Human infant development is a nonlinear, dynamic, and complex process inherently embedded within the surrounding physical and social environment. During the first thousand days from conception, newborns become infants and later children. Through continuous interactions with their environment, they construct meanings about themselves, others, and their connections. Parenting — including caregiving gestures, thoughts, and emotional states — forms a unique and critical part of this environment. Infants are particularly sensitive to these interactions, which serve both as a regulatory buffer and a transducer for meaning-making. I refer to this proximal parenting environment as the parentome, emphasizing its connection to omics-related mechanisms through which infant-environment interactions become embedded in the developing phenotype — day by day, year by year.

Recent advances in psychobiological and neuroscientific research allow for a fine-tuned, multi-layered understanding of the mechanisms by which the parentome shapes human development. In my talk, I will focus on selected mechanisms: from behavioral epigenetic regulation triggered by prenatal or neonatal stress to autonomic system coupling during smartphone-induced interference in mother-infant interaction; from multisensory exchanges during parent-child object exploration to early inter-brain synchrony during face-to-face interaction.

Finally, I will explore the implications of parentome science for educational and clinical settings, particularly for infants and parents facing developmental health and well-being risks. Together, these findings suggest that humans are highly susceptible — perhaps even fragile — in response to environmental stimuli, and that human-to-human connection is the key resource for fostering development and psychological well-being. Parents — and caregivers in general — are not merely a set of skills to be trained; they are a space where development unfolds. Cultivating a shared culture of parental care is essential to raise future generations capable of nurturing relationships.

Child development research from the Majority World (Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean), where 85% of the world’s population resides continues to be highly underrepresented in our published scholarship. Journal analyses demonstrate the continued dominance of the Minority World (North America, Western Europe, Oceania) in developmental science journals (Moriguchi, 2022; Nielsen et al., 2017), with research from Majority World progressing on the margins. Although not home to a majority of the global population, Eastern and Central Europe also tend to be underrepresented in published research in developmental science. Despite the well-recognized need for inclusivity to ensure a theoretically comprehensive and globally applicable developmental science, little progress has been made over the past two decades in addressing this underrepresentation. Colonial roots of our science in the Minority World contribute to the dominance of Minority World samples, researchers, theoretical frameworks, and methods. It is important to confront this dominance and create space at the center for Majority World research.

The first paper in this symposium discusses the drivers and consequences of underrepresentation of research from Majority World, along with survey findings regarding challenges researchers experience in publishing research with Majority World communities (Raval et al., 2024). Based on the recommendations, the second paper discusses concrete ways in which researchers from Minority World and Majority World can help promote globally relevant science. The third paper discusses concrete ways in which reviewers and editors of peer-reviewed journals, and program officers and panel reviewers of funding agencies can help promote a globally relevant science. Our overarching goal is to facilitate Majority World child development research to reduce barriers to publishing this work. We will invite a conversation with the audience on ways to center Majority World perspectives, enable research with Majority World communities and its dissemination, and support Majority World scholars.

This symposium adopts a multilevel perspective to examine how trauma and stress contribute to psychopathological outcomes across key developmental transitions, from early adolescence to adulthood. By considering individual, relational, and contextual factors, our four studies illuminate not only the vulnerabilities stemming from adversity but also the mechanisms that foster resilience. The first study investigates how family-related stressful life events (e.g., caregiver separation), shape externalizing behaviors (e.g., delinquency) over time in a diverse sample of youth, highlighting the potential moderating role of social support from both family members and peers. The second study focuses on the long-term mental health repercussions of trauma exposure in young adults, examining depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms, and underscoring how social and environmental resilience factors can mitigate these outcomes. The third study addresses perinatal women’s experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring how pandemic-related stress and Long-COVID symptoms affect maternal depression and anxiety, and emphasizing the buffering roles of partner support and maternal self-efficacy. The final study explores the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and eating disorders in young adulthood, centering on the roles of mentalization and epistemic trust as potential mediators of this association.

Together, these contributions offer a deeper understanding of the complex interplay among stress, trauma, and resilience and shed light on how risk and protective factors evolve across developmental stages. The collaboration of nine institutions across Europe and North America provides a diverse cultural lens on mental health, enhancing the symposium’s relevance to global challenges. By integrating these findings, we highlight crucial directions for prevention, intervention, and policy to address mental health disparities in varied populations.

Bullying and mental health challenges are critical issues in educational settings, affecting students' well-being and social relationships. This symposium brings together research using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodologies to explore both students' perceptions and behaviors related to bullying (Studies 1 and 2) and strategies and interventions to address bullying and cyberbullying (Studies 3 and 4).

Specifically, the first study (Menabò et al.) utilizes Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) to analyze insights from 220 Italian students across 16 focus groups. It explores students' perceptions of bullying, identifying power imbalance, coping strategies, and the roles of victims, bullies, and bystanders, offering rich qualitative insights into the social dynamics of bullying.

The second study (Angelini & Gini) employs a Structural Equation Model with data from 1,586 Italian adolescents to examine how victimization leads to school dropout risk through school refusal behaviors, such as avoidance and escape. This quantitative approach highlights the psychosocial mechanisms underlying disengagement from education.

The third contribution (Jiménez-Díaz et al.) uses web-based experimental scenarios to analyze bystanders’ responses to cyberbullying among 195 Spanish adolescents. It investigates how contextual factors, such as relationships with the victim or bully, perceived severity, and social media platforms, shape bystander behaviors, providing actionable insights for cyberbullying interventions.

The final study (Slee et al.) evaluates an Australian classroom-based digital mental health program designed for primary school students. Findings from pre- and post-test data reveal significant improvements in emotional well-being and reductions in anxiety and bullying, demonstrating the program's effectiveness.

This symposium employs a diverse range of methods and tools—including focus groups (Studies 1 and 4), interviews (Study 4), self-report questionnaires (Studies 2, 3, and 4), and web-based scenarios (Study 3)—to explore perceptions, behavioral consequences, and the effectiveness of intervention strategies related to bullying, cyberbullying, and well-being. The findings will help refine interventions and inform policy.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown that parents’ mentalization, an ability to reflect on young children’s mental states, is connected high quality parent-child interaction as well as to children’s cognitive and social-emotional development. Currently, there is less evidence for the positive effects of parental mentalization in children’s development in stressful situations and at later stages of their development (e.g., school-age). Moreover, only little research has focused on parental mentalization during children’s transition from home care to early childhood education and care (ECEC) and mentalization of ECEC staff. However, new lines of research have recently expanded our horizon.

In these different domains, the concept of mentalization has been embedded in different but related theories and definitions. Several key concepts, such as mind-mindedness or reflective functioning have been used when exploring mentalization among parents, and recently, ECEC professionals. Recent studies have also explored new measures and paradigms to assess mentalization. Mentalization has been assessed in both observational and experimental studies using interview on adults’ mental representations about the children and their relationships with children, self-reports on mentalizing competence, observation on adult-child interaction or stimulated recall about the adults’ interaction with children.

In the symposium, we focus on mentalization in two important developmental contexts in children lives: home and ECEC, as well as mentalization during the children’s transition from home care to ECEC. We also consider the role of mentalization in stressful and non-stressful situations as well as interventions aiming at enhancing mentalization. The broader horizon from toddlerhood to school age, including home and pedagogical contexts, and the related use of new techniques and measures require a synthesis at empirical and theoretical level. We aim to present and discuss new findings from studies from North-, West and East-Europe to arrive at a broader understanding of mentalization with practical implications for parents and professionals.

Self-Regulation is a dynamic, multifaceted process that involves identifying a desired goal - whether behavioral, cognitive, or emotional - executing the necessary actions, and continuously monitoring progress to make appropriate adjustments. It is shaped by the efficiency of Executive Functions - a set of control processes engaged when relying on instinct or intuition is inadequate - and is widely recognized as a cornerstone of early childhood development, with significant short- and long-term implications for academic achievement, social relationships, mental well-being, and physical health. While traditionally conceptualized as a top-down process, emerging evidence emphasizes its embodied foundations, which are particularly influential during early childhood, a critical developmental window when cognitive awareness is still immature.

Despite the demonstrated efficacy of various interventions in fostering Self-Regulation in preschoolers, the mechanisms underlying their success remain poorly understood, with limited research investigating their impact on the implicit, automatic processes foundational to Self-Regulation.

Grounded in Embodied Cognition, this symposium explores four bottom-up programs employing multisensory and musical whole-body immersive experiences to explicitly target embodied mechanisms hypothesized to underlie Self-Regulation and Executive Functions in typically developing preschoolers. By bringing these approaches into dialogue, the symposium aims to broaden perspectives, generate new ideas and hypotheses, and deepen understanding of the embodied processes shaping Self-Regulation. This focus is especially timely given the increasing prevalence of Self-Regulation difficulties among children and adolescents. Whether stemming from heightened diagnostic awareness, evolving criteria, or broader lifestyle changes, these challenges highlight the need to leverage early developmental plasticity to foster lasting improvements.

Targeting the embodied roots of Self-Regulation during preschool’s critical window of malleability through playful and ecologically valid interventions, like those presented in this symposium, offers a promising pathway to inform educational and healthcare systems. This approach could support broad efforts in potentiation, prevention, and rehabilitation, potentially fostering enduring and widespread developmental success.

Background: The increasing use of smartphones in schools presents challenges for teachers, school administrators, and policymakers. In response, school-wide bans on smartphones are becoming increasingly implemented. Empirical research on the effects of school-wide smartphone bans remains limited. Existing studies show small positive effects on social behaviour but no clear impact on academic performance. Moreover, the broader consequences of such bans, particularly their effects on home and parenting contexts, have not been explored.

Aims: The first aim of the study is to examine the implication of smartphone bans in Belgian secondary school on pupils’ cognitive, motivational, emotional and social functioning. The second aim is to look at two competing hypotheses exist: (1) the compensation hypothesis, where banning smartphones at school leads to increased usage at home, potentially causing conflicts with parents, and (2) the generalization hypothesis, where improved self-regulation at school translates to healthier smartphone use at home.

Methodology:
This study employs a longitudinal, multi-informant design (pupils ages 12-19, teachers, and parents) to examine the ban’s impact on four developmental domains of pupils: cognitive (e.g., concentration in class), motivational (e.g., motivation for learning), emotional (e.g., well-being) and social (e.g., bullying) functioning. It also investigates the conditions necessary for effective policy implementation (e.g., school climate) and the role of individual student characteristics (e.g., age). Data will be collected across three time points (May 2025, November 2025, May 2026) to analyse both short- and long-term effects. Results of the first data collection in May 2025 will be presented at the ECDP conference.

Conclusion:
By providing evidence-based insights, this study aims to support schools, parents, and policymakers in developing effective and motivating smartphone policies that balance academic performance, student well-being, and parental concerns.

In recent decades, social media has emerged as a crucial channel for adolescents and young adults to express personal emotions and thoughts, where some glues for suicidal intentions or actions can be observed. This study presents a comprehensive content analysis of 1,424 authentic posts from Dcard, Taiwan's leading social media platform among the youth, to methodically identify critical factors of a suicidal crisis using machine learning techniques. Human professionals classified each post into one of four crisis levels and labeled each sentence according to six risk factors. Subsequent application of discriminant analysis and the eXtreme Gradient Boosting method enabled our model to achieve over 96% accuracy in binary classification and above 84% in ternary classification for crisis-level prediction. Notably, the most significant risk factors identified are suicidal attempts, suicidal thoughts with depression, and positive emotions. Our work demonstrates that nearly complete results can be replicated using these three factors alone, highlighting their importance in identifying high-risk posts. This research contributes a new perspective to the field of adolescent and young adult suicide studies. It suggests practical applications for suicide prevention on social media through natural language processing technologies in artificial intelligence.

Social networking sites like TikTok are now seen as microsystems that proximally influence adolescents’ development. However, their effects depend on the activities and content teenagers encounter, which still need to be explored in-depth. Thus, given TikTok’s affordances and widespread use among adolescents, we employed a mixed-methods research design (N = 328, 60.4% male, Mage = 16.99) to shed light on relations between adolescents’ activities on TikTok and the content they consume. In this sense, cross-lagged panel analysis was used to explore the reciprocal relations between adolescents' distinct activities on TikTok and the different types of content they view. Over a three-month period, there was a positive unidirectional longitudinal association between viewing entertainment-related content and active TikTok participation through likes, comments, and shares. Similarly, there was a positive unidirectional longitudinal association between passively using TikTok and watching lifestyle-related content. To go beyond these broad content categories and gain a deeper insight into the actual messages adolescents are exposed to on TikTok, participants were asked to list the names of TikTok accounts they actually followed. Out of 789 TikTok accounts reported by participants, thematic analysis was performed on the accounts followed by two or more adolescents, yielding a final sample of 127 TikTok accounts. Out of this, 16 themes emerged, and, given the breadth and complexity of the TikTok accounts, most were attributed to more than one theme. Our results highlight the double-edged nature of TikTok. Themes such as science, awareness-raising, and family content speak to its positive side, while themes such as age-inappropriate content and consumerism relate to its negative side. Moreover, out of the 127 TikTok accounts thematically analyzed, more than half belonged to Romanian content creators. Our findings highlight the idiosyncratic and contextual nature of adolescents’ content consumption and its different relations with TikTok activities.

Key-words: adolescence, TikTok activities, content consumption, thematic analysis, mixed-methods

Numerous strategies and interventions have been designed to mitigate prejudice among adolescents and promote positive intergroup relations. Both direct and indirect forms of contact are pivotal in shaping young people's social dynamics and attitudes. Despite this, relatively few studies have taken a longitudinal approach to explore how adolescents' social networks influence their attitudes toward outgroups over time.

This study investigates the longitudinal relationship between adolescents' face-to-face and electronic contact with intergroup friends and their explicit and implicit attitudes toward Syrian immigrants. The sample consisted of high school and secondary school students (n=543) from Batman, Türkiye, a province near the Syrian border. Participants completed measures assessing face-to-face contact, electronic contact, and outgroup attitudes on paper, while the Implicit Association Test (IAT) was administered via computer. The study employed a two-time point design, with data collected at the beginning and end of the school term.

Cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) analyses revealed that adolescents' electronic contact with Syrian peers was longitudinally associated with increased explicit negative attitudes toward Syrian migrants. In contrast, face-to-face contact demonstrated an inverse longitudinal relationship with explicit attitudes toward the outgroup. Additionally, findings indicated a reciprocal longitudinal association between electronic and face-to-face contact, suggesting that these forms of interaction may mutually influence each other.

These findings highlight the significance of electronic contact in shaping adolescents' intergroup attitudes, as it was associated with more negative explicit attitudes toward Syrian migrants. In contrast, face-to-face interactions showed the potential to foster more positive perceptions. Interestingly, the results also suggest that adolescents’ electronic and face-to-face contact experiences may be mutually supportive, indicating that both forms of contact can influence one another over time. This reciprocal relationship highlights the complexity of how different types of intergroup contact interact and contribute to adolescents' attitudes toward outgroups.

This conference participation was supported by TUBITAK 2224-A-Grant Program.

Emotion regulation skills have an essential role in children and adolescents’ social, cognitive, and academic development in various areas. Regulating and mitigating negative emotions, such as sadness and anger, leads to positive developmental outcomes, especially in the early years of life. Among the emotion regulation strategies, sadness management has an enhanced potential to provide information on coping with negative emotions, and thus it is important to investigate the sadness regulation skills in children and adolescents. This study aims to examine children and adolescents’ sadness management skills and their predictors in a nationally representative sample. The study was collected from a total of 180 schools (elementary school, middle school, high school) which were randomly selected from various provinces in Turkey, and the students were randomly selected from each grade level. The students completed the questionnaires in school, and their mothers also filled out a separate online questionnaire form. A total of 5198 children and adolescents (M_age=12.52) participated in the study with their mothers, and 52% of the students were females. The results were analyzed through regression analysis and conducted separately for each subscale. It was found that mothers’ reappraisal levels significantly increase childrens’ emotion regulation skills (β = .03, p = .044). Also, mothers’ suppression significantly increases childrens’ both inhibition (β = .04, p = .003) and dysregulated expression (β = .03, p = .034). Additionally, while male students have higher scores on inhibition and emotion regulation coping compared to females, female students have higher scores on dysregulated expression than males. The results show that mothers' emotion regulation skills influence their children’s sadness management skills. As the participants were representative of school-age children and adolescents, the results are thought to contribute to the literature for potential intervention programs and future emotion regulation studies.

Peer-nominations have long been used as an important method for understanding both positive (popularity, likeability, friendship) and negative (rejection, bullying, victimization) aspects of classroom social dynamics. Traditionally, this work has focused on those who receive a high number of positive and/or negative nominations from their classmates. However, relatively little attention has been given to understanding the characteristics and well-being of children who receive very few (or even zero) positive or negative nominations. In the early days of peer relations research, it had been assumed that shy children were likely to be among those who received few nominations from peers, but this was disproven by several studies showing that shy children receive higher than average numbers of “dislike” nominations (Rubin et al., 1989; Richmond et al., 1985). Thus, if children who receive very few nominations are not shy, the question remains as to who these “invisible” children are and how they are doing socially and emotionally. The aim of this study will be to address these questions.

This study has two parts. First, we will use large scale data (n = 75,000) from Stoeltjesdans (an educational tool in the Netherlands that helps teachers to use peer nominations to monitor classroom social dynamics) to determine how often children receive zero nominations from peers and how this may be associated with classroom climate and broader measures of well-being. Then, we use data from Project Safe at School (n = 1624; https://osf.io/57z9a) to zoom in on how receiving little to no peer attention is associated with more specific measures of well-being (depression, social anxiety, loneliness, and self-esteem) and school engagement (working hard/participating in school and enjoying school). Results will be forthcoming; however we hope that findings may aid teachers in identifying and supporting children who may otherwise go unnoticed.

Emotions play a crucial role in children’s socio-emotional development, and teachers’ responses to children’s sadness can significantly influence their emotional well-being. This study explored the emotion socialization behaviors adopted by teachers in response to children’s sadness, analyzing the impact of triggering events and the coping strategies used by children themselves. To this end, a structured interview was conducted with 50 primary school teachers (age range = 25–64 years, M = 46.8, SD = 10.9, all females), asking them to describe for each student: (1) a significant episode of sadness, (2) the coping strategies used by the child, and (3) their own response to the child's sadness. Additionally, teachers completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire to measure children’s externalizing and internalizing symptoms.

Responses were coded into three categories of emotion socialization behavior (emotion-focused behavior, problem-focused behavior, unsupportive behavior), two categories of events (personal events, school-related events), and two categories of coping strategies (constructive strategies, non-constructive strategies). A multinomial analysis with mixed effects revealed that personal events significantly increased the likelihood that teachers would adopt emotion-focused behavior rather than unsupportive or problem-focused behavior. However, children’s coping strategies did not have a main effect on the strategies adopted by teachers, becoming significant only in interaction with the type of event. Additionally, higher levels of externalizing symptoms increased the likelihood that teachers would adopt emotion-focused behavior rather than unsupportive or problem-focused behavior.

The analysis of random effects highlighted significant interindividual variability among teachers, confirming the influence of personal style in modulating responses to children’s sadness. Overall, these results underline the key role of school-related events in emotional socialization and suggest that targeted interventions could support teachers in responding more effectively to children’s emotions, promoting more adaptive coping strategies.

The influence of self-efficacy sources is broadly studied in academic domains, yet little is known about what kind of profiles and transitions of self-regulatory efficacy sources can be identified among students, even though prior findings on declining trends among adolescent’s self-regulatory efficacy exist. Hence, this study focuses on four important efficacy building sources related to self-regulation—mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and physiological and emotional arousal (i.e., stress) —to gain novel insights into primary school students’ (N=345, grades 4–6, 53.1 % girls, Mage 11.07) individual patterns and transitions of self-regulatory efficacy sources within a school year. Students responded with sources of self-regulatory self-efficacy questionnaire and self-regulatory efficacy questionnaire. The results revealed four distinct and meaningful profiles of self-regulatory efficacy sources in both fall and spring semester: Highly positive, Average, Stressed, and Highly positive but stressed. Most students showed a positive combination of self-regulatory efficacy sources, but some students’ profiles were more maladaptive, characterized by relatively high levels of stress. While most of the students remained in their initial profile during the school year, some transitions into maladaptive profiles did occur. These stabilities and transitions, in general, were associated with students’ self–regulatory efficacy, so that students showing more positive and stable profiles reported higher self-regulatory efficacy, whereas students belonging or transitioning to more stressed profiles reported lower self-regulatory efficacy. These findings indicate that students show various patterns of self-regulatory sources, and that even though students report positive mastery and vicarious experiences and social persuasion, it might not be enough to boost higher self-regulatory efficacy outcome if it is combined with stress.

The development of a positive self-concept in adolescence, which is important for good mental health and well-being, is highly dependent on social interactions. However, experiencing social exclusion might thwart the fundamental human need for social belongingness, thereby threatening the development of an individual’s self-worth. Notably, there is a dearth of longitudinal studies investigating how and to which extent social exclusion predicts the development of general self-concept in adolescents, and vice versa, whether self-concept prospectively relates to later social exclusion. In the present study we thus aimed to examine the reciprocal relations between self-concept and social exclusion in a community sample of 719 Norwegian adolescents from the Trondheim Early Secure Study, followed up biennially from ages 10 to 14. Self-concept was measured with the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-I) (age 10) and the Revised Self-Perception Profile for Adolescence (SPPA-R) (ages 12 and 14) reported by the adolescents. Social exclusion was measured with 3 items from the Teacher Report Form (TRF). By applying a Random Intercept Cross-lagged Panel Model, which disentangles the between and within-person variance, we found that increased teacher-reported social exclusion at ages 10 and 12 predicted decreased self-concept two years later, at ages 12 and 14. There were no significant paths from self-concept to later social exclusion. These results highlight the detrimental effects of social exclusion on the development of self-concept during the transition from childhood to adolescence and early adolescence, supporting the tenets of the need-to-belong theory. Our findings imply that facilitating safe and inclusive social environment in schools might benefit the formation of a positive self-concept in adolescents.

Introduction

Earlier research shows that maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms are associated with adverse child outcomes, such as, higher behavioral problems and lower social competence. Therefore, it is important to consider environmental factors that could protect children at risk from higher symptoms. Participation in out-of-home childcare or parental supportive social networks may have an important protective effect against the disadvantages of the family environment. However, previous research on such associations is still scarce.

Methods

A total of 1375 children were drawn from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. Children participated either in non-parental out-of-home childcare, or they were cared for at home by their parent. We conducted models examining maternal composite of prenatal (gw.14, 24 and 34) and postnatal (3, 6, 12 and 24mo) anxiety (SCL-90) and depressive (EPDS) symptoms and child’s social competence and socio-emotional problems (BITSEA) at the age of 2 years. Further, the moderating effects of childcare participation and mothers’ social networks were analyzed.

Results

As expected, maternal pre- and postnatal and current psychological distress associated with child’s higher behavioral problems at the age of 2 years. However, participation in out-of-home childcare mitigated the associations between maternal current symptoms and child behavioral problems (family-based out-of-home childcare β=-0.75 p=<0.001; center-based out-of-home childcare β=-0.36 p=0.01). Moreover, maternal supportive social networks were positively associated with child’s higher social competence and lower behavioral problems, but moderating effect was not found.

Discussion

Non-parental out-of-home childcare may play an important protective role for a child development by diminishing the well-established associations between maternal distress and child socio-emotional problems. Moreover, rich social networks are important resources for families with young children and may support child socio-emotional development. Our findings suggest that it is important to foster these protective factors in family and child health care, in particular, when the parents experience higher psychological strain.

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) centers can serve as a protective environment for infants and toddlers, providing enriched experiences and relationships (Burchinal et al., 2015; Hamre, 2014). In deprived social and economic environments, opportunities for quality interactions between children and adults are important to minimise the potential negative impact of adversity (Shonkoff et al., 2012). Previous research has also consistently linked the high quality of pedagogical practices with greater gains in children's engagement and development (e.g., Burchinal et al., 2015; Pinto et al., 2019). To enhance childcare professionals’ high-quality pedagogical practices, an evidence based multilevel professional development model, the Development and Education in Childcare (DEC), was developed and tested. DEC components include collaborative consultation, discussion groups, specialized training and leadership support. Within this framework, we aim to test the associations of the professionals’ interaction quality on child engagement and development in childcare centers. To this purpose, 107 ECEC professionals and 424 infants and toddlers from 31 classrooms distributed by eight childcare centers in four Portuguese regions participated in this study, during three school years. The following procedures were adopted: (a) each classroom was observed at the beginning and at the end of each school year, using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) and the Individual Child Engagement Record — Revised (ICER-R; Kishida et al., 2008); and (b) child development was assessed by Caregiver reported early development instrument (CREDI; McCoy et al., 2017) and Brief Infant-Toddler Social-emotional Assessment (BITSEA; Briggs-Gowan & Carter, 2002, 2004). Results will be analyzed on a range of psychometric measures from pre- to post-test. We expect to contribute to the knowledge of factors related with early childhood development, identifying potential associations of the quality of adult-child interactions and children engagement.

Political ideology guides individuals’ perceptions, goals, and behaviors in the socio-political arena, with profound societal consequences. Prior research on the emergence of individual differences in ideological orientation points to early adulthood as the critical age at which such differences first manifest. We challenge this conclusion and investigate whether systematic proto-ideological orientations are already present among children as young as 4 years of age. Specifically, we examined individual differences in children’s authoritarian and social dominance attitudes – two central, consequential ideological orientations among adults. To determine whether children’s early attitudes are valid markers of ideological orientations per se, we tested whether these attitudes were systematically related to parents’ ideological orientations, as is the case among young adults. Across two studies with Israeli mothers and their 4- to 8-year-old children (Ns = 154 and 190, respectively), we found systematic individual differences in children’s authoritarian and social dominance attitudes, measured with newly developed, child-appropriate measures: Children’s authoritarian attitudes corresponded to their mothers’ authoritarianism (Study 1), and their social dominance attitudes corresponded to their mothers’ social dominance orientation with regard to hierarchy (but not inequality; Studies 1 and 2). Notably, mother–child correlations were especially strong among children whose mothers were their primary caregivers, hinting at a possible socialization process. Together, these findings suggest that the seeds of ideology are apparent as early as age 4, and highlight the importance of developmental research for a deeper understanding of adult political ideology.

Loneliness refers to a dissatisfaction with one’s network of social relationships and the feeling of spending too much time alone (Perlman & Peplau, 1981). In contrast, results from recent studies among older children, adolescents, and emerging adults (e.g., Coplan et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2023) have also explored the negative impact of aloneliness, which refers to the perception the one is not spending enough time alone and dissatisfaction with ones experiences of solitude (Coplan et al., 2019). To date, no study has investigated the construct of aloneliness among younger children. The aim of the present study was to explore young children's perceptions and beliefs toward a range of solitary and social preferences (i.e., aloneliness, loneliness, unsociability, sociability). Participants were N = 117 children (n = 59 girls, 50.4%), aged 36–77 months (M = 54.88, SD =10.78) attending preschools in Italy. Children were individually interviewed and presented with vignettes depicting hypothetical peers displaying behaviors reflecting different social/solitary preferences (i.e., alonely, lonely, unsociable, sociable; Coplan et al., 2007; Zava et al., 2019). Among the results from repeated measure ANOVAs, children rated the hypothetical alonely peer as having the lowest social motivations and the lonely and sociable peers as having the lowest solitary motivations. Children also reported lower affiliative preference (i.e., wanting to play/be friends with hypothetical peer) toward alonely and unsociable peers as compared to their lonely and sociable counterparts. Finally, lonely peers received higher sympathy compared to the unsociable ones. Some age and gender differences were also found. These findings suggest that young children in Italy have rather sophisticated understanding of different aspects of their peers’ solitary and social preferences.

Children are usually involved in screen activities for learning, playing, entertaining, or being in contact. The use of digital devices may bring benefits and risks. Among the latter, some studies (Mustafaoğlu et al., 2018) found that children who spend much time with smartphones may be deprived of relevant opportunities to develop social skills. They may risk remaining entangled in games or content perceived as more appealing than those in the real world, becoming too lazy to face real interactions and getting used to reaching their goals easily. Therefore, they may experience difficulties in appropriately relating to peers, eventually acting withdrawn or disturbing behaviors, such as bullying.

This work aims to investigate whether time spent on smartphones is directly and indirectly associated with bullying, with the mediation of social competence.

Participants included 317 children (50.5% females) aged 43-107 months (M = 74.88, SD = 14.45). Parents reported the daily frequency of their children’s smartphone use, whereas teachers filled in the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation scale (LaFreniere & Dumas, 1996). Bullying was assessed using teacher reports, peer nominations, and self-reports (Camodeca et al., 2015).

Results indicated that the use of smartphones was negatively associated with social competence (b = -.12; p < .05), which was negatively related to bullying (peer nominations: b = -0.02, p < .001; Indirect effect: b = .003[.000, .006]; self-reports: b = -0.13, p < .01; Indirect effect: b = .015[.001, .036]; teacher reports: b = -0.29, p < .001; Indirect effect: b = .037[.005,.075]). Direct effects were not significant.

Findings suggest that an excessive smartphone use might facilitate the association between poor social competence and bullying. Results appear particularly relevant given that they hold independently from the informant assessing bullying. A more conscious approach to smartphone usage is encouraged to improve children’s social functioning.

Climate change and environmental factors play a crucial role in shaping human development from the earliest stages of life, influencing physical health, emotional states, and mental well-being. This symposium includes four presentations that explore the effects of climate change and environmental exposures from the prenatal period through emerging adulthood from different geographic contexts. These studies provide insights into emotional, psychological, and biological responses to climate change across various developmental stages and cultural contexts.

The first presentation explores the epigenetic signatures of early-life exposure to pollution and greenness, using data from a large cohort of mother-infant dyads to understand the effects of environmental stressors in the first thousand days of life. The second presentation examines the mental health impacts of climate change on Turkana adolescents in Northern Kenya, a pastoralist community severely affected by climate change, linking their psychological well-being to their responses to environmental stressors. The third presentation presents lived experiences from a qualitative study with adolescents in Madagascar and Pakistan – both of which are highly climate-vulnerable – to explore potential pathways through which climate change influences adolescent development and mental health. The fourth presentation offers a systematic review of emotions related to climate change among young people. It synthesizes evidence on the specific emotions being studied in the literature, the methods used to measure these emotions, and the links between these emotions, mental health, and pro-environmental behaviors in young people.

By integrating findings across various developmental stages and geographic and resource contexts, this symposium seeks to provide developmental researchers with a comprehensive understanding of how climate change and environmental exposures shape developmental outcomes, mental health, and behaviors from the prenatal period to emerging adulthood.

Adolescence is marked by significant bodily changes and heightened body awareness. While body dissatisfaction—one aspect of bodily self-experience—has been extensively studied in relation to psychological health problems, embodiment, defined as the anchoring of one’s identity in bodily self-experience, has received less empirical attention despite strong theoretical foundations, largely due to the lack of appropriate measurement tools. This study aimed to develop and validate the 12-item Embodiment Scale (ES-12) and identify distinct embodiment profiles among adolescents. It also examined how these profiles relate to mental health profiles based on disordered eating (DE), non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), depression, and anxiety.

A sample of 530 adolescents (mean age = 14 years, SD = 0.89) completed the ES-12 along with measures of body dissatisfaction, DE, NSSI, anxiety, and depression. The ES-12 demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including a distinct three-factor structure and incremental validity in predicting DE, NSSI, depression, and anxiety, beyond body dissatisfaction.

Hierarchical cluster analysis identified five embodiment profiles—Strong Embodiment, Average Embodiment, Weak Embodiment, Body for Others, and Low Body Harmony—which were cross-referenced with five psychological health profiles: Healthy, Average Psychological Health, Disordered Eating Only, Multiple Problems without NSSI, and Multiple Problems with NSSI.

Findings revealed that Strong Embodiment was strongly linked to psychological well-being, with these adolescents being over-represented in the Healthy cluster. Conversely, Weak Embodiment was associated with psychological distress and over-represented in clusters with multiple mental health issues, indicating a high-risk profile. The Body for Others profile, characterized by an externalized sense of bodily self-experience, was over-represented among adolescents with disordered eating but under-represented in more severe psychological distress clusters. This challenges theories that position Body for Others as a central risk factor for broad psychological maladjustment.

These findings highlight the need to assess embodiment beyond body dissatisfaction and tailor interventions to adolescents' embodiment profiles for better psychological health outcomes.

Adolescents' digital technology use is deeply intertwined with their social, emotional, and academic lives. Understanding the motivations behind their engagement can provide critical insights into their developmental needs and behaviors. Exploring how these motivations differ by age, gender, and academic performance (GPA) is essential for identifying patterns that may inform targeted interventions and support.

This study examines the factor structure of the Internet Motive Questionnaire for Adolescents (Bischof-Kastner, 2014), with the goal of identifying adolescents' motivations for digital technology use and exploring potential differences based on age, gender, and academic success (GPA). A total of 258 students in Croatia participated in the study (44.2% female; M_age = 13.99, SD = 1.12), spanning 6th grade through the first year of high school. The original questionnaire assumes a four-factor structure—Coping, Social, Mood Enhancement, and Conformity. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed a comparable four-factor structure, with the exception of one item removed during analysis due to cross-loadings. Overall, students reported more Social and Mood Enhancement motives and less Coping and Conformism motives which are viewed as more positive in valence within the Motivational Model of Cox and Klinger (1988). Analysis of variance identified significant gender differences for Mood Enhancement and Conformity motives, with male students reporting higher levels of both. Age differences were observed, with older students reporting higher levels of Social and Coping motivations compared to younger students. Motivation strategies were generally not associated with GPA, except for coping motivation, where higher coping-related use was linked to lower academic performance.

This study underscores the diverse motivations driving adolescents’ digital technology use and highlights significant age and gender differences. The link between coping motivation and lower academic performance suggests the need for interventions to address maladaptive technology use. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how adolescents interact with digital technologies and the implications for their well-being.

Objective: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder characterized by inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. A current debate among researchers concerns whether emotional dysregulation (ED) is an independent symptom of adult ADHD (Shaw et al., 2014). This debate is particularly significant for researchers and clinicians who advocate for understanding ED within the framework of ADHD assessment scales. Meanwhile, the Utah Criteria (Wender, 1981) identified ED as a third core symptom, developed specialized adult ADHD scales which include a subcategory for ED, and are extensively used in both research and clinical settings. However, in Japan, widely used ADHD scales do not recognize ED as a distinct symptom. This may hinder the provision of targeted support for adult ADHD. To address this, our study aims to adapt the self-report Wender-Reimherr Adult ADHD Scale (WRAADDS) (Marchant et al., 2015) for Japanese use. The study aims to capture the emotional aspects of adult ADHD that conventional scales have failed to fully represent, striving for a more comprehensive understanding.
Method: Our study will involve a reliability and validity assessment of the translated WRAADDS, using a back-translation method and assessing it alongside additional scales in 300 participants with ADHD who are recruted in two psychiatric hospitals.
Results: The investigation is currently in progress. Among the seven subcategories of the WRAADDS, the preceding study suggests ADHD-specific ED issues, such as temper, affective lability, and emotional over-reactivity, are associated with WURS-25, ASL-18, and TOSCA-3.
Discussion: We intend to discuss the implications of our findings for clinical practice, research, and training in the field of ADHD.

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), which originate from neurobiological factors, disrupt children's developmental trajectories, affecting their learning and experiences from an early age (Parenti et al., 2020; Bishop & Rutter, 2008). Early intervention following the identification of NDDs signs is crucial to mitigating the severity of future difficulties (Benzies et al., 2013; Finlay-Jones et al., 2019). However, despite the high prevalence of comorbidity - more the rule than the exception -, certain NDDs receive greater attention in public health policies, often leading to delays in care for the others (Yegba, 2022; Inguaggiato, et al., 2017). Enhancing the detection of early signs through a transdiagnostic approach is therefore a major public health priority (Astle et al., 2022; Mareva, 2021).

Our team’s project aims to validate a transdiagnostic early screening tool for NDDs in children under one year of age. This study is based on the longitudinal observation of 2000 children across 69 partner daycare centers. At 4, 6, 9, and 12 months, each child is observed using screening grids—first by childcare professionals, then by a trained pair of professionals specialized in early NDDs signs, and finally by a pediatrician who either validates or refutes the observations. The Brunet-Lézine test and the ASQ questionnaire are used to further assess the validity of the grids.

This presentation will focus on the project design, the content of the screening grids, and preliminary results regarding the internal consistency and inter-observer reliability of the grids, based on 400 already reported observations.

The presentation "RRI-YPMH – An RRI Framework for the Responsible Involvement of Young People in Mental Health Projects" underscores the urgent need for frameworks that ensure responsible, inclusive, and effective youth participation in mental health research and interventions, especially in the Digital World. Developed within the UK’s Digital Youth Programme, this framework addresses gaps in collaborative projects by embedding the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) into youth participation practices. RRI-YPMH is the product of a mixed-methods approach, incorporating interviews, surveys, and workshops with researchers, practitioners, and young people. It introduces six guiding principles for collaborative projects: Privacy & Security, safeguarding young people’s data; Liaising, engaging with stakeholders; Transparency, ensuring open communication; Robustness, fostering meaningful participation grounded in evidence; Accountability, mitigating adverse impacts; Diversity, promoting inclusivity; and Young People-centricity, prioritising young people’s best interests in collaborative processes. These principles collectively empower youth to become active co-creators rather than passive recipients in mental health interventions. RRI-YPMH serves as a vital tool for fostering partnerships based on mutual respect, ensuring that young people’s voices resonate throughout the research and intervention processes. This framework exemplifies a paradigm shift, equipping researchers, practitioners, and developers with actionable strategies to navigate the complexities of youth mental health projects while championing the transformative potential of young people.

The present study investigates the longitudinal trajectories of first-year university students' adaptation, focusing on the psychological and environmental factors that shape their adjustment over time. A latent growth model (LGM) is employed to analyze data collected from the same individuals at three time points, allowing for an examination of both within-person change and between-person differences in adjustment trajectories.

