracial people (Black–White; Studies 1 and 2) to claim either a monoracial or biracial identity. Consistent with past research with adults, children said that monoracial people should claim (only) the monoracial identity which matched their ancestry. Judgements about biracial identity were more variable. White and multiracial adults (Study 2) reported that biracial targets could claim a racial identity that matched either or both of their parents, with biracial claims being evaluated most positively. Exploratory analyses on children's judgements about biracial people's identity claims (Study 1) revealed different patterns of development for White children and children from minoritized backgrounds. Whereas White children became more likely with age to report that all identity claims were acceptable, children from racially minoritized groups became more likely with age to endorse biracial targets who claimed a biracial identity. These findings suggest that children's own racial background and age may have a larger impact on their perceptions of biracial people's identities, compared to their perceptions of monoracial people's identities.

Abstract Young children's lie‐telling behavior is associated with their theory of mind (ToM) development. However, current evidence is primarily based on cross‐sectional studies, with very little longitudinal evidence on the causal relation between the two constructs. The current study provided much‐needed cross‐lagged longitudinal evidence on the association between ToM and lying in young children. Adopting a short‐term longitudinal design, we tested 104 normally developing children's (64 boys, M = 54.0 months) false belief understanding and lie‐telling behaviors three times at 4‐month intervals. Results showed the cross‐lagged model fit the data well. Lie‐telling behaviors exhibited moderate stability across the three time points, while ToM exhibited moderate stability between the first two time points but not between Time 2 and Time 3. Earlier false belief understanding significantly predicted children's later lie‐telling behavior, controlling for family socioeconomic status, child age, gender, only child status, and Time 1 verbal ability and inhibitory control. On the contrary, earlier lie‐telling did not predict later false beliefs understanding. We concluded that earlier false belief understanding predicts later lie‐telling behavior in preschool children, but not vice versa.

Abstract The present study aimed to examine the longitudinal relationship between social inhibition and behavior problems in preschoolers, as well as the potential moderating role of maternal parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive) in this relationship. A total of 196 preschoolers aged 3–4 years (MT1 = 3.460, SD = .594) and their mothers participated in the study, which involved two‐time points. Specifically, teachers assessed preschoolers' social inhibition at the first time point (November 2018). After 1 year (November 2019), mothers reported parenting styles and preschoolers' behavior problems. The results revealed that higher levels of social inhibition were positively associated with increased behavior problems in preschoolers. Furthermore, it was found that a high maternal authoritative parenting style buffered the positive association between social inhibition and preschoolers' behavior problems. However, maternal authoritarian and permissive parenting styles did not act as moderators. These findings emphasized the importance of maternal authoritative parenting style for behavior problems in preschoolers with social inhibition.

Abstract Even though Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has become a central domain in education, there is still a lack of clarity in the underlying conceptual models guiding educational efforts and insufficient empirical evidence supporting these models. The Chilean Agency for Quality in Education developed a socioemotional questionnaire as part of the Comprehensive Learning Diagnosis (DIA), administered in educational institutions nationwide. Its underlying conceptual model considers nine SEL competencies structured into three dimensions: Individual, Communal, and Civic, mapping onto the Chilean educational curriculum and learning goals relative to SEL. Even though this model was built based on a thorough revision of existing approaches to SEL and assessment tools, this dimensional structure has not been empirically tested. This study explores a dimensional model of SEL based on a large‐scale sample of Chilean students assessed through the DIA (882,553 7th–12th graders). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to determine the dimensional structure, also testing for invariance by educational level (basic vs. secondary education) and gender. EFA evidenced a three‐dimensional structure, with factors labeled as individual, relational, and socio‐moral based on their composition. CFA confirmed these dimensions with adequate fit indices. Factorial invariance of the identified model was found between basic and secondary school students, and between boys and girls. The study allowed for the construction of a theoretical model of SEL based on a large‐scale sample. The identification of a moral factor as a key dimension of SEL constitutes a novel and promising perspective, in line with recent research providing new insights into SEL. Further evidence regarding the reliability and validity of the instrument should be analyzed. Also, the proposed SEL model should be tested in different countries and populations to broaden our understanding of SEL and inform educational policies and practices.

Abstract We investigated first‐and second‐generation Latine immigrant children's attributions for cultural and structural discrimination, and how this differed based on their own neighborhood composition. Participants were recruited from 19 elementary schools (N = 101 girls, 101 boys), and ranged in age from 8 to 12 years old (M = 9.22; SD = 11.98 months). All children were either first‐generation (40%) or second‐generation (60%) immigrants from Mexico, South America, and Central America. Mixed ANCOVAs analyzed how attributions of structural and cultural discrimination differed based on children's perceptions of ethnic residential composition. The findings indicated that elementary school‐aged Latine children, regardless of neighborhood composition, were aware of the biased cultural narrative that Latine immigrants are “criminals.” This seems to be the most salient form of cultural discrimination for children in middle childhood and echoes much of the political rhetoric around immigration reform. Children's own neighborhood composition predicted their understanding of residential segregation. Children who lived in predominantly White neighborhoods perceived segregation to be due to White people's biases, whereas children who lived in predominantly Latine neighborhoods perceived segregation to be due to Latine families’ economic disadvantage or both groups’ mutual preferences. These findings suggest that Latine children, by middle childhood, are aware of biased cultural narratives in the U.S., and their understanding of structural inequalities are related to the neighborhood context in which they live.

Abstract Compared to studies of ethnic identity development in adolescence, fewer investigations have examined the development of ethnic identity during middle childhood, a developmental period of dynamic social and cognitive changes that have direct implications for social identity and group membership. Moreover, research on the developmental processes of Asian American youth has also primarily utilized cross‐group comparisons, while neglecting consideration of variations in acculturation, socioeconomic status, and other sociodemographic characteristics within Asian American ethnic groups. Using a socioeconomically‐ and acculturatively‐diverse sample of Chinese immigrant families in the United States (N = 169; 49.1% girls; M = 9.16 years; SD = 1.05), the present study examined how parents’ ERS practices varied by parents’ socioeconomic status, education, and cultural orientations, then tested associations between parents’ ERS and children's self‐reported ethnic centrality and ethnic regard. More highly‐educated Chinese American immigrant parents reported more frequent cultural socialization and more acculturated parents reported more preparation of their children for racial and ethnic bias. Consistent with hypotheses, parents’ cultural socialization was positively associated with children's self‐reported ethnic centrality and positive regard. Results highlight the roles of social status and acculturation in Chinese immigrant parents’ ERS, and point to middle childhood as a key developmental window for ethnic identity socialization and development in immigrant families.