Previous longitudinal studies have examined the influence of early life stress (ELS) on children’s attachment in infancy, childhood, and adulthood (Ferreira et al., 2024; Lo et al., 2019; Waters et al., 2000). However, few longitudinal studies have explored the impact of ELS on adolescents’ attachment, particularly their relationship-specific attachment to multiple attachment figures. Little is also known on the role of peer relationships as an underlying mechanism between ELS and adolescent attachment. Therefore, the current longitudinal study aims to examine the impact of ELS on adolescent attachment and the moderating and mediating effects of middle-childhood peer relationships.

This pre-registered study (https://osf.io/tx76z) comprised 866 families. Mothers and fathers were asked to separately complete posted questionnaires during the second trimester of pregnancy (T1), and at the child’s age of two months (T2), 12 months (T3), and 7–8 years (T4). At 17–19 years (T5), adolescents completed electronic questionnaires. This study utilized maternal and paternal reports from T1 to T3 to assess ELS, including family relationships (i.e., parent-child and interparental) and parental mental health problems, and from T4 for peer exclusion. At T5, adolescents self-reported about their attachment styles towards the mother, father, best friend, and romantic partner.

Results indicated that ELS predicted peer exclusion in middle childhood and peer exclusion in turn predicted attachment anxiety and avoidance to friends in adolescence. We also observed a significant mediating effect of peer exclusion between ELS and attachment anxiety to friends. The associations between ELS and peer exclusion and the mediating role of peer exclusion were more significant for mother-reported ELS. This longitudinal study enhances our understanding of how ELS impacts adolescent attachment, and also elucidates the critical roles of peer relationships in middle childhood, highlighting essential pathways for interventions and support in developmental psychology.

Background: The purpose of this study is to describe and compare the prevalence of mental health problems in Aymara and non-Aymara children and adolescent. In Chile, the Aymara community has a population of approximately 52,000 people who are concentrated mainly in the highlands area and the cities in the North of the country. Among the most distinctive cultural characteristics of this population is the intergenerational communication, were older adult’s advice and counsel younger persons. In addition, the family functioning is characterized by cooperation and complementarity in the performance of the various tasks, including the participation of the children and adolescents Methods: The study sample comprised 1839 students from 8 to 19 years, from educational institutions of Northern Chile. Forty-nine percent of students identified with the Aymara ethnic group. The Child and Adolescent Evaluation System was used to evaluate internal and external problems. Initially, to characterize the sample, the mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum, skewness, kurtosis and the Shapiro-Wilk normality test were obtained for each continuous variable used in this study. Comparisons were performed based on the means of the scores of continuous mental health variables according to the ethnicity of the participants using independent samples t-test. To evaluate the effect size, the coefficient d proposed by Cohen was estimated. Although the variables in this sample are not normally distributed, parametric comparative analyses were used, because the t-statistic is sufficiently robust under conditions of skewness and with large sample sizes (n > 50). Results: In Elementary school, Aymara students showed significantly lower scores in externalized problems and in high school, there were significantly lower scores in interiorized, exteriorized and other problems than Non-Aymara students. Conclusion: It seems that the legacy of the Aymara culture has favored the development of protective factors in relation to the mental health of these students.

Academic performance significantly impacts an individual's sense of self, shaping their self-esteem and identity. The way individuals interpret their academic success or failure is influenced by various factors, including perfectionism and procrastination. Although there are studies examining the effects of perfectionism on academic achievement in adolescents, there is a limited number of studies that specifically address maladaptive perfectionism. In addition, the mechanisms explaining how perfectionism affects academic achievement have been partially analyzed. The aim of the present study is to investigate the mediating role of academic procrastination on the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and perceived academic failure, taking into account gender as a moderator.

The participants will include 600 high school students that will be recruited based on convenience sampling. Adolescents will be requested to complete the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised, the Academic Procrastination Scale, the Perceived Academic Failure Scale, and a demographic information form. The hypotheses will tested with PROCESS Macro Model 7. Through this model, we will explore how increased maladaptive perfectionism affects academic procrastination and perceived academic failure and how these relationships differ by gender.

In a preliminary analysis with 98 high school students, results indicated that as the discrepancy between performance and one's standards reported by adolescents within the scope of maladaptive perfectionism increased, their perceived academic failure also increased. Thus, the direct role of maladaptive perfectionism was supported. Moreover, academic procrastination mediated the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and perceived academic failure only in girls.

These findings may provide insights for developing interventions to enhance academic success and reduce procrastination by addressing the mismatch between students' performance and their standards, with a particular emphasis on gender-sensitive strategies.

Gifted children are often perceived as “little adults” due to their advanced cognitive abilities and emotional depth. This perception may lead to behavioral biases and unrealistic expectations, shaping how gifted children experience and define childhood. While their cognitive and emotional development has been widely studied, limited research explores how they perceive childhood themselves.

This study investigates how gifted middle school students in Türkiye conceptualize childhood. Participants were selected through convenience sampling from students attending a Science and Art Center (BİLSEM), an independent institution offering out-of-school enrichment programs for students identified by experts as gifted in general intelligence, visual arts, or music. A total of 145 children aged 7–13 responded to five open-ended questions: "What is a child?", "Are you a child?", "What makes you a child or not?", "Would you like to be an adult?", and "What distinguishes a child from an adult?" Questions were presented through illustrated scenarios designed to contextualize and stimulate the students' reflections.

Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Preliminary findings show that children commonly define being a child through concepts such as play, fun, schooling, and being young. Most see themselves as children, referring to concrete traits like age, height, and daily routines. Differences between children and adults were mainly framed around responsibilities, freedom, and behavior. A few participants expressed a desire to become adults, citing autonomy, rights, and social contribution as key motivations.

The study illustrates that gifted children do not perceive childhood as a uniform stage, but rather as a nuanced experience shaped by cognitive awareness, social expectations, and personal aspirations. These insights call for a re-evaluation of how childhood is framed in gifted education and support the integration of children's lived experiences into developmental theory and educational practice.