Longitudinal data analysis provides valuable insights into the evolution of behaviors over time, enabling the identification of covariance patterns among variables, the testing of models incorporating multiple measurement points, and the assessment of relative structural stability through repeated measures (Burkholder & Harlow, 2003). The Level 1 model captures intra-individual changes in university adjustment, while the Level 2 model examines inter-individual differences in these trajectories. Additionally, explanatory variables predicting variations in adjustment trajectories are incorporated into the model (Kline, 2011).

Predictors in the hypothetical models include helicopter parenting and autonomy support, personality traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism), perceived university support and structure, emotion regulation difficulties, and basic psychological need satisfaction. By controlling for the effects of these predictors across different time points, their unique contributions to the dynamic process of university adjustment will be examined.

The first wave of data was collected from four universities in Ankara, Türkiye, comprising 588 students (86.22% female, 13.61% male). Participants’ ages range from 19 to 48 years (M = 19.22, SD = 2.07). Data collection for subsequent waves is ongoing. Results will be discussed in light of the relevant literature.

Conference participation was funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) under the 2224-A International Scientific Meetings Participation Support Program.

Research suggests that helping others contributes to happiness; however, this relationship is not straightforward. This study fills the gaps in previous research by integrating two constructs - life satisfaction and psychological well-being - with volunteerism. By investigating how they interact with motivations, the research advances the understanding of why and how helping influences happiness in different life stages. 806 volunteers (aged 18-65) participated in long-term assistance programs and completed pre- and post-tests (psychological well-being, life satisfaction, helping motivation: altruistic, self-centered focused on ego expression, and self-centered focus on compensation), and 20 individuals participated in interviews. The results indicate that while volunteering can enhance life satisfaction by fostering a sense of purpose and connection, it can decrease psychological well-being due to the emotional burden of empathizing with those in distress across different life stages. However, altruistic motivations can prevent a decrease in well-being, whereas self-centered ones may contribute to its decline. Age is not a moderator in changing volunteers' well-being and life satisfaction, but it is linked to the types of motivations to help. Higher ego-self-centered motivation characterizes younger volunteers focused on ego expression, while older volunteers show higher altruistic motivation. Self-centered compensatory motivation is not related to age. The awareness that not all volunteer experiences are beneficial can lead to improved volunteer management practices, such as recruitment strategies that align individual motivations with the appropriate roles.

According to modern developmental systems theories, the development of the individual is considered holistically, as a complex and dynamic process that takes place at multiple levels, in multiple contexts and directions, and throughout the entire life span. It encompasses reciprocal interaction, bi-directionality, relative plasticity and organization of behavior. The individual is understood as a self-organizing system, which actively selects and formulates goals, directing its own development. Some studies (e.g. Litvinović, 2001) show that formulation of developmental tasks and so called “productive time orientation”, i.e. positive evaluation of past and future, while thinking less about past, are positively related to life satisfaction. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the role of time orientation and formulation of developmental task, in predicting life satisfaction in different age groups. Sample consisted of 340 participants (female=234, M_age=43.39±21.94) with various socio-demographic background.

Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis revealed that past orientation and future orientation accounted for significant 22% (F(2, 335)=47.39, p < .01) and 24% (F(2, 333)=74.39, p < .01), respectively, in the variance of the criterion variable. Additional small, but significant part of the variance in life satisfaction, i.e. 4.4% (F(1, 332)=29.92, p < .01) was explained by formulation of developmental tasks. Further, results showed that, after controlling for participants’ sex and age, thinking about past and thinking about future predicted lower life satisfaction (β = -.15, p < .01, and β = -.12, p < .01, respectively), positive evaluation of past and future contributed to higher life satisfaction (β = .19, p < .01, and β = .41, p < .01, respectively), and highly expressed life satisfaction was predicted by stronger orientation to formulation of developmental tasks (β = .29, p < .01). These findings are further discussed in terms of their relevance for optimal development in emerging adulthood and beyond.

Background
Research on resilience has largely focused on long-term developmental trajectories, exploring how individuals adapt to severe adversity, often through self-report resilience questionnaires. Theoretically, scores on these measures should align with real-life intraindividual processes, such as emotional reactivity to daily stressors, where resilience can be conceptualized as emotional stability in response to everyday challenges, whereas lower resilience is associated with heightened emotional reactivity. This study examines whether emotional reactivity to workplace stressors mediates the relationship between self-reported resilience and health outcomes.

Methods
Data is being collected from healthcare professionals in Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Sweden, and the United States. On the first day, participants complete a baseline questionnaire, including the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 (CD-RISC-10). From Days 2 to 15, they report daily experiences of workplace stressors (e.g., conflict, excessive workload, verbal harassment) as well as their positive and negative affect. On Day 45, they complete a follow-up survey assessing health and well-being.

Results
Dynamic structural equation modeling will be used to quantify emotional reactivity by regressing daily emotional states on daily stressful events at the within-person level. At the between-person level, health and well-being outcomes will be regressed on baseline resilience scores, with emotional reactivity included as a mediator. Various operationalizations of emotional reactivity and different health and well-being measures will be explored.

Conclusions
Findings will reveal the extent to which emotional reactivity mediates the link between trait resilience and health outcomes. Additionally, we will assess whether emotional reactivity provides unique explanatory power beyond the CD-RISC-10. These insights may guide future resilience research by evaluating the trade-off between the potential benefits of measuring emotional reactivity and the added participant burden of daily assessments.

Middle-aged women might start noticing signs of aging and becoming older as they continue through this life stage. While physical signs of aging are often emphasized in the literature and society, it is important to understand the wider picture of the aging experience in middle age. This study aimed to explore how middle-aged women experience aging, in particular, what experiences or signs they talk about as signaling them that they are aging. The participants were 26 women aged 30 – 57 in Lithuania. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted and analyzed using theme analysis. Thematic analysis resulted in five main themes. In the theme Discrepancy between outside and inside participants discussed feeling young inside and being forced to confront signs from others or other external sources about them aging or being older than they feel. Participants talked about experiencing that they are aging through physical and physiological changes as well as feeling older through internal changes in themes Physiological changes and Internal changes. The theme Fleeting time illustrates participants mentioning that one aspect of aging is feeling that time is ticking away, being confronted and uneasy by the realization of how much time of their life already passed. The theme of Cycle of generations represented participants reflecting on the experience of stepping into the role or life stage previously taken by their parents or other older generation family members, understanding their perspective or even repeating the same patterns that previously they were critical of. Study results give insight into important areas of middle-aged women’s aging experience which might be a source of strength or stress and should be considered when researching or counselling middle-aged women. This study was financed by the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No. S-PD-24-58.

Background. Autistic sociality is often viewed as impaired, characterised by a lack of social motivation and defined by observable behavioural traits (Baron-Cohen et al., 1985; Pennington and Ozonoff, 1996; Chevallier et al., 2012). However, there is a lack of research exploring autistic adults’ inner experiences and perspectives on the process of forming connections. This study aims to understand how autistic adults in Lithuania experience building connections with strangers.

Methods. Seven semi-structured interviews will be conducted in January–February 2025 to explore the lived experiences of autistic adults in Lithuania in building connections with strangers. Interview topics include how participants understand and conceptualise connection and friendship, how they feel around strangers, their experiences of building connections with strangers, and how being autistic and other aspects of their lives impact the process of forming connections and friendships. Their narratives will be analysed using inductive thematic analysis. To ensure the inclusivity and relevance of the project, we adopted a participatory approach and formed an autistic adults’ advisory board of five members, who informed every stage of the research and will contribute to the dissemination of the study results.

Expected results. By the time of the conference, we will present findings from our research on autistic adults' experiences in building connections with strangers. We expect to gain a better understanding of the inner experiences of how autistic adults in Lithuania build connections and friendships.

Implications. The study may contribute to a better understanding of autistic sociality from insiders’ perspectives, as well as inform professional practices and foster social inclusion.

This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No S-ST-24-56

Empathy-related responding is a key aspect of social-emotional development (Yavuz et al., 2024) and involves specific responses such as empathy (sharing the emotions of another person), sympathy (feeling of concern toward another's wellbeing) and personal distress (PD; feeling overwhelmed by someone else's negative emotionality; Eisenberg et al., 2015). Inhibitory control (IC), a key component of self-regulation, supports empathetic responses by enabling individuals to manage emotional reactivity and engage in socially appropriate behaviors (Eisenberg & Spinrad, 2004; Rothbart et al., 2001).

While prior research has established the developmental trajectory of IC and its role in adaptive functioning (Best & Miller, 2010; Casey & Caudle, 2013), little is known about the daily fluctuations of IC and its relations with empathetic responses in young adults (18–35 years). To address this gap, for 21 days, once a day, 76 young adults (50% women) were asked to respond to questions about IC and PD. To investigate the dynamic relations of the variables, we used Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling (Hamaker et al., 2018).

Results showed no significant spill-over effects between daily IC and PD. However, we found that IC and PD were negatively associated at the within-person level (r=-.163, 95% CI [-.284, -.038]): peaks of IC were negatively associated with drops of PD on the same day. At the between-person level, people who reported higher levels of IC on average also reported lower levels of PD on average (r=-.526, 95% CI [-.748, -.205]). The results also remained stable for controlling age and gender. The present study's results could help psychologists develop interventions based on inhibitory control to deal with young adults' challenges, ultimately promoting emotional wellbeing and social competencies during this critical life stage. Future studies should also investigate the dynamic relations between the variables of interest in a shorter time framework.

Goals are mental representations of end states young people strive to achieve (Austin & Vancouver, 1996). They are at the heart of individuals’ agentic behaviour helping them to channel resources while exploring, planning, making decisions, and committing to specific future-oriented representations of themselves and their envisioned futures (Parada & Salmela-Aro, 2022). Our study aims to investigate the temporal dynamics of young people’s personal goals during the third decade of life. The focus is on examining the internal dynamics of the interactions between the different general or personal goals domains over 8 years, from the early to the late twenties. Data from 754 participants from the Finnish Educational Transitions (FinEdu) Studies were collected 4 times: 2008 (age 20-21 years), 2011 (age 22-23), 2013 (age 24-25), and 2016 (age 28-29 years). First, a content analysis of participants’ answers to a revised version of Little’s 1983 Personal Project Analysis inventory (Salmela-Aro, 2001) was conducted using Atlas.ti8. Consensus qualitative research was used to code the data (Hill et al., 2005). The analysis identified 6 general goal domains (e.g., caring and close relationships, employment) which comprehended 15 specific goal domains (e.g., parenthood, securing employment, finances, health). Next, Python and NetworkX package was used to examine the interdependencies between the general and the specific goal domains and how these goal patterns change over time. The co-occurrence network analysis conducted to visualize the co-occurrences of the goals at each time point and across the four time points showed there were no important structural differences across the networks[FP1] . Young people’s personal goals reflect both the protracted nature of the transition to adulthood and the main developmental tasks they are expected to achieve during the third decade of life, with goals about caring and close relationships, education, employment, health and wellbeing being among the most named.

What makes life meaningful for middle-aged single women without children in a collectivist, pronatalist and predominantly Catholic context like the Philippines, where a woman’s value seems largely tied to their performance of the role of a wife and a mother? While meaning in life involves an internal process within an individual, one’s socio-cultural context as well as where they are situated in their developmental life stage could be pivotal in shaping an individual’s perceptions and interpretations of their experiences. Thus, the study aims to explore how meaning in life as a phenomenon is experienced by people who do not subscribe to the gold standard of successful passage into adulthood in a society that promotes and privileges the ideology of marriage and family. We explored this question using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Seven middle aged single women aged 41 to 58 who lived in different cities within the Philippines were interviewed through mobile, audio or video calls. Meaning in life was experienced by these middle-aged, always single Filipino women through caring for the self, accepting life, and engaging in social and in meaningful pursuits. Implications and recommendations for research and practical applications for women at this particular life stage are also identified and discussed.

More and more youth are identifying as LGBTQ+, with recent survey data indicating that 17% of Generation-Z identify as LGBTQ+ (Ipsos, 2024). Simultaneously, shifts in social attitudes and advancements in fertility treatments mean that more children are growing up with LGBTQ+ parents. Despite these growing numbers of LGBTQ+ youth, parents and families, developmental psychology has historically been centered on the experiences of cisgender, heterosexual individuals, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of LGBTQ+ populations. In a global context where restrictions around gender-affirmative healthcare are increasing and the rights of LGBTQ+ parents are under threat, it is now more important than ever for developmental psychology to engage with the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth, parents and families.

Drawing on qualitative and quantitative research from Belgium, the Netherlands, UK and US, this symposium will explore wellbeing, social relationships and stigma amongst LGBTQ+ youth, parents and families. Maisie Matthews will examine international survey data on child and parent wellbeing in bisexual father families, providing one of the first empirical insights into family functioning in this understudied group. Dr Jessie Hillekens will explore the demographic characteristics and social relationships of non-binary youth in the Netherlands and Belgium, providing much needed evidence that contradicts reductive stereotypes. Dr Susie Bower-Brown will explore the UK’s media and political discourse around gender diverse children, drawing on the concept of ‘moral panic’ and ecological systems theory to understand the impact of this hostile discourse on gender-diverse youth.

Together, these presentations offer new theoretical and empirical insights into the wellbeing and social experiences of LGBTQ+ youth, parents and families, in the context of societal stigma. The symposium will conclude by outlining key directions for research, policy, and practice, discussing the factors necessary to ensure that all young people, regardless of their family structure, gender identity and/or sexual orientation, can thrive.

This symposium aims to bring together contributions exploring the intersection of Environmental Sensitivity (ES) and temperament across developmental stages, examining how individual differences in sensitivity shape children’s responses to their environments across three Countries and distinct developmental periods. The three contributions address distinct aspects of this relationship, from early childhood to interventions in school-age children. The first contribution investigates the link between Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) and effortful control across childhood. Using a sample of over 2,000 children resident in Italy, this study reveals developmental shifts in how SPS relates to attentional focusing and inhibitory control, suggesting that the relationship between sensitivity and effortful control evolves, particularly during early primary school. The second contribution presents an observational measure of Environmental Sensitivity in preschoolers and examines sensitivity at behavioural, genetic, and physiological levels. It identifies three sensitivity groups (low, medium, and high) and explores their links with temperament factors such as fear, inhibition, and constraint. The study suggest that sensitivity is observationally distinct from temperament, and it highlights that sensitive children benefit from more positive environments. The third contribution tests children’s differential susceptibility to parenting interventions using pooled data from seven randomized trials across European Countries, using as a sensitivity marker difficult temperament. This study hypothesizes that more irritable children will exhibit greater susceptibility to changes in parenting, both positive and negative, with irritability as a susceptibility marker of responses to the environment. Together, these studies offer valuable insights into how environmental sensitivity and temperament interact across development, shaping children’s responses to their environments and informing targeted interventions.

Youth encounter peer groups in almost all contexts of their lives. Their peer status is an important predictor for social functioning. A large part of existing peer status research has focused on outcomes such aggression or risk behaviors. This symposium contributes to the literature by examining the implications of peer status for a broader range of outcomes in adolescence and emerging adulthood. The studies use concurrent and longitudinal samples collected in three different European countries.

Paper 1 addresses peer status and cyberbullying. The authors expect a positive link between popularity and cyberbullying and a negative one for likeability. They already found that authoritative parenting and communal goals were significantly related to cyberbullying. Peer status may be a moderator, as popularity may weaken the link, whereas likeability may strengthen it. Paper 2 shows that adolescents across secondary school levels were likely to perceive their own friends and peers with many friends as popular. Adolescents’ perceptions of who is popular were impacted by popular peers’ perceptions. Paper 3 takes a descriptive approach and shows that peer status still plays a significant role in emerging adulthood. Emerging adults encounter peer groups in various contexts. Likeability was highest in friend groups, while popularity was highest in leisure activities. Across contexts, popularity was differently associated with importance and enjoyment of the peer group. Paper 4 zooms out and associates peer status in childhood and adolescence with developmental tasks in emerging adulthood. Preliminary results suggest early popularity predicts later life satisfaction and social support and self-esteem may be mediators.

Together, the papers in this symposium shed light on the complexity of the concept of peer status and the importance of obtaining a better understanding of its role in adolescents’ and emerging adults’ development.

Early and middle childhood are periods of time in which children’s emotion knowledge grows in rapid strides. This prepares children for current and future challenges of their social and academic life and contributes to their psychosocial adjustment. This symposium charts children’s development and explores connections between interindividual differences in emotion knowledge and children’s cognitive development and social success in the peer world.

Because all presentations use the Adaptive Test of Emotion Knowledge for Three- to Nine-Year-Olds (ATEM 3-9), cultural similarities and differences between samples from Portugal, Switzerland, and Germany can be examined as well.

Patricia Moreira and colleagues start out by presenting the new Portuguese version of the ATEM 3-9 including its psychometric properties in a sample of N = 112 5- to 6-year-olds. Children with higher ATEM 3-9 scores showed more functional emotion regulation, more prosocial behavior, and better peer acceptance.

Tatiana Diebold and colleagues follow up with a longitudinal study of N = 98 3- to 4-year-olds from Switzerland which expects that higher levels of emotion knowledge are associated with more positive peer relationships and that they predict greater growth in these relationships over the course of a school year.

Maria von Salisch and Katharina Voltmer examine the factors that predict growth in emotion knowledge among N = 192 second graders from Germany. Their study identifies language skills, general cognitive abilities, and advanced theory of mind as cognitive factors driving the growth over time in children’s emotion knowledge.

This sets the stage for the cross-lagged panel model by Maria von Salisch and Katharina Voltmer which examines the reciprocal relations between growth in emotion knowledge and grammar in the same sample of 7- to 9-year-olds from Germany. These results suggest that emotion talk stimulates both language development and emotion knowledge.

Family interactions are core elements for the socioemotional development of children. Healthy relationships offer a secure environment notably by teaching children emotional regulation and helping families face stress and daily hassles. Research has shown that families who adopt positive interactions and regulate their reactions tend to be more resilient facing stress. These interactions can be observed on several levels such as through behavioral observations or on physiological levels. The following symposium aims at investigating the role of resilience and child regulation in family interactions and vice-versa. The first presentation will delve into the characteristics of hardiness to better understand family resilience in small communities in the Amazon region and the factors involved in its perception by mothers and fathers. The second presentation will tackle family interactions via biobehavioral synchrony, which was seen to be present in families with a secure-base attachment where the child feels safe to express and regulate their emotions. The role of attachment will be highlighted to better understand how families can interact with one another and be more resilient during a stress-induced task. This ability to regulate emotions during family interactions will be put into perspective in the third presentation according to different family functioning profiles (cooperative-conflictual-disordered). Finally, the last presentation will assess the individual differences in the development of infant joint attention during interactional tasks using a longitudinal design. The aim of this presentation will serve to pinpoint the associations of joint attention with different socioemotional aspects in children. This symposium will offer insight into family dynamics and interactions by putting into evidence several factors that can be observed in interactions that need to be considered while assessing child socioemotional development as well as family resilience.

Background: The increasing prevalence of social media use among adolescents raises questions about who is most at risk for problematic social media use and what factors might protect against it. While parental and peer relationships influence adolescent behavior, it remains unclear whether these social factors moderate the relationship between early social media use and later problematic use. Objective: This study examines the link between social media use at age 14 and problematic social media use at age 17, measured by perceived addiction and mood modification. It also explores the moderating role of parental factors (parental closeness, parent-child conflict) and peer relationships (online bullying, physical bullying, and close friendships) as potential risk or protective factors. Methods: Data were drawn from 5,760 participants in the UK Millennium Cohort Study from Sweep 6 (age 14) and Sweep 7 (age 17). Moderation analysis (Hayes’ PROCESS Model 4.2) and multiple linear regression (SPSS 29) assessed the direct and interactive effects of early social media use, parent and peer relationships on problematic social media use. Results: Higher levels of early social media engagement were associated with both increased perceived addiction and greater mood modification. Within peer relationships, online bullying moderated the relationship between social media use and perceived addiction, weakening the association at higher levels of bullying. In contrast, parent-child relationships did not moderate this association but had direct effects on problematic social media use: More closeness to parents was associated with more perceived addiction but with lower mood modification, whereas more parent-child conflict was associated with both more perceived addiction and greater mood modification. Conclusion: Problematic social media use in adolescence is shaped by parental and peer relationships, highlighting complexities beyond time spent on social media. Strengthening parental bonds and addressing peer-related risks may help mitigate the negative impact of problematic social media use.

Introduction: Problematic social media use (PSMU) in association with loneliness represents a major concern in adolescent research (e.g., Zhao et al., 2024). Although this relationship has been widely documented, and recent literature suggests a dynamic association between these two constructs (e.g., Zhang et al., 2023), inconsistent findings result from mostly cross-sectional and adult-centered studies. Furthermore, still little research focused on what adolescents do on social media and how this contributes to both PSMU and loneliness.
Method: A path analysis was employed to examine the associations between PSMU and loneliness, focusing on the mediating role of users’ active social media use (i.e., self vs other-oriented use). A total of 1185 adolescents (59.3% F, Mage = 15.97 years, SD = 1.43) completed self-report measures at two timepoints, 6 months apart. Gender differences were also explored.
Results: Bidirectional associations were found from T1 loneliness to T2 PSMU, and from T1 PSMU to T2 loneliness, while controlling for autoregressive effects. At T1, PSMU and loneliness were associated with both other-oriented and self-oriented use. Furthermore, T2 PSMU was predicted only by higher other-oriented use, while T2 loneliness was predicted solely by higher self-oriented use. Two significant positive indirect effects emerged in the associations between T1 PSMU and T2 Loneliness via self-oriented use, and between T1 PSMU and T2 PSMU via other-oriented use. Differences across gender groups also emerged.
Discussion: Contrary to what expected (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014; McKenna et al., 2002), these findings suggest that lonely adolescents avoid engaging in active social media use, thus failing to compensate for their social difficulties online. Therefore, other mechanisms, but not active use, would contribute to a higher risk of PSMU. On the other side, problematic users who engage more in active use would be at greater risk of increased PSMU and loneliness six months later. Practical implications are discussed.

Background: Recent research has shown that youth depression and anxiety were predicted more accurately by specific risky digital activities and the reactions these induce, rather than ‘screen time’ per se. This suggests that the negative mental health impacts of online experiences and exposures may be best mitigated if young people shift the balance of their digital activity to more positive experiences. We report the development and validation of the Managing My Life Online (MYLO) questionnaire, which measures young people’s perceived impact of online experiences on their daily functioning and mental health and their digital risk management actions.

Methods: 383 young people (16-25 years; 75% female) completed the MYLO, a measure of youth online experiences, and additional measures of risky digital activity, depression, anxiety, and wellbeing. Data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation analysis, and multiple regression.

Results: Participants reported negative impacts of online experiences on daily functioning, notably, less sleep. They reported that being online affected their mental health both negatively and positively, with positive impacts perceived as more common. Factor analysis supported a three-factor solution for risk management actions: Enhancing Positive Engagement; Coping Actions; and Reducing Engagement. All three factors were significantly positively correlated with perceived negative digital impact and worry about this impact. Anxiety and depression symptoms were associated with higher perceived negative impact and more worry about online experiences. When exposed to risky digital activity, more anxious individuals were more likely to adopt Coping Actions and Reducing Engagement, compared to their less anxious counterparts.

Discussion: Young people actively manage their digital activity as a function of their worries about its negative impact. Attempting to manage digital risk is more common among those who worry the most. Longitudinal studies are required to tease apart the causal relationships between digital risk, its management, and mental health.

Adolescence is characterized by cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional changes, including significant shifts in sleep patterns. Although sleep problems in adolescence are relatively common, differences in frequency have been found between countries such as Croatia, Greece, and the Netherlands. Evidence suggests that excessive social media use is linked with sleep problems, including longer sleep latency and increased daytime sleepiness. Furthermore, there is a bidirectional relationship between poor sleep quality and negative mood. Funded by the EADP Collaboration Grant 2024-2025, the project “Smartphone Use, Sleep, and Mood: A cross-cultural study on the role of emotion regulation” aims to clarify how adolescent sleep, social media use, mood, and emotion regulation are dynamically linked with each other, and how these links might be different across countries. Using Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM), adolescents will report on their daily smartphone use, mood, and sleep quality over a seven-day period. This presentation will present preliminary findings from this study. The findings will contribute to the development of theoretical models and highlight the need to address the potential impact of smartphone use on adolescents' health by providing a basis for evidence-based recommendations to improve their daily functioning and overall well-being.

This study aimed to examine the moderating effect of children’s hyperactivity on the relationship between smartphone use during conversations with parents and conflicts over smartphone use between parents and children. The study was conducted on a sample of 284 children (aged 10 to 15 years, with a mean age of 12.23 in 2021; 40.2% boys) in Croatia. The data were collected as part of a four-wave longitudinal study (2021–2023) within the project “Digital technology in the family: patterns of behavior and effects on child development.“ Children reported the frequency of their smartphone use during conversations with their parents on a scale constructed specifically for the project (third wave), hyperactivity symptoms on the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS, Gresham & Elliott, 2008) scale (third wave), and conflicts with parents about smartphone use on a scale also designed for the project (fourth wave). A model was tested, where smartphone use during parent–child conversations served as the predictor, conflicts about smartphone use as the criterion, and hyperactivity symptoms as the moderator. Results show a positive correlation between frequent smartphone use during conversation and conflicts about smartphone use, and hyperactivity symptoms significantly influenced the strength of this association. The effect of smartphone use on conflicts was likely stronger for children with higher hyperactivity symptoms. The findings imply that in children who have pronounced hyperactive symptoms, smartphone use during conversations might trigger even more intense or frequent parent-child conflicts about smartphone use. These findings could inform parenting interventions, emphasizing mindful phone use during interactions, particularly for families with children exhibiting hyperactive behaviors.

A hypervigilance toward social threats, characterized by a heightened sensitivity to socially threatening stimuli, is a known risk factor for loneliness. During the early stages of social information processing, such a heightened sensitivity to social threats may manifest as attentional biases, influencing how individuals allocate their attentional resources when exposed to socially threatening information. Much of the research on attentional biases and loneliness has focused on facilitated attention to social threats, referring to a faster orientation towards social threatening stimuli. However, hypervigilance toward social threat may also impact other components of attentional bias whose roles in the development of loneliness remain understudied, such as difficulties with disengaging one’s attention from negative social information. This preregistered study examined whether these attentional disengagement difficulties are associated with early adolescent loneliness. A sample of 101 early adolescents (M_age = 11.6, SD_age = 0.6, 55.5% girls) participated in a newly developed attentional disengagement task, in which adolescents rated target words as positive or negative after being primed with negative (social or emotional) stimuli or neutral stimuli. Reaction times were saved to compute attentional disengagement indices and loneliness was assessed through adolescent self-report. Preliminary results from the main path analysis revealed no associations between attentional disengagement scores and loneliness (ps = .071 to .239). However, sensitivity analyses indicated that faster responses on trials where a negative emotional prime preceded a positive target were associated with higher loneliness (β = -.28 , p = .028). This suggests that the effect may reflect mood incongruency processes rather than attentional disengagement difficulties. The implications of these findings and possibilities for future research will be discussed.

When we talk about the past, we often talk about our emotions. Throughout the day, we frequently talk about our personal experiences. The literature suggests that there are different underlying goals for remembering different emotion-induced experiences, such as positive versus negative: While reminiscing about positive events may create emotional bonds through the sense of shared history, reminiscing about negative experiences may help children understand and resolve negative affect. Among other emotions, shame stands out with some unique characteristics. To uncover the characteristics of shame memories in autobiographical memory (AM) literature, three sequential studies were designed in dyads of university students and their mothers. 21 dyads (N= 42) were asked about their personal shame memories, separately. Firstly, memories were analyzed to uncover their relational context. Shame memories emerged in six distinct contexts: family, peer, educational, public, professional, and intrapersonal. Among mothers, the most common contexts were family (58%), followed by professional settings (21%) and public settings (11%). In contrast, university students’ most frequent contexts were the educational environment (38%), followed by family (24%) and peer (21%). Secondly, memories were analyzed to reveal the themes according to Braun and Clarke’s (2006) model. Shame memories emerged under five main themes: (1) Mishaps and missteps, (2) Performance related, (3) Aggression, (4) Sexuality, and (5) Body image related. Among individuals with low socioeconomic status (SES), the most prevalent themes were mishaps and missteps (39%), performance-related issues (28%), and aggression (17%). Similarly, among individuals with higher SES, the most common themes were mishaps and missteps (46%), aggression (32%), and performance-related issues (18%). Moreover, the similarities and differences between mothers and their daughters’ personal shame memories will be analyzed in terms of memory characteristics. All analyses will be presented based on participant groups and socioeconomic status, and the results will be discussed.

Moral emotions, especially guilt, are associated with increased reparative behaviors (i.e., the desire to repair the harm that one has caused; Colasante et al., 2014). In this study, we examined the development of guilt feelings from adolescence to young adulthood. We consider guilt feelings related to reparation as defined by Caprara et al. (1992), which is “proneness to experience feelings of remorse, embarrassment, disturbance, tension and desires for justice that were linked to the need for reparation of the negative results of guilt-eliciting actions” (p. 551). Furthermore, according to the literature (Malti & Krettenauer, 2012), we analyzed the predictive role of changes in guilt feelings on prosocial behavior during young adulthood.

The sample included 390 Italian adolescents aged 15–22 (M = 15.49, SD = 0.50; 42.5% females), who participated over four waves covering six years from a larger longitudinal and multiple-cohort (i.e., cohort 1 starting age 15; cohort 2 starting age 16) study.

Results of the latent growth curve models showed that the linear model best represents the data (χ² (5) =17.33, p<.001; CFI = 0.947; RMSEA = 0.074 [90% CI: 0.038, 0.113]. Specifically, starting from an average of 5.08 (p < .001) at 15-16 years, guilt feelings followed an increasing linear trend (b_slope = .076, p < .001) over the transition to young adulthood. Moreover, we found gender differences in the mean level and rate of change of guilt feelings. Finally, results showed that increases in guilt feelings predict higher levels of self-reported prosocial behavior in young adulthood.

The findings are in line with theoretical and empirical evidence on the relation between guilt feelings and prosocial behavior. As individuals become more mature, they are more aware of the consequences of their actions and more inclined to manifest other-oriented behavior, such as prosocial behavior.

Environmental factors shape the moral development of adolescents, and one powerful environmental factor is the parenting behaviors that are also determined by parental beliefs and cognitions (Abidin, 1992). The current study aimed to examine a serial mediation model to test how maternal beliefs are related to adolescents’ prosocial behaviors through parenting behaviors and adolescents’ internalization of moral values. The current study was conducted as part of a nationwide project at 2 time points, and the sample consisted of 2187 adolescents and their mothers. A path analysis was conducted using SPSS Amos and the tested model had good model fit (χ² (17) = 94.59, p < .001, CFI = .98, RMSEA = .05). Results suggested that mothers’ belief in psychological individual autonomy predicted their parental warmth (β = .07, p = .006), which predicted adolescents’ internalization of moral values (β = .06, p = .043), and internalization of moral values predicted adolescents’ prosocial behaviors (β = .05, p = .016). The indirect path from psychological individual autonomy to prosocial behaviors through parental warmth and internalization was also significant (β = .000, p= .025, %95 CI [.000 .001]). Additionally, maternal rejection (β = -.06, p = .017) and inductive reasoning (β = -.05, p = .042) were negatively associated with the internalization of moral values. The indirect paths from maternal rejection (β = -.005, p = .015, %95 CI [-.013 -.001]) and inductive reasoning (β = -.002, p = .023, %95 CI [-.006 .000]) to prosocial behaviors through the internalization of moral values were also significant. Moreover, maternal belief in shaming directly and negatively predicted the internalization of moral values (β = -.06, p = .006). Grade level and sex of adolescents were controlled, and only grade level was positively associated with the internalization (β = .04, p = .015).

Global collective action for sustainable peace is urgently needed, with nearly 60% of conflicts reigniting within 10 years (Bosetti et al., 2017; Caffel & Masser, 2020). Advancing the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, we examine peacebuilding through joint human action. Motivated by UN Security Council Resolutions 2250, 2419, and 2535 – recognising and facilitating young people’s participation in sustaining peace, preventing conflict, and fostering inclusion – we focus on youth as agents of peace.

Informed by decades of research on collective action for peace (e.g., Hardin, 2015; Becker, 2017; Leach, 2024), our approach is unique in two ways. First, we conceptualise peacebuilding as a continuum. Second, we invert the traditional focus on youth. Rather than framing young people as victims or perpetrators, we investigate how one-third of the world’s population can be agentic peacebuilders (Bähr et al., 2021; Lederach, 1997; Taylor, 2020).

Adolescent and young adult participants (N = 199) were recruited for Study 1, focus groups, across four cases: Northern Ireland, Colombia, Israel, and Switzerland. Over 1,600 adolescents and young adults participated in Study 2, the quantiative scale development and validation.

We address four research questions. First, we prioritise youth voices through focus groups to deepen the ecologically validity of the YPS. Second, we develop measures to capture
macrosystem peacebuilding in the YPS, addressing this gap in the previous literature. Third, we test for convergent and discriminant validity across four cases with different contexts of quality peace to investigate the applicability of the YPS across the peace continuum. Finally, we explore the unique and universal aspects of the YPS both across and within cases (e.g., key demographic groups such as age, gender).

Implications for UN policy as well as the wider literature on prosocial action in risky contexts settings are discussed.

Children born very prematurely have a higher risk of cognitive delays and affective and relational developmental difficulties (Allotey et al., 2018; Arpi & Ferrari, 2013). Such results have sparked significant interest in attachment-related research in order to understand and improve socio-emotional outcomes. When gestational age is extremely low, attachment relationships at two years may be less secure and more often disorganized in that insecure category (López-Maestro et al., 2017; Wolke et al., 2014). However, the mediating role of parental psychological distress in this context is still not fully understood. Moreover, current research has almost exclusively considered attachment behaviors in children younger than two years old and rarely looks beyond this age (Akkus et al., 2021; Hallin et al., 2012; López-Maestro et al., 2017). This thesis, which is at the crossroads of medicine and psychology, attempts to describe the attachment representation of children born extremely or very preterm at the age of 3 and to determine the mediating role of parenting stress.

This study includes the validated French version of the attachment story stem procedure and Q-sort Miljkovitch et al. (2003) to evaluate child attachment representations at age 3. The Parenting Stress Index (Abidin, 1995) is used to apprehend the mother’s perception of stress, and parents complete the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (Squires et al., 1997) to evaluate children’s communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, and personal-social skills. In total, 44 mother-child dyads (born < 28.6 weeks) participated in our study. Our results showed that children had less secure, more avoidant, and disorganized attachment representations than a reference population. In this presentation, we look at developmental outcomes and parenting stress. We discuss the limitations of evaluating attachment in this context. This research advances our understanding of parental psychological well-being and child socio-emotional development following very preterm birth.

Objective

Previous studies show that parental presence may buffer a child stress hormone response in stressful situations (Hostinar et al., 2015) and improve performance in emotional go/no-go tasks in children aged 4 to 10 years old but not in adolescents (Gee et al., 2014). However, there is still limited evidence on the parental presence influences on self-regulation at different ages and populations. We examined child performance in the emotional go/no-go task under two conditions: parent vs. stranger present, at 9.5 years of age.

Methods

The study is pre-registered (osf.io/cdnh7). The participants (N = 315, 49% girls, mean age=9.6±0.10 years) were a subsample of Finnish children participating in an ongoing data collection (aiming for N = 500 by May 2025) of the FinnBrain Study (www.finnbrain.fi). Parental presence effects were examined by emotional go/no-go task as previously described in Gee et al. (2014) using emotional (fearful, angry, happy and neutral) face stimuli. The parent vs. stranger conditions were presented in a randomized order. We used mixed models controlling for emotion and block type (go/no-go) effects to examine the condition differences in reaction times, false alarm rates and hit accuracy, with reaction time findings available by submission.

Results

In the available subsample with all experiments, children showed faster reaction times (improved performance) in the parent vs. stranger condition (Estimate = 4.91[95%CI 0.80,1.01], p = .013). However, when only children with >70% hit accuracy were included, this difference disappeared (Estimate = .86[5.54,-1.83], p = .32). The complete results including covariates will be presented.

Conclusion

Preliminary findings suggest that parental presence may improve child performance in emotional go/no-go task even at 9.5 years of age, but the effects may depend on the child’s performance accuracy. Combined with previous evidence, the findings indicate a dimensional change in dependency on parental regulation assistance over the middle childhood.

According to the theoretically innovative and integrative framework proposed by the Domains of Socialization Approach (Grusec & Davidov, 2010), socialization occurs within five different domains. The domains encompass the protection domain, in which the parent adopts a protective role; the reciprocity domain, characterized by the establishment of positive interactions and relationships between the parent and child; the control domain, in which the parent uses their position of authority as a figure of power to try to regulate the child's behavior; the guided learning domain, wherein the parent facilitates the development of skills and values by offering guidance and support; and finally, the group participation domain, through which the parent assists the child in engaging with the rituals, routines, and traditions of their cultural or community context. These domains arise to address evolutionary demands, are activated under specific conditions, and are characterized by unique objectives, processes, and outcomes. However, so far, there are relatively limited studies that qualitatively examine the mother-child relationship in a domain-specific manner. Such an examination has not been conducted for the relationships of gifted children and their mothers. This study will utilize the Domains of Socialization Approach to explore the parenting behaviors of mothers with gifted children for the first time. This qualitative study investigates mothers' parenting behaviors that respond to their children's needs in five different areas using vignettes. As a result, interviews with 75 mothers of gifted children aged 45-74 months were analyzed using deductive content analysis, identifying mothers' behaviors towards the needs of their children across five areas. The findings are organized in a table with frequencies, percentages, and participant discourses. This study offers a detailed examination of how the socialization approach is represented within parent-child interactions in daily life.

Parental Burnout (PB) is an exhaustion syndrome resulting from chronic stress exposure in the parental role. While research has revealed a causal link between PB and violence, not every burned-out parent is violent, suggesting that moderating variables play a role. While recent studies have explored the parent’s characteristics, the moderating potential of the child’s characteristics has not yet been investigated. Since the child’s temperament is linked to both stress in the parental role and violence, it represents a promising candidate for investigation. This study examines the role of child temperament traits as potential buffers or aggravators of violence in Belgian families using a cross-sectional design. Data were drawn from the 3.1 study of the International Investigation of Parental Burnout (IIPB) database. In a sample of N = 572 families with an only child under or equal to 8 years of age, Surgency/Extraversion was examined as a buffering variable, Negative Emotionality as an aggravating variable, and Effortful Control was investigated in an exploratory analysis. Additionally, the impact of temperament similarity or dissimilarity among siblings on violence was assessed in an independent sample of N = 510 families with two children. Findings emphasize the importance of considering the child’s characteristics in the study of parental burnout and violence. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

In recent years, large language model (LLM)-driven generative artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly become a globally recognized application tool. While literature supports the positive role of AI in training social skills for children with special needs, its application in special education remains primarily focused on assessment and diagnosis, with concrete methods for training the abilities of special children needing further development. The transition to primary education is a challenging period for young children as they must adapt to new social environments, learning styles, and daily routines. Tailored and individualized transition services will aid in the adaptation of special needs children, enhancing parental confidence and support, and creating a better learning starting point for them. AI can meet the individualized and highly interactive demands of the transition process. During the transition process, children with special needs need to learn social skills such as sharing, cooperation, and conflict resolution, which are crucial for their future learning and life. Therefore, the transition should not only prepare for learning but also promote children's social and emotional skills, helping them establish friendships and collaborate effectively. Considering the unique needs of each child, the transition process must be individually tailored. Thus, this project focuses on developing an AI system to train parents to support special needs children in their preparation for the social-emotional aspects of the transition to primary education. Preliminary findings of this study support the efficacy of the AI parent training system. However, limitations will also be discussed.

Online Hate Speech (OHS) is a growing concern in digital environments, particularly for its impact on youth, who are both exposed to and active participants in online interactions: adolescents themselves play a crucial role in shaping the digital landscape. The symposium aims to examine OHS from multiple perspectives, looking at the different role people can have when exposed, and focusing on the impact on youth and on the psychological processes that promote defending interventions.

Specifically, two studies explore bystander behavior and the factors influencing adolescents' decisions to act when exposed. The first (Jiménez-Díaz et al.), relying on a large sample of adolescents, analyzes the variables linked to defensive behaviors, comparing different theoretical models (The Theory of Normative Social Behavior, The Social Learning Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior). The second (Di Brango et al.) investigates the role of specific predictors of defending interventions, particularly empathy, self-efficacy, and meaning in life. Together, these two studies provide complementary insights into fostering positive proactive online behaviors. The second and third studies share a methodological focus on longitudinal intensive designs, enabling a dynamic understanding of adolescents' online experiences. The third study (Verbena et al.), specifically, examines the emotional impact of OHS on adolescents with migrant background in comparison to peers from majority groups (i.e., not targeted by the content of the OHS), analyzing intra-individual fluctuations in emotional responses to highlight the mental health consequences of OHS for vulnerable youth.

Collectively, these three contributions offer a nuanced understanding of OHS among adolescents, integrating diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives. They provide valuable insights for research and practice, informing policies and interventions that promote safer digital spaces, encourage prosocial online behavior, and empower young people.

A central aim of developmental psychology is to understand the mechanisms shaping child development. The Miracles of Development (MIDE) study, a 20-year longitudinal project, provides a unique opportunity to revisit fundamental questions in the field. Guided by Sameroff’s Unified Theory of Development, in the present study, we review multilevel processes that regulate the effects of childhood experiences on developmental outcomes.

The MIDE study (https://projects.tuni.fi/kehi/) has followed N = 866 Finnish families (mothers, fathers, and children) from pregnancy (T1) and infancy (T2–T3) through middle childhood (T4) to early adulthood (T5). We synthesize findings from over twenty MIDE studies that have employed diverse methodologies, including self-reports, social-cognitive experiments, and neurophysiological assessments.

The review focuses on four key questions, emphasizing the developmental domains of mental health, social functioning, and self-regulation: (I) To what extent do early experiences determine later outcomes? Fourteen studies have used prospective designs to examine how early life stress and family environments predict child development. (II) Are there sensitive periods in development? Eight studies provide information on how the timing of developmental experiences predicts later outcomes. (III) How do biological and psychological processes align in development? Five studies incorporate hormonal assessments or brain imaging, allowing comparisons with self-reported outcomes. (IV) What role do representations play in development? Five studies contrast retrospective self-reports in adulthood with prospective parent-reports during childhood, allowing analysis of the significance of more subjective (i.e., memories) and objective events in development.

The new insights from the synthesized results are discussed in relation to prevailing developmental models. Suggestions are made for future research to carefully consider methodological approaches, as these define the limits of understanding developmental phenomena. Moreover, the findings highlight the need to further clarify cross-level processes between biological and psychosocial domains.

Behavioral observation has a long tradition in various areas of psychology. Although during the heyday of observational studies in the 1920s and early 1930s, direct observation was regarded as “the oldest, and remains the commonest, instrument of scientific research” (Jersild & Meigs, 1939), psychology has increasingly become an ODD (Observation- and Description-Deprived) science (Ray & Fiske, 2010). The emphasis on efficiency and productivity, combined with the fact that behavioral observation is time-consuming and labor-intensive, has led psychology to move away from its fundamental task of observing and describing natural phenomena (Tinbergen, 1972).

However, recent advancements in computer vision (CV) and machine learning (ML) now enable precise, detailed, low-cost, and non-intrusive observation of behavior. This talk illustrates how CVML technologies can be used to collect rich multivariate time-series data and analyze behavioral dynamics in social interactions through three ongoing studies conducted at the child lab of Jagiellonian University in collaboration with computer scientists.

In the first longitudinal study, 75 caregiver-infant pairs were observed during three visits at 4, 7, and 12 months of age. Automated Facial Action Recognition (AFAR) was applied to both infants and mothers during free play to examine the coupling and coordination of their facial expressions at the level of Action Units and finer-grained facial movement patterns. The second cross-cultural study investigated the smoothness of individual and dyadic movements in Yurakaré and Polish siblings during a cooperative tower-building task. Finally, the Visual Perception Tracker, an innovative system integrating multiple camera views to automatically identify gaze direction, mutual attention, gaze coordination episodes, and ultimately joint attention in semi-naturalistic settings, will be presented.

Taken together, our research demonstrates how methodological and technological advancements can help address longstanding developmental questions, making psychology more firmly grounded in the observation and description of natural phenomena.

Kindergarten teachers are regarded as ultimate child maltreatment (CM) reporters as they are in a unique position to detect CM due to their daily interactions with young children. Nevertheless, research on kindergarten teachers’ skills and actual behavior when managing CM cases is insofar limited; it has only been conducted by using case vignettes (viz. examining hypothetical reactions) and has not explored the determinants of teachers’ behavior in their past encounters with CM cases (thus, examining actual past reactions). The present study aimed to enhance the understanding of kindergarten teachers’ handling CM cases and to extend methodological knowledge by comparing correlates of kindergarten teachers’ CM handling via historical recall (i.e., actual past reporting) on one hand, and by responses to case vignettes (i.e., hypothetical reporting) οn the other. Data were collected from a cross-sectional survey as part of a larger project to create a comprehensive training program for Greek kindergarten teachers on child maltreatment, implemented by the ‘Eliza -Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’ and funded by Piraeus Bank. The sample consisted of 1.581 female kindergarten teachers who completed an online questionnaire including a) a questionnaire designed for this study assessing socio-demographic factors previously identified as important factors influencing teachers’ CM detecting and reporting behavior, and self-efficacy, b) the “Survey on Professional Groups’ Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Social Norms Associated with Violence Against Children”, providing information on actual past reporting, and c) four CM case vignettes. The series of regression models used in the statistical analysis revealed that the variables that predict past detection and reporting differ from those that predict hypothetical detection and reporting. The implications of these findings for CM research and training of kindergarten teachers are discussed.

In 2020, a group of young people seeking asylum in the UK and the charity supporting them, partnered with a cross-disciplinary team of academics to research the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on unaccompanied asylum-seeking youth in the UK. After a series of online meetings, the Lives On Hold, Our Stories Told (LOHST) project was established and secured ESRC funding. The project explored how the pandemic affected young people’s experiences of the asylum process, and access to services, education and available support systems.

As part of this initiative, we trained 11 young peer researchers (primarily Albanian) who conducted, with us, semi-structured online interviews with 69 unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people (aged 16–25) and 53 practitioners (from across social care, policy, legal, and clinical professions). The young peer researchers, with support from their charity, were actively involved in study design, data collection, analysis, report writing, and dissemination.

A key finding highlighted the young people’s accounts of worsening mental health during the pandemic, which they attributed to the lack of progress and uncertainty in their asylum claims, as well as isolation and limited access to support, education, and services.

In this presentation, I will reflect on the experience of working with this group of young people, discussing the challenges we encountered (particularly peer researcher well-being and ethical complexities) and the strategies we used to navigate them. I will also highlight the benefits of adopting a peer research methodology.

Participatory Action Research (PAR) has been increasingly recognised as a strategy to empower youth to enact change in their communities. It is seen as an approach to redistribute power and foster societal transformation. However, youth in disadvantaged positions – such as those with migration backgrounds and those living in neighbourhoods with limited access to quality education and social services – are often excluded from research projects and labelled as ‘hard-to-reach’.

In this presentation, we critically reflect on barriers and facilitators of PAR with ‘hard-to-reach’ youth, who are often distrustful of institutions and unfamiliar with (participatory action) research. To this end, we draw on reflections from a project conducted in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with n = 65 youth (aged 13-20), recruited through youth workers in community hubs and outreach programmes. Youth participated in 1-2 sessions that included idea-generation, video-inspired reflections, debates, and mapping exercises to explore youth’s views on street harassment and ways to tackle it. To build trust, the researchers participated in existing activities with youth before engaging them in the project. Reflection methods include pre-and post-surveys, collective reflections with youth workers, and informal interviews with youth.

Our preliminary findings show that, while PAR aims to raise critical awareness among participants from all backgrounds, many participants struggled to voice their opinions, potentially due to low self-esteem and diverging communication styles. Consequently, deeper discussions were sometimes deferred to avoid undermining confidence, potentially affecting data richness. Moreover, the youth’s identity formation and group dynamics influenced participation. Status within the group often dictated accepted behaviours, complicating trust-building among peers. Addressing these dynamics required careful facilitation and flexibility in research approaches.

This study offers practical reflections for researchers aiming to engage youth in disadvantaged positions in participatory action-oriented research, emphasising the need for trust-building, adaptive methods, and sensitivity to group dynamics and individual development.

Background. The transition to retirement is a significant life event that alters an individual's social status, as well as their psychological and financial well-being. Given the aging workforce, there has also been an increasing emphasis at the macro level on preventing premature retirement. From both individual and employer perspectives, it is therefore crucial to understand the factors that motivate older workers to remain active in the labor market. In this study, we aimed to address this question as part of the project “Sustainable working-life for ageing populations in the Nordic-Baltic region” (No.139986 financed by NordForsk).

Method. We utilized data from the 7th (baseline) and 9th waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). At baseline, the dataset included responses from 8160 employed individuals across 27 countries (aged 50–84 years; M=57.7, SD=4.3; 56.5% women). All predictors were measured at Wave 7 and included age, gender, retirement intentions, workplace quality, and social activity. The outcome variable, employment status (working vs. not working), was measured four years later at Wave 9. To account for the nested data structure, a mixed-effects model with random intercepts was applied.

Results. Approximately 12% of the variation in the outcome variable was attributable to country-level factors. Employment status was predicted by male gender, younger age, lack of retirement intentions, higher workplace quality, and social activity (e.g., participation in various learning activities). Moreover, age and engagement in volunteering moderated the relationship between retirement intentions and employment status.

Implications. Our findings illustrate how retirement intentions translate into actual retirement among workers aged 50+. While this transition is natural process that marks the final phase of career development, our study highlights to the role of potential boundary conditions that may either accelerate or delay its occurrence.

The dynamics between grandmothers and mothers are important regarding their parenting and grandchildren’s development. The previous literature reveals some cooperation and conflict situations between grandmothers and mothers, particularly in the early ages of grandchildren. Although a few studies focused on the frequency of dyads’ cooperation and conflict, researchers did not thoroughly dwell on the content of this issue. The current study aimed to explore grandchild-related themes that mothers and grandmothers agree or disagree with each other, as well as the themes of resolution to their disagreements. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted with forty-one Turkish grandmothers (Age_mean = 59.29, SD = 4.81) who have a 48-72-month-old grandchild. Thematic analysis was used to assess grandmothers’ answers to the agreement, disagreement and resolution questions in the interview. The results revealed two main themes in the grandmother-mother agreement. While 58.6% of the contents belong to the first theme, “care for the grandchild” (including diet, health, etc.), 41.4% of them belong to the second theme, “rearing practices for the grandchild” (including rules, values, etc.). In the grandmother-mother disagreement, two main themes were also defined. While 53.3% of the issues belong to the first theme, “care for the grandchild” (including diet, education, etc.), 46.7% of them belong to the second theme, “rearing practices for the grandchild” (including being mad at the grandchild, spoiling the grandchild, etc.). Finally, in their resolutions of disagreement, three main themes were defined. 59.1% of the resolutions belong to the first theme, “reconciliation”, 22.7% of the resolutions belong to the second theme, “disregarding other” (either mother or grandmother), and 18.2% of the resolutions belong to the third theme, “no solution” (ignorance, avoidance, etc.). The findings contribute to the related literature by developing new measures to test grandmother-mother cooperation and conflict, and grandmother-mother-grandchild relations in Turkish culture.

As the global population ages, cognitive decline has become a significant concern, particularly in the context of developmental changes over the lifespan. Research links cognitive changes to education, personality traits, and lifestyle (Stern, 2009; Luchetti et al., 2015; Valenzuela & Sachdev, 2005). Studies suggest that lifestyle mediates the relationship between education, personality traits, and cognitive abilities. It plays a key role in shaping cognitive reserve, which supports cognition in older age and slows decline (Sogaard & Ni, 2018; Dause & Kirby, 2019). This study aimed to evaluate a mediation model in which lifestyle mediates the relationship between education, personality traits, and cognitive abilities.

Data from the 7th and 8th waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were analyzed (Börsch-Supan, 2019, 2022). The sample included 16,205 individuals aged 65–100 from 16 European countries (43.5% men). Cognitive abilities were assessed using eight tasks covering working and episodic memory, attention, and executive functions. The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) was used to assess memory, while numeracy tasks assessed working memory, attention, and executive functions. A verbal fluency task further evaluated executive function. Lifestyle factors included leisure activities (e.g., volunteering, educational courses, reading, puzzles), computer and internet use, and alcohol consumption. Leisure participation was assessed by asking if participants engaged in listed activities over the past year, while self-evaluated computer skills, internet use, and alcohol consumption in the past week were also measured. Lifestyle was expected to positively contribute to cognitive abilities.

Structural equation modeling revealed that lifestyle partially mediated the relationship between education, personality traits, and cognitive abilities, highlighting its role in the ageing process as a psychological mechanism. These findings emphasize the importance of engaging in social, mental, and physical activities, and using modern technology to promote cognitive health and support cognitive development throughout the lifespan.

Objective. Aging is associated with cognitive changes that can negatively affect driving performance. Research indicates that older adults with cognitive impairments tend to demonstrate poorer driving abilities compared with those without such impairments (Aksan et al., 2015; Bennett et al., 2016). Previous studies about relationship between cognitive functions and driving competence have primarily relied on either objective or self-reported measures of driving competence. However, this study takes a novel approach by incorporating both for a more comprehensive assessment. The study aims to examine the relationship between older drivers’ cognitive functioning and driving competence in Lithuania.

Methods. 260 older drivers (mean age = 68,44; SD = 6,92) participated in this study. Driving competence was assessed using 8-item errors and 8-item lapses subscales from the 24–item Lithuanian version of DBQ (Parket et al., 1995; Stelmokienė et al., 2013) for self-assessment and Lithuanian Hazard Prediction Test (LHP₁₂) for objective performance. Cognitive functions were evaluated with 7.1 Lithuanian version of MoCA test.

Results. Results revealed no significant correlation between DBQ and LHP₁₂ scores, nor between cognitive functions and older drivers’ driving competence. However, group comparison showed significant difference in driving competence among drivers with different MoCA score. Surprisingly, drivers with lower MoCA scores demonstrated higher driving competence, both in self-assessment and objective tests.

Conclusion. These findings present a paradox: instead of poorer driving competence, older drivers with lower cognitive scores performed better – both in self-assessed and objective measures. One explanation is that such people overestimate their driving abilities due to impaired self-awareness. Alternatively, used objective test might not fully capture the specific aspects or driving that are most sensitive to cognitive decline. These findings highlight the complexity of assessing driving abilities in older drivers and the need for further research to better understand the underlying reasons.

Keywords: driving competence; older drivers; cognitive functions

Objective: Evidence identifies the benefits that occupations high in complexity have on cognition among older adults. As such, occupational complexity has been proposed as a proxy measure of cognitive reserve, but few studies test the potential moderating influence of occupational complexity on a measure of brain disease and cognition. The study aims to investigate if occupational complexity benefits cognition in later life, and if it moderates the relationship between white matter hyperintensities and cognition.

Method: Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and data from the MRI study of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) at wave one and wave three (N = 346 (48% Female), Mean age: 71 years (62-80)) the study tested if three different types of occupational complexity (data, people, things) have an impact on a cognitive processing speed factor, and if complexity moderates the relationship between white matter hyperintensities and processing speed.

Results: The final SEM model was a good fit (χ2,46 = 108.110, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.938, TLI = 0.916; RMSEA = 0.058 (CI90 = 0.062, 0.061), SRMR = 0.076). Occupational complexity in data was the only complexity metric that was associated with better processing speed performance (β = -0.126, p < 0.001). White matter hyperintensities were associated with poor performance on the factor (β = 0.064, p < 0.001). However, data complexity did not moderate the relationship between white matter hyperintensities and cognitive processing speed.

Conclusion: The results indicate that jobs high in data complexity demands do have an independent effect on processing speed ability in older adulthood, but it does not moderate the relationship between white matter hyperintensities and processing speed. While further investigations are recommended, occupational complexity may have limited value as a measure of cognitive reserve.

As global challenges increasingly shape the future of research, sustainability has become a key consideration in developmental science. This roundtable will bring together representatives of EADP, EARA, SRA, ISSBD and ICDSS to explore how research can be conducted responsibly, ensuring ethical, environmental, and long-term societal benefits. Discussions will examine the integration of sustainable methodologies, the responsible use of resources, and the role of interdisciplinary collaboration in fostering impactful and equitable research. Participants will also address challenges in implementing sustainable practices, including balancing scientific rigor with ecological and ethical considerations. A non-trivial example is the issue of sustainable traveling to multiple conferences, which requires coordinated efforts among scientific societies to reduce environmental impact while maintaining opportunities for scholarly exchange. By fostering an open exchange of ideas, this session aims to inspire innovative approaches that integrate sustainability into the core of developmental science, ultimately contributing to a more responsible and forward-thinking research landscape.

Average sex differences in physical aggression have been consistently observed across various species, with males being more physically aggressive than females. In humans, sex differences in physical aggression are present starting from infancy and persist across childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Thousands of non-human mammal experiments have shown that early androgen exposure exerts programming and long-lasting influences on developmental outcomes that show sex differences. The present study examined whether early postnatal testosterone and harsh parenting can predict subsequent physical aggression. The present study specifically focused on 1-3 months of age, a window known as “mini-puberty”, which is a presumed critical period for neurobehavioural sexual differentiation in human development. When infants were 1–3 months old (T1), 3 weekly saliva samples were collected from infants for testosterone measurements. Mothers also filled out a questionnaire assessing harsh parenting at T1. When infants reached 12 months of age (T2), they completed a parent-child problem-solving task designed to elicit frustration and aggression in the laboratory. Mothers also filled out a questionnaire assessing the child’s physical aggression at T2. 422 mother-child dyads (238 boys) completed data collection procedures for both time points. There were significant differences in testosterone concentrations, harsh parenting, and physical aggression between boys and girls (all higher in boys). Moreover, higher testosterone concentrations as well as higher ratings of harsh parenting were associated with more physically aggressive behaviours in boys. Interactions between testosterone and harsh parenting in predicting physical aggression were also marginally significant in boys. No significant relationships were found in girls. These results suggest that early postnatal testosterone and harsh parenting, both independently and jointly, contribute to subsequent physical aggression in boys.

Spatial perspective-taking (SPT) is categorized into Level 1 (determining whether an object is visible to another person) and Level 2 (assessing how an object can be seen from a specific location in space). Level 1 is believed to be acquired at age one (Ikeda et al., 2022), while level 2, involving mental self-rotation, takes several years to develop. However, recent research suggests that similar abilities may also arise from the immaturity of the self-other distinction (Watanabe, 2022). This study explored the potential of this type of SPT and its relationship with developmental milestones. This study included a cross-sectional design involving 61 children aged 9–14 months and a longitudinal design where 15 4-month-old infants were followed up over a period of ten months. The children were asked to play a video game involving SPT. The task involved paired-associate learning with flashing eyes and sounds presented on facial stimuli using a habituation method to trigger spontaneous perspective-taking. Eye-tracking data were collected using Tobii Pro Spectrum and its accompanying software. Fixation times for areas of interest (AOI), defined by concentric circles around the eyes within the facial stimuli, were calculated. Correct responses required longer fixations on the appropriate AOI, whereas responses were invalid if no fixation time was recorded. Additionally, two developmental milestones were assessed: the Scale of Infant Development (SID) and the Hand Dominance Questionnaire (HDQ). Results showed that in the longitudinal design, significantly more correct responses were observed at a 180-degree rotation angle, while in the cross-sectional design, the frequency of correct responses at 180°was marginally significant. Significant correlations were found between the number of correct answers in the SPT task and SID and HDQ, suggesting that SPT equivalent to level 2 in infants under one year of age may depend on the establishment of the physical self.

Hands are socially meaningful components of the human body, allowing us to perform actions and gestures, express emotions and intentions since early in life. Evidence shows that infants’ visual and haptic experience is rich with their own’s and others’ hands (Fausey et al., 2016; Aslin, 2009): during their first months of life, infants learn to interact with objects and communicate with people by using and attending to hands (Deák at al., 2014). Recently, it has been shown that infants are sensitive to the shape and structure of hands, preferring scrambled over intact images of hands (Jubran et al., 2019). However, in Jubran and colleagues' study, images of scrambled hands were created by altering the location of one more finger (e.g., pinky repositioned between thumb and index finger), thus breaking the overall gestalt. Here, we explore whether infants’ representation of hands is guided by anatomical coherence when the overall gestalt is maintained, but anatomical plausibility is disrupted (i.e., anatomically implausible but configurally recognizable hands). 22 full-term, Caucasian infants participated in the study (mean age = 6.98 months, SD = 0.58; 9 males). Infants were presented with intact and scrambled images of hands, in which all fingers were switched among one another to anatomically inconsistent positions, but still preserving the overall hand configuration. Infants’ looking times to right and left hands, presented in dorsal or palm view, were recorded using an eye-tracker within a preferential-looking task where intact and scrambled hand images were simultaneously presented. Preliminary results reveal that both hand view (palm vs. dorsal) and laterality (right vs. left hand) modulate infants’ preference for scrambled over intact hand images (p = .017). Our findings shed light on the specificity of visual information underlying infants’ sensitivity to hands, advancing our understanding of the mechanisms driving perceptual representation and social tuning towards hands.

Being ostracized -i.e., being excluded and ignored- has been shown to significantly impact psychological well-being (Wesselmann et al., 2016) and physiological activation in adults (Eres et al., 2021). This phenomenon also extends to cognitive processes, such as attentional disengagement from socially salient stimuli (i.e., faces; DeWall et al., 2009). While research has shown that ostracism influences infants' behavioral reactivity (Quadrelli et al., 2023), much remains unknown about how self-experienced ostracism affects social signal processing during infancy and its impact on physiological reactivity. This study explores whether being included or ostracized during a live triadic ball-tossing game impacts 8-month-olds’ behavioral and physiological reactivity during the game, as well as their subsequent attentional disengagement from faces. Infants first engaged in a two-minutes free play interaction with their caregiver before participating in the ball-tossing game, where they were either included or ostracized. During both tasks, we measured infants’ heart rate variability. Following the game, infants completed a disengagement task involving centrally presented neutral and scrambled faces, while their eye movements were recorded using an eye-tracking system. The current sample is composed of twenty-seven 8-month-old infants (N = 13 included and N = 14 ostracized). Preliminary results indicate that ostracized infants exhibit a reduced heart rate variability (rMSSD) as compared to included ones, suggesting increased stress levels. Behavioral reactivity data highlight a decrease in positive emotionality and an increase in active engagement (i.e., asking for the ball, catching the players’ attention). Lastly, eye-tracking data suggest that 8-month-olds are slower to disengage from central stimuli when ostracized vs. when included. Data collection and analysis are still ongoing, however, these preliminary results underline that ostracism affects infants’ physiological and behavioral reactivity but also attentional disengagement from social stimuli from very early in life.

Imitation is essential in learning new skills and facilitating a social glue from early childhood (Over, 2020). Pittet et al. (2022) showed that 2- to 5-year-olds with high ASD traits and low linguistic abilities have lower imitative ability. However, though imitation develops rapidly in the second year of life (Barr & Hayne, 2003), the factors governing imitation at that age are unclear. This study clarified the factors determining imitative ability at an early age, focusing on several types of abilities (e.g., language and motor skills) and ASD traits.

Using Japanese-speaking 14-month-olds’ data from the Hamamatsu Birth Cohort for Mothers and Children, a longitudinal cohort of children born in a specific hospital in Japan (Takagai et al., 2015), we conducted multiple regression analyses on the imitation score retrieved from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories as the dependent variables. The predictors were the scores of expressive language, receptive language, fine motor, gross motor, and visual reception from the Mullen Scales of Early Learning and ASD traits obtained from the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT). In addition, we used the children’s demographic data as covariates, such as gender, birth weight, father’s and mother’s educational background, annual income at the time of registration in the cohort, and the mothers’ frequency of alcohol consumption and smoking during pregnancy. The total number of available data was 893 (442 females) without missing values for all the above data.

The results showed that the gross motor and the ASD traits strongly related to imitation (p<.001). Moreover, the receptive language was associated with imitation (p=.028), though the expressive language was not. These present findings extend the previous research, revealing that imitative ability is related to ASD traits, gross motor, and receptive language at 14 months, which is an earlier age than reported previously (Pittet et al., 2022).

Objective of the study

Rapid changes of sleep rhythm consolidation take place during infancy and difficulties with sleep during this period become persistent for some infants. Infancy is also a period of rapid development for many neurocognitive skills, such as executive functions (EF). It is hypothesized that the changes in sleep may influence infant EF development. There is still little understanding of these associations in infancy. We examine the relations between different infant sleep profiles and EF, and sustained attention.

Methodology

Participants were 1957 infants from a large birth cohort. A latent profile analysis using Mplus was employed to identify distinct sleep profiles based on four variables (night awakenings, sleep onset latency, total sleep duration, and bedtime) derived from BISQ at 6 months. The sleep profiles were linked with infant sustained attention measured using the IBQ-R Duration of Orienting scale at 6 months. In a smaller subgroup of infants (N=347), sleep profiles were linked with infant EF performance in a modified A-not-B task and sustained attention during Lab-TAB Blocks episode at 8 months.

Results

We identified four distinct sleep profiles which were characterized as having: 1) no sleep problems (60%), 2) night awakenings (6,8%), 3) long sleep onset latency and late bedtime (20,6%), and 4) short sleep onset latency (12,6%). Same profiles were confirmed in a subsample. The outcome analyses are underway.

Conclusion

We were able to identify four clinically relevant groups of sleep in a large cohort of infants. The associations of these profiles with infant EF might shed light on whether infant sleep problems vs. normative changes in sleep have relevance for neurocognitive development in infancy.

Existing literature has explored the relationship between musical activities, rhythmic skills, and the development of executive functions in children. However, few studies have considered the role of contextual variables when assessing these activities and skills in preschoolers. The present study of Italian 4-year-old children analyses the connections between children’s rhythmic skills, their executive functions, their parents’ musical sophistication and their experience of music at home. The participants were 53 preschoolers (25 females). Each child was tested for rhythmic skills using the “Rhythmic imitation test” (Stamback, 1980), for inhibitory control using the “Stroop Day/Night” task (Usai et al., 2017), and for working memory using the “Keep in Mind” task (Usai et al., 2017). Their parents completed two questionnaires: about music sophistication (Goldsmith, Müllensiefen et al., 2014) and about home musical activities (Music@Home, Politimou et al., 2018). Spearman correlation analysis, controlling for parents’ education, showed that children’s rhythmic abilities are partially correlated with the Goldsmith’s subscale “parents’ ability to perceive musical aspects” (ρ=.374), children’s speed in the Stroop task control phase (ρ=.374) and in the test phase (ρ=.405), and children’s ability to memorize the target picture in the Keep in Mind task (ρ=.350). Furthermore, children’s working memory correlated with “parents’ active engagement” (ρ=.319), “musical training” (ρ=0.348), and “singing abilities” (ρ=0.315), as reported in the Goldsmith questionnaire. Finally, children’s inhibitory control correlated with the Goldsmith’s “parental musical training” subscale (ρ=.386). Musical activities at home were not associated with any other dimensions. These results suggest that (i) children’s rhythmic skills are associated with their executive function skills and (ii) parents’ competencies related to musical sophistication play a role in the development of the child’s executive functions.

One of the most fascinating recent discoveries in neurolinguistics is that neuronal oscillations synchronize with external signals like speech. In early child development, this is crucial for better understanding language acquisition milestones, such as the ability to segment continuous speech into smaller linguistic units. Studies on infants show that infant-directed speech amplitude modulations are particularly strong around certain frequency ranges, corresponding to stressed syllables, syllables, and phonemes. This early entrainment suggests that infants are able to neurally track speech, thus supporting early language development. Indeed, the initial literature in this field indicates a link between speech-brain-coherence and early language acquisition. This might suggest that infants with greater tracking may have an early advantage for language acquisition. However, no study has tried to systematically test this linking hypothesis.

Herein, we longitudinally assess whether individual neural tracking of speech trajectories relates to individual differences in later language skills. Two key questions are asked: (i) How does neural tracking change in early brain development (6, 9, 12 months of age)? (ii) How does neural tracking measures relate to later language growth (measured in the second year of life)? We expect that at different ages, different rates might drive tracking mechanisms. Moreover, those children with better tracking abilities across early life will show greater language growth/skills in later language measures.

We recently completed EEG data collection (N = 129) from monolingual Dutch infants while they listen to child-directed stories at three different timepoints in the first year of life (6, 9, 12 months). Additionally, we collected early CDI language development data in the second year of life (12, 18, 24 months). Speech-brain coherence data will be longitudinally compared between the three sessions and regressed against language skills in their second year of life. All collected data will be analysed in the upcoming months.

Having reciprocal friends in childhood contributes to future academic achievement and well-being, so it is worth investigating how young children form friendships with peers in their social group. One possibility is that they exhibit homophily in their social cognitive abilities; they make friends with those who have similar levels of social cognitive abilities that are important for ongoing reciprocal exchange or smooth coordination with peers.

To address this possibility, we tested whether Japanese 3- to 6-year-old preschoolers (N = 44, 31 boys) attending a single nursery school were more likely to form affiliative bonds with peers who had similar social cognitive abilities, as measured by social norm understanding and theory of mind tasks. In the social norm understanding task, the children rated the acceptability of deviant behavior concerning moral and social-conventional norms. They also completed the theory of mind task, which included false belief tasks, etc. To build a peer social network, we administered a friend-nomination task in which the children nominated those with whom they liked to play the most in their preschool.

The Exponential Random Graph Model was run to investigate children’s homophily in social cognitive abilities within their social network. The model revealed that the children had friendships with peers with a similar understanding of social-conventional norms. Since social-conventional norm enables individuals to foster cohesion and coordination with other group members, children may prefer peers with a similar level of social-conventional norm understanding to facilitate smooth interactions, leading to long-term cooperative relationships (i.e., friendships). In contrast, we did not observe homophily in the theory of mind and moral norm understanding.

Our research suggests that the presence of similar social-conventional norms plays a vital role in forming friendships in young children. This result would enhance our understanding of children's friendship dynamics.

The ability of self-regulation develops significantly during preschool age (Zelazo et al., 2018). Preschool children with good self-regulation also have good individual prerequisites for school readiness (Biermann et al., 2008) and better mental health (Fergusson et al, 2013; Moffitt et al., 2011). To date, a comprehensive assessment of self-regulation in preschool children is not yet possible due to the lack of a test battery in German-speaking countries (Ulitzka, 2022). Even though the identification of deficits in Self-regulation can enable support before school entry and thus improve educational trajectories. The aim of this study is therefore to present a review of the newly developed test battery (SelKi). The test battery contains three tasks each to measure inhibition and working memory and two tasks to measure flexibility (shifting). In a first design sample (n = 69; 34 girls; 3-6 years; M-age = 4.32 years, SD = 0.83), all tasks show acceptable to very good internal consistencies (α = .66-.96). Six of the tasks correlate with each other (r = .26*-.68**), while one task on inhibition and one task on flexibility correlate positively, but not always significantly, with the others. Performance in all tasks correlates with age (r = .32*-.61**) and no gender differences and no interactions of age and gender were found. There are no correlations with parental assessment of inhibition and working memory deficits in the BRIEF-P (Daseking & Petermann, 2013) or ADHD symptoms in the SDQ (Goodman, 1997). The preliminary results indicate that the SelKi test battery could be suitable for measuring executive functions at preschool age, but that a larger sample size is required. The collection of data is ongoing, so that a larger sample and therefore more accurate results can be expected at the time of the poster presentation.

Parents’ ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) plays a crucial role in shaping children’s attitudes toward individuals from diverse ethnic-racial backgrounds. For instance, a review of 43 studies reveals consistent associations between parents’ conscious ERS strategies with their children’s greater awareness of racial inequities and more favorable attitudes toward people from different ethnic-racial backgrounds. However, these studies focus on entrenched racism resolution in the US, with few to no studies addressing tensions surrounding current issues of migration and integration in European countries. To assess the issue of growing migration flows and an increasingly multicultural society, we examined parents’ ERS in Italy and potential associations with children’s prosocial behaviors toward peers from diverse ethnic-racial backgrounds.

The study involved 312 White Italian parents (89.7% mothers; M_age = 39.02) and their children (48.1% girls; M_age = 51.94 months; range 31–75 months). Parents completed an adapted version of the White Racial Socialization Questionnaire (Hagan et al., 2023), which evaluates three ERS strategies: conscious, discussion-hesitant, and evasive approaches. Children’s prosocial behaviors toward migrant-origin peers were assessed using both parental reports and a sticker-sharing task, in which children were asked to allocate resources to Italian native-born and migrant-origin peers. A structural equation model (SEM) was estimated to examine the associations between ERS strategies and children’s prosocial behaviors, controlling for children’s age and sex assigned at birth.

Results indicated that a conscious ERS approach was significantly positively associated with children’s prosocial behaviors toward migrant-origin peers, as assessed through both parental reports and the sticker-sharing task. By incorporating both behavioral observations and parental evaluations, this study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the links between ERS and early prosocial development. These findings contribute to the growing body of research on ERS in European contexts and may have implications for fostering inclusive social development in early childhood.

Introduction. It is well established, that prosocial behavior is related to aspects of individual cognitive development, especially theory of mind (Imuta et al., 2016). Dispite the self-evident connection between language and social interactions, the evidence supporting this hypothesis remain sparse (Bonifacci et al., 2024). The aim of this study was to investigate the associotion between language skills and prosocial behavior at 5 years of age.

Methods. Participants (n = 545, 44.2 % girls) belong to FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. At the age of 5 years, prosocial behavior was measured with parent report using Multisource Assessment of Children’s Social Competence Scale (MASCS). Two subscales of prosocial behavior were used: Cooperating Skills and Empathy. Language skills were measured with Reynell Developmental Language Scales III (RDLS-III) and Similarities of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence III during study visits. In addition, mean length of utterance was calculated from a speech sample collected in a free-play situation.

Results. According to the preliminary results, RDLS-III was related to Cooperating Skills (r(383) = .102, p = .046). In addition, Similarities was related to Cooperating Skills (r(510) = .179, p < .001). No statistically significant associations were found between MLU and Cooperating Skills or any language variable and Empathy.

Conclusions. According to the preliminary results, better language skills are associated with better parent-reported cooperating skills at the age of 5 years in a normative cohort sample. According to previous literature, prosocial behavior is related to a child’s social relationships, well-being and academic achievements. The knowledge of early associations between prosocial behavior and other individual factors is crucial information when the targets of early interventions are planned.

Background: Children's emotional regulation (ER) is a crucial component of social competence during the preschool stag. Gross motor (GM) competence has significant developmental links with emotional competence, with EF particularly highlighted as a mediating factor. However, most of the previous studies focus on pairwise or cross-sectional relationships, with limited research synthesizing the longitudinal associations among these variables. Therefore, this study examined the association between GM skill and ER in children aged 3 to 6 years, and whether this association between GM skill and ER was mediated by EF.

Methods: This study utilized a longitudinal database from the Kids in Taiwan: National Longitudinal Study of Child Development –3-old Cohort. The sample was selected from four waves of data collected when children were aged 3 to 6 years, with questionnaires completed by biological mothers. The total valid sample size was 1,175. This study investigated the regression analysis to investigate the autoregressive effects among GM skills, EF, and ER in children aged 3 to 6, as well as the predictive effects of GM skills and EF on ER. Additionally, a longitudinal mediation model analysis was conducted to examine the relationships among GM skills, ER, and EF across ages 3 to 6.

Results: Firstly, during the ages of 3 to 6, after controlling for child gender, parental education level, and monthly household income, the findings showed that GM skills, EF, and ER demonstrated significant autoregressive effects. Secondly, the findings revealed that GM skills and EF were significant predictors of ER. Finally, longitudinal mediation analysis indicated that EF mediated the effect of GM skills on ER.

Conclusions: GM skills were found to contribute to ER by enhancing children’s EF. These findings provide families and educators are encouraged to implement interventions and activities that foster both motor skills and EF to support children’s emotional development.

Executive function (EF) is a complex cognitive ability that enables individuals to formulate appropriate plans and make sound judgments across various situations. Early deficits in EF development can hinder later growth and negatively impact other domains, such as language and social-emotional development. EF development is highly influenced by environmental factors, with parenting being one of the most crucial determinants. However, existing research on the relationship between parenting and EF predominantly relies on Western parenting theories, while longitudinal studies within Chinese cultural contexts remain limited. Given that parenting practices are deeply shaped by cultural values, applying a Western theoretical framework to examine the relationship between parenting and EF within Chinese culture may not provide a comprehensive understanding and presents certain limitations. Thus, this study aims to explore the influence of Taiwanese parents' Chinese culture parenting on the developmental trajectories of children's EF. The sample was drawn from the Kids in Taiwan (KIT) database, consisting of longitudinal parent-reported data collected consistently from the same respondents when the children were aged 1 to 6 years (N=4,236; 50.4% boys, 49.6% girls). The analysis variables include parenting beliefs (discipline, teaching, achievement expectation, shame), parenting behaviors (positive response, conditional discipline), and children's EF IRT scores. Latent Growth Model (LGM) analysis was applied. The results indicated that Taiwanese children's executive function (EF) exhibited a linear growth trajectory from ages 1 to 6. Parents' Chinese cultural “teaching” beliefs and positive responsive parenting behaviors at the age of 1 were associated with higher initial EF levels. In contrast, parental conditional discipline behaviors were negatively associated with the rate of EF development. This study tracks EF development in Taiwanese children aged 1 to 6 using national data, offering generalizable findings for cross-cultural comparisons and insights for future parenting education programs.

Assessing spoken language in preschool children requires a reliable instrument, as children of this age are not able yet to assess their own language level. While there are many instruments abroad that provide reliable results for assessment by professionals or parents, there is no psychological instrument available for the Lithuanian language and for the entire preschool age group. Considering this, a scale for parents has been developed for the assessment of spoken Lithuanian language in preschool children. An analysis of the scientific literature revealed that the level of a child's spoken language should be assessed by evaluating three aspects: passive and active vocabulary, language comprehension, and expressive language skills. Thus, a questionnaire consisting of 122 words and statements was created. To test the structure and reliability of the created questionnaire, a study was conducted with 105 parents raising preschool-aged children. The reliability analysis of the questionnaire showed that the overall internal consistency of all statements was low, and thus the questionnaire is not suitable for evaluating preschool-aged children's spoken language when combining all aspects into one. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the questionnaire consists of three scales: "Passive and Active Vocabulary Checklist", "Language Comprehension Assessment", and "Expressive Language Skills Assessment". The internal consistency of the statements that make up each scale separately is high. Therefore, based on the study results, it can be concluded that the questionnaire is suitable for assessing the spoken language of preschool-aged children from the parents' perspective, if it is not considered as one-dimensional. The suitability condition is met if the child's passive and active vocabulary, language comprehension, and expressive language skills are considered as separate indicators for the assessment of preschool children's spoken language.

Deciding how much effort to invest in challenges is a key part of childhood. These decisions are shaped by children's understanding of potential rewards weighed against anticipated costs, and parents’ language can play a crucial role in guiding this process. However, little is known about how parents naturally communicate about effort and how this shapes children's strategic persistence. It is also unclear how these patterns vary across cultures, particularly in contexts where economic instability may influence cost-benefit considerations. If parents’ language around persistence helps shape children’s effort allocation, we would expect those who balance cost-relevant and reward-focused language to have children who persist more strategically. In a Zoom-based study, parents in the U.S (N = 143) and Turkey (N = 94) read a wordless picture book with their 3-to-6-year-old child (MAge=59.74 months), depicting someone repeatedly searching for treasure. Parents’ utterances were coded for positive (rewards/goals and persistence/praise) and cost-relevant effort messages. Children also completed a search game, choosing between high-reward and low-reward options. Strategic persistence was operationalized as the proportion of time spent searching in high-reward locations. Parents in the U.S. used more reward-focused (M=10.11) and persistence-related (M=1.87) utterances than parents in Turkey (M=7.78 and 1.09, respectively; ps< .01), but parents in Turkey (M=3.22) used more cost utterances than parents in U.S. (M = 2.51, p=.035). Parents in both countries used significantly more rewards/goals than cost utterances (ps<.0001). Surprisingly, cost talk was rare overall. Contrary to predictions, children’s strategic persistence was not predicted by parents’ cost utterances, positive utterances, or their interaction. These findings suggest that while parents do highlight effort-related costs and benefits, their natural language does not consistently frame effort as a cost-benefit decision. Additionally, other factors may contribute to children's ability to strategically persist, such as broader cultural values or familial experiences.

Scientific reasoning skills for school children have received significant attention as part of the core skills for 21st century outcomes set by the OECD. However, the emergence of such skills in relation to executive functions, which lay the foundation for general competency, is not well understood.

This study focuses on three components of executive functions: updating information (measured by working memory), inhibitory control (measured by the Stroop task), and attention shifting (measured by the DCCS). It examines the longitudinal relationships between these components and scientific reasoning, measured by the 10-item version of the Science-K Inventory:SK-I (Osterhaus, Lin, & Koerber, 2021). The SK-I comprises three subsets: experimentation, data interpretation, and understanding the nature of science.

The research questions are: 1) How do 6-year-old Japanese children perform on the SK-I? and 2) Do scientific reasoning skills have a predictive relationship with early executive functions?

Fifty-five Japanese children (25 girls) participated in the study. Executive functions were measured three times: at entry to preschool (Time1), and 6 months (Time2) and 18 months (Time3) later. Scientific reasoning skills were measured at the end of preschool (age 6) using the SK-I.

Of the 10 items on the SK-I, children performed better than chance level on 2 items of the experimentation subset, but not on the data interpretation or understanding the nature of science subsets. Separate logistic regressions were performed for these 2 items as outcome variables to test if earlier executive functions predict scientific reasoning skills. One regression model reached significance, with working memory at Time2 and Time3 as significant predictors. The other outcome variable was predicted by Time1 working memory and DCCS. Children’s inconsistent performance on the SK-I suggests that early scientific reasoning skills may be more dependent on the content of scientific inquiry, particularly in Japanese children.

Introduction: Temperament is a fundamental component of child development, influencing behaviour and social interactions. Prosocial behaviours (PB), defined as voluntary actions to benefit others (Batson, 1998), develops through interactions among temperament, social context, and emotion regulation processes (Eisenberg et al., 2006). This study investigates the relationship between temperamental profiles and PB in preschool children.

Method: A total of 114 parents (85.1% mothers, 12.3% fathers, 2.6% non-specified) of children aged between 32 and 71 months (M = 56 months; SD = 8.1) participated. Parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to evaluate PB, and the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire – Very Short Form (CBQ-VSF) to evaluate temperament. Statistical analyses included ANOVA and cluster analysis to identify temperamental profiles and examine their relationship with PB.

Results: Four temperamental profiles emerged: Profile A, where PB is M=6.23, has high impulsivity and low inhibitory control; Profile B (PB, M=7.36) has high emotional sensitivity and good inhibitory control; Profile C (PB, M=7.40) has high perceptual sensitivity and focused attention; Profile D (PB, M=7.81) has low levels of anger, fear, and impulsivity with strong inhibitory control. Children in Profile D showed the highest PB, likely due to better emotion regulation and lower negative emotionality (Memba & Ostrov, 2023). Additionally, a significant gender difference was observed for shyness (p < .01), with higher scores in females (M = 11.09; SD = 4.82) compared to males (M = 9.07; SD = 4.11).

Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of temperament in modulating PB. Future research will apply more advanced statistical analyses, such as Latent Profile Analysis, to further investigate these findings. Children with higher inhibitory control and lower levels of negative emotions tend to be more prosocial. These results provide insights for educational interventions that foster the development of prosocial behaviours, taking into account individual temperament.

Objective of the study

Executive functions (EFs), the cognitive dimension of self-regulation, encompass a wide range of processes essential for goal-directed behavior. EF development is crucial for academic and occupational achievement and socioemotional well-being. Difficulties in EF development can often be detected early in childhood, highlighting the importance of early identification and intervention. There are two main approaches to measuring EFs: parent-rated questionnaires on everyday behavior and performance-based laboratory tasks. However, their correlations remain debated, and there is still no consensus on whether these two approaches measure the same constructs. In this study, we examined the relationship between composite EF scores from laboratory-based tasks and parent-completed questionnaire on everyday life EF difficulties in 5-year-old children.

Methods

The children in this study were a subsample from the longitudinal FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, with a total of 545 children (M age = 5.0 years, SD = 0.1; 44.2% girls) and their parents participating. The EF task composite score was calculated by combining all z-standardized EF tasks, which included various inhibition and working memory tasks targeting different aspects of EF. With GLM we analysed the association between EF task performance and the Global Executive Composite (GEC) score from BRIEF2 (Gioia et al., 2015), controlling for significant covariates.

Preliminary results

After controlling for child sex and maternal distress (prenatal anxiety and depressive symptoms), a higher EF composite score was associated with lower GEC (β = - 0.14, p < .001) indicating lower parent-reported EF difficulties (adj. R² = .10).

Conclusions

Despite the small effect size, the significant association between lab-based EF performance and parent-reported EF difficulties suggests that both measures capture individual differences in EF development. Better EF task performance correlated with fewer everyday EF difficulties, reinforcing the complementary nature of these assessment methods.

Previous studies have shown that preschoolers with imaginary companions (ICs) tend to have better socio-cognitive abilities and social competence (e.g., Giménez-dasí et al., 2016; Taylor & Carlson, 1997). Furthermore, child–IC relationships (i.e., horizontal or vertical) are related to children’s peer relationships (Gleason et al., 2014; Lin et al., 2018). However, most studies on the relationship between children’s ICs and sociability have been conducted in Western countries. Therefore, we investigated how the existence of ICs and child–IC relationships relate to everyday social behaviors among Japanese preschoolers. We administered questionnaires to 325 parents of 4- 6 years-old children (M =69.0, SD =7.2, 155 girls and 166 boys). Parents were asked whether their children have ICs or not and the questions about their relationship with ICs. Children’s everyday behaviors were examined by SDQ. The parents of 110 children (33.8%) answered that their children had ICs. The results revealed that the existence of ICs was thought to be associated with emotional symptoms (Z = -2.27, p = .02, r = -.13). After controlling the effect of gender, the association between ICs and emotional symptoms was still significant (F (1, 317) = 5.81, p = .02). Furthermore, children with ICs displayed higher prosocial behavior compared with children without ICs (Z = -2.56, p = .01, r = -.14). However, the association between ICs and prosocial behavior was nonsignificant after controlling gender (F (1, 313) = 2.28, p = .13). The other subscales of SDQ did not differ between children with and without ICs. The child–IC relationship did not relate to any subscales of SDQ including peer problems or prosocial behavior. The relationship between ICs and emotional symptoms suggests that sensitive children tend to be anxious and might be more likely to create and use ICs as a coping mechanism.

Background:

Pediatric obesity is a significant public health concern, linked to various obesity-related diseases and psychosocial challenges. Temperament may influence obesogenic eating behaviors and contribute to childhood overweight, with its effects potentially varying by child age. Therefore, longitudinal studies are needed to better understand these associations. The aim of this study was to identify latent temperament profiles from infancy to preschool and explore their association with weight growth and eating habits in childhood.

Methods:

Study included 510 children from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. Temperament was assessed at 6 months and 1 year using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ-R), at 2 years using the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ) and at 4 and 5 years with the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). Eating habits questionnaire included items on snacking, sweets consumption, pickiness and willingness to try new foods. Weight growth data of BMI-SDS from 2 to 5 years were obtained from well-baby clinics. Latent profile analysis will be used to identify longitudinal temperament profiles. General linear models and multinominal logistic regression models were used to investigate the relationship between temperament profiles, weight and eating habits.

Results:

Temperament at 2 years was associated with eating habits, but not with BMI-SDS. Children with higher levels of surgency and effortful control were less picky (OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.34-0.58) and more willing to try new foods (1.94; 1.41-2.68). Additionally, children with higher levels of effortful control snacked less (0.65; 0.51-0.84). In contrast, children with higher levels of negative affectivity snacked more (1.89; 1.39-2.57) and were pickier (2.14; 1.61-2.84).

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest that surgency and effortful control may protect child from poorer eating habits, but temperament’s role in weight development may not appear as early as 2 years of age. The role of longitudinal temperament profiles in shaping weight development will be presented.

Selective trust is a fundamental component of social and cognitive development in early childhood, shaping how children form relationships, acquire knowledge, and navigate their social environments. This systematic review synthesizes existing empirical studies on the development of trust in preschool-aged children (3-6 years old), focusing on how trust emerges, its role in social interactions, and its impact on social-cognitive development. The development of trust during this period is closely linked to advances in the theory of mind, executive functions, language development, reflection, and children’s growing ability to interpret others' errors or misinformation more accurately (e.g., false beliefs). A comprehensive search was conducted across several databases, including PsycINFO, PubMed, ERIC, and ScienceDirect. Empirical studies published between 2010 and 2025 were identified and analyzed following the PRISMA protocol. Key findings suggest that children’s ability to assess the trustworthiness of informants is influenced by factors such as prior accuracy, intentions, and informants' social traits, including gender and language behavior. Moreover, the findings highlight that children's trust behavior is driven not only by the content of the information provided but also by the social context in which the information is delivered. Children demonstrate a willingness to revise their beliefs when confronted with unexpected testimony from reliable sources but are less likely to do so when faced with inaccurate informants. Future research should include longitudinal designs and cross-cultural comparisons to further investigate the contextual factors influencing trust development, such as parent-child attachment, peer relationships, and SES. Although existing research provides a broad perspective on the complexity of selective trust and its impact on social and cognitive development, future studies could also explore the factors that influence children's decision-making in situations where informants provide ambiguous or unclear answers.

Keywords: Selective Trust, Preschool Children, Testimony, Social-Cognitive Development

Emotional eating (EE) refers to children's eating behaviors regardless of the presence of satiety when they are emotionally aroused (Sleddens et al., 2008). EE is linked to developmental outcomes, including weight and emotional problems (Webber et al., 2009; Buja et al., 2022). EE behaviors arise from a combination of individual characteristics, such as self-regulation—the ability to manage behaviors, emotions, and thoughts—and environmental factors like parental behaviors and mealtime dynamics (Herle et al., 2017; Karoly, 1993; Steinsbekk et al., 2020). Mealtime-technoference, defined as disruptions in parent-child interactions by parental screen use, may negatively relate to mealtime dynamics and contribute to EE (Gramm et al., 2020; McDaniel & Coyne, 2016). This study aimed to investigate transactional associations among parental mealtime-technoference, self-regulation (SR), and EE during preschool years.

We collected data from 231 children aged 36–76 months at two time points, six months apart. EE was assessed using the emotional overeating subscale of the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (Wardle et al., 2001) and mealtime-technoference via the DISRUPT scale (McDaniel, 2021; Gramm et al., 2020). Researchers assessed self-regulation using the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment Tool (Smith-Donald et al., 2007; Carlson, 2005).

Cross-lagged path analysis showed technoference at Time 1 was associated with increased EE at Time 2 (β=.26), whereas EE at Time 1 was related to less technoference at Time 2 (β=.-21). These findings suggest that technoference increases children's stress and reliance on food as a coping mechanism, while EE may serve as an indirect attention-seeking behavior, encouraging parents to reduce screen use during meals. Interestingly, higher SR was related to greater EE (β = .15), possibly indicating that children with better SR use EE as a short-term strategy to manage negative emotions, despite its limited long-term effectiveness. These findings suggest that EE is related with both individual and environmental factors (Puder & Munsch, 2010).

Fantasy orientation refers to the tendency to engage in imaginative and pretend scenarios, including symbolic thinking, storytelling, and magical beliefs, and it has been linked to children’s cognitive, social, and linguistic development (Lillard et al., 2013). Specifically, it is associated with cognitive flexibility, creativity, language skills, social-emotional competence, and symbolic thinking (Lillard et al., 2013; Taylor, 1999). There are individual differences in children’s fantasy orientation, and these may be influenced by their mothers’ own engagement with imaginative thought and fantasy, as parental modeling and shared symbolic experiences can shape a child's cognitive and linguistic development. Hence, the current study aims to investigate whether children’s play-related fantasy orientation is related to their mothers’ fantasy orientation. To this end, 84 preschool-aged children (M = 5.59 years) and their mothers participated in this study. Children responded to questions about their favorite play and imaginary companions. Mothers completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, which consists of four subscales: Perspective Taking, Fantasy, Empathic Concern and Personal Distress (Davis, 1980). For the purposes of this study, we analyzed the Fantasy subscale which measures inclination to mentally place oneself in the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of fictional characters in plays, movies, and literature. Only 16 children in our sample had imaginary companions and it was not related to their or their mothers’ fantasy orientation. Girls (M = .54) had higher fantasy orientation scores compared to boys (M = .28) (t(68) = 2.16, p =.03). Furthermore, age was negatively linked to fantasy orientation (r = .31, p = .01). Finally, maternal fantasy orientation positively correlated with children's fantasy orientation (r = .37, p = .05), which may reflect shared environmental influences, such as engagement in imaginative play or storytelling, and similarities in cognitive and personality traits that contribute to fantasy-related tendencies.

Early patterns of sibling relationships often remain stable throughout childhood and adolescence, underscoring the importance of fostering high-quality sibling bonds from the start. However, little research explores the factors influencing the initial development of these relationships, particularly the child’s own characteristics. The enduring impact of China’s nearly four-decade-long one-child policy means that, despite its relaxation, having one child is still normative for a large proportion of the current families. Consequently, it is culturally challenging for young Chinese children to accept younger siblings. This study aimed to assist Chinese children and families in adapting to the transition to siblinghood.

We assessed 155 firstborn-mother dyads in China at three time points: late pregnancy of the secondborn to examine potential determinants and at 2 and 6 months into siblinghood to assess outcome variables. Child factors, including social understanding and temperament, were evaluated through mother-reported questionnaires, while language abilities were assessed using performance-based tasks. Family factors (i.e., maternal factors and other family relationships) were measured through interviews, performance-based assessments, and mother-reported questionnaires. Sibling relationship quality (i.e., positive engagement, antagonism, and jealousy) was assessed mainly through mother reports.

T3 data collection is in progress, and we conducted hierarchical regression based on existing data. Results indicate that, after controlling for firstborns’ age and gender, temperament but not social understanding was associated with sibling relationship quality: children’s anger proneness was positively linked to T2 antagonism toward infant siblings. Among family factors, only maternal mind-mindedness positively predicted T3 firstborns’ jealousy while controlling for demographic factors and T2 sibling relationship quality. This suggests that mind-minded mothers, being highly attuned to their children's thoughts and emotions, may lead children to become more aware of their concerns about the sibling. This finding is novel in the field, and more advanced statistical analyses will be conducted once data collection concludes in May.

Children's play is considered to be an important part of healthy development, influencing emotions, cognitions, social and communicational skills. As well as other areas of life, children's play has been affected by massive digitalization in recent decades. However, there exists a significant lacuna in the field of scientific research regarding the topic of traditional analog play in the context of digital gaming among preschool children.

This study aims to conduct an exploratory research into the distinctive characteristics and specificities of traditional analog children's play across three groups of children: those who engage in digital gaming for periods exceeding two hours daily; those whose digital gaming engagement is limited to less than two hours per day; and those with no digital gaming exposure. The research sample will consist of 24 children aged 4-7 years, together with their parents and teachers. Data collection will be conducted in Slovak kindergartens, using 2 standardized questionnaires: My Child's Play for parents and RALLA Play Skills Assessment for teachers. Individual observation Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment will also be applied.

Research project and preliminary data will be included in the poster.

This study examines whether preschoolers attribute mental states to dog dolls and whether such attributions vary with the dolls' realism. Although previous research has explored children’s interactions with dolls, limited studies have addressed how young children distinguish between animate and inanimate objects in this context.

In this study, thirty-eight kindergarten children (ages 5 and 6) from N City, Japan, participated. They interacted with three types of toy dogs: a cloth puppet, an automated plush toy, and a rechargeable robot dog. A verification task ensured children understood that warmth detection required physical contact. In the main task, children observed a toy dog's paw touching three heat packs, one of which was warm and answered whether the toy "knew" which was warm and whether the experimenter could guess correctly by asking the toy.

Results indicated that many children incorrectly attributed awareness to the toy dogs, as evidenced by responses suggesting the toys "knew" which heat pack was warm. Frequent comments such as "A dog can't speak" suggested that children distinguished between possessing knowledge and the ability to communicate it.Q-test analysis revealed no significant differences in correct-answer distribution across toy types, indicating that realism did not impact task difficulty.

These findings enhance our understanding of how preschoolers perceive artificial entities, shedding light on early cognitive development and its implications for the design of interactive educational tools and robotic companions.

Nowadays, children are involved with the internet from the earliest years of their lives. The
aim of the present study was to investigate the conceptual representations of young
children about the internet. The study involved 420 participants,180 children aged 5-8 years
(60 children per age group), their parents (N=180) and 60 adults who formed the
comparison group. A semi structured interview required the participants to respond verbally
and non-verbally to questions regarding their use and understanding of the internet. Most
children, of all ages, seem to be using the internet at home for almost an hour a day for at
least two years watching mainly simulation,action games and videos. In general, most of the children across all the age groups, defined the internet verbally as a medium of entertainment, while in their drawings, most of them illustrate the internet as a device. However, most of the elder age group children (6-8 years old) depicted the internet as a Wi-Fi signal and various applications, in comparison to the younger children 5–6-year-old who depicted the internet as a device. The majority of the children mentioned that the information comes online from sources of electricity (wires) and people. Lastly, 5–6-year-old children mentioned mostly entertainment as an advantage of the internet in comparison to 7–8-year-old children and adults who positively highlighted the internet as a source of information and connection with other people. Among the disadvantages, the 6–8-year-old children referred to was deception and addiction in comparison to 5–6-year-old children who mentioned physical health problems and possibility of technical damage. Adults notably referred to deception and negative psychological effects as negative aspects of the internet. The findings are discussed in relation to relevant theoretical models and previous research in the field.

Understanding dishonesty in early childhood is crucial for gaining insights into children’s moral development and identifying interventions to curtail dishonesty from an early age. This study aims to explore the root of dishonest behavior from a developmental perspective, focusing on parents’ caregiving, particularly the parent-child trust relationship and parental co-regulation, as well as child self-regulation within caregiver-child dyads.

A total of 313 German parents with children aged 3–6 years (M_age = 53.72 months, SD_age = 10.04 months, age range = 36.15 to 83.86; 53% girls) participated in an online survey. The central outcome variable was a composite measure of children’s dishonest behavior. In parallel, parent-child trust relationship was measured in three dimensions: children’s trustworthiness, parental trustworthiness in promises, and parental trustworthiness in honesty. Parents also completed a shortened version of IMMA questionnaire (IMpulse-MAnagement in the caregiver-child dyad; Pauen et al., 2019) to evaluate different aspects of child self-regulation and parental co-regulation strategies.

OLS regression analysis results showed that children’s trustworthiness and parental trustworthiness in promises have significant negative effects on children’s dishonest behavior (β = -.398 and -.398, SE β = .09 and .09, ps < .001, respectively). Increased dishonest behavior was linked to lower perceptions of children’s trustworthiness and parental trustworthiness in promises. Conversely, children’s ability to negotiate with caregivers was positively associated with increased dishonest behavior (β = .03, SE β = .01, p = .019). Parental co-regulation practices, including the use of rewards, withdrawal, negotiation with the child, and strictness, were also positively related to children’s dishonest behavior (ps < .05).

These findings highlight the complex interplay between parent-child trust relationship, child self-regulation skills, and parental regulatory strategies in influencing children’s dishonest behavior. Contrary to our expectations, some parental regulatory strategies appeared to have undesirable effects, whereas child self-regulation skills showed little impact.

Play, as the primary activity of early childhood, plays a fundamental role in various aspects of development, including cognitive, emotional, and social growth. It is also the first context in which children learn to suppress immediate impulses in an enjoyable and acceptable way. To engage in play, they must follow certain rules (Bodrova & Leong, 2015). While most research on play focuses on older preschool children (typically four or five years old), there is comparatively less research on the play of infants and toddlers (Fleer, 2009). Additionally, researchers emphasize that children's development varies, but on average, the ability to regulate actions and behavior begins to emerge around 36 months of age (McClelland, Cameron, & Dahlgren, 2018). Given that play is a critical driver of child development and learning, it is important to explore how toddlers engage in play and develop self-regulation.

This study investigates the relationship between toddlers' play and self-regulation skills. It was conducted in early childhood education institutions in Vilnius, where 19 early childhood teachers observed and assessed the play and self-regulation abilities of 70 children using The Child’s Play and Self-Regulation (CP&SR) Checklist (Bredikyte & Brandisauskiene, 2023).

The results indicate that toddlers predominantly engage in object-oriented and action-oriented play. Their self-regulation skills in play are not yet well developed; they show interest and engage in play only episodically, with frequent interruptions due to external distractions. Additionally, adult involvement plays a crucial role in facilitating their play. However, findings also suggest that toddlers who demonstrate early symbolic play tend to have stronger self-regulation abilities within play contexts.

This study examines adults’ predictions of children’s behaviour in response to four emotion-based scenarios (fear, anger, happiness, sadness), focusing on gender differences. Between-subjects experimental design was used. 172 participants (aged 21-69 years old, 124 women) read researcher-created narratives describing children’s emotional experiences in different situations and completed the stories by predicting the child’s following behaviour. The primary manipulation was the child’s gender (e.g. the stories were the same about the boy and the girl). Content analysis was used to categorize the predicted behaviours into key themes. Chi-square analyses revealed significant gender-based patterns in adults’ predictions. In anger scenarios, adults more frequently predicted that the girl would give up, while the boy would address the situation independently. For sadness, the girl was often portrayed as expressing emotions outwardly, whereas the boy was depicted as asking questions. In fear scenarios, the boy was more likely described as experiencing internalized emotions compared to the girl. Participant characteristics (e.g. gender, parental status) also influenced their predictions of children’s behaviour in emotional scenarios. These findings highlight the prevalence of gender stereotypes in everyday contexts and provide valuable insights into adults’ gendered perceptions of children’s emotion-based behaviour.

Background. Childhood maltreatment (CM) is associated with impaired emotional development (ED), a putative latent vulnerability factor for the onset of later mental health problems. Current research on the association between CM and ED is fragmented, with the effects on different domains researched in isolation. This umbrella meta-analysis integrates the available evidence and provides a holistic overview of the CM-ED relationship.

Methods. A pre-registered systematic search of existing meta-analyses with a focus on children and young people (< 18 years) was conducted. Seven meta-analyses, including a total 140 articles, were identified. An umbrella meta-analysis on the effects of CM on emotion regulation, recognition, alexithymia and callous unemotional traits was conducted using Comprehensive Meta Analysis (v4).

Results. CM had a significant negative impact on emotion regulation and accuracy of identifying non-threatening emotions from facial expressions. CM exposed children were more prone to alexithymia and callous unemotional traits.

Conclusions. CM significantly negatively impacts ED across childhood and adolescence, including poorer emotion regulation and recognition, and increased CU traits and alexithymia symptoms. This review identifies gaps in the literature among the study of CM-associated ED deficits and identified a geographic bias to Western countries. Authors discussed strategies to implement socioemotional training for at-risk children.

Children’s individual characteristics, such as temperament, play an important role in a successful transition to school. In this study we examined whether first-grade students’ temperamental characteristics (low task-orientation, negative emotionality, positive mood, and inhibition) were related to the level of and variation in daily teacher-student interaction. Altogether 153 students and their teachers participated the study where the teacher-student interaction (that is, affection, psychological control, and behavioral control teachers used with students) was measured across one school week in the Fall term one week in the Spring term of students’ first school year. Regression modelling was used to analyse the intensive diary data.

The findings indicate, in general, that temperamental characteristics that could be seen as more challenging in the classroom environment, such as low task-orientation and negative emotionality, were related to teachers’ reports of using psychological and behavioral control in their interaction with the students. However, the findings of this study showed somewhat different kinds of relations a) when examining the relations in the levels of the different interaction types and in the daily variation in using these, and b) when examining them in the Fall term and in the Spring term. This indicates that the beginning of schooling is an important phase in the formation of teacher-student interaction, and the individual characteristics of the student play a role in this development.

The findings can be utilized while aiming to increase teachers’ knowledge on different kinds of factors that may affect to their interaction with students.

Capturing students’ emotions in real-time is challenging. Emotions—especially in educational contexts—have traditionally been studied primarily through self-report measures and observations. However, these approaches have a number of limitations: self-reported instruments assess emotions retrospectively rather than in the moment, leading, for example, to potential inaccuracies in recall and susceptibility to social desirability bias. To mitigate these shortcomings of the traditional emotions research, and to better capture emotions as they actually occur during learning, there is increasing interest in using process-oriented approaches and online measures, such as physiological data (e.g. skin conductance, heart rate) and automatic analysis of facial expressions, hand gestures and postures.

This study explores the potential of facial expression data as a way to capture emotions experienced by Grade 5 students during solving math word problems on a digital learning platform. Specifically the study explores (1) the types of emotions students experience and that can be detected through facial expression analysis, (2) the relationship between facial expression data and self-reported emotional states. Fifteen students performed two digital math word problem tasks (total of 6 and 8 subtasks, respectively) at the ViLLe online platform. Students self-reported their emotions before and after each block of tasks. Video and screen recordings were captured while performing the tasks. iMotions software will be used to analyze the video data to recognize facial expressions, while the screen recordings will provide context for the emotions detected by a computer vision algorithm. By implementing multiple data sources, this study illustrates the possibilities of combining real-time emotion tracking with a more traditional approach to move forward in understanding affective aspects of math learning.

This study examined the development of moral evaluations of lying and truth telling for transgressions of peers. Japanese first graders and fifth graders in elementary school children as well as adults (university students), made moral judgments about lying or truth telling of a protagonist who saw his/her friend breaking the rule. The protagonist was asked twice (Time 1: the friend was present and Time 2: the friend was absent) by their teacher whether it was the friend who had broken the rules. In the lie context, the protagonist lied in both Time 1 and Time 2, saying it was not the friend who did it. In the truth context, the protagonist lied in Time 1 but told a truth in Time 2, saying it was the friend who did it. The result showed that in the lie context, first graders judged bad in both Time 1 and Time 2, and the degree of bad decreased with age. In the truth context, first graders judged bad in Time 1 but good in Time 2, and the degree of bad or good decreased with age. In both contexts, adults judged neither bad nor good on average in both Time 1 and Time 2. These results indicate that, nevertheless the case in which protecting peers, younger children think that lying is worse whereas adults think that lies to protect others have both good and bad aspects. Furthermore, the children’s moral judgments about lying and truth-telling change over time from an early age to adults.

Background: Gender nonconforming (GN) children are more likely to be rejected and bullied than are gender conforming (GC) children. Our previous study has revealed that, starting from around 9 years of age, children blatantly dehumanize GN peers by rating GN peers as less human-like than GC peers. This study examines whether emphasizing GN peers’ humanizing characteristics (i.e., competence, sociability, and morality) can improve children’s dehumanization of and prosociality towards GN peers as well as their acceptance of gender nonconforming behaviors.

Method: Participants included 129 Chinese children aged 9-12 years in Hong Kong. First, children read vignettes of either a hypothetical GN boy or GN girl. Then, children were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the active control group. In the intervention group, children read stories demonstrating the GN peer’s humanness traits. In the active control group, children read stories describing the GN peer’s daily routines. Blatant dehumanization was measured by children’s ratings of how human-like the GN peer was on the Insect scale and the Ascent of Man scale. Prosociality was assessed by children’s decisions to help the GN peer in the Tangram Help/Hurt Task. Acceptance of gender nonconformity was assessed by rating scales.

Results: The humanizing intervention significantly enhanced children’s perception of GN peers’ competence, sociability, and morality. Also, compared with children in the active control group, children in the intervention group rated GN boys as more human-like (p < .001) but rated GN girls as similarly human-like (p = .766). Children in the intervention group showed greater willingness to help GN peers (p = .096) and greater acceptance of gender nonconforming play behaviors (p = .037) than did those in the active control group.

Conclusion: Emphasizing GN peers’ humanness characteristics could be an effective psychoeducational strategy to reduce GN-based bullying and promote gender inclusion.

Phubbing, i.e., ignoring physically present individuals in favour of one’s smartphone, poses significant challenges to interpersonal relationships and psychological well-being, particularly in the parent-child dynamic. As digital devices increasingly permeate all aspects of life, it is crucial to understand how parental phubbing may influence the development of aggressive behaviours in adolescents, including bullying and cyberbullying. This scoping review systematically examines the association between parental phubbing and adolescent involvement in bullying and cyberbullying, with attention to both perpetration and victimization. Following the PRISMA protocol, we identified and analyzed empirical studies investigating the relationship between parental phubbing and youths’ aggressive behaviours. Our inclusion criteria encompassed research exploring key mediating factors—such as social anxiety, moral disengagement, and online disinhibition—and moderating variables related to adolescents’ characteristics and broader family contexts. Our analysis revealed a consistent link between parental phubbing and a heightened likelihood of bullying and cyberbullying involvement among adolescents. Specifically, social anxiety, moral disengagement, and online disinhibition emerged as critical mechanisms mediating the impact of parental phubbing on youth aggression. Meanwhile, supportive family environments and robust socio-emotional competencies in adolescents appear to buffer these risks, functioning as protective factors. These findings highlight the importance of targeted interventions aimed at fostering more mindful smartphone use among parents, improving parent-child communication, and reinforcing adolescents’ social and emotional skills. Such interventions may help counteract the negative influence of phubbing on adolescent aggression, thereby reducing bullying and cyberbullying rates and promoting healthier family relationships. By exposing gaps in the literature, this review provides a platform for future research to elucidate further the complex interplay between parental phubbing, adolescent development, and digital behaviour, ultimately informing educational programs and policies designed to curb these problematic trends. Further investigation in varied cultural contexts and longitudinal studies could clarify these dynamics.

Keywords: Phubbing, parental phubbing, bullying, cyberbullying, adolescent behavior

When bullying occurs in school, most students are not only aware of it, but are also present and witness bullying. In the case of witnessing bullying, a bystander may recognize bullying as wrong, and feel responsible and motivated to intervene, but they may occasionally fail to actively intervene and defend a bullied peer for any number of reasons. The purpose of this study was to investigate how moral distress, conformity and peer norms were related to bystander behaviors (defending or remaining passively aside) in bullying. In addition to examining the pathways to bystander behaviors, we also tested the hypothesis that middle school students have different pathways from those of primary school students. One thousand one hundred Japanese primary school students (mean age=10.6 years, 48.5% girls) and one thousand four hundred and fifty-five middle school students (mean age=13.6 years, 49.9% girls) participated in our questionnaire survey. T-test showed that compared with middle school students, primary school students significantly expressed more defending and remaining passively aside, higher peer norms, and less conformity. In order to examine how each variable is related to the occurrence of bystander behaviors, we converted the experience of bystander behaviors into a binary value, with “never” set to “0” and all other responses set to “1”, and conducted a binomial logistic regression analysis by using experience of bystander behaviors as the criterion variable. Results showed that bystander behaviors were positively predicted by conformity and negatively predicted by peer norms, and that indifferent outsider behavior was negatively predicted by moral distress. Moreover, the results of simple slope analysis for the significant effect of two-way interaction suggested that peer norms might regulate the effect of moral distress on defending behaviors among only primary school students. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Students who experience victimization or engage in bullying may face sleep problems, with evidence suggesting a reciprocal relationship. The present study aims to examine both cross-sectional and bidirectional longitudinal associations between victimization or bullying, and sleep problems in children and adolescents in eligible primary studies using a systematic review and meta-analysis methodology. Following PRISMA guidelines and specific eligibility criteria, a two-step screening process conducted by two reviewers resulted in 52 reviewed studies.

The results indicated a moderate cumulative effect for cross-sectional relationships between sleep problems and victimization (d = .38; 37 effect sizes) or sleep problems and bullying (d = .27; 12 effect sizes). The strongest relationship was found for a bully-victim role (d = 0.48; 5 effect sizes) indicating that experiencing bullying in both roles could be particularly challenging. Supporting the bidirectional longitudinal model, victimization both preceded (d = .43; 13 effect sizes) and followed (d = .36; 5 effect sizes) sleep problems. Similarly, bullying both preceded (d = .34; 2 effect sizes) and followed (d = .37; 3 effect sizes) sleep problems. Longitudinal research on a bully-victim role is limited. The methodological quality of studies varied, but it did not consistently moderate the links. Gender and age moderated some associations. Thus, the concurrent association between bullying and sleep problems was stronger in samples with higher proportions of female students. The longitudinal link from victimization to subsequent sleep problems was stronger in younger than older students. Finally, a small indication of publication bias was documented.

This meta-analysis provides robust evidence for bidirectional links between victimization or bullying and sleep problems and also suggests gaps in research concerning the bully-victim role. It also highlights the need to encourage anti-bullying programs to focus on disrupting this cycle.

Executive functioning (EF) undergoes protracted development during childhood and adolescence, and plays a crucial role in interpersonal relationships and academic achievement. The operationalization and measurement of EF are central to understanding these competencies; however, debates persist regarding the component structure of EF. Additionally, there is no consensus on whether EF structure remains stable over time or following a differentiation or re-organization process. This study aims to examine the component structure of EF and its developmental stability using a multiple-cohort, longitudinal design. A total of 858 students from grade 5 (M_age = 10.72, SD = 0.39, 167 boys, 120 girls), grade 7 (M_age = 12.74, SD = 0.42, 180 boys, 124 girls), and grade 9 (M_age = 14.71, SD = 0.47, 126 boys, 141 girls) participated in five waves of assessment over a three-year period. Eight behavioral tasks were used to assess inhibition (Flanker, Stroop), switching (DCCS, Picture-Symbol, WCST), and updating (Backward Digit Span, Ranking, Visuospatial Memory), respectively. Confirmatory factor analyses and longitudinal factor analyses revealed that a two-factor model differentiated into a three-factor model at late children (around age 11.22), indicating a separation between switching and inhibition; for middle adolescence (around age 15.71) a three-factor model de-differentiated into a two-factor model, with switching and inhibition being combined into one factor. These results demonstrated developmental variation in EF component structure from two-factor model, to three-factor model, and then two-factor models from middle childhood to late adolescence, highlighting the processes of differentiation and de-differentiation in EF development.

Learning English as a second language (L2) at school is vital for long-term well-being and communication in a globalized world. However, most L2 research focuses on college students, leaving the study of early language learners largely unexplored, although L2 teaching is being anticipated at increasingly earlier ages. This study examines factors that might support L2 acquisition in primary school, focusing on the influences of academic emotions (joy, fear, and boredom) and the perceived conflict and warmth in teacher-child relationship.

Third-grade Italian children (N=147; 46% females) completed the Achievement Emotion Questionnaire – Elementary School (Pekrun et al., 2011) and Young Children's Appraisals of Teacher Support (Mantzicopoulos & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2003) as well as standardized batteries assessing English achievements (Palladino et al. 2018) and primary mental abilities (Thurstone &Thurstone, 1981).

Moderation analyses with SPSS PROCESS macro showed that controlling for cognitive abilities (b=.19, p<.001), children’s experience of joy during English lessons and tasks was positively associated with English performance (b=.81, p=.005), while fear and boredom were not (b=-.23 and b=-.65, p=ns). Conflict with the English teacher was significant moderator (b=-.40, p=.015): in the presence of high levels of conflict, joy was no longer significant, while it explained an additional amount of variance in the presence of low and average levels (b=1.35, p=.001) or moderate (b=.81, p=.005). No moderating effect of warmth was found (p>.05).

Results suggest that joy is associated with better English performance, possibly due to its enhancement of motivation, engagement, and cognitive processes (Ashby, 2006; Pekrun, 2004). Besides, the more intense the conflict with the teacher, the less joy exerts a positive effect on learning, confirming the relevance of considering the quality of the affective teacher relationship in learning processes (Sabol & Pianta, 2012).

Findings highlight the importance of addressing conflict to maintain a learning environment where joy can enhance performance.

Susceptibility to peer influence in adolescence is often associated with maladaptive behaviors, including truancy, substance misuse, conduct problems. However, it is also an adaptive consequence of the structural changes that characterize adolescence and facilitate psychosocial adaptation (Laursen & Veenstra, 2021). Conforming to the behaviors and attitudes of valued peers can be fundamentally beneficial, as it may provide a favorable sense of self (Brechwald & Prinstein, 2011). Some consider susceptibility as a trait-like attribute responsible for consistent individual differences (Belsky & Pluess, 2009), others argue that it is product of interpersonal circumstances that increase vulnerabilities to conform (Laursen & Faur, 2022). On the other hand, not everyone is equally likely to be influenced.

This study aims to investigate how susceptibility to peer influence is related and may be predicted from individual characteristics of adolescents, including rejection sensitivity, identity, emotional reactivity, and loneliness.

The study was conducted in a regional town in Lithuania. The sample consisted of students from six high schools, with a total of 746 students (grades 5–8). Participants were aged 10–14 years (M = 12.33, SD = 1.17). The sample was diverse in terms of family and socio-economic backgrounds but homogeneous in terms of ethnic background.

The following measures were used: Resistance to Peer Influence Scale (Steinberg & Monahan, 2007), Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (Crocetti et al., 2008), Loneliness Scale (Parker & Asher, 1993), Children’s Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (Downey et al., 1998), Emotional Reactivity Scale (Nock et al., 2008).

Preliminary regression analysis showed that significant associations were found between susceptibility to peer influence and all examined variables, but susceptibility could be predicted by loneliness, emotional reactivity, and identity. Our model explains 35 percent of the data variability. The longitudinal interplay between the study variables will be analyzed using three waves of data across one academic year.

Autonomy pursuit is salient during adolescence. Autonomy can be conceptualized either as functional agency or detachment. The former reflects the volition to pursue goals and can promote adaptive adjustment, whereas the latter signifies alienation and may compromise psychosocial functioning (Van Petegem et al., 2013). Adolescents might engage in information management (IM), which includes voluntary disclosure and intentional concealment, as a means to achieve autonomy (Tilton-Weaver & Marshall, 2008). However, whether IM facilitates specific forms of autonomy lacks clear support. Prior research found a positive link between youth self-concealment and emotional autonomy (Finkenauer et al., 2002). Nevertheless, the autonomy assessment has faced criticism for blending different constructs (Ryan & Lynch, 1989), and the cross-sectional design could not determine the effect directionality. Other studies emphasizing adolescents’ intrinsic motivations underlying IM suggest that autonomy perceptions might precede changes in disclosure and concealment (Tilton-Weaver, 2014). Aiming to address the ambiguity in effect valences and directions, this study examined the longitudinal associations between adolescents’ IM behaviors and (mal)adaptive forms of autonomy. Specifically, 208 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 15.00; 43.30% male) completed 21 daily reports on disclosure, concealment, functional agency, and detachment from their mothers. Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling showed that disclosure was positively linked with functional agency at the between-person level, whereas concealment was positively correlated with detachment. Within-person associations indicate that when youth perceived greater functional agency than usual, they disclosed more to their mothers the next day. Conversely, when adolescents experienced greater detachment from mothers than usual, they concealed more the following day. However, no lagged effects existed from earlier IM to either form of autonomy. These findings highlight different forms of autonomy as a potential focus for practitioners to promote adolescents’ healthy IM, indicating that disclosure may reflect a healthy sense of agency, while concealment could signify problematic relational distance from parents.

Adolescence is an important period of development, as adolescents explore who they are and want to be, while at the same time negotiating autonomy and relatedness within their social and cultural contexts. In this study, we examine the roles autonomy and relatedness play in the lives of N = 16 culturally diverse adolescents. Semi-structured interviews with adolescents of non-immigrant descent (n = 5), of second-generation immigrant descent (n = 5), and first-generation immigrants with experiences of flight (n = 6) were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: 1) Family and friends are most important in life, 2) Autonomy is a developmental privilege you can earn, 3) Too much autonomy is bad for you – humans need rules, and 4) I am not in control over my own future, school is. The findings highlight relatedness as most important for adolescents from all backgrounds. The importance and negotiation of autonomy varied across the groups of adolescents, however all adolescents accepted the necessity of rules for personal and societal well-being. Findings further highlight the importance of dismantling classist and assimilationist structures embedded in the German school system to enhance the autonomy, well-being and success of adolescents with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Intercultural sensitivity is a key component of intercultural communication competence, as it fosters openness and adaptability to cultural differences (Hammer, Bennett, & Wiseman, 2003). Recently, the investigation of factors that could enhance intercultural sensitivity has gaining attention, given its impact on inclusive attitudes among adolescents in an increasingly multi-ethnic society. One of these factors is social support, defined as the perceived support from family, friends, and significant others. Previous studies have linked social support to emotional well-being and social adaptability (Wright & Silbereisen, 2015). Yet its direct effect on intercultural sensitivity remains unexplored. Moreover, little is known about the potential mediating role of individual factors, such as reflective thinking (i.e., the ability to analyze experiences, reconsider cognitive and behavioural patterns, and suspend judgment; Facione, 2010). This study examines the effect of social support on intercultural sensitivity in adolescents and the mediating role of reflective thinking on a preliminary sample of N = 50 adolescents (74% female, M_age = 16.5, SD = 1.55, range: 13–18 years) from Italian secondary schools who self-reported on variables of interest.
Preliminary mediation analysis revealed that social support did not directly predict intercultural sensitivity (B = -.08, p = .16) but fully through the indirect effect of reflective thinking (B = .08, 95% CI [.014, .19]), with social support impacting on reflective thinking (B = .24, p < .001) that in turn has a significant effect on intercultural sensitivity (B = .31, p = 0.03).
Findings suggest that promoting supportive social relationships among adolescents can enhance deep reflection on experiences and behaviors, fostering greater openness to diversity. As the data collection is still ongoing aiming at reach around 1500 observations, by the time of the conference, findings will rely on a larger sample size. Implications for research and practice will be discussed.

Objective:
This study examined the structure of the Japanese concept Kanyo in adolescent friendships. While Western psychology traditionally treats tolerance and forgiveness as distinct constructs, in the Japanese context, these elements are often integrated under Kanyo, with adolescents showing little distinction between the two (Hattori, 2024). Hattori identified three responses to interpersonal discomfort: recognition of individuality (tolerance), letting go of negative emotions (forgiveness), and willingness to maintain or rebuild the relationship (forgiveness). Given this overlap, the present study aimed to conceptualize Kanyo as a construct integrating aspects of tolerance and forgiveness. Two central components—recognition of individuality and letting go of negative emotions—were selected as focal dimensions. A new scale was developed and examined for its reliability and validity.

Method:
Items were adapted from existing tolerance and forgiveness scales. Experts reviewed the content validity, and a scenario-based approach was employed to reflect Kanyo’s context-dependent nature. Data were collected from 327 Japanese university students (mean age = 20.0).

Results:
After excluding one item with low communality and two with floor effects, exploratory factor analysis (principal factor method with Promax rotation) identified three factors: (1) Letting Go of Negative Emotions, (2) Acceptance through Recognition of Individuality, and (3) Rumination and Resolution of Discomfort. All factors demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s α > .77). Construct validity was partially supported. "Letting Go of Negative Emotions" was weakly negatively correlated with TRIM subscales (r = −.25 to −.18). "Rumination and Resolution of Discomfort" showed moderate positive correlations (r = .28 to .42), while "Acceptance through Recognition of Individuality" was weakly positively correlated with interpersonal trust (r = .15) but not with loneliness.

Conclusion:

This study advances understanding by conceptualizing Kanyo as a three-factor construct integrating both forgiveness and tolerance. Future studies should investigate the cross-cultural applicability and validity of the scale.

Ethnically minoritized adolescents face the developmental task of balancing multiple ethnic-cultural identities. Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) addresses this process by examining how ethnic-cultural identities are affectively experienced and cognitively combined. Findings suggest that among adolescents in Germany, BII is multifaced comprising different combinations of the two affective (Harmony and Conflict) and two cognitive (Blendedness and Compartmentalization) dimensions. According to identity theories, it can be expected that BII combinations are associated with particular levels of national and host culture identifications, because only certain combinations represent a coherent sense of self and a balanced identity development. This study investigated longitudinal BII trajectory subgroups using Latent Class Growth Analysis (LCGA). We hypothesized subgroup differences in ethnic-heritage identification, national identification, and their discrepancy.

The sample comprised 226 ethnic minoritized students from Germany (Mage= 12.9, SD= 1.19; 51.1% female) (T1:2019, T2:2021). LCGA identified five BII subgroups (“High Integrated”, “BII Exploration”, “Conflict Resolution”, “Compartmentalized BI”, “Insignificant BI”). Two one-way MANOVAs were conducted to identify differences in ethnic-heritage and national identification at T1 and at T2 across BII subgroup memberships. At T1, significant differences were found for national identification (F(4, 188) = 3.50, p = .009, η² = .07) and identity discrepancy (F(4, 188) = 2.24, p = .066, η² = .05), but not for ethnic identification. At T2, differences were significant for ethnic identification (F(4, 155) = 3.75, p = .006, η² = .09) and identity discrepancy (F(4, 155) = 2.35, p = .057, η² = .06), but not for national identification. Pairwise comparisons revealed pronounced differences between “High Integrated,” “Compartmentalized BI,” and “Insignificant BI” subgroups, whereas the “BII Exploration” and “Conflict Resolution” subgroups showed moderate levels of cultural identification.

Results indicate that addressing various aspects of ethnic-cultural identity in combination can contribute to a comprehensive understanding of cultural identity processes in ethnically minoritized youth.

Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) provides a valuable framework for studying academic procrastination, as it emphasizes both positive and negative dimensions of motivational beliefs. Procrastination is an avoidance behavior, and EVT acknowledges that while positive task values can encourage engagement, negative factors such as perceived costs may contribute to avoidance. This suggests that task values may differentially relate to approach- and avoidance-oriented learning behaviors, including procrastination. This study examines how both positive (expectancies and values) and negative (costs) motivational beliefs relate to procrastination in math learning.

The sample consisted of 1487 ninth-graders (55.9 % girls; mean age = 14.88) from 24 schools. Students completed self-report measures of academic procrastination and motivational beliefs, including expectancies for success, interest, utility and attainment value, as well as effort, opportunity, ego and emotional cost.

A three-step multiple hierarchical regression analysis was conducted where procrastination in math learning was a dependent variable. Gender and prior math achievement were entered as control variables at step one. Expectancy and task values were entered at step two. Perceived costs were entered at step three. Each step yielded significant change in R², with final model explaining 24.7 % of the variation of procrastination. Gender, prior achievement, interest value, attainment value, effort cost and emotional cost proved to be significant predictors in the final regression model. The strongest predictor of procrastination was emotional cost, while effort cost predicted procrastination to a lesser extent. The dimensions of positive task value – interest and attainment – also predicted academic procrastination. Our results differ from Jiang et al. (2018), who found that only cost, but not value, predicts academic procrastination. This difference may be explained by the inclusion of specific value and cost dimensions in our predictive models and highlights the need for further refinement of the constructs of value and cost.

It has been noted that some Japanese adolescents are aware of their wanting to rebel but do not or cannot rebel. However, rebellion in adolescence is often defined as a time when a rebellious attitude is manifested, focusing only on the behavioral aspect, and the consciousness of awareness to rebel is not situated well.Therefore, this study examined adolescent rebellion in terms of the gap between awareness and behavior.

This study was conducted from August to December 2024. 79 Japanese junior college, undergraduate, and graduate students participated. The survey was administered using a questionnaire and analyzed using the lifeline method.

As a result, for the significance of the gap between defiance and defiant behavior in adolescents, the results indicate that there are several patterns depending on the size of the gap in the intensity of awareness and behavior of rebellion and the timing of when the gap is observed. The patterns suggest that, in cases of rebellious behavior in adolescence, even if the causes of anger and frustration have not changed, multiple short-term stressors, including social conditions, and the intensity and nature of the adolescent's rebellious behavior may change. In some cases, the adolescent's behavior may seem excessive to him or her. In addition, even in cases where rebellious behavior was not seen very often in adolescence, there were cases in which the adolescents themselves had an unexplainably high level of rebellious awareness. It was suggested that the adolescents may have had experiences in their early years, such as in elementary school, when they were unable to make their own arguments, and that the feeling of not being able to defend themselves or the negative perception of themselves in conflict may be related to their not expressing rebellious behavior during their adolescence.

Adolescents’ career decisions can have an immense impact on the entire family, particularly if they grow up in business family, where succeeding in the family firm is an inevitable career option. For this reason, a family system perspective is required to understand business families dealing with adolescents’ succession intentions. Following a family system perspective, we firstly studied parent-adolescent-congruence (or -divergence) in offspring’s cognitive (likelihood) and affective (passion) succession intentions. We, secondly, tested whether parent-adolescent-divergence in cognitive and affective intentions are associated with lower levels of family communication.

The sample comprised 142 parent-adolescent dyads in family firms. Offspring and parents were interviewed separately in their homes (average interview duration M_adol.=85 min, SD=18.45, M_parent=45 min, SD=20.48). Adolescents’ age was 16.93 years (SD=1.81) with 76% of them being school students of different secondary school tracks.

The correlative agreement of parent and adolescent succession intentions was substantial, albeit somewhat lower for affective intentions (r_cognitive=.70, p<.05; r_affective=.57, p<.05). Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed, however, significantly mean level differences with lower cognitive intentions among parents (F=4.07, 147df, p<.05) and lower affective intentions among adolescents (F=15.4, 147df, p<.05). Linear regression analyses with interaction terms (controlled for age, gender, sibling number) revealed lower levels of family communication in parent-adolescent-dyads that diverged in the cognitive intention or agreed that the adolescent will not take over the firm. If parents and adolescents agreed in the cognitive intention on adolescents’ succession, more communication was found. No significant interactions were found for affective intentions.

Analyses revealed the role of parental expectations in adolescents’ career development and in family communication – particularly in families where the family firm can be assumed to be a major part in both adolescents’ and parents’ life. The study also highlights the need to investigate more thoroughly the mutual insights in parents’ and children’s career perspectives.

The role of digital skills in youth’s online experiences and mental well-being has been a relatively new research area in Educational Psychology. This study analysed the complex relationship among four types of digital skills, exposure to four types of online risks (cyberhate, harmful content, sexting(receiving) and sexual content), self-efficacy and life satisfaction using secondary data collected from 6 European countries by the ySKILLS longitudinal project. The study is cross-sectional and the data from the latest wave (2023) were analysed (n = 6253, Mean age = 16.3, girls= 49.43%, boys = 46.84%, NA = 3.72%). Four path analyses were conducted for each type of online risk using the Lavaan package in R. All four models include direct relationships among all the variables, the mediating effect of self-efficacy between digital skills and online risks and the mediating effect of online risks between self-efficacy and life satisfaction.

Youth’s higher information navigation and processing skills reduced their exposure to online risks. Conversely, higher technical and operational skills and content creation and production skills increased exposure to online risks. Moreover, path models suggest that higher information navigation and processing skills, along with communication and interaction skills, slightly reduce the exposure to online risks such as cyber hate, harmful content, and sexual content through the mediation effect of self-efficacy. Higher levels of self-efficacy predicted lower exposure to online risks except for sexting (receiving). As anticipated, self-efficacy positively predicted life satisfaction in all four models. However, when the relationship was mediated by online risks, it weakened the relationship between self-efficacy and life satisfaction, reducing its strength to a very weak one. These findings confirm the complex relationship between youths' digital skills, online risks and mental well-being, suggesting the need for deeper analyses of these constructs.

Friendships play an important role in shaping adolescents' social and emotional development. Adolescents actively seekconnections with peers who share similar ideas, experiences, and perspectives which fosters a sense of belonging andmutual understanding. These relationships provide a secureenvironment for adolescents to explore their identities, expresstheir emotions, and build self-esteem. In addition, friendshipsplay a protective role by offering emotional support duringdifficult times such as academic pressures, family conflicts, orpersonal problems. Research shows that positive peer relationspromote social behaviors such as empathy, sharing, andeffective communication as well as the development of interpersonal skills such as conflict resolution andcooperation. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the adolescents’ peer relations in Turkey. Specifically, weexamined the activities they engage in, the topics they discuss, the time and locations in which they interact, and the funtionof cliques and crowds present in schools. A total of 273 high school students (57% girls) participated in this study and they were asked open-ended questions. The qualitative analysis isstill ongoing. Preliminary findings revealed that adolescents spend time with their peers by playing computer games (27%), playing football (16%), and visiting malls or shopping (%14). The primary topics in adolescents’ daily conversations include school (%20), classes and exams (%12), football (%10), and future plans (%9). Regarding crowds in schools, adolescents frequently mentioned jocks, the ‘brains’, and the choir and theater groups. Additionally, some specific crowds wereobserved only in local schools. These results highlight theimportance of peers in adolescents' daily lives. Furthermore, the influence of peers often shapes adolescents' behavior, interests, and self-esteem, underscoring the need for positivepeer relationships.

Keywords: friendship, adolescents, peers, peer relations

Recent research underscores the critical role of prosocial functioning in fostering social inclusion and well-being during adolescence. Social exclusion has severe consequences, undermining both community engagement and mental health. While existing research highlights associations between prosocial functioning and social inclusion, there is a lack of causal evidence, particularly regarding how specific facets like self-regulation and sympathy contribute to these outcomes in real-world settings.

This study adopts an ecological-causal perspective to investigate how self-regulation and sympathy—key components of prosocial functioning—enhance inclusion and well-being. A total of 240 adolescents (≥14 years old) from upper secondary schools were recruited for a two-phase data collection process: a baseline questionnaire and a daily diary phase. Using a Within-Person Encouragement Design (WPED), participants received randomized daily encouragement, serving as an instrumental variable to assess causal effects on prosocial behavior. They were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions (prosocial responding, self-regulation, or social inclusion) and monitored over three weeks via a smartphone application. On 50% of the days (11 out of 21), they received encouragement messages and completed daily questionnaires assessing self-efficacy, sympathy, and social inclusion.

Ongoing data collection includes 15 high-school classes in Tuscany. Analyses will employ a Dynamic Structural Equation Model (DSEM) to examine associations between prosocial behavior, social inclusion, and well-being. We hypothesize that increased self-regulation and sympathy will enhance social inclusion and well-being over time. Findings will inform interventions aimed at fostering inclusion and well-being among socially marginalized adolescents.

Parental attitudes, characterised by emotional warmth and supportive parenting behaviours, play a crucial role in the development of empathy and altruism in adolescents and emerging adults (Fuentes et al., 2022). In contrast, negative parenting patterns have been linked to increased aggressive behaviour in adolescents (Maccoby & Martin, 1983; Ma et al., 2020). This raises an important question: To what extent does an individual's level of empathy moderate these relationships? The present study aimed to examine the relationship between retrospective evaluations of parental attitudes and behaviours, and levels of altruism and aggression, in individuals with different empathy profiles. A cross-sectional method was used, involving a sample of 548 adolescents and emerging adults aged 15–25 years. Several standardised instruments were used to assess empathy and altruism (Interpersonal Reactivity Index and Social Empathy Questionnaire), aggression (Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire), and maternal and paternal behaviours (Retrospective Questionnaire of Parental Attitudes and Perceived Parental Reaction to Adolescent Distress). In the first step, latent profile analysis was conducted to identify distinct empathy profiles based on the three dimensions: perspective taking, empathic concern, and personal distress. Four empathy profiles were identified. Moderation analysis was performed to investigate whether these empathy profiles moderated the associations between retrospective parental attitudes/behaviours and participants’ altruism and aggression. The results revealed a significant moderating effect of empathy in the relationship between positive maternal attitudes and altruism. In terms of aggression, empathy profiles moderated the relationship between negative parental attitudes and behaviours (both maternal and paternal) and various forms of aggressive behaviour. These findings highlight the role of empathy in shaping the association between parental attitudes and behavioural outcomes in adolescence and emerging adulthood. Practical implications are discussed.

Establishing a romantic relationship has long been considered an essential developmental task of emerging adulthood. However, this assumption is being questioned as emerging adults take longer to achieve adult roles. This study aims to explore the quality of romantic relationships and their change throughout the early years of emerging adulthood. In this paper, we present longitudinal data from 446 emerging adults (153 men, 293 women, 3 persons with other gender identities). Among other measures, participants completed the Affection, Reliable Alliance, and Antagonism subscales of Network Relationship Inventory (Furman y Buhrmester, 1985) at Wave 1 (2020, Mean age= 20.91) and Wave 2 (2024, Mean age= 24.09). Of the total sample, 46.5% (W1) and 57.8% (W2) reported being in a romantic relationship. A K-means clustering analysis of these scores revealed three distinct groups: The first cluster (25% of the sample), characterized by low scores in Affection and Reliable Alliance and low scores in Antagonism, showed a significant increase in Reliable Alliance from W1 to W2. A second group (63.3% of the sample) had the highest scores in Affection and Reliable Alliance and the lowest scores in Antagonism, although Reliable Alliance decreased from W1 to W2. The third cluster (11.4% of the sample) exhibited high scores in both Affection and Reliable Alliance as well as in Antagonism. While the significant change over time was a decrease in Reliable Alliance, we also observed a decrease in Affection and an increase in Antagonism. The distribution of men and women was similar across all three clusters, and there was no wave*sex interaction in any of the variables. Finally, belonging to one of these three clusters was associated with Flourishing and Psychological Distress highlighting the growing importance of romantic relationships in the lives of emerging adults.

Empirical evidence suggests that empathic self-efficacy, “which refers to individuals’ perceived capability to experience emotions from another’s perspective, to respond emotionally and compassionately to others’ distress and misfortune, and to be sensitive to how one’s actions affect others’ feelings” (Bandura et al., 2003, p. 774), contributes to increasing prosocial behaviors (Alessandri et al., 2009; Caprara et al., 2010). However, the relation between empathic self-efficacy and prosocial behavior has been limitedly explored in intensive longitudinal studies with an ecological perspective.

This study aimed to understand the predictive role of empathic self-efficacy on daily prosocial behavior at intraindividual (i.e., within) and interindividual levels (i.e., between). The sample was composed of 254 Italian young adults (18-35 years; M_age = 25.4; SD = 3.4; 56.3% females) who completed baseline and daily questionnaires for 21 days.

A multilevel regression analysis was performed. The results indicated that empathic self-efficacy positively predicts prosocial behavior at the between (β = .34; p =.006) and within levels (β = .12; p < .001;). Specifically, young adults who, on average, reported more empathic self-efficacy also reported more prosocial behaviors over 21 days (interindividual differences). Moreover, the results showed that reporting more empathic self-efficacy than usual on a specific day positively predicted higher-than-expected peaks in prosocial behaviors on the same day (intraindividual changes).

This implies that higher perceived empathic self-efficacy is associated with greater prosocial tendency in general (i.e., between level) and in daily fluctuations of prosocial behaviors (i.e., within level). This finding highlights the importance of fostering perceived empathic self-efficacy through psychological and educational interventions to promote prosociality in this important life phase.

Background:

Emerging adulthood is characterized by diverse opportunities to pursue life goals, many with profound long-term implications. Individual personality traits play a major role in these processes, functioning as both protective and risk factors, this raises the question of their role in the process of individual goal-pursuit, especially for changeability and resistance against emotional influences.

Method:

People aged 18 to 29 (n=179;M=23.66(SD=2.67)) were surveyed using an online questionnaire.

The currently most important development-goals were surveyed with open questions.

Self-constructed items on the general experience of the goal-pursuit-process and on specific goal-related action tendencies were collected and analyzed thematically separately, in each case factor-analytically. In addition, the personality dimensions (Big-5) were recorded using the BFI-10.

(I) Developmental goals were categorized into seven domains (κ=.98,p<.001) and ranked according to frequency of mention.

(II) The self-constructed items were subjected to two exploratory factor analyses (EFA;Rotation:Varimax).

(III) Finally, correlations between the five personality dimensions and the resulting factors were carried out on domain-specific basis.

Results:

(I) Goals related to the domains of work/education (n= 99,55.3%) and personal-growth (n=35,19.6%) were mentioned most frequently.

(II) One factor results from the first EFA: (1) emotional experience of the goal-pursuit-process (EEZ)(variance:58.68%,α=.76,rtt=.55-=.57,4 items). Two factors resulted from the second EFA (variance:72.23%):(1)Changeability in the goal-pursuit-process (WZ) (α=.68,rtt=.40-=.55),(2)Resistance to emotional influences in the goal-pursuit-process (REEZ) (α=.81,rtt=.68).

(III) In both domains considered (personal-growth,work/education), significant positive correlations between neuroticism and REEZ(work/education:r=.56,p<.001;personal-growth:r=.34,p=.045) were found. There were significant negative correlations between neuroticism and REEZ in both domains(work/education:r=-.24,p=.015;personal-growth:r=-.62,p<.001). In the work/education domain, there are also correlations between conscientiousness and WZ(r=-.31,p=.002), conscientiousness and REEZ r=.38,p<.001). Additionally, correlations between extraversion and REEZ(r=.34,p=.044), openness and changeability(r=-.37,p=.028) were found in the personal-growth domain.

Discussion:

Given the instability of emerging adulthood, high neuroticism poses significant risks to successful development, highlighting the need for tailored developmental support based on personality dispositions.

Individuals regulate emotions in daily life through two primary approaches. These are intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation. To our knowledge, there is no measurement tool in Türkiye that simultaneously evaluates both an individual's ability to regulate their own emotions (intrapersonal emotion regulation) and their ability to regulate others' emotions (interpersonal emotion regulation). In this context, the study aimed to adapt the Emotion Regulation for Self and Others Scale (EROS) into Turkish and evaluate its psychometric properties to fill this gap in the literature. The study sample consisted of 418 adult participants (M_age=21.42; SD_age=4.26). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess construct validity. The relationships between EROS and perceived stress, perceived social support, difficulties in emotion regulation, and other emotion regulation scales were investigated for criterion-related validity. In order to assess reliability, internal consistency coefficients were calculated and subsequently, test-retest analyses were repeated on 71 participants (M_age=21.69; SD_age=4.62). The results of CFA showed that the model fit the data well and verified the four-factor structure as in the original form: “extrinsic affect-improving”, “extrinsic affect-worsening”, “intrinsic affect-improving”, and “intrinsic affect-worsening”. As expected, these factors were found to be associated with perceived stress, perceived social support, difficulties in emotion regulation, other emotion regulation scales. Furthermore, the Turkish adaptation of the EROS satisfied the conditions of reliability. The internal consistency coefficients for the factors were between .71 and .83, and test-retest correlation coefficients were also found to be strong. Results indicated that the Turkish adaptation of Emotion Regulation of Others and Self (EROS) Scale is a valid and reliable measure for adult population in Türkiye. Our scale adaptation study contribute to future research on Turkish sample aiming to measure intrinsic and extrinsic emotion regulation strategies and examine the related factors in adulthood.

Keywords: emotion regulation, intrapersonal emotion regulation, interpersonal emotion regulation, adulthood

The Philippines has gradually undergone digital transformation over the past years. However, not everyone may be ready for this, including older Filipinos. If they are not able to cope society’s digital transformation, then it is possible for them to have fewer opportunities to experience ginhawa or the sense of capability to overcome challenges while aging. After all, information communication technologies (ICTs) may help address older adults’ unmet needs for financial security, healthcare services, age-friendly environments, and familial support and may contribute to the experience of ginhawa. Using Selective Optimization with Compensation as a theoretical framework, this review explored the different ways ICTs may be used by older Filipinos to achieve their selected goals, optimize opportunities to achieve these goals, and to compensate for loss of resources. Despite the potential of ICTs to help older Filipinos address their needs, it would still be important to consider possible barriers when using ICTs, effective ways to assist and empower older Filipinos to use ICTs, and supportive policies and interventions related to ageing.

Background

Digital technologies hold development-promoting potential (e.g. autonomous living), but digital skills must first be available in order to develop this potential. Acquiring these skills can be particularly challenging for people in old age, partly due to a historical deficit in learning opportunities. Younger family members often take on a supporting role here. The resulting - at best reciprocal - intergenerational teaching-learning dyad is associated with challenges, but also potential, for both sides.

In this study, the learning situation is characterized from both perspectives (younger/older family members) and analysed on the basis of the following questions:

Which focal points of support can be identified, which family members are involved in the processes and which opportunities and challenges arise within the identified focal points of support.

Method

The two samples will each consist of n=150 people aged 14-64 (younger people) and >=65 (older people). Thirteen technology categories (e.g. e-health, communication) will be used to determine where support was provided/received. For each category, the frequency, the family members involved and the type of support (e.g. learning vs. “troubleshooting”) are surveyed. In addition, a specific situation is surveyed in more detail and perceived difficulties (e.g. stereotypical ideas) and opportunities (e.g. feeling of safety) are recorded.

On the basis of descriptive-statistical analyses, an overview of the technology categories in question is provided, support priorities are examined in more detail with regard to selected elements of the specific study situations and finally compared between the samples.

Results

The survey is currently being carried out and the first results are expected in March.

Discussion

The investigation of support priorities in the context of familial, intergenerational teaching-learning dyads is intended to contribute to drawing a true-to-life picture of digital competence acquisition processes and to discuss possibilities for considering the identified risks and opportunities in counseling contexts.

The increasing presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in everyday life raises important questions about its impact on pupils’ well-being. This study aims to examine the association between the use of AI technologies, AI literacy, and the well-being of pupils in Croatia. This study is a part of research activity within the Croatian Academic and Research Network-CARNET project “Application of AI-based digital technologies in education-BrAIn”. Using a mixed-methods approach, we collected data from a representative sample of elementary and high school students through focus groups and an online questionnaire. The questions for focus groups and the online questionnaire were developed for the project BrAIn. The findings highlight variations in AI literacy levels and frequency of AI use across age groups and their potential effects on well-being, including both benefits and risks such as misinformation and privacy concerns. The findings highlight the need for structured AI education and policies as well as balanced and informed use of AI to ensure that pupils can safely and effectively engage with AI while mitigating potential risks. This research provides valuable insights for educators and policymakers in developing strategies to enhance AI literacy while safeguarding pupils' well-being.

The increase in social media usage comes along with many benefits as well as some problems including compulsive internet use which is defined as one’s indulgency for online activities with excessive internet usage. One of the main factors shaping children’s and adolescents’ compulsive internet use is their cognitive skills. Research shows that higher levels of executive function skills may provide higher control toward addiction. On the other hand, higher executive function may also require higher stimulus, thus it may lead to addiction. This question remains in the dark, and the conflict continues.

This study aims to examine whether children’s and adolescents’ compulsive internet use depends on their executive function skills. A total of 5041 children and adolescents aged between 8-18, from 185 schools in 61 provinces of Türkiye were included in the study. Executive function skills were measured with Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS) and children completed Compulsive Internet Use Scale. Children and adolescents were separated into three groups (low, moderate, high) based on their EF skills with median analysis to compare their compulsive internet use according to their executive function score. Results indicated that only children with moderate levels of EF showed the lowest levels of compulsive internet use. The results were also examined based on age and gender.

This research is important in terms of helping to define the main question regarding the relationship between compulsive internet use and cognitive skills of children and adolescents. According to the results, children and adolescents with both high and low levels of EF may be a risk group for CIU. The findings are discussed within the scope of the limitations and contributions of the study based on previous research.

Parasocial relationships, unreciprocated connections with media figures, have gained significance with the rise of digital technologies and social media. Adolescence is a developmental stage where parasocial relationships happen often and it is important to understand adolescents’ motives for parasocial relationships. Also, the figures with whom adolescents establish parasocial relationships may be a significant factor in their self-development. While it may support them in developing adaptive coping strategies, it may also negatively affect their well-being with an increased tendency towards social comparison. Thus, understanding adolescents' parasocial relationships is important for enhancing mental health services tailored to their needs.

The present study aims to investigate adolescents' experiences regarding parasocial relationships, their causes, and consequences. Purposive sampling was used to select adolescents (13–18) who reported admiration for and parasocial relationships with media figures. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using a 14-question protocol, developed by the researchers, reviewed by experts, and refined through a pilot study to ensure validity. The study group consists of 5 adolescents. Interview recordings were transcribed and systematically coded. Codes were then grouped into categories, from which broader themes were generated through thematic analysis. Interviews revealed categories such as the onset age (approximately 10) and duration of parasocial relationships, reasons for admiration (e.g., talent, success), the perception of social support, the development of positive behaviors through modeling admired figures, and the similarity of parasocial relationships to real-life relationships in terms of closeness, while participants remained aware of their one-sided nature. Interviews are ongoing as the data has not yet reached saturation. The findings will be discussed holistically considering the needs leading to a parasocial relationship and the negative and positive aspects of experiencing this type of relationship.

This presentation is supported by TÜBİTAK 2224-A Grant Program for participation in scientific meetings abroad.

The development of emotion regulation (ER) in early childhood is essential for later life functioning, making it critical to enhance ER skills beginning in preschool. Outdoor environments offer opportunities to enhance ER, but these associations have not been extensively studied in preschool-aged children.

Our study examines whether increased outdoor time improves ER and its development in young children. We hypothesize that more time spent outdoors will correlate with higher levels of ER and a more positive development of ER over time.

We conducted three measurements during one school year with 92 children (age: 44.9±6.7 months; 56.5% girls). Observed-ER was assessed by observations in a semi-standardized individual play situation, and reported-ER was assessed by questionnaires completed by teachers. Outdoor time was measured by parents questionnaires and categorized by educational setting (N=25: outdoor preschool; N=17: half time outdoor; N=50: indoor only). The hypothesis will be tested using Multilevel Growth Models for developmental analysis.

These benefits of outdoor learning and the growing need in improving ER, may encourage educational systems, parents and educators to allow children with more opportunities for outdoor time already in early preschool.

Introduction. Research shows that essential oils (EOs) - aromatic substances of plant origin - influence human emotions, cognitive function and behavior. Odors can be perceived as pleasant, neutral or unpleasant. Olfactory stimuli can trigger memories. Memories triggered by smells are experienced more emotionally than those triggered by verbal, visual or tactile stimuli. Magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown that unpleasant smells evoke more negative emotions and trigger deeper memories. Inhaling 'nostalgic' smells stimulates positive emotions and autobiographical memories. The perception of an EA scent as pleasant or unpleasant may be influenced by a person's emotional state at the time of exposure, the duration and environment of the exposure and cultural factors. Olfactotherapy – integration of psychology and aromatherapy. The aim of the study - to assess the effect of the chosen EA on the heart rate variability (HRV) of the organism and to determine at what developmental stage and with what valence the memories are evoked.

Methodology. The participants were 5 psychologists (1 male, 4 female) selected by convenience sampling. The effects of Benzoin (Styrax benzoin) EA were investigated. Subjects inhaled EA from a paper strip for 2 minutes. The LifePulse Pro functional diagnostics equipment measured the HRV before and shortly after EA administration. Subjective reaction to the smell (pleasant/neutral/unpleasant), the approximate age of evoked autobiographical memories and the change in HRV recorded.

Results. 4 participants rated the smell of EA as pleasant and 1 as unpleasant. Those who rated the smell positively experienced an increase of HRV after EA exposure. For those who rated the smell as negative it decreased. For 3 participants EA triggered childhood memories.

Conclusions. 1. Participants' reactions to EA were individual. 2. Those who liked the smell of EA showed an increase of HRV. 3. EA evoked childhood memories in some participants.

Parentification means reversing roles between a child and parent(s). It is a complex, immersed-in-culture and intergenerational process that can be based on family loyalties, and its transmission across family generations is well described in case studies from psychotherapeutic practice. However, little research estimates the strength of the relation based on the level of parentification experienced by the parent and the level of parentification experienced by the adolescent.

There were 170 family triads consisting of adolescents aged 12-16 and their parents/caregivers. The adolescents were aged 12-16 (M=13.35; SD=.85); among them, 52.9% (N=90) were girls, and 47.1 % (N=80) were boys. Parentification was measured with the Polish adaptations of the Parentification Inventory by Hooper (2009) – the retrospective version for adults (Borchet et al., 2022) and the parallel, current version for adolescents (Borchet et al., 2023). In both versions, the scale produces three orthogonal parentification dimensions. The study aimed to investigate the intergenerational transmission of parentification from parents to adolescents.

Neither relationship between maternal nor fraternal childhood parentification and adolescent current parentification was statistically significant. Further analyses investigated family-structure-related moderating variables. Summing up, the mechanism of intergenerational transmission of parentification seems to be indirect; thus, it suppresses the need to contextualize studies on parentification.

Non-directive play therapy is based on the idea that children have the capability and natural tendency to develop mature, necessary behavior in order to solve their problems, including inner conflicts. Such an orientation necessitates an accepting, respectful, and permissive therapeutic relationship with appropriate limits between the psychotherapist and the child. Also, the discourse of the parents toward the child has a strong impact to mediate both child’s position within the play, and therapeutic relationship. Although parents may consciously want the best for their children, their discourse about the therapeutic relationship or their children's problems may indicate an unconscious tendency to perpetuate their children's problems. The aim of this study is to demonstrate this proposition through a first session analysis of 7-year-old girl and her mother. As this single session demonstrates, the mother's discourse conveys messages that the child continuously needs psychological help, ultimately leading the child to refuse to play and resulting in dropout after this very first session. Lacan states that the child’s symptom functions in relation to what is symptomatic within the family. The position of the mother, therefore, can be considered as a resistance to the therapeutic process. By analyzing the session in depth -including the therapist’s own resistance- this study aims to highlight the possible resistance components within the discourse of the parents, that should also be addressed in the child’s psychotherapy process. Finally, recommendations will be provided, especially for novel play therapists, on balancing the child’s needs with parental resistance.

The term “castration complex” was first introduced by Freud as part of his broader theory of psychosexual development, particularly during the phallic stage which takes place between the ages of 3 to 6. Freud argued that the castration complex refers to the fear of losing one's penis, which is often symbolically linked to the threat of punishment for inappropriate sexual desires, particularly in relation to the Oedipus complex. On the other hand, Lacan later expanded this concept and stated that it was not just about the fear of losing the penis but symbolized a deeper relationship of a subject to the symbolic order. Symbolic castration occurs when the child enters the symbolic order which is the realm of language, law, and social structures. In this process, the name of the father is introduced as a third party into the dyadic relationship between the mother and the child, establishing a boundary that enables the seperation between the mother and the child. This allows the child to enter the symbolic order, and to become a desiring subject. However, this process also contains an element of threat and fear in itself and evokes anxiety for the child. In line with this, aggressive or frightening elements were observed during nondirective play therapy with a five year old girl. For instance, wild animals trying to eat the offsprings, or the cars crashing and causing accidents, or trying to crush the young animals, can be given as examples of threatening elements in play sessions. Furthermore, these were also evident in drawings that involves phallic associations, such as sharp protrusions like wings, teeth, tails, and claws, or images with harsh and definitive lines. This study focuses on how traces of castration complex show itself during nondirective play therapy sessions and to discuss them from a psychoanalytic perspective.

Millions of children across the world are affected by war and displacement. As well as having experienced traumatic war-related events, many refugee children end up living in adverse conditions with little access to basic resources. It is well established that children exposed to war and displacement are at increased risk for the development of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and behavioural problems. I will first introduce the Biological Pathways of Risk and Resilience in Syrian Refugee Children study (BIOPATH), which we conducted over the last 10 years in order to investigate the complex interplay between psychosocial and biological factors in the development of risk and resilience among a large sample of vulnerable Syrian refugee children (N = 1,600) living in informal refugee settlements in Lebanon. Then, I will report key findings from the BIOPATH study, including the prevalence and predictors of mental health problems, predictors of resilience, the development of resilience over time, the relationship between war exposure, hair cortisol levels and epigenetic factors (i.e., DNA methylation), as well as the role of the trait of environmental sensitivity for refugee children’s mental health.

The coming-out process is a critical milestone in LGBTQ+ identity development, involving internal self-recognition of one’s sexual orientation or gender identity and external disclosure to others. Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to infer others’ mental states, may influence this process by enhancing self-awareness and facilitating navigation of the social complexities surrounding identity disclosure. This study investigates ToM’s role in predicting earlier self-recognition and a smaller temporal gap between inner realization and external coming out, alongside the impact of concealment, internalized sexual stigma (ISS), self-esteem, and bullying.

A total of 148 LGBTQ+ adolescents aged 13–19 years (M=16.1, SD=1.19) participated in an online survey. The sample included 137 participants assigned female and 11 assigned male at birth, with 13 identifying as transgender, 23 as nonbinary, and 112 as cisgender. Regarding sexual orientation, 28 identified as gay or lesbian, 34 as bisexual, 26 as queer, and 25 as pansexual. Participants completed validated measures of ToM, self-esteem, ISS, concealment, and bullying, along with assessments of key coming-out milestones. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine ToM’s predictive value while controlling for these psychosocial variables.

Results showed that higher ToM abilities were significantly associated with a shorter temporal gap between inner and external coming out and earlier external disclosures, but ToM did not predict earlier self-recognition. Concealment was strongly correlated with ISS and self-esteem but unrelated to ToM. Anticipated negative reactions from schoolmates predicted longer durations of concealment, while bullying negatively impacted self-esteem and was linked to delayed coming out.

These findings suggest that ToM plays a critical role in facilitating external coming out by enabling LGBTQ+ youth to anticipate and navigate the complexities of disclosure. However, self-recognition processes may rely more on introspective and emotional mechanisms. Addressing stigma, reducing bullying, and fostering supportive peer environments may encourage earlier and more positive coming-out experiences.

Introduction: Social safety is a fundamental human need essential for personal development and meaningful social relationships. While most individuals assume that society is safe for them unless proven otherwise, LGBTQ+ individuals often face direct and indirect stigma, which can compromise their sense of social safety. As a result, they may become hypervigilant to social safety cues and perceive others as unsafe until proven otherwise. This heightened vigilance can affect their emotional and cognitive functioning, shaping their behaviour in social interactions and making social safety a central concern in their lives. Therefore, the aim of this study is to better understand LGBTQ+ individuals' perceptions of social (in)security in Lithuania and to explore the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural reactions associated with it.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using a maximum variation sampling technique to capture a wide range of experiences. To date, seven semi-structured interviews have been conducted with LGBTQ+ adults (aged 21-30) living in Lithuania, with data collection still ongoing to achieve saturation. Reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) was employed to analyse and interpret the data.

Preliminary Results: Complete findings will be presented at the conference; however, preliminary analyses suggest the emergence of the following themes: a constant sense of threat (sub-themes: the need to remain invisible, a persistent state of hypervigilance) and the experience of social safety as the absence of hypervigilance (sub-themes: a feeling of recognition, the creation of a safe bubble, and a desire to be seen as „one of you“). These themes may evolve as data collection and analysis continue.

Conclusions: The findings of this study support the notion that social safety is a central theme in the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals, shaping their interactions and behavioural choices. Additionally, the results highlight the intensity of cognitive and physiological responses to potential social threats.

Developmental research has established that experiencing normative life events off-time from peers is associated with increased challenges. One of these normative events is the transition to active partnered sexuality, which happens in late adolescence or early adulthood for most youth. Research has shown that adult virgins experience both self-stigma and social stigma. However, we know little regarding the relational and dyadic stigma one may experience following their virginity disclosure. Methods. An online questionnaire has been completed by 1891 adults (M_age = 27.27 ± 7.88 y.o.; 55% women; 52% heterosexual; 36% religious). Participants were asked: “You are single, and you meet a single person whose personality and physical appearance appeal to you. This person informs you that they are a virgin. What are your immediate thoughts?”. Results. Thematic analyses revealed that most participants’ reactions were found to be ambivalent (34.6%; “A little bit of hesitance”) or positive (33.6%; “Relieved because I’m also a virgin. I feel that they would be less judgmental”), followed by neutral answers (26.4%; “I don’t really care), and rarely, negative thoughts (5.4%; “I'm kind of turned off”). Chi-square analyses found that (1) sexually experienced participants (92.2%) reported significantly more neutral and ambivalent reactions than sexually inexperienced participants (7.8%; χ² = 13.173, p = 0.004); (2) permanent singles (26.5%) reported significantly more positive reactions and fewer ambivalent reactions than previously partnered singles (24.1%, χ² = 58.267, p = < 0.001). Discussion. The higher occurrence of ambivalent and positive reactions, coupled with the low occurrence of negative reactions, seem to be indicative of a shift in perceptions on adulthood virginity, parallel to its rise. The increase of decelerated sexorelational developmental trajectories, as well as the developmental implications of these findings, will be discussed.

Background: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) reportedly have more diverse gender identities than typically developing individuals. “Gender dysphoria (GD),” marked by a persistent incongruence between one’s assigned sex at birth and one’s gender identity, is associated with autistic traits (de Vries et al., 2010). Those with both ASD and GD—often called “double minorities”—experience social adaptation difficulties and negative mental health outcomes (Strang et al., 2023). “Camouflaging,” or masking autistic traits, has gained attention as a factor contributing to such difficulties in ASD. This behavior also appears in non-binary ASD individuals, a subset of GD, and may affect mental health (Hull et al., 2020). However, research on camouflaging and mental health in ASD+GD remains limited. Therefore, this study examined camouflaging behavior and mental health in adults with comorbid ASD and GD.

Method: Participants were adults (18+) diagnosed with GD, ASD, or both. Autistic traits were measured with the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), gender dysphoria with the Utrecht Gender Dysphoria Scale–Gender Spectrum (UGDS-DS), camouflaging with the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q), and mental health with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). A one-way ANOVA compared scores among three groups: GD only (n = 170), ASD only (n = 278), and ASD+GD (n = 27).

Results: Compared to GD-only and ASD-only groups, the ASD+GD group showed higher autistic traits (F(2, 472) = 30.51, p < .001) and higher mental health symptom scores (F(2, 472) = 9.27, p < .001). Moreover, compared to the ASD-only group, the ASD+GD group scored significantly higher on gender dysphoria (F(2, 472) = 599.65, p < .001) and camouflaging (F(2, 472) = 4.64, p < .001). These findings suggest that double-minority individuals exhibit stronger autistic traits, greater gender dysphoria, more pronounced mental health difficulties, and increased camouflaging behaviors.

The study of how individuals with autism experience and interpret their gender and sexuality is a rapidly expanding field that provides insight into how identities are formed in neurodiverse groups. A systematic literature review of recent studies, encompassing publications of 2020 to 2025, demonstrates higher prevalence of gender diversity and non-heteronormative identities among individuals with autism compared to the neurotypical population. Individuals with autism are more likely to identify as nonbinary, gender-fluid, or transgender, and they frequently feel not limited by traditional gender norms. They also tend to think of gender identity as an intrinsic, cognitive experience rather than a merely social one, with some using terminology like “autigender” to describe the distinct influence of autism on their gender identification. In addition, increased rates of gender dysphoria and social disconnection have been reported, with several individuals expressing sensory related discomfort rather than traditional dysphoria. Autistic individuals are also more likely to identify as asexual, bisexual, or sexually fluid. Masking and social camouflage further complicate gender identity development, especially for individuals with autism assigned female at birth. Despite these common findings, research offers different theories for why autism and gender/sexual variation frequently co-occur. The aim of the present study is to investigate how individuals with autism navigate and construct their gender identities within contemporary social frameworks. Instead of pathologizing these experiences, contemporary viewpoints frame them within a neurodiversity-affirming way that acknowledges autism as a distinct lens through which gender and sexuality are perceived and expressed. By systematically analyzing recent research on autism, gender and sexuality, the study seeks to identify recurring and divergent themes and perspectives that contribute to the understanding of gender diversity within the autism population. Furthermore, this review examines how autistic individuals conceptualize gender identity, how societal norms and expectations influence their self-perception, and the role of neurodiversity in shaping identity.

Individuals who have been exposed to war and displacement are often exposed to pre-migration traumatic events and post-migration stress, experiences that can severely disrupt psychosocial functioning (Melamed et al., 2024). When these adversities occur during developmentally sensitive windows they can have long-lasting consequences on youth’s functioning (de Moor et al., 2019) such as lowered trust perception, disrupted identity development, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. While these challenges could be a direct result of exposure to these major life events, they could also be indirectly shaped by a compromised parenting environment in which youth grow up.

To this end, the present symposium combines several studies on different aspects of refugee youth’s psychosocial functioning. First, using a validated trust task, Michalek et al. examine age-related changes in trust perception among Syrian refugee children and its links to mental health. Second, using a survey design, Wahid et al. investigate the relation of trauma and post-migration stress with self-concept clarity in Ukrainian refugee youth. Third, using experience sampling methods, Eltanamly et al. call attention to momentary manifestations of trauma as a potential mechanism explaining the relation of post-migration stress with parental cognitions and behaviors in Syrian refugee parents.

Overall, using diverse methods and highlighting different antecedents of psychosocial functioning, this symposium aims to contribute to a better understanding of the immediate context of children and adolescents with a refugee background.

Proponents

Simona De Stasio, Benedetta Ragni

Department of Human Studies

LUMSA University, Rome, Italy

Parenting is a pivotal factor in children’s development, with risk and protective elements shaping outcomes across emotional, behavioral, and cognitive domains. This symposium brings together a series of studies examining the interplay of important family systems factors in diverse family contexts, highlighting their role in fostering or hindering children’s developmental trajectories.

Specifically, Dr. Sirotkin and colleagues will present a study that explores infants’ emotion regulation during triadic family interactions using a new coding system, MITER (Measuring Infant Triangular Emotion Regulation) (Sirotkin et al., 2019), hypothesizing that children’s triadic emotion regulation strategies would positively relate to coparenting quality and negatively to children’s negative emotionality and parental depression, that coparenting quality and infant emotion regulation would be bidirectionally linked, per family systems theory, and that infants’ triadic emotion regulation would buffer the effect of parental postpartum depression on children’s negative emotionality.

Dr. Carmen Berenguer will present an RCT study in which she implemented and tested the efficacy of an innovative internet-delivered psychosocial program aimed at reducing parenting stress and coping strategies in families with 7-11-year-old children diagnosed with autism.

Finally, Dr. Ragni and colleagues will present a cross-sectional study conducted with Italian parents of children aged 3-6 years, with the main aim of investigating the mediating role of mindful parenting in the relationship between parental technoference, defined as interruptions in parent-child interactions caused by parental technology use (McDaniel & Coyne, 2016) and two critical child development outcomes: children’s emotional regulation and behavioral difficulties.

Together, these studies provide a comprehensive understanding of how parenting processes interact with environmental, social, and individual variables to shape children’s developmental pathways. The symposium aims to foster dialogue on the design of effective, culturally sensitive interventions that enhance protective mechanisms while addressing contextual risks.

Ethnic-racial discrimination is prevalent in today’s superdiverse societies (e.g., European Commission, 2023). In adolescence, frequent experiences of discrimination were associated with less favorable psychosocial adjustment, such as lower academic success, heightened psychological distress, increased substance use, and greater engagement in risk-taking behaviors (e.g., Benner et al., 2018; Civitillo et al., 2024). Despite extensive evidence of its adverse effects, further systematic research needs to explore how individual, contextual, and developmental factors shape its impact. This symposium brings together studies with children and youth to advance knowledge on the antecedents and consequences of ethnic-racial discrimination.

First, in their multi-study research conducted with children in The Netherlands, Sierksma and Poorthuis explore the helping behavior of Dutch White children and address whether children provide less empowering help to peers with marginalized ethnic backgrounds. Next, Karataş et al. examine how ethnic identity affirmation and the development of a coherent sense of overall self are longitudinally associated with peer ethnic discrimination among ethnic minority youth in Italy. Afterward, using a co-sibling control design, Del Toro et al. disentangle the moderating role of a sibling’s ethnic-racial identity exploration and commitment in the longitudinal associations between ethnic-racial discrimination and mental health among youth in the U.S. Finally, Civitillo et al. present meta-analytic findings from intensive longitudinal studies examining the between-person and within-person associations between ethnic-racial discrimination and mental health.

Overall, this symposium combines studies employing distinct yet complementary methodological approaches to enhance our understanding of the individual (identity), contextual (family, peer socializations), and temporal (short-time scale assessments) factors linked to ethnic-racial discrimination across diverse cultural contexts and age groups.

Gaming has become increasingly intertwined with the daily lives of adolescents, and international data indicate that most adolescents play online games on a regular basis. Yet, adolescents’ gaming behavior and experiences are a critically understudied topic within research on adolescents’ digital media use, which hinders clear conclusions on its development, predictors, and consequences. This symposium presents novel insights from three European countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden) on adolescent gaming. Exploring both individual and parental contexts, it focuses on aspects of parent-adolescent relationship quality, parenting behavior, adolescent gaming motives, and adolescent mental health. The first preregistered study examined adolescent gaming in an individual context using a sample of 1,438 young adolescents from the Netherlands (Grade 7 and Grade 8). It investigated the unique association between gaming intensity and adolescent mental health while controlling for problematic gaming behaviors and whether adolescents’ motives for gaming and gender moderate this association. The second multi-informant study examined adolescent gaming in the parental context using a sample of 859 parent-adolescent dyads from a national sample from Sweden. It investigated potential gender differences in discrepancies between parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of gaming frequency and gaming-related conflicts, as well as their links with adolescent mental health. The third study employed a longitudinal design to examine the parental context using a sample of 495 adolescents from Belgium (M_age = 13.85 years, 57.1% girls). It investigated potential reciprocal, longitudinal associations between problematic gaming behaviors, parental restrictive mediation, and parental communication styles. A discussant will integrate findings from these three European studies, offering broader developmental insights and implications for adolescent mental health.

Children growing up in divided societies, such as Israel, develop intergroup perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors that are deeply shaped by their sociopolitical context. This presentation integrates findings from three studies to explore how children perceive social group differences, form attitudes, and engage in prosocial behaviors toward outgroups, with a focus on the theoretical contributions to social identity development and intergroup relations.

The first study examined predictors of outgroup prosocial behavior among Jewish and Arab-Muslim children. Findings revealed that ingroup preference and negative outgroup attitudes mediated prosocial resource distribution across group lines. These results emphasize the developmental role of social identity processes in shaping prosocial behaviors in intergroup contexts.

The second study focused on how Jewish and Arab-Muslim children perceive differences between their groups. Thematic analysis identified cultural and religious distinctions as central to their understanding of social categories, advancing the theoretical understanding of how nuanced group categorizations influence intergroup attitudes during middle childhood.

The third study explored Arab-Christian children’s perceptions of dissimilarity and their influence on attitudes and behaviors toward Arab-Muslim and Jewish outgroups. Perceived similarity between groups was a key predictor of positive attitudes and resource allocation, with the Jewish outgroup evaluated less favorably than the Arab-Muslim outgroup. This highlights the importance of group similarity in fostering intergroup pro-sociality.

These studies provide a multidimensional perspective on the developmental and contextual factors that shape children’s intergroup perceptions and behaviors in divided societies. By emphasizing the interplay between social identity development and pro-sociality, the findings offer theoretical insights with practical implications for interventions aimed at reducing prejudice and fostering coexistence in multicultural and conflict-prone contexts.

Introduction: Gender inequalities in involvement with family life and in certain career domains (STEM, HEED) are a global phenomenon, even visible in countries with high levels of gender equality, such as the Netherlands. Parents and peers play a crucial role in children’s acquisition of gender-typical social norms and adherence to these norms. This study examined the pressure children feel to conform to gender norms (from parents, peers, and themselves) in relation to boys’ and girls’ gender-typical perspectives on future careers and family life. Children’s gender/sex and gender identity typicality were examined as moderators.

Method: 319 Dutch 8- to 12-year-old children (44.5% boys) completed self-report measures. Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) in SPSS were used to take into account dependency between siblings.

Results: Both Dutch boys and girls tend to prioritize family over career, with girls more so than boys. Both boys and girls exhibit gender typicality in their career aspirations—boys prefer more masculine careers (e.g., football coach), while girls prefer more feminine careers (e.g., primary school teacher). Less pressure from oneself to conform to same-gender behavior was consistently related to less gender-typical career aspirations. The association between less pressure from oneself to avoid other-gender behavior and less gender-typical expectations regarding family versus career involvement was only observed among children who scored high on gender identity typicality. In contrast, among children with high gender identity typicality, less pressure from parents to conform to same-gender behavior was linked to more gender-typical career aspirations.

Implications: Parents and youth professionals can encourage a diverse range of behaviors in children, particularly those with a more gender-typical identity. This may help mitigate pressure to conform to gender norms, allowing children to realize greater career potential and explore more diverse future work-family choices.

In a cross-cultural research project, drawing on Social Identity Development Theory (Nesdale, 2004), we investigate preschoolers’ attitudes towards real and minimal groups, and their willingness to behave prosocially towards members of their own and another group. Moreover, we aim to understand how cultural differences and distinct levels of intergroup conflict shape early intergroup attitudes and prosociality. For that, we compare three countries with different social and political contexts, namely Germany, Israel, and Turkey.

The first study examines German and Israeli preschoolers’ (N = 128, Age: M = 5 years, 7 months) attitudes towards social groups and their willingness to sacrifice playtime. Preschool children indicated their attitudes towards German and Turkish and Jewish and Arab children, respectively. Next, children could forego some of their playtime to help another child from the ingroup or outgroup in a clean-up task.

In a second study, we employ minimal groups to examine fundamental differences in intergroup bias among preschoolers from Germany, Israel, and Turkey (planned N = 156, age 4 years, 10 months to 6 years, 6 months). Children indicated their attitudes towards minimal ingroup and outgroup members. In an adapted clean-up task, children could forego some playtime to help another child from the ingroup or outgroup. Finally, children could donate stickers to an ingroup and outgroup child in a resource sharing task.

For study 1, paired t-tests indicated that children preferred ingroup over outgroup members on two attitude measures, t(127) = 8.342 and t(127) = 4.639, p < .001. Differences in attitudes between countries were non-significant, Hotelling’s T²(4, 123) = 0.824, p = .512. Children did not show a bias in their actual behavior and displayed equal helping towards ingroup and outgroup members, Hotelling’s T²(2) = 0.548, p = .579. Data collection for the second study is ongoing. Preliminary findings will be presented.

A prosocial classroom climate is crucial to promote children’s wellbeing, school safety, socio-emotional wellbeing, and educational outcomes. Although it is widely acknowledged that enhancing a prosocial classroom climate is important, few evidence-based interventions exist. Hence, the current study examines the effectiveness of a school-based program promoting a prosocial classroom climate in upper primary schools, stimulated by increasing basic psychological needs and intrinsic (prosocial) motivation. The Dutch Meaningful Roles program builds on the basic psychological needs of the Self-Determination Theory, which states that learning and development are optimized when children perceive that their environment fulfills their need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. With a cluster randomized controlled trial, we investigated whether the program was effective in increasing 1) a prosocial classroom climate, 2) intrinsic (prosocial) motivation, 3) basic psychological needs, 4) school wellbeing, 5) positive teacher attitudes, 6) civic skills, and decreasing 7) bullying and victimization. The study consisted of three assessment points, before (T1), mid (T2), and postintervention (T3). In total 42 schools participated, randomized into the experimental group (N = 20 schools, N = 1199 children) and the control group (N = 22 schools, N = 1138 children). The total sample consisted of children between 6 and 12 years (M_age = 9.6, SD = 1.20, boys 48.6%). Regression analyses for the full sample showed no significant program effects. We performed additional analyses to examine the impact of treatment integrity, by using children’s self-report data. For this subsample with ideal treatment integrity, significant program effects were observed for prosocial classroom climate, intrinsic motivation, autonomy, relatedness, and school wellbeing at T2, and competence and positive teacher attitudes at T3. These findings indicate that a classroom-based approach addressing basic psychological needs can be beneficial to promote a prosocial classroom climate. However, it is crucial that the program is implemented as intended.

This study aimed to examine the effects of an emotion regulation program with family involvement that was implemented with Turkish preschool students on children's problem behaviors and parental self-efficacy. An emotion regulation program was developed for 4-6 year-old children by utilizing a literature review conducted on the topic and expert opinions on the draft program. The draft program was implemented with 30 students and their parents from an independent kindergarten in a pilot study. As a result of the pilot study, an 8-week emotion regulation program with family involvement was implemented with 76 students and their parents from two school-based kindergartens in the main study. The main study was designed with a quasi-experimental research method including three experimental groups as two emotion regulation program groups with and without family involvement and a control group. In both the pre- and post-test phases, children’s problem behaviors were rated by their teachers using the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS-2) and self-reported parental self-efficacy using the Berkeley Parenting Self-Efficacy Scale-Revised (BPSE-R). Data analyses showed that there were statistically significant differences in PKBS-2 post-test scores among the three experimental groups and in PKBS-2 pre- and post-test difference scores among the two experimental groups. There were no significant differences in BPSE-R scores. Results show that the emotion regulation program can be helpful in decreasing children’s problem behaviors. On the other hand, the family involvement component of the program and its influence on parental self-efficacy should be reconsidered. Theoretical concepts and methodological limitations of the study were discussed.

Research on the development of children in foster care highlights their vulnerability and the need for effective strategies to support their adaptation. Studies show that children deprived of sensitive care early in life are at high risk for developing disorganized attachment patterns and behavioral disorders (Humphreys & Zeanah, 2015). The long-term benefits of secure attachment relationships highlight the importance of early attachment-based prevention programs in foster care.

Our research evaluates the effectiveness of a home-visiting intervention for foster children and their foster families in a French child protection service. Developed in Quebec, the Attachment Video-feedback Intervention (AVI, Moss et al., 2018) is a home-based approach inspired by attachment theory. It uses video-feedback to enhance the caregiver's sensitivity and promote child development. The study examines the program’s effects on: (1) the development of secure attachment between foster parents and children, (2) foster parents’ ability to meet children’s emotional needs, (3) foster parents’ perception of self-efficacy, and (4) children’s behavioral development. A sample of 40 children aged 18 months to 5 years and their foster parents were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. Effectiveness was assessed through pre- and post-tests, consist of observations from dyadic interactions filmed in the foster family's home (Attachment Q-Sort; Waters & Deane, 1985 and Maternal Behavior Q-Sort; Pederson & Moran, 1995) and questionnaires completed by foster parents (General Scale of Parental Self-Efficacy Belief; Meunier & Roskam, 2009 and Child Behavior Checklist; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000).

Our results suggest that improving foster parents’ sensitivity and self-efficacy leads to more secure attachment and fewer behavioral problems in children. This presentation will describe the implementation of the AVI program, highlight the study’s methodology, and, in light of the results, discuss its significance for shaping public child protection policies and practices to better support foster families.

Evidence-based parenting groups are the most effective approach to manage disruptive behaviour patterns in young children. The invest in Play (iiP) program was developed to enhance the uptake and effectiveness of these programs in terms of cultural fit and parental emotion-focused intervention components.
The present study provides an initial two-strand assessment of the effectiveness of the first iiP groups in Europe. Firstly, pre- and post-measures of disruptive child behaviour and parenting stress from the first iiP treatment groups in Denmark and England (n = 149 to 171) were compared to those completed by participants in the control (n = 210 to 461) and intervention groups (n = 278) of nine treatment trials included in an individual participant data meta-analysis of Incredible Years (IY) trials conducted in 7 European countries (Leijten et al., 2018). Secondly, satisfaction with iiP and staff time investment for delivery of two iiP groups in Denmark were compared to two IY groups delivered in the same location.
Child behaviour problems and parenting stress decreased significantly more in the iiP groups than in the control group. Problem reduction and parenting stress reduction in the iiP groups were similar or smaller in magnitude to reductions in IY groups. Total program satisfaction was high for both programs, although significantly higher for iiP than for IY. Staff time investment was estimated to be 48% lower for iiP than for IY, albeit these were based on rudimentary data. Together, these findings indicate that effectiveness and usability of well-established parenting programs may be improved by learning from European cooperation.

There are a number of empirically evaluated attachment-based parenting intervention programs, developed and implemented in Western countries given that parental sensitivity and secure attachment relationship in the early years are critical precursors of psychological resilience. However, adaptations of such programs within the primary healthcare services that actively reach families have yet to be conducted in order to evaluate their potential widespread use for public benefit. This study aims to explore the acceptability and feasibility of a nurse-implemented attachment-based parenting program at the Family Health Centers in Turkiye, as part of the routine health check-ups. The “Infant-Mother Attachment Security Program” was designed for mothers with 9-month-old infants to be implemented during the well-child routine check-ups to increase maternal sensitivity in caregiving and enhance infants’ attachment security. The primary goal of this study is to present data about how the nurses as the implementers of the program, perceive the implementation process with respect to the feasibility and acceptability of the program.

Data was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight nurses from two Family Health Centers in Istanbul. The qualitative approach is appropriate for this study because it allows for a deep exploration of the participants’ experiences and perceptions, which are crucial for evaluating the promises as well as the barriers or challenges of the program’s implementation. Data were analysed using thematic analysis to identify key themes related to the program’s feasibility and acceptability.

Results will summarize the program’s acceptability (e.g., ease of understanding of the program modules, relevance to the needs of the mothers) and feasibility (e.g., ease of implementation, potential barriers). The findings are crucial in providing insights as to whether the program can be successfully integrated into the routine primary healthcare practices.

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.

This symposium brings together research examining how overparenting (e.g., overprotection, unnecessary worry) is related to both parents and children. The four presentations combine diverse methodological approaches - from cross-sectional to longitudinal studies to a randomized controlled trial -, offering diverse insights into how practices of (over)parenting are related to parental and adolescent functioning.

The first presentation investigates potential drivers of overparenting. This preregistered study has found a mediating role of maternal guilt in the association between work-family conflict and intensive parenting practices (e.g., maternal proactivity/protection and prioritizing the child), presenting insights into why parents might engage in overparenting.

The second presentation reports on an innovative preregistered randomized controlled trial examining the effectiveness of tailored parenting advice. This 100-day diary study compares the impact of personalized versus general parenting advice on parenting and adolescent well-being, with particular attention to need-supportive parenting practices (e.g., autonomy support).

The third presentation explores the association between overprotective parenting and adolescents’ autonomy development. Through analysis of both parent and adolescent reported data, this research distinguishes between responsive and demanding features of overprotective parenting and examined how these characteristics are related to adolescent’s decision-making and coping abilities.

The final presentation examines the short-term moment-to-moment interactions between adolescent affect and adolescent-perceived overparenting. The findings of this intensive longitudinal preregistered study suggest that adolescents' negative emotions drive everyday overparenting behaviors rather than the reverse.

Background. Due to their developmental capacities, younger children may find it challenging to articulate their emotions and experiences related to traumatic events. Since play is a natural part of their development, play-based assessment tools can effectively explore their inner world and identify signs of traumatization. There is a need for valid methods to evaluate young children’s (4 to 8 years) psychological difficulties related to traumatic experiences. The Odense Child Trauma Screening (OCTS), developed by Danish researchers, is a play-based story stem assessment tool developed to screen for indicators of traumatization in young children. Just a few studies of the OCTS have been published so far.

Objective. The current study aimed to test the reliability and convergent validity of the OCTS in the Lithuanian community and risk subsamples of young children aged 4-8 years.

Method. The total sample consisted of 209 participants (58.9% girls) from the community (47.4%) and risk (52.6%) subsamples, Mage = 6.29 (SD = 1.48). All children were screened with the OCTS, and caregivers completed self-report questionnaires: demographics, the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen-Caregiver (CATS-C), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).

Results. The data suggests that the OCTS has very good inter-rater reliability. The OCTS, SDQ, and CATS-C scores were significantly higher in the risk subsample, with small to large effect sizes. Boys and younger children (3-4-year-olds) scored higher on the OCTS. Out of all the OCTS stories, the Burnt hand story had significant correlation coefficients with all the CATS-C PTSD symptoms.

Conclusions. The OCTS seems promising tool in Lithuania, but there were variations in scores between the Lithuanian data and an earlier study of the Danish sample. Future studies on the OCTS would benefit from further cross-cultural, reliability and the validity examination.

The determination of a child’s best interests in custody and contact disputes remains one of the most complex and debated issues in developmental psychology and family law. Despite its prominence in international frameworks, the best interests principle often lacks a clear, evidence-based operationalisation, leading to subjective or inconsistent evaluation and decision-making criteria. This presentation introduces the Best Interests Matrix - a structured evaluation tool designed to assist psychologists, social workers, and legal professionals in assessing children’s biopsychosocial and emotional well-being in child custody cases.

Grounded in a developmental approach, the Best Interests Matrix was developed and implemented in Brazil, where legal and psychosocial professionals have been trained in its application. User feedback has highlighted the tool’s usability and suitability for a child-centred evaluation process in child custody cases. The tool incorporates key risk and protective factors that influence child outcomes post-separation, such as parental conflict, attachment security, and environmental stability. It is informed by a comparative study of custody decision-making in Brazil and England, shedding light on jurisdictional differences in conceptualising children’s needs and well-being. A user evaluation conducted with trained professionals demonstrated the tool’s effectiveness in enhancing structured decision-making, reducing biases, and fostering a more child-centred approach.

This presentation will highlight how judicial and psychosocial actors shape developmental outcomes through custody evaluations and decisions and how this tool can best assist them in this process. By introducing a systematic framework for evaluating children’s best interests, the Best Interests Matrix contributes to a more transparent, developmentally sensitive, and ethically sound approach to custody assessments

In recent years, online platforms have made educational, medical, and other professional content easily accessible, but research assessing such platforms is still scarce. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate LONDI. Londi is a German platform that offers scientifically based information about learning disorders for different user groups. It also offers an algorithm-based help system that professionals can use to facilitate diagnosing learning disorders and planning interventions. The evaluation is focused on mental health professionals (i.e., learning therapists and school psychologists) using the information pages of the platform and its help system. It is theoretically grounded on the RE-AIM framework and assesses four of its dimensions: Reach, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance. Results from an online questionnaire (N = 582) showed that the platform reaches a large proportion of mental health professionals. Another online questionnaire (N = 122) revealed that most users plan to adopt the help system, and this is predicted by both its pragmatic and hedonic qualities. Data from the Matomo web analytics software (N = 9,007 online visits) regarding implementation revealed that most visits were done via smartphones. Moreover, users stayed long enough to read index but not information pages, suggesting index pages’ importance for orientation, and users’ disinterest in reading long texts. Engagement with the platform’s chatbot was extremely low, suggesting it was not noticeable or useful enough. This could also be a result of age dependent openness to AI based interfaces. Strikingly, the number of platform visits increased by 110% in 2024 vs. 2023. Future efforts are needed to maintain this growth, and improve chatbot engagement. This study is one of the first to utilize the RE-AIM framework with web analytics, paving the way for further theory-grounded platform assessments.

There have been shortcomings in the assessment of student burnout, which justifies the development of better tools to assess student burnout, both psychometrically and in terms of content. To this end, we adapted the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT; de Beer et al., 2020; Schaufeli et al., 2020) to the context of studying and tested it with students from three different educational contexts: general upper secondary (N = 1922), vocational upper secondary (N = 623), and higher education (N = 772). The BAT consists of four dimensions: exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment, and emotional impairment. First, we investigated the psychometric properties of the BAT, including tests of measurement invariance across the three samples, and construct validity. Second, we examined what kinds of engagement and burnout profiles can be identified among general upper secondary, vocational upper secondary, and university students and how these profiles are associated with well-being. We used a shortened BAT12 questionnaire (3 items/dimension). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine factor structure and measurement invariance across data sets. The structure of the BAT was consistent with the theoretical assumption of four correlated dimensions of burnout and invariant across the three contexts. Reliabilities ranged from .75 to .86. Moreover, the associations with other well-being variables were meaningful; burnout was related negatively to engagement and positively to depressive symptoms. By using multigroup latent profile analysis, we identified five engagement and burnout profiles: engaged (high engagement, low burnout), engaged-strained (high engagement, high exhaustion and cognitive impairment), moderately engaged (moderate engagement, moderate burnout), disengaged-distant (low engagement, high mental distance), and burned-out (low engagement, high all burnout symptoms). The BAT measure appears to be a valid and promising method for assessing student burnout, at least in upper secondary and higher education. Emotional and cognitive impairment seemed pertinent when investigating study-related pressures in these contexts.

Individual-level resilience has been conceptualized in numerous ways, including as a dynamic process that encompasses positive adaption in the face of adversity (Luthar et al., 2000). Two widely used measures, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10) and the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S), assess stress coping ability and perseverance toward long-term goals, respectively. This study aims to validate and compare these measures of resilience by evaluating their reliability, factor structure, and convergent validity in an international sample of health care professionals.

Data will be collected in spring 2025 in six European countries as well as USA, as part of the Apollo2028 project on healthcare wellbeing and resilience. Participants (N ≈ 1000) will complete the CD-RISC and Grit-S, along with measures of psychological well-being, and mental health outcomes. Additionally, two-week daily measures data on stressors and affect will be collected to examine emotional reactivity to stress as an external validity criterion. Internal consistency will be assessed using Cronbach’s a, while confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) will test the scales’ factor structures. Convergent and discriminant validity will be examined through correlations with related psychological constructs, including daily measures-derived emotional reactivity indicators.

Given the diverse sample—including participants within the health care sector from multiple countries, professions, and demographic groups—measurement invariance testing will determine whether the scales function equivalently across these subgroups. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance tests will assess cross-group comparability.

The findings will contribute to the validation of the CD-RISC and Grit-S, offering insights into their psychometric properties, relationships with real-time emotional responses to stress, and applicability in healthcare settings, as well as to the discussion on conceptualization and operationalization of resilience. 

Background: Emotion regulation (ER) is shaped through interactions with caregivers, particularly parents. During infancy, emotions are co-regulated by caregivers in daily interactions, which help infants recognize internal states and progressively internalize emotion regulation strategies. Physiological indicators such as Heart Rate Variability (HRV) are widely used to study ER in preverbal infants. However, most research on infant HRV has focused on stress-inducing situations like the Still Face Paradigm, primarily involving mothers. This study aimed to examine infant ER during natural interactions with mothers, fathers, and both parents together, as well as the transitions between these relational contexts. A secondary objective was to explore the relationship between physiological ER and infant temperament.

Method: The study included 84 families with 4-month-old infants. Infant heart activity was recorded via ECG across a five-part sequence: baseline (no interaction), mother–infant play, father–infant play, mother–father–infant play, and mother–father discussion in the infant’s presence. The order of parts 2 and 3 was counterbalanced to control the effect of which parent played first. Root Mean Square of Successive Differences (RMSSD) from ECG signals was used to index HRV, and infant temperament was assessed using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised – Very Short Form.

Results: Growth curve modeling showed a quadratic trajectory for RMSSD, with significant increases from part 1 to 3 and decreases from part 3 to 5. These patterns were more pronounced when mothers initiated play. Positive affectivity and orienting temperament traits were linked to greater increases and decreases in HRV, whereas negative affectivity was associated with higher baseline HRV and lower increases. Fear and affiliation traits showed no significant associations with HRV changes.

Discussion: Findings contribute to understanding how infant ER varies across relational contexts and is influenced by temperament, extending current knowledge on the interplay between ER, early social environments, and temperament.

Curiosity, as the intrinsic drive to seek knowledge engaging individuals in exploratory behaviors, is essential for learning and lifelong adaptability. Parenting is thought to enhance curiosity from the earliest stages of life. However, there is still a lack of longitudinal research investigating how parental behaviors contribute to the development of curiosity at early ages.

This longitudinal study aims to explore the role of maternal mindfulness (i.e., the ability to connect with oneself and the external world), along with maternal parenting stress, and parenting behaviors during infancy in promoting curiosity in toddlerhood.

Seventy mothers and their infants (53% male; 100% Italian; 75% first born) were observed during face-to-face interactions at 9 months old. Both maternal and infant affective behaviors were coded using the Infant and Caregiver Engagement Phase (Weinberg et al., 1989). Mothers also reported on their mindfulness and parenting stress. At 2.5 years of children’s age mothers reported on their child’s curiosity.

Results from several regression models showed that mothers with higher mindfulness during infancy had toddlers with higher scores across all curiosity domains, whereas mothers who perceived mother-child interactions as more stressful had toddlers with lower curiosity.

Mothers who spent more time looking at their infants with neutral expressions, not vocalizing—especially when the infant was exploring the environment—reported lower infant curiosity in toddlerhood. Conversely, the time spent by the mother displaying positive affect while the infant was looking at her predicted higher curiosity during toddlerhood.

These findings underscore the fundamental role of responsive and stimulating parenting in nurturing children's curiosity and engagement with the world, highlighting the potential impact of supportive parenting practices in promoting curiosity during early childhood. Implications for interventions and future research are discussed.

The integration of smart technologies into our daily lives has become pervasive. While these devices offer numerous benefits, the frequent interruption of social interactions by technology use (technoference) has been demonstrated to have adverse developmental effects on children. Given the pivotal role of environmental factors in early development, it is especially important to study technoference in mother-infant interactions. We present results from two consecutive studies investigating the effects of maternal smartphone use on interaction dynamics in different scenarios.

In our first study, we observed the behaviour of 12 mother-infant pairs during free-play to explore the patterns and effects of maternal smartphone use. Microanalysis of video recordings revealed a decline in interactivity and maternal responsiveness to infant attention-seeking behaviours. However, mothers showed different strategies for maintaining interaction by sharing attention in different modalities, and by dividing the time spent on the phone into intervals. Based on the latter, two predominant strategies were distinguished: prolonged immersion followed by a complete refocus of attention on the infant, and alternating attention between the smartphone and the infant.

In our second study, we investigated the effects of these two strategies on interaction dynamics in a modified still face situation, utilizing a repeated measures design in a face-to-face interaction setting. We examined the behaviour and affectivity of 14 mother-infant pairs. Infants aged 6-7 months exhibited signs of distress in both situations. However, microanalysis at 0.5 second intervals suggested that shorter, repeated periods of maternal smartphone use were more distressing for infants than a single but long interruption. These findings imply that the continuous reorganization of interaction poses a greater challenge to parent-infant pairs, which they find more difficult to cope with. Furthermore, the successful recovery of interaction following smartphone use was positively associated with the degree of mother-infant synchrony established during uninterrupted interactions.

Mother-infant synchrony supports early co-regulation and engagement, forming a foundation for later development such as self-regulation, language and communication, and prosocial behaviors. Despite its significance, most studies take a cross-sectional approach, offering limited insight into how synchrony unfolds over time in early childhood. This study examines developmental course of synchrony with 28 full-term, healthy infants (60.7% girls; birth weight > 2,500 g) and their mothers (Mage=32.8). We observed synchrony across five time points (8, 10, 12, 14, and 18 months) in a 5-min free-play (FP) context, where dyads interacted with a standardized set of toys. Synchrony was defined as the simultaneous exhibition of the same state in behavioral and affective domains. Behavioral synchrony was categorized into object synchrony (both partners attending to the same object) and social synchrony (partners attending to each other). Affective synchrony included positive or negative affect. We coded every second of a three-minute segment separately for behavioral and affective synchrony and calculated proportional scores. Results showed that affective synchrony was infrequent: Positive affect synchrony occurred in less than 3% of interactions, while negative affect synchrony was extremely rare. In contrast, behavioral synchrony was predominantly object-focused, averaging 56.7% of interactions and increasing from 52.6% at 8 months to 61.7% at 18 months. Social synchrony was low (2.97% on average) and fluctuated across time points. Linear mixed-effects models examined developmental changes in object and social synchrony. Object synchrony significantly increased over time, F(4, 88.2)=3.14, p=.018, with higher levels at 14 months and 18 months compared to 8 months. Social synchrony showed no clear developmental trend. These findings suggest a robust pattern of increasing object-focused synchrony in the FP context but a less consistent trajectory for social synchrony, likely influenced by contextual factors. Implications for the role of play context in shaping synchrony will be discussed.

Although previous research has shown that having children can improve the overall well-being in couples, it may also negatively impact their relationship satisfaction. Sleep problems, particularly those experienced by children and mothers, may be potential factors influencing parents relationship dynamics. The present cross-sectional study aimed to examine the mediating role of maternal sleep quality in the relationship between child's sleep quality and maternal relationship satisfaction. The study sample consisted of 345 mothers (M_age = 34.61, SD = 4.41) who are over the age of 18 and have at least one child between the ages of 1 and 5. Participants completed measures assessing demographic information, their children’s sleep quality, their own sleep quality, their relationship satisfaction, and their symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Where mothers had more than one child, the data for the child with the lowest sleep quality was used. The results indicated that there was no significant direct effect of child’s sleep quality on maternal relationship satisfaction, revealing a full mediation with significant indirect (β = -.09, p < .05) and total effects (β = -.17, p < .01). This finding suggests that lower sleep quality of child predicted lower maternal relationship satisfaction through lower maternal sleep quality. After controlling for variables correlated with maternal relationship satisfaction such as age, work status, smoking, screen time at bedtime, depression, anxiety, and stress, full mediation remained with significant indirect effect (β = -.02, p < .05). The present findings highlight the importance of addressing maternal sleep quality as a potential intervention target for enhancing maternal relationship satisfaction. Strategies such as improving maternal sleep hygiene, screening for sleep disorders, and implementing parenting education programmes may help mitigate the negative effects of children’s sleep quality on maternal relationship satisfaction.

We investigated the longitudinal relations between parent (T1 n = 584, T2 n = 564) and teacher (T1 n = 39, T2 n = 39) beliefs about children’s (T1 n = 582, T2 n = 576) competence at primary school grade 3 (T1) and the subsequent interest and self-concept of ability of children during grade 4 (T2) in literacy and math, using longitudinal cross-lagged panel models on survey data. Furthermore, we explored the interactive effects of parent and teacher beliefs on children’s subsequent interest and self-concept of ability. While parent beliefs did not predict children’s interest and self-concept of ability in either subject, teacher beliefs predicted children’s self-concept, but not their interest, in both literacy and math. Parent and teacher beliefs also significantly interacted, with parent beliefs positively predicting self-concept of ability in both subjects when teacher beliefs were high. When teacher beliefs were low, parent beliefs had no impact.

While a negative relation between math anxiety (MA) and performance is well-documented in the literature, we still lack research about the directionality of this relationship, and the roles of motivational factors in it. In this study, we investigated the longitudinal relations of MA and performance from the 4th to 5th grade, and how math self-concept and interest predict MA and performance. Finnish students’ (n = 345) MA (cognitive and affective dimensions) and math performance (multi-digit arithmetic fluency) were measured twice, and math self-concept and interest once in the 4th grade. Cross-lagged panel model showed that Grade 4 math performance predicted Grade 5 MA (both cognitive and affective), but not vice versa, thus supporting the theoretical Deficit Model of MA. When motivational factors were included in the model, only Grade 4 math performance predicted Grade 5 affective MA. Math interest was a significant predictor of affective MA, whereas math self-concept predicted only math performance. As our results follow the Deficit Model of the directionality between math performance and MA, in school practice, emphasis should be given in supporting students’ math skills and interest, which in turn, may help in reducing MA. Lack of interest in math could also be considered as a risk factor for experiencing MA, especially the affective dimension of it.

One of the most common comorbidities in children with dyscalculia is ADHD. As children with dyscalculia and children with ADHD face challenges in learning contexts, children with both diagnoses should be given special attention in interventions. There are digital-based interventions that can improve mathematical competencies. Such interventions may either be challenging or particularly suitable for supporting children with dyscalculia and ADHD.

Children with mathematical difficulties aged 8 to 12 years practiced 6-8 weeks with a new tablet-based serious game for mathematics developed for the treatment of children with mathematical difficulties. Two measurement points are included (pretest, posttest) with data collection currently ongoing. Sociodemographic variables, competencies in mathematics, ADHD diagnosis and symptoms reported by parents as well as other associated factors, e.g., working memory are assessed.

Preliminary results of data of 27 children (n = 21 without ADHD; n = 6 with ADHD), who participated at pretest and posttest and who all practiced with the serious game, show an increase in the mean T-scores in mathematical competencies for both groups. During the pretest, the mean T-scores in mathematical competencies are in both groups in the lower average range to below average range (without ADHD: M = 40.07, SD = 6.49; with ADHD: M = 30.55, SD = 4.49) and increase in the posttest (without ADHD: M = 44.76, SD = 8.09; with ADHD: M = 41.35, SD = 1.29). Whereas it seems that the increase in the mean T-scores from the pretest to the posttest in children with ADHD is greater than in children without ADHD.

Further analyses, with a larger sample and control group, will compare the groups inferentially and report effect sizes to determine possible differences in the success of the training with the serious game in the treatment of children with and without ADHD.

Math anxiety has been negatively related to math performance already during primary school years. Two intervention approaches, cognitive and emotional support, have been recognized to be effective in reducing math anxiety and improving math performance. However, there is still a need to develop effective intervention programs. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of two brief interventions that included either relaxation (i.e., emotional support) or math activities (i.e., cognitive support) on reducing math anxiety and improving math performance in Grade 5 and 6 students (N = 173, M = 12.1 years; girls 53,8%). The intervention effects were compared to an active control group participating in body rhythm activities. Each program included nine 3–6-minute sessions, three times a week for three weeks at the beginning of math lessons. Students' math anxiety (affective and cognitive) and math performance (arithmetic fluency) were measured before and after the intervention. The data collection was conducted in two parts and is still in process. Preliminary results from the first data collection (n = 80) showed that relaxation training had a decreasing, although not significant, within-group effect (g = -0.33, p = .082) on affective math anxiety, and multiplication training improved significantly multiplication fluency (g = 0.47, p = .015). No effects were observed within the body rhythm group nor in the between-group analyses. Intervention results with a full sample will be presented and discussed at the ECDP 2025 conference.

Over the past two decades, interest in the developmental aspects of early personality dysfunction has grown, driven by research demonstrating that these disorders emerge during adolescence. The introduction of the Alternative Model for Personality Disorder (AMPD) in DSM-5 Section III, along with the shift to a dimensional model in ICD-11, marks a new era in which the fully dimensional framework allows for the evaluation of personality functioning across the entire spectrum, from adaptive to maladaptive, allowing for assessment across developmental stages and disorder progression.

This presentation will focus on research from Lithuania regarding the developmental aspects of emerging personality (dys)function among young people, examining both normative and clinical populations. It will explore findings on the developmental trajectories of personality dysfunction in adolescence, with particular attention to the role of social and individual challenges in shaping these pathways and their outcomes. Lastly, potential prevention and early intervention strategies will be discussed, highlighting the importance of addressing key challenges early on to enhance prognosis in both normative and atypical populations.

Peers play a crucial role in adolescence, shaping social development, self-identity, and emotional well-being. Indeed, peer relationships become very significant as adolescents seek validation and acceptance from them. In turn, empathy is a socio-cognitive process that goes through an important development during adolescence, significantly impacting social functioning, emotional well-being and resilience. Finally, disruptions of the attachment process during early years can have major effects on neural development and emotional regulation skills.

This symposium presents results from three studies, two of which longitudinal, that aim to offer insights into emotional and socio-cognitive skills relevant for peer relations and empathy in adolescence. Presentation 1 focuses on individual and relational correlates of empathy in a large sample of 14- to 19-year-olds. Results revealed that sex, mentalization, emotion regulation skills, and relationships with peers based on acceptance and communication predict adolescents’ cognitive and affective empathy. Presentation 2 offers evidence of longitudinal links between mentalization and emotion regulation skills at preschool and better relationship quality with peers in adolescence. Both theory of mind and emotion regulation and recognition at preschool age are related to higher communication and proximity with peers, as well as higher mutual acceptance and comprehension in adolescence. Finally, presentation 3 seeks for potential roots of emotional regulation and rejection sensitivity in early life adversity in a sample of institutionally reared adolescents. Preliminary results indicate that institutionalized adolescents react more negatively to distress and social exclusion images than normative controls. Besides, they also showed higher sensitivity to social rejection at younger ages, particularly in the anxiety components related to expecting rejection. Taken together, these presentations provide evidence for the role of early and concurrent emotion regulation and mentalization in adolescents’ peer relations and empathy.

In the current symposium we aim to explore environmental sensitivity across different perspectives, countries and contexts. Environmental sensitivity is a temperament trait that has recently gained increasing attention due to its importance for socio-emotional adjustment and mental health. Environmental sensitivity explains individual differences in registering, processing, and responding to external stimuli (Pluess, 2015). When the quality of the environment is low (i.e., harsh parenting or stressful life conditions), a heightened environmental sensitivity is a risk factor for externalizing problems in early childhood (Lionetti et al., 2019; Slagt et al., 2018) and for internalizing symptoms from middle childhood to adolescence (Lionetti et al. 2021). Conversely, when exposed to supportive experiences (i.e., positive parenting or intervention programs), highly sensitive youth seem to benefit more in terms of socio-emotional competences (Lionetti et al., 2019; Nocentini et al., 2018). In the current project, that is partly funded by the European Association of Developmental Psychology (EADP) collaboration grant (2024) and is partly a result of the Early Research Union (ERU)-EADP Writing week 2023, we contributed to a psychometric robust assessment of environmental sensitivity across four European countries (i.e., Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, and Portugal), developmental stages (i.e., early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence), and perspectives (i.e., self, mother, and father reports). We aimed to better understand the implications of its interaction with several developmental and life contexts (e.g., family context and post-migration) in predicting youth’s socio-emotional adjustment and mental health (internalizing symptoms, behavioral problems, social skills, and post-traumatic stress symptoms).

Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental stage marked by identity exploration, life transitions, and self-definition. This symposium examines key aspects of this period, offering insights into prosocial behavior, developmental crises, intergenerational self-esteem, and responses to global challenges. All the studies are linked by their focus on the developmental experiences and challenges of emerging adulthood, particularly how young adults navigate personal, social, and environmental influences during this life stage. The first study explores prosocial behavior in emerging adults, analyzing the influence of childhood familial relationships. It identifies profiles of moral engagement and supportive family dynamics, highlighting gender differences and the roles of altruistic and public behaviors in moral development. The second study investigates early adult developmental crises—intense transitional episodes involving uncertainty in relationships, careers, and finances. Drawing from data across eight countries, it examines external (e.g., financial difficulties) and internal (e.g., fear, self-doubt) factors, emphasizing cross-cultural patterns of growth and resilience. The third study examines the intergenerational transmission of self-esteem, focusing on the impact of maternal parenting styles. Findings suggest that offspring perceptions of maternal parenting shape self-esteem more than mothers’ self-reports, offering insights into family influences on self-concept. Finally, the fourth study addresses climate anxiety, exploring its relationship with emotional intelligence and optimism. Results indicate that emotional intelligence reduces climate anxiety, with optimism acting as a mediator. These findings highlight ways for emerging adults to build resilience amid global stressors. By integrating diverse perspectives on prosocial development, crisis navigation, intergenerational influences, and climate-related stress, this symposium deepens our understanding of emerging adulthood and its complexities, offering valuable implications for support and intervention.

Screen-based media use, particularly TV watching, has been linked to negative child development and health outcomes during the past decades. Based on scientific and practical evidence, many countries are consistent in recommending no more than one hour per day of screen time for children aged 2 to 5 years, and no screen time for younger children. Despite these recommendations, also keeping in mind that various types of screens are becoming an integral part of family and children’s life, toddlers and preschoolers are overusing screens. As early childhood is a period of rapid cognitive development, there is a need to proceed with evidence-based discussion on whether and how screen-based media usage could affect child cognitive development, in particular focusing on language development and executive function (EF). Moreover, the significance of interplay with other contextual factors in child development (e.g., child sleep and child-parent interactions) should also be considered.

In this symposium we present results of several recent and ongoing studies aiming to analyze the screen-based media use as related to 2- to 5-year-old children’s EF and language development. R.Jusienė starts with analysis of the associations between preschoolers’ parent-reported language skills and screen time and type using data from Lithuanian child samples. T.Tulviste proceeds with results of a study conducted in Estonia, aimed at investigating the link between children’s screen time, the duration of parent-child verbal interactions, and children's language skills. Further, E.Axelsson comes with an important discussion on how much screen time predicts EFs and whether it interacts with sleep and content type in a sample of Australian preschoolers. Finally, L.Rakickienė adds to the discussion on cognitive development and screen use in early years, presenting results from very recent study which examined the relationship between children's screen use and executive functions, assessed both by lab tasks and parent and teacher reports.

Originally developed for clinical use, the FMSS offers a simple tool for capturing individual differences in parent-child relationship quality that has become widely used within family research (for reviews, see Rea et al, 2020; Sher-Censor, 2015). Highlighting its utility, the studies reported in this symposium involve samples from three distinct cultural settings (England, Hong Kong and Israel) that span from expectant couples to at-risk parents of 0- to 3-year-olds to parents of young school-aged children and parents of young children with and without complex care needs. The studies also illustrate the diversity of coding approaches that can be applied to the FMSS to identify key themes within the narratives and assess both the coherence and mind-mindedness of parental representations.

Alter and colleagues demonstrate the feasibility of gathering speech samples before birth, explore stability and change in parental representations across this important transition to parenthood, and consider whether maternal and paternal representations differ in their use of ‘time travel’ to portray the unborn child as either an infant or a child. Sher-Censor and colleagues provide evidence for the utility of the FMSS as a tool for evaluating the success of interventions to support at-risk groups during early parenthood. Xu and colleagues apply the FMSS to demonstrate that parental mind-mindedness can mitigate the impact of family adversity on childhood problems of anxiety and depression. Dolling and colleagues use the FMSS to highlight important similarities in the coherence of parental representations of children with and without complex needs. Together, these papers document the value and flexibility of the FMSS as a tool for ensuring that parents’ views and feelings about their child are at the heart of evidence-based interventions and policies.

Joint attention typically emerges around 9 months of age and refers to the infant’s ability to coordinate attention with a social partner towards an event/object (e.g., a toy). Neuroimaging studies with adults suggest the involvement of several brain networks, such as the dorsal and medial prefrontal cortex and temporal-parietal junction to process joint attention interactions. Studies with infants are still scarce and have some shortcomings, as they have mostly measured the electrical activity of the brain, have studied infants when the ability is already more established in their behavioural repertoire, or did not collect simultaneous behavioural data of infant’s joint attention. This study aims to examine the association between brain activation and behavioural manifestation of joint attention at 10-months, when the ability is emerging. Participants are 10-month-old typically developing infants (data collection ongoing). We expect a sample size of 25 infants with complete data assessed by the time of the presentation. A high-density fNIRS device is used to measure bilateral brain activation in the prefrontal cortex, superior temporal sulcus, and temporoparietal junction while the infant interacts with a female researcher. The infant-researcher interaction includes three conditions: Joint Attention (the researcher shows a picture book to the infant while making eye contact, using gestures, smiling, and labelling the pictures); Dyadic Interaction (the researcher sings nursery songs and performs hand actions/games while making eye contact and smiling to the infant); and No Interaction (the researcher stays in silence while holding a toy in front of the infant (no eye contact with the infant). Responding to joint attention and initiating joint attention behaviours are assessed through the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS). This study will support the identification of typical neural signatures of joint attention which may, in turn, assist early screening for neurodevelopmental disorders.

This study examines resting-state EEG (rs-EEG) oscillatory power and functional connectivity (coherence) within the first year of life and their links to later language development. Rs-EEG power and coherence offer insights into the neural mechanisms of cognition and language, with different frequencies supporting specific cognitive functions and brain network communication. Previous cross-sectional work suggests a relationship between infant rs-EEG power and later language development and has highlighted some of the factors that might influence this relationship (e.g., SES and home language environment). However, little is known about how rs-EEG measures evolve over development, and whether individual early brain maturational changes relate to later language skills. Thus, this study asks two key questions: (i) Do rs-EEG power and coherence change in the first year (between 6, 9, 12 months of age) and do they correlate with later language abilities in the second year? (ii) Do we observe individual trajectories and are these modulated by environmental factors?

Three-minute each session rs-EEG recordings were recorded from Dutch monolingual infants in a longitudinal design, alongside family-background data and language measures at 12, 18 and 24 months of age. We predict to observe increases in theta and alpha power and greater coherence over time, and to find relationships to language skills/growth in the second year.

Preliminary results from a subset of the sample (88 participants across the three early timepoints) revealed increases in medial-frontal theta and central-posterior alpha over time, consistent with previous research, but no changes in coherence. Analyses also indicated correlations between the alpha effect and turn-taking at 12 months, highlighting early brain influences on communicative skills. The current study will expand on these findings by analysing a bigger sample (129 participants) and look at correlations to language across the second year of life, i.e., up and including the 24 months measure.

Background and aims: Melatonin in human milk is important for infant neurodevelopment. Preterm birth leads to sudden interruption of transplacental transfer of melatonin that normally takes place during the last part of pregnancy. Breastmilk is the only source of melatonin for the preterm neonate during the first months of life. Contradictory evidence on the way breastmilk melatonin concentration is associated with psychosocial factors shows a general trend for stress, fatigue, and negative mood to be associated with higher melatonin in morning milk samples although laughter increased the levels of breastmilk melatonin in healthy mothers. The aim of this study is to explore the psychosocial factors that may be associated with preterm breastmilk melatonin concentration immediately after birth.

Methods: The study included 64 mothers, and their preterm neonates (<37 weeks) (NICU, University General Hospital of Heraklion) (Mean [SD] gestational age: 33.7 [2.0] weeks). Mothers collected 5-10 ml of nighttime breast milk using an electric pump at three time points: 3rd-5th day (colostrum), 10th-14th day (transitional milk), and 20th-28th day (mature milk). Melatonin levels were measured using an ELISA kit. Within the first 3 days postpartum, maternal psychosocial factors were assessed, including depressive symptoms (EPDS), anxiety (STAI), and family functioning (FACES-IV).

Results: A total of 64 mothers provided breast milk at three time points: 3rd-5th day (n=55, Mean [SD]=19.7 [14.7]), 10th-14th day (n=47, Mean [SD]=24.3 [22.7]), and 20th-28th day (n=42, Mean [SD]=21.5 [19.4]). Preliminary findings show a trend for a positive association between postnatal anxiety/depression and melatonin levels in colostrum breastmilk (r=0.193 and r=0.153). Higher maternal postnatal depression/anxiety correlates with increased melatonin concentration.

Conclusions: Despite sample size limitations, higher maternal anxiety and depression have been correlated with increased melatonin concentration in colostrum breastmilk. Further research is needed to confirm this trend and explore its potential impact on neonatal development.

This longitudinal study investigates the impact of epistemic curiosity—both general curiosity and its subtypes—on scientific reasoning and domain-specific physics knowledge throughout elementary school. We explore whether curiosity is associated with science competencies beyond prior knowledge and cognitive factors, and whether its influence differs between scientific reasoning and science knowledge. While previous research suggests that deficit-driven curiosity (D-type) is primarily associated with scientific reasoning, we hypothesize that both D- type and interest-driven (I-type) curiosity contribute to science competencies, especially in elementary school age.

Parents of 122 children (mean age = 6.16 years; SD = 3.65 months in kindergarten; 71 girls) completed a 10-item epistemic curiosity questionnaire assessing I-type and D-type curiosity. Scientific reasoning was measured using the SK-I Inventory, and science knowledge was assessed with a test on physics concepts. Children were followed from kindergarten through grades 3 and 4.

Results revealed that scientific reasoning was significantly predicted by overall epistemic curiosity (but not by D-type alone) in Grades 1 and 3 (β = .203; .179, respectively), even when controlling for prior reasoning and intelligence. Science knowledge, in contrast, was predicted by I-type curiosity alone in Grades 1, 3, and 4 (β = .223; .245; .221, respectively).

These findings challenge prior assumptions that D-type curiosity drives scientific reasoning and emphasize the importance of both curiosity types, particularly in early years. As children mature, I-type curiosity plays a greater role in domain-specific knowledge. This study underscores curiosity’s critical, often underappreciated role in science competencies at the start of formal schooling.

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the understanding of oneself and others as mental beings with subjective thoughts, beliefs and feelings that may not accurately reflect reality. Previous research suggests a theoretical connection between children’s theory-of-mind understanding and their social interactions with peers. However, the behavioural mechanisms driving this connection remain unclear, as do the contextual factors that may moderate ToM-behaviour links: highlighting the need for a meta-analysis.

To this end, the current meta-analysis combined 500+ effect sizes from 64 studies containing measures of 3–11-year-old children’s theory-of-mind understanding and their observed behaviour in the presence of at least one peer. Results showed a significant association between ToM and behaviour (r = 0.21, p<.001) that was not significantly moderated by child age, ToM measure, task context, group size or peer familiarity. There was also no significant moderating effect of behavioural valence, suggesting a similar strength of association between ToM and both adaptive and maladaptive social behaviours. Four sub-meta-analyses found that ToM was significantly associated with behavioural observations of (i) prosocial behaviour (r = 0.15, p<.001), (ii) cooperation and coordination (r = 0.17, p<.001), (iii) conflict (r = -0.10, p = .003),and (iv) pretend play enactment (r = 0.13, p =.035) in peer contexts.

Together, results showed a small-to-medium-sized association between children’s ToM and the behaviour they display during peer interactions. The absence of any contextual moderation effects may reflect the consistency of influence ToM has on children’s behaviours; however, this conclusion should be tempered by the substantial heterogeneity in an extant literature where features of peer partners and the broader interactional context are not always clearly reported or considered in analyses. Further systematic research using designs that allow for the comparison of children’s behaviour across multiple contexts is needed to better understand how these factors might impact ToM-behaviour links.

The critical role of peer friendships in promoting child well-being and fostering adaptive social development is widely acknowledged. It is thus important to understand the mechanisms that allow children to forge and maintain friendships. One candidate is Theory of Mind (ToM), the understanding that other people’s behavior is influenced by their thoughts and feelings, even when these are incongruent with external reality. While there is evidence that ToM is associated with friendship in the early school years, very few studies have investigated this issue in middle childhood. The present study breaks new ground by investigating the bidirectional relation between ToM and friendships across middle childhood using a longitudinal design comprising four waves over two years. Crucially, this study examined the ability to forge (i.e. number of new friendship dyads across two years) and maintain friendships (i.e. maximum duration of friendship). 194 Italian primary school children (Mage = 9.4 years; 47% girls; 28% with one or both parents of non-Italian origin) were assessed at four time points over two years. ToM was measured using a multi-modal battery comprising the Strange Stories, Silent Films, and Triangles tasks. Reciprocal friendships were assessed at all four time points using Friendship Nominations (Parker & Asher, 1993). Latent growth curve models revealed that the initial level of ToM predict the duration of friendship and that the number of new friendship dyads across two years predicted change in ToM over time, even after controlling potential confounds including language ability and group popularity. This study provides novel insights into the relation between ToM and friendships.

School is one of the most important contexts in children’s lives, where they spend numerous hours each day focused on knowledge acquisition and academic performance. The school context also plays a crucial role in shaping sociocognitive and emotional skills, and fostering outcomes such as well-being and executive functions (EF). This study examines two types of school contexts (Lillard, 2023): 1) Child-Environment Interplay (CEI) model, based on a constructivist, child-centered approach that incorporates developmental psychology, and 2) Teacher-Text-Centered Learning (TTC) model, where developmental needs are subordinated to the focus on the teacher, textbooks, and grades. Research suggests CEI contexts may support more balanced development. However, evidence is limited and findings inconsistent. The study assessed 150 children from preschool and elementary grades, attending either CEI (N=95) or TTC (N=55) schools, on well-being and EF. School well-being was evaluated using a questionnaire on sense of belonging, environment, and aggression. EF was assessed through tasks measuring inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. A higher aggression was found in TTC schools compared to CEI schools (B = –.725, p = .087). No significant direct effects were found for EF by school (B = –.0283, p = .875), but school moderated the relationship between variables (B = .173, p = .043): in TTC schools, higher EF scores were associated with lower perceived school well-being (B = –0.144, p = .044). A similar interaction was found for environment (B = .528, p = .034): in TTC schools, higher EF scores were linked to worse perceptions of school environment (B = –0.192, p = .026). A significant main effect of perceived aggression on EF was also found (B = –0.224, p = .035), regardless of school. All models included covariates (fluid intelligence, age, years at school, and SES), and showed good fit (Adjusted R² ≈ 0.52–0.53).

Teachers feel less efficient and tend to have fewer warm relationships with students with special educational needs (SEN) compared to students without SEN (e.g., Blacher et al., 2014; Prino et al., 2016; Van Mieghem et al., 2020). The quality of the student-teacher relationship (STR) is well studied in English- and Dutch-speaking countries, but studies are missing in France, and the evaluation of the relationship from the child’s perspective is still lacking.

This cross-sectional research has two main goals: (1) to compare the quality of the STR according to the child’s development (with or without SEN) (2) to explore the factors involved in the potential differences observed, such as the child’s characteristics, the teacher’s characteristics, the school level and context.

The current sample included 130 students aged from 5.3 to 10.11 years, all recruited in the North-East of France. The results may change because the sample will soon increase due to the implementation of a second data collection starting in January 2025.

Preliminary results show that girls in kindergarten report being closer to their teacher than their male classmates, whereas boys feel more conflict compared to the girls. The result regarding conflict is also observed for the upper elementary students. From kindergarten to third grade, teachers evaluate also their relationship with female students with more proximity. Moreover, across all educational levels, teachers feel closer with their students without SEN than with SEN. They also struggle more to promote their academic engagement. Finally, the conflict perceived by the teacher is strongly and positively associated with their own perception of the student’s cognitive and emotional regulation at all grade levels.

Understanding the factors influencing the quality of the STR can help to promote it. In turn, a positive STR enhances students’ school adjustment and protects the most vulnerable children (e.g., Baker, 2006).

Food waste is a global environmental problem, a significant part of which is produced in households. As future consumers and decision makers, adolescents play a key role in tackling this problem. Adolescents' food waste awareness and attitudes towards reducing waste develop as they interact with different food environments in school and at home. To better understand how to support adolescents in sustainable consumption choices, this study aimed to identify adolescents’ motivational profiles in relation to food waste reduction, and to compare the profiles with respect to food waste related control beliefs, emotions, intentions, and daily food waste practices. Self-report survey data from 123 Finnish adolescents (aged 13 to 15 years; 61% female) was collected. Using latent profile analysis, three motivational profiles for reducing food waste were identified. The value-driven adolescents (26.6%) were above average in identified regulation, average in introjected and intrinsic regulation, and below average in external regulation of motivation for food waste reduction. The socially influenced adolescents (47.9%) were average in external and intrinsic regulation, but below average in introjected and identified regulation. The responsibility-boosted adolescents (25.6%) were above average in each form of motivation regulation. Compared to the socially influenced adolescents, the responsibility-boosted and value-driven adolescents reported higher concern about food waste, more positive emotions and attitude, and higher perceived control over food waste reduction. They also had higher intentions to reduce food waste in future than the socially influenced adolescents. The responsibility-boosted adolescents reported attempting to reduce their food waste in the past more than the other profiles. However, interestingly, the profiles did not differ in their self-reported daily practices regarding food proportioning. The results shed light on adolescents’ attitudes and commitment to food waste reduction, and lay foundations for understanding the development of sustainable consumer habits in adolescence.

Within the Social Cognitive Perspective (Bandura, 1986; 2001), this study explores the reciprocal relationship between Pro-environmental Behaviors (PEBs) and Pro-environmental Regulatory Self-Efficacy (PRSE) using a daily diary approach. PEBs refer to intentional and voluntary actions to protect and preserve the environment (Lange & Dewitte, 2019), while PRSE reflects individuals’ perceived capability to engage in these behaviors despite challenges (Nielsen, 2017).

While self-efficacy beliefs are widely recognized as crucial for sustaining various behaviors, research on pro-environmental behaviors remains limited. This study focused on adolescence; a period marked by declining engagement with environmental issues (Krettenauer, 2022) and adopted a daily diary approach to collect real-time reflections on adolescents’ daily actions. This method allows us to examine how reflecting on one’s own PEBs may influence PRSE over time, and vice-versa.

The study involved 72 Italian adolescents (ages 14–16; 29% female), who were part of a larger cross-cultural project and were assessed daily for 28 consecutive days. Using Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling (DSEM), our results revealed a significant positive spillover effect from PEBs to PRSE at the within-person level (B = .141, 95% CI [.055, .242]), whereas no significant effect was found from PRSE to PEBs. Specifically, on days when individuals reported higher-than-usual engagement in PEBs, they also reported higher-than-usual levels of PRSE the following day, but not vice versa. At the between-person level, findings showed a significant positive correlation between the average levels of PEBs and PRSE across four weeks.

These findings confirm a positive association between individual differences in PRSE and PEBs among adolescents. Moreover, they highlight that daily reflection on one’s own pro-environmental actions strengthens self-efficacy in overcoming obstacles that might hinder pro-environmental behaviors.

The potential implications for environmental-targeted interventions are discussed.

Pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) are actions individuals take to benefit the environment (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). These behaviors are especially important for adolescents, who play a key role in transitioning to sustainable societies (Pereira & Freire, 2021). Among the main determinants of PEBs is Environmental self-identity (E-SI), the extent to which individuals see themselves as environmentally conscious (van der Werff et al., 2013).

The relationship between PEB and E-SI has been mostly explored in terms of stable interindividual (between-person) differences, primarily employing cross-sectional designs and focusing on how E-SI influences PEB, while less attention has been paid to how performing PEBs might shape E-SI. Moreover, little is known about the intraindividual (within-person) processes underlying this association, which could shed light on their dynamic, reciprocal effects in daily life (Hamaker et al., 2018).

To address these gaps, we used daily diaries, an ecologically valid alternative to cross-sectional methods (McNeish & Hamaker, 2020). The study involved 78 Italian adolescents (Mage = 14.8, SD = 0.74, 29% female) from a broader cross-cultural project. Participants reported their PEB and E-SI daily for 28 days.

Using Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling (Hamaker et al., 2018), results revealed a significant positive spillover from PEB to E-SI (B = .257, 95% CI [.098, .406]). Adolescents who reported higher-than-usual PEBs on one day also reported higher-than-usual E-SI on subsequent days. Conversely, the reverse effect—E-SI to PEB—was non-significant (B = .052, 95% CI [-.031, .136]).

These findings highlight the importance of daily engagement in PEBs in strengthening adolescents’ sense of self as environmentally conscious individuals in everyday life. From a social-cognitive perspective (Bandura, 2001), they could inform interventions to foster a sense of responsibility toward environmental protection in youth through direct experiences, helping individuals perceive these behaviors as aligned with their core identities.

Meat production is strongly related to the deterioration of earth ecosystems, with the burden for tackling these issues disproportionately shifted to younger generations. People’s enjoyment of eating meat and their simultaneous desire to not harm animals, the meat paradox (Loughnan et al., 2010), has been linked to speciesism, the assignment of different moral worth to animals based on their species membership (Caviola et al., 2019). Recent evidence has shown that children in the UK are less speciesist than adults and see eating meat as less morally acceptable (McGuire et al., 2023). Dietary habits are strongly influenced by cultural norms, yet little work so far has explored the cross-cultural development of speciesism. We studied the development of speciesism in Hungarian children (10-11 years, n = 41), young adults (18-21 years, n = 80), and adults (30+ years, n = 123). Omnivores scored significantly higher on the speciesism scale (r = .58) and were more likely to be adults (95%, compared to young adults 81%; p = .013, V = .19; children: 85%) and men (compared to women, p = .027). Women were significantly lower in speciesism than men in young adulthood (d = 1.74); however, gender differences in children and adults were not significant. Lower speciesism was weakly associated with mental states attributed to pigs measured with rating scales (r = .13, p = .038). Moral justifications for not eating meat were more prominent in young adults (43%) than adults (14%; p < .001, V = .29; children: 34%). Practical justifications were most prominent in children (63%), followed by young adults (54%) and adults (41%) (p = .034, V = .18). These findings indicate commonalities between the UK and Hungarian samples, yet also highlight important cultural differences likely brought out through socialization, which will be further discussed in the presentation.

The effects of climate crisis are now being felt globally (IPCC, 2021) and are negatively affecting the well-being of both children (Gislason et al., 2021) and adults (Gago et al., 2024). Even those who have not directly experienced the effects of the climate crisis struggle with negative feelings about the issue (Clayton, 2021). Given these premises, the authors ask what mediators might influence the association between climate crisis stress (CCS) and well-being, particularly for children, who can be trained to face the challenges of the climate crisis in a positive way.

Future orientation (FO) serves as a protective factor against negative events, contributing to greater well-being over time (Chua et al., 2015). Similarly, resilience is recognized as a protective factor that mitigates the development of psychiatric symptoms in individuals exposed to stressful life events (Hjemdal et al., 2006). Therefore, in children, FO and resilience may mediate the negative relationship between climate crisis stress (CCS) and life satisfaction, a key indicator of overall well-being. This study aims to test this hypothesis.

Overall, 393 students (46,1% males; 1,6% other; MAge = 12 [0.3]) took part in the study. Participants were nested in 21 classes of 8 middle schools.

A linear regression model was run to test the hypothesis. Multigroup variable was added to the model to control for possible gender differences.

According to the findings, no gender differences characterize the relationships between the variables of interest. Furthermore, as expected, the negative relationship between CCS and life satisfaction is mediated by both FO and resilience, although the latter appears to be a stronger mediator.

The results of this study can inform the design of interventions to mitigate the negative effects of CCS on children's and adolescents' well-being. Specifically, they suggest that such programs should include activities focus on enhancing children's FO and resilience.

Attachment theory provides a framework to understand the developmental significance of children’s relationships with adult caregivers. Research has largely focused on parent-child attachment, linking its quality to socioemotional and cognitive development. However, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) environments are increasingly part of children’s early social experiences, positioning educators as key attachment figures.

Attachment theory identifies separations from caregivers as significant points to observe attachment quality. Accordingly, the ‘gold standard’ measure of mother-child attachment, the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), uses brief separations and reunions to assess attachment quality. In ECEC, the possibility of assessing attachment is presented daily at drop-off where a naturally occurring departure between parent and child, and reunion between educator and child, occurs. In this presentation we explore a novel modification of the SSP coding procedure, assessing construct and convergent validity of its application to measuring child-educator attachment relationships within an ECEC setting.

Across nine ECEC centres, observations of 76 toddlers, their parents/guardians, and 31 educators were taken at drop-off. Educators and parents/guardians provided demographic details via surveys. Video observations of drop-off were coded using the modified SSP to assess child-educator attachment. Educator sensitivity was assessed using CLASS Toddler version. The Attachment Q-Sort (AQS) was conducted with 34 target children to assess quality of the attachment between a child and target educator.

In this presentation we discuss findings on the modified SSP coding method, comparing attachment behaviours and educator’s CLASS sensitivity scores to assess construct validity, and attachment behaviours and AQS scores to assess convergent validity. We propose directions for future research and discuss how findings relate to children’s developmental outcomes.

Sensory integration is increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of cognitive and social development. Through nine studies, this dissertation advances knowledge in this field by investigating Sensitivity to Intersensory Synchrony in a sample of 396 children aged 3 to 5 years, including 305 neurotypical preschoolers, 55 with Developmental Language Disorder, and 36 with a history of Childhood Maltreatment. Sensitivity to Intersensory Synchrony underpins sensory integration by enabling detection of cross-modal redundancies through temporal proximity.

This research employed an eye-tracking preferential looking task with audiovisual speech stimuli to examine its profiles in both typical and atypical development, considering age-related changes and its malleability in response to different formats of perceptual training (single- and multiple-session). The training consisted of simple, playful, and engaging activities designed to actively involve children in experiencing and reproducing multisensory synchrony. The potential foundational role of Sensitivity to Intersensory Synchrony in fostering higher-order processes crucial for future developmental outcomes was also examined, focusing on its relation with Executive Functions, Self-Regulation, and Language.

The findings revealed a more refined Sensitivity to Intersensory Synchrony in typically developing preschoolers than previously reported, along with distinct patterns of alteration in each atypical group. Furthermore, the results highlighted the foundational role of Sensitivity to Intersensory Synchrony in shaping the development of the investigated higher-order processes. Malleability was evident across groups, with improvements observed even after a single training session. In typical development, multiple-session training appeared to promote bottom-up virtuous cycles, reinforcing Executive Functions and Self-Regulation by building on their embodied roots in intersensory synchrony perception. However, findings indicated a more complex and dynamic developmental framework than initially expected.

While additional research is needed to confirm and expand these insights, this dissertation provides an initial theoretical framework and a practical approach to strengthening foundational perceptual mechanisms, increasingly recognized as key determinants of long-term developmental outcomes.

Mental Health Literacy for Supporting Children (MHLSC) refers to adults’ knowledge and beliefs about mental health problems (MHP) in children, and is essential for their prevention, early recognition, reducing stigma, and promoting timely access to appropriate interventions and management. Understanding the levels of MHLSC among parents, particularly for specific childhood disorders such as Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), is crucial for designing targeted interventions to improve awareness and treatment uptake. Migrants in Australia often exhibit lower levels of mental health literacy compared to non-migrants, with engagement in support services hindered by factors such as stigma and cultural barriers. This study aims to: (1) compare MHLSC for ADHD and ODD in Bangladeshi Migrant parents, (2) examine differences in MHLSC across key domains—problem recognition, help-seeking attitudes, knowledge of interventions, self-help, and finding mental health information—between non-migrant and Bangladeshi migrant parents, and (3) investigate whether acculturation moderates MHLSC for ADHD and ODD among Bangladeshi migrant parents. The study hypothesizes that problem recognition, identification, and knowledge about interventions will be higher for ADHD than ODD; Bangladeshi migrant parents will demonstrate lower MHLSC compared to non-migrant parents; and higher levels of acculturation to Australian culture will be associated with greater MHLSC in Bangladeshi migrant parents. The study is ongoing, but preliminary analysis of the data suggests that MHLSC is lower among Bangladeshi migrant parents compared to Australian parents. These findings highlight the need for culturally informed strategies to enhance mental health literacy and improve access to mental health services in migrant communities.

In France, more than 381,000 children benefit from child welfare services, but only 38% of those requiring out-of-home care are placed with foster families (DRESS, 2024). In recent years, departments have struggled to recruit new foster carers. This lack of interest in the profession is partly explained by the sense of isolation reported by many professionals, especially when supporting children with severe disorders. In this context, developing innovative support methods to aid foster families and enhance children’s well-being is crucial.

Our study evaluates the effectiveness of the Attachment Video-feedback Intervention (AVI) among children and foster families in France. Based on attachment theory, the AVI uses video feedback to enhance the sensitivity of caregivers, thereby supporting children’s socio-emotional development (Moss et al., 2018). The study involved 40 children aged 18 months to 5 years and their foster parents, who were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. To examine the effectiveness of the AVI, pre- and post-tests have been carried out for both study groups. Foster carers’ perceptions of self-efficacy were assessed using the General Scale of Parental Self-Efficacy Belief (EGSCP; Meunier & Roskam, 2009), while children’s behavior problems were evaluated using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000).

This presentation will describe the implementation of the AVI program and present part of the research findings, suggesting that foster parents who participated in the AVI program reported greater confidence in their caregiving abilities, which in turn positively influenced the children's behavior problems. We will highlight the importance of these results in shaping recommendations for practice and public child protection policies. By providing foster parents with enhanced tools for understanding and responding to children's emotional needs, we hope to improve both the well-being of children and the sustainability of foster care placements.

Introduction
Childhood mental health disorders, particularly anxiety, are a global challenge, affecting millions of young people worldwide. In Czechia, the prevalence of mental heath disorders among children is comparable, yet access to specialised care remains limited. Parent intervention programmes have shown significant effectiveness in reducing childhood anxiety globally, offering a time-efficient solution. However, evidence-based parenting programmes are scarce in Czechia. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally adapted, group-based, parent-led cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) intervention (Halldorsson et al., 2021), originally developed at the University of Oxford, within the Czech context.

Method
This RCT employs a mixed-methods design, enrolling over 200 parents of children with anxiety symptoms. Participants are randomised into intervention or control groups. 16 pairs of parent trainers, trained in the translated and adapted group parent-led CBT intervention, facilitate groups of 8–10 parents. Parents in the intervention arm complete a questionnaire battery at baseline, immediately post-intervention (6 weeks from randomisation), and at 3 months post-randomisation. Control group participants complete the same questionnaires at equivalent time points and are offered the intervention after 3 months, if desired. The primary outcome is the change in parent-reported child anxiety symptoms between groups from baseline to post-intervention. Secondary outcomes include child self-reported anxiety measures at baseline and 3 months post-randomisation.

Discussion
Running at the National Institute of Mental Health in Czechia since November 2024 and concluding in June 2025, this trial investigates whether the parent-led CBT intervention significantly reduces anxiety symptoms in children compared to a waitlist control group. The findings will provide critical insights into the potential scalability and financial sustainability of this intervention, with the ultimate goal of integrating it into the Czech mental health care system.

Socioeconomic inequality is one of the most pressing current issues. Thus, it is critical to identify and address socioeconomic inequalities in multiple contexts that may lead to differences in children’s developmental trajectories from an early age. Using a multi-context (household, classroom, school), multi-informant (teachers, parents, peers, child-self report) and a longitudinal design, the overall aim of this doctoral dissertation was to provide a more holistic understanding of how household- and school-level SES contributed to elementary school children’s development. To this end, I focused on parental education, which is arguably the most powerful indicator of SES. The first overarching question examined the roles of household- and school-level parental education in the social, emotional, behavioral, and motivational development of children throughout the elementary school period. The second overarching question examined the role of the classroom context in inequalities in development. Data came from two Dutch longitudinal research projects with repeated measures from kindergarten to end of elementary school. Overall, the findings highlight the urgent need to provide equal and nurturing opportunities for all children regardless of social backgrounds. Results showed that inequalities in social, emotional, behavioral, and motivational development between children growing up in higher and lower parental education households and schools exist at the beginning, during, and at the end of elementary school. Results also showed that attending higher parental education schools do not always benefit children of higher- and lower-educated parents equally. Findings suggested that schools are not (yet) able to compensate for disparities in development. Furthermore, findings showed that the classroom context may play a buffering (through a classroom based intervention) or exacerbating (through negative classroom peer norms) role in the problem development. This dissertation concludes that a multi-context and holistic approach may be necessary to more adequately address the challenges faced by children growing up in lower-educated contexts

Prior research suggests that levels of basic psychological needs of autonomy, belonging and competence of students predict involvement in school peer violence. However, studies have, to date, focused on analysis at the individual level and largely ignored the existence of these needs at a school level. Using data from the Israeli Health Behaviors of School-Aged Children (HBSC) 2022-23 survey, the current study takes a multi-level approach to examine the relationship between psychological needs at both the student and school level, and levels of peer violence. It also extends previous research by examining this relationship in both traditional and democratic educational settings. The sample consists of 3,782 students from 35 public schools. Results at the student level indicate that higher levels of competence and belonging predicted lower involvement in peer violence as both perpetrator and victim. At the school level, greater competence predicted reduced bullying, cyberbullying victimization, and involvement in fights, but belonging was unexpectedly associated with higher rates of bullying and fighting. Autonomy did not have a significant effect at either level. Furthermore, students in democratic schools reported higher autonomy and belonging, as well as lower peer violence, compared to their peers in traditional schools. However, autonomy, belonging, and competence did not mediate the relationship between school type and peer violence involvement. This study addresses a gap in the literature regarding the role of psychological needs at the school level and offers new insights into peer violence dynamics within alternate school environments.

most boys and girls have had a romantic experience during their adolescence. The management of these romantic experiences seems to be related to psychosocial factors such as the perception of quality they have of their own relationships, the skills they possess to manage these first encounters and the intersubjective bonds of secondary attachment they establish. In this study we decided to test a longitudinal model relating secondary attachment, relationship quality and affective competence to relationship experience through a Multigroup Structural Equation Model (MGSEM). The study was conducted with 465 adolescents aged 12-19 who had or had had some kind of romantic experience in the last year (from a fling to a serious relationship). The gender variable was taken into account as a moderating variable, and we determined the significant differences between boys and girls. We also analysed the possible mediating role of quality between affective competence and secondary attachment. The results of the MGSEM showed a significant and positive relationship between the variables in the model. Although significant differences were found between boys and girls, girls follow different paths to build attachment relationships with their partner. The mediating effect of quality was significant for the group of boys. The results of this study aim to provide a theoretical model of an evolutionary nature that allows for a deeper understanding of how adolescents form and develop romantic relationships and allows for the design of good educational practices in this field.

According to the bio-ecological paradigm (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), the broader environment, such as the classroom, can influence adolescent development. Research has shown that relationships with teachers and peers are associated with adolescents’ social-emotional adjustment (e.g., Wentzel & Ramani, 2016). However, previous studies have mostly included only one type of relationships, either with teachers or peers, rather than both, making it difficult to draw conclusions about the relative contribution of both relationship types. The current longitudinal study aims to investigate the relative contributions of positive and negative relationships with teachers and peers (affiliation and dissatisfaction, peer acceptance and rejection, respectively) to adolescents’ social-emotional adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms and well-being at school). In November 2023 (Wave 1), January/February 2024 (Wave 2), and April 2024 (Wave 3), 939 Belgian Grade 7 students (first year of junior high school; 50.1% identified as male, Mage = 12.43 years, SDage = 0.40) completed questionnaires on teacher-student relationships and social-emotional adjustment, and peer nominations on peer relationships. Multilevel analyses will be conducted as participants are nested within classrooms. Positive (negative) relationships with teachers and peers are expected to predict better (worse) social-emotional adjustment, controlling for initial social-emotional adjustment. As peer relationships become more important during adolescence (Wentzel, 2009), we expect peer relationships to be more predictive of adolescents’ social-emotional adjustment than teacher-student relationships. In line with the negativity bias (Vaish et al., 2008), we expect negative classroom relationships to have a stronger effect on adolescents’ social-emotional adjustment than positive classroom relationships. Preliminary multiple linear regression analyses showed that Wave 1 teacher affiliation significantly predicted depressive symptoms, but not well-being at school at Wave 2, suggesting that teacher-student relationships remain important in junior high school. Wave 1 teacher dissatisfaction, peer acceptance, and peer rejection were not significant predictors of Wave 2 depressive symptoms and well-being at school.

Adolescents’ interactions with peers shape their expectations of close friendships, which, in turn, influence relationship quality across the lifespan. While friendship expectations and quality have been extensively studied, little is known about the experiences from peer interactions that underlie them. Therefore, this study qualitatively explored the patterns of positive and negative interaction experiences with forming and maintaining trusting friendships with peers. We conducted eight focus groups (N = 39 participants; 48% women) with early (11–12 years), middle (14–15 years), and late (18–19 years) adolescents and a comparison sample of adults (30–50 years). The data were analysed using experiential reflexive thematic analysis. We developed four main themes: (1) Navigating similarities and differences, (2) Aligning words and actions, (3) Addressing help and support needs, and (4) Treating vulnerable information. In line with the social learning perspective, the results show how adolescents drew on positive and negative interaction experiences with peers, adapting their behaviour in similar future situations and refining their interpersonal skills (e.g., appropriate self-disclosure). Compared to adults, adolescents emphasised friends’ confidentiality more and perceived shared age-specific experiences as a key reason friends empathised with them better than parents. This study provides deeper insight into adolescents’ lived experiences of navigating the emerging needs for autonomy and intimacy in peer relationships and the reorientation from parents to peers when seeking help and support. The findings have practical implications for counsellors, educators, and parents to help adolescents cope with challenges unique to this developmental period.

Prior research has documented the healthy context paradox, whereby negative consequences of victimization by school bullying are particularly severe in classrooms where bullying targets lower number of students. However, the existing studies on the healthy context paradox mostly focus on internalizing problems and the understanding of longitudinal associations and potential mediating mechanisms is rather limited. Therefore, this study will (1) examine longitudinal associations between victimization and both internalizing and externalizing problems, (2) test moderating effects of classroom descriptive norm of victimization (i.e., classroom-level victimization rate), and (3) investigate potential mediating role of self-blaming attributions and lack of peer support. The sample comprises early adolescents (Time 1: N = 2003; 51% girls; age: M = 12 years and 6 months, SD = 12 months) assessed at three time points (with a three-month interval) within one school year. Two separate multilevel linear models (for internalizing problems and externalizing problems) with students and classrooms as levels will be estimated to test the hypothesized effects. We expect to find positive associations between Time 1 victimization and Time 3 internalizing and externalizing problems and a moderation effect of Time 1 classroom-level victimization rate, such as that it will weaken the associations. We further hypothesize that the moderating effects will be mediated by Time 2 self-blaming attributions and lack of peer support. The findings will clarify the healthy context paradox and identify potential mechanisms that could be targeted by interventions.

A growing body of research indicates that focusing attention and effort on meaningful life goals is associated with significant benefits for youth development and well-being (Davids et al., 2017; Massey et al., 2008; Messersmith et al., 2010). This meta-analytic study aims to examine the strength, direction, and potential moderators of the association between goal orientation and well-being. Goal orientation refers to an active cognitive and motivational focus on future goals and possible courses of action, and we focus on two dimensions: goal process appraisals and goal content. For the present study, well-being refers to feeling good about one’s life and adequate subjective, psychological, and social functioning.

To synthesize the existing literature, we conducted a systematic search on the Web of Science database, and “Connected Papers” was used to locate articles not captured by database search. Studies were included if they reported on the association between goal orientation and well-being in samples of 12-18-year-old adolescents. We excluded studies that focused on non-adolescent samples and involved participants with various physical health conditions, at-risk youth, or youth undergoing traumatic experiences. We did not include any time restrictions in our search, as, to our knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis to examine this association in studies conducted with adolescent samples. Due to the expected differences in sample characteristics and outcome measures, we will pool data using random effects models, and heterogeneity will be assessed using I² statistics.

We expect that higher levels of goal orientation will be linked to improved well-being among youth. Additionally, we will explore whether the strength of this relationship varies across goal orientation dimensions, goal contents, sample characteristics, and assessment approaches to goal orientation and well-being. Findings from this study will have implications for goal orientation theory and will reveal the applied implications of goal orientation for interventions and practice.

Adolescence is a critical period for psychosocial adjustment and well-being. It is assumed that the availability of social (i.e. parental social and emotional support, authoritative parenting, integration into peer groups, school integration) and personal resources (i.e. empathy and perspective-taking, self-efficacy, self-control, optimism, sense of coherence, self-esteem) is beneficial for healthy development (i.e. better psychosocial adjustment and higher well-being). However, some associations remain ambiguous, particularly of empathy and perspective-taking as well as integration into peer groups with psychosocial adjustment and well-being. As certain combinations of resources may also be relevant in addition to the level of specific resources, the present study examined profiles of resources in adolescents. Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify resource profiles in a sample of 689 adolescents (54 % female; 44 % male, 2 % diverse) aged 11 to 18 years (M = 12.32, SD = 1.60). Three profiles emerged: High-Resources-Parent-Centred (23 %), characterized by high levels of all resources, particularly parental resources; Average-Overall-Resources (67 %), with average levels across all resources; and Low-Resources-Peer-Centred (10 %), characterized by lower overall resources but average levels of empathy and perspective-taking as well as integration into peer groups. These profiles differed in psychosocial adjustment and well-being: Adolescents in the High-Resources-Parent-Centred profile reported the most favourable outcomes, including the lowest internalising and externalising problems, as well as the highest well-being. While adolescents in the Average-Overall-Resources profile had intermediate outcome levels, members of the Low-Resources-Peer-Centred profile showed significantly higher internalising and externalising problems and lower well-being in comparison to the other profiles. The profiles’ reflection of adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment and well-being supports the idea that combinations of resources are relevant. The findings underline that resource profiles in adolescents should be further investigated in future studies to derive new recommendations for interventions, particularly for adolescents with low-resource profiles.

A widely accepted view in developmental psychology holds that as children transition into adolescence, peers replace parents as the primary source of emotional support for school. However, this may not fully capture the experiences of marginalized youth in the Global North, where racial-ethnic minority communities often place strong cultural value on family support. Black adolescents may also experience lower school engagement and weaker school bonding due to feeling othered in educational spaces. Given that both family and peer relationships may be equally influential in Black communities, this study examines how emotional support from these sources interacts to promote school bonding during early adolescence.

This study, part of a larger project on Black adolescents’ social support and school experiences, focuses on how emotional support from family and peers predicts school bonding. Using data from the National Survey of American Life Adolescent Supplement (N = 1,170; Mage = 15, SD = 1.40), we find that the positive impact of peer emotional support on school bonding is strongest when family emotional support is also high. A significant interaction (b = 0.08, t(769) = 2.13, p = .03) indicates that peer emotional support predicts school bonding when family emotional support is high or average but is not significant when family support is low. These findings suggest that while peers are often viewed as the most influential source of support for adolescents, their impact on school bonding is amplified when they also receive emotional support at home.

By examining how different support sources reinforce one another, this study extends existing research on adolescent development and school engagement. Partnerships and programming that strengthen links between both peer and family emotional support systems may be key to promoting success for adolescents in middle school, particularly for those navigating systemic barriers in education.

Although studies examined differences in life satisfaction across adolescence, the influence of school transitions is often neglected. This is especially true for understudied populations, such as adolescents transitioning from pre-vocational to vocational education. This study examined the life satisfaction trajectories in adolescents transitioning to vocational education using data spanning six years before and one year after the school transition. Moreover, this study examined academic motivation, academic performance, school satisfaction, age, and gender as predictors of these trajectories. Heterogenous linear mixed models were applied to a sample comprising 1,747 German adolescents (57% boys, 96% Germany born, Mage_t1 = 12.81). Three trajectories were identified in which most adolescents showed stable and high life satisfaction levels, some showed initial growth, and others temporary decreases. Stability in life satisfaction levels were linked to high levels of school satisfaction. Low levels of academic motivation and academic performance during the middle years of secondary school were associated with fluctuating levels of life satisfaction. No associations were found between trajectory membership, gender, age, and educational program. While most adolescents generally experienced stability, fluctuations were most evident during the middle years of secondary school. Research implications and results will be discussed.

Background and aims: A wealth of research leaves no room for doubt that people with chronic pain are vulnerable to depression. However, it remains unclear what might prevent the debilitating consequences of pain in older age. The aim of the study - to investigate whether the relationship between chronic pain and depression experienced by older people can be altered by successful aging, defined by the use of selection, optimization, and compensation strategies.

Participants and methods: 106 people experiencing chronic pain participated in the study. Their ages ranged from 65 to 93 years (M = 72,12, SD = 6,39), with 89,6% female and 10,4% male. The Pain Intensity, Enjoyment of Life, and General Activity Questionnaire (Krebs et al., 2009) was used to assess participants' chronic pain, and the Geriatric Depression Scale, short form (Sheikh & Yesavage, 1986) was used to assess depression. The short form of the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation Questionnaire (Freund & Baltes, 2002) was used to determine successful aging. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted, and correlational and moderation regression analyses were applied to answer the research question.

Results and conclusions: The study results revealed that more severe chronic pain in older adults is associated with more significant depression. Additionally, successful aging and greater use of its strategies are essentially associated with lower depression. However, only the compensation strategy has an impact on the relationship between chronic pain and depression in the study sample. Using the compensation strategy less, more incredible chronic pain predicts higher depression while using compensation more breaks this relationship between chronic pain and depression. Thus, it was found that compensation has a moderating effect, weakening the relationship between chronic pain and depression in older adults.

Keywords: chronic pain, depression, successful aging, selection, optimization, compensation.

Background and aims: Specific stressful factors of care and nursing institutions, attitudes to aging, and empathy are mainly studied as having significance for clients' psychological well-being. This study aims to find the links between the psychological well-being of care and nursing institution employees and their attitude to aging and empathy for clients, as this would improve the efficiency of care and care and the well-being of clients.

Methods: The study included 103 employees of Vilnius city and district nursing and care institutions (89.3% - women). An anonymous questionnaire was utilized that included three scales: the Questionnaire on Aging Stereotypes, Jefferson's Empathy Scale, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale – 21 (DASS-21), alongside demographic questions.

Results: The results indicated direct and indirect relationships among several factors. Specifically, care and nursing facility employees who held negative attitudes toward aging and exhibited lower empathy for clients tended to experience greater difficulties regarding psychological well-being, including higher symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. Moreover, negative attitudes toward aging not only predicted lower levels of empathy for clients but also suggested that this lack of empathy further contributed to psychological well-being challenges.

Conclusions: In conclusion, the psychological well-being of employees in care and nursing facilities is influenced by their attitudes toward aging and their empathy for clients, indicating that these factors may impact one another.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of digital technology in addressing mental health challenges. Due to limited digital technology use and certain age-related factors older adults could have been more vulnerable to the pandemic's effects. However, the impact of internalized ageism and regional comparisons have been less integrated in pandemic related studies of older people‘s mental health factors. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the associations between internet use and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults in the Nordic-Baltic region, while adjusting for socio-demographic factors and internalized ageism. Data from the the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Corona Survey 2 was used for this study, including 7263 individuals aged 65 and above from the Nordic and Baltic regions. The study found that internet use was associated with a lower probability of depressive symptoms among older adults but not with anxiety, while internalized ageism predicted both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Regional differences were observed: internet use predicted depressive symptoms in the Baltic but not Nordic regions, while internalized ageism predicted anxiety symptoms in the Baltic but not Nordic regions. These findings highlight the need for interventions that foster digital inclusion and combat ageism, tailored to regional contexts, to promote better mental health among older adults across diverse regions.

Middle-aged women start developing a relationship with their aging and their awareness of death might be changing. It is important to understand what factors are related to aging and death anxiety as it might interfere with a better aging experience. Current satisfaction with own aging and life might be related to how future aging and end-of-life are perceived. The aim of the study was to analyze the association between aging anxiety, death anxiety, perceptions of current own aging, and life satisfaction among middle-aged women. Participants of the study are middle-aged women from Lithuania, aged from 30 to 59 years old. The study is currently in the data collection stage, which is anticipated to be finished in April 2025. The planned sample of the study is a convenience sample of at least 300 women. Measures used in the study are the Anxiety about Aging Scale (Lasher & Faulkender, 1993); The Existential Death Anxiety Scale (Jong, & Halberstadt, 2016); the Attitudes Toward Own Aging subscale from the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (Lawton, 1975) and The Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985). The correlations between aging anxiety, death anxiety and self-perceptions of aging and life satisfaction will be analyzed, and linear regressions will be performed to test whether these constructs predict the level of aging and death anxiety when controlling for other sociodemographic factors. Results will be reported in this presentation. The findings of the study will provide insights into whether factors like how much middle-aged women are satisfied with their lives and with their current aging are related to aging and death anxiety. These insights can be helpful in promoting a healthier relationship with aging and consequently better aging experience. This study was financed by the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No. S-PD-24-58.

In large parts of the world, prevention is considered a necessary component of a successful youth care practice. Time and again, pundits have pushed for prevention, the earlier the better. But an inconvenient truth is that together with the rise of prevention over the past decades, the prevalence of several mental health problems and stress in youths has also increased. In order to explain this paradox—and to resolve it—we need to critically reflect on different interpretations of mental health trends in youths and on how prevention is being operationalized. In this keynote, I critically reflect on the often-held perspective that youth mental health is deteriorating, and put forward a contrasting notion; that as a society we’ve developed a more encompassing view of what constitutes psychopathology, clinical-level mental health problems, and severe stress. In line with this ‘darker view’ of youth mental health, youth prevention in our changing society has developed into a screen-and-resolve kind of ‘troubleshooting’ approach, rather than as an approach that supports the development of good health, competence, and resilience.

Background and aims: The prevalence of perinatal depression in Japan is 14.3%, with higher prevalence in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy (Tomimatsu et al., 2020). Depressive rumination and interpersonal factors have recently been identified as risk modifiers for perinatal mental health (Jones et al., 2025). However, the relationship between perinatal depression, depressive rumination, and interpersonal factors has not yet been examined in Japan. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influence of depressive rumination and interpersonal relationships on perinatal depression among pregnant Japanese women.

Methods: Participants were 202 pregnant women (M = 32.25 years, SD = 3.88) with an average gestational age of 24.12 weeks (SD = 10.71). Each participant completed a questionnaire consisting of the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS), the Ruminative responses scale (RRS) (brooding and reflective pondering), and two subscales of the Psychosocial adaptation to pregnancy questionnaire (PSEQ) (relationship with mother and relationship with husband/partner).

Results: Prior to the analysis, based on Usuda et al. (2017), a cutoff score of 13 was set for the EPDS. As a result, 24 participants (11.9%) were classified into the high-risk group. Correlation coefficients were calculated for the EPDS, RRS, and PSEQ subscales, and moderate positive correlations were observed between the EPDS and all variables (r = .42–.58). Multiple regression analysis revealed that “brooding” (β = .49) and “relationship with husband/partner” (β = .33) had positive relationships with EPDS (p < .001, R² = .44).

Conclusions: These results suggest that perinatal depression in pregnant Japanese women is associated with depressive rumination and interpersonal relationships. In particular, depressive rumination and the relationship with husbands or partners have significant impacts on perinatal depression. Future research should further investigate the detailed influencing factors and their interactions.

Funding: This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP24K06540.

Background Poor maternal mental health during pregnancy is a significant public health concern that can adversely affect fetal brain development and child outcomes. High levels of stress during pregnancy can increase maternal cortisol levels, which can cross the placenta into the fetal bloodstream. Exposure to high levels of cortisol may disrupt the development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, potentially leading to a hyper-responsive stress system, making the fetus more vulnerable to stressors later in life. This study aims to investigate the effects of maternal cortisol levels during pregnancy on infants’ stress response.

Methods Preliminary data from 100 infants and their mothers recruited from public health care clinics in Innlandet County, Norway, will be presented. Maternal cortisol levels during pregnancy were measured in maternal hair samples provided at approximately 8 weeks postpartum. Infants’ stress response was measured at 6 months by measuring saliva cortisol levels before (T1), and 20 minutes (T2) and 40 minutes (T3) after a blood sampling procedure. Statistical analyses will include multiple regression to examine the relationship between maternal cortisol and baseline infant cortisol levels (T1). Additionally, we will explore how maternal cortisol levels during pregnancy influence infant salivary cortisol reactivity to the blood sampling, specifically examining changes in cortisol levels from baseline to T2 and from T2 to T3.

Results Mean maternal cortisol levels for each trimester and infant salivary cortisol levels at the three time points (T1, T2, and T3) will be reported. The relationship between maternal cortisol and infant baseline cortisol (T1) will be presented, along with the association between maternal cortisol levels and infant cortisol reactivity, as indicated by changes in cortisol from baseline to T2 and from T2 to T3.

Discussion Findings will contribute to understanding the complex interplay between maternal mental health during pregnancy, cortisol levels, and infant stress regulation.

A growing body of research indicates that obstetric disrespect and mistreatment during childbirth are widespread globally. These experiences can contribute to perceiving childbirth as traumatic, with implications for the woman's mental health and the quality of the mother-infant relationship. Considering that the quality of early interactive dyadic experiences is crucial for the child's later development, it is necessary to use instruments to study obstetric mistreatment and its consequences. However, this phenomenon remains unexplored due to the lack of valid clinical tools. This study aims to develop and validate the Disrespect and Mistreatment during Childbirth Questionnaire (DMCQ) and explore factors contributing to traumatic childbirth experiences, as well as the relationship between mistreatment and the stress perceived by mothers in the parent-child interaction during the first two postpartum years. An online survey was administered to 620 women, assessing sociodemographic and childbirth-related factors, experiences of disrespect and mistreatment during childbirth, postpartum posttraumatic stress symptoms related to childbirth, personality traits, and parenting stress. Exploratory factor analysis identified a 5-factor model with good internal consistency: negative interactions with healthcare providers, separation from the newborn, medical intrusiveness, verbal mistreatment, and pain experience. Confirmatory factor analysis supported this structure. Women with higher education, low income, and births in Southern Italy reported greater obstetric mistreatment. Other risk factors included primiparity, unplanned cesarean, instrumental delivery, episiotomy, anesthesia, labor exceeding 12 hours, and delivery complications. Finally, higher scores on the DMCQ correlated with increased perception of traumatic childbirth and the stress perceived in the parent-child relationship. In conclusion, the DMCQ is a psychometrically valid tool to address obstetric mistreatment in the early years postpartum. The results also underline the importance of educating maternal-care health professionals about this phenomenon to promote the well-being of both the mother and the child.

Background Joint visual attention (JVA) refers to the ability to coordinate visual attention between oneself, another person, and an object or event in the environment. It facilitates the interpretation of social cues, reciprocal interactions and the development of language skills. Maternal mental health, particularly in the context of postpartum depression, has been shown to negatively impact early parent-child interactions and infants’ socioemotional development. The aim of this study is to examine the interplay between maternal mental health, infants’ social-emotional development, and JVA, focusing on how maternal mental health and infants’ social-emotional competencies influence JVA at 12 months.

Methods The study included 300 mother-infant dyads from a prospective longitudinal cohort in Norway (RART, 2022–2025). Maternal mental health was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 6-15 weeks postpartum. Infant social-emotional development was measured using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social and Emotional (ASQ-SE) at 6 months postpartum. Infants’ gaze following during a JVA task was recorded with a Tobii Pro Spectrum eye tracker at 12 months.

Results Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations will be reported for JVA performance, maternal mental health scores, and social-emotional development measures. Regression analyses will assess whether maternal depressive symptoms (EPDS at 6–15 weeks) and infant social-emotional development (ASQ-SE at 6 months) predict JVA at 12 months, to explore how maternal mental health and social-emotional development contribute to the emergence of early social cognition.

Discussion This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between maternal mental health, infant social-emotional development, and JVA, highlighting JVA as an early indicator of social cognition.

Aim

To investigate the relationship between quality of General Movements (GMs) and neurodevelopmental outcomes in two-year-old infants born very preterm (VPT).

Method

Retrospective single-centre cohort study including infants born before 32 weeks’ gestation. GMs video recordings at 3 months corrected age rated with the Motor Optimality Score - Revised (MOS-R). Recordings were rated twice by raters blinded to neonatal or developmental outcomes. Child cognitive, language and motor development at 2 years was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd edition.

Results

The study included 316 infants [52.5% males, mean (SD) gestational age 28.7 (2.3) weeks, birth weight z-score -0.14 (0.85)]. The median MOS-R total score was 23 (range: 5-28). The mean cognitive composite, language and motor scores at two years were 102.0 (15.4), 92.1 (16.1), and 95.8 (15.3) respectively. Higher MOS-R total scores were related to better cognitive and motor development at two years. However, associations disappeared when controlling for number of severe neonatal morbidities.

Interpretation

While the quality of GMs at three months corrected age is associated with the infant's cognitive and motor development at two years, it might have no incremental predictive power over the number of severe neonatal morbidities.

Introduction: Crying is recognised as the earliest evolutionary expression of emotion and communication in human infants. Approximately 20% of infants worldwide exhibit excessive, persistent, or atypical crying behaviours, which are particularly prevalent in conditions associated with somatic health vulnerabilities and atypical development. Conversely, international literature reports that certain conditions, such as Down syndrome, are associated with a reduced intensity of crying as a signalling mechanism.

Aims: Our study aimed to understand and describe the crying characteristics of Hungarian children with Down syndrome under the age of 36 months, and to compare these data with the crying behaviour of typically developing infants and toddlers of the same age in nationally representative community samples.

Methods: The research project "Infancy in 21st Century Hungary" collected data on parents' perceptions of early childhood crying behaviour in nationally representative samples of two cohorts (2019-2020, n=980; 2023-2024, n=415), along with other important constructs of parenting and child behaviour. As a continuation of this research, a study was launched in early 2025 to measure parental perceptions and observations of crying in children with Down syndrome using a self-report questionnaire based on international literature.

Result: Here, we present some comparative descriptive data on crying behaviour and parental responses (e.g. intensity and frequency of crying episodes, parental reassurance strategies and levels of parental concern about crying) in typically developing children and children with Down syndrome. We also report on differences in the distribution of perceptions of crying according to socio-demographic and other background variables.

Conclusion: A comparative analysis of the crying behaviour of typically and atypically developing children, such as those with Down syndrome, may reveal specific characteristics and processes, as well as parental perceptions that are important to consider when designing educational and intervention programmes.

Emotional availability (EA) refers to parents' sensitivity towards their children without intrusiveness or hostility and to children's responsiveness to and involvement of their parents (Biringen et al., 2014). EA shapes children's socio-emotional development (McMahon et al., 2022). Limited research examined its stability from infancy to childhood, and the handful of studies primarily focused on term-born children or those at psychosocial risk (Bornstein & Putnick, 2021; Easterbrooks et al., 2012). The two studies examining EA stability in preterm infants focused on stability from age 6 and 18 months (corrected age; CA) to toddlerhood and preschool years (Salvatory et al., 2016; Stack et al., 2018).

We aimed to extend these works in two ways. First, by examining EA stability in mothers and preterm-born children from an earlier age, 3-4 months (CA), and across a more extended period, age 5-8 years. Second, by assessing maternal sensitivity in infancy across various modalities: touch, holding, lifting and putting down the infant; vocalization; and eye contact. Participants were 47 mothers and their preterm infants. Mothers' sensitivity across modalities and non-intrusiveness and infants' responsiveness and involvement during free play interaction were coded using the Mother & Infant Attunement scales (Lev-Enacab & Sher-Censor, 2012), developed for this study and adapted from the EA scales (Biringen, 2008). In childhood, mother-child play interactions involving fine motor, gross motor, and collaborative storytelling were rated using the EA scales (Biringen, 2008).

Controlling for relevant covariates (child age at Time 2 and negative life events between Time 1 and Time 2), MANCOVA revealed stability in maternal sensitivity and non-intrusiveness and child responsiveness and involvement over time, Wilk's lambda= .92, F (4, 41) =.85, p = .500; Univariate F’s (1, 44) < .29, p’s > .594. These results highlight the importance of fostering EA among mothers and their preterm infants from early age.

Event components (e.g., manner, path; action, result) are encoded differently across languages (Talmy, 1985). In Mandarin, state-change events are best expressed with resultative verb compounds (RVCs, ‘action verb - result verb’), while no-state-change events typically use action verbs. Mandarin-speaking children struggle to use action verbs for no-state-change events but successfully apply RVCs to state-change events (Chen, 2017). Previous studies demonstrated that factors such as inherence and inferability of manner (Allen et al., 2007; Papafragou et al., 2006) influence syntactic packaging of manner and path. Here, we investigated whether endstate salience ('cucumber breaks' vs. 'doll gets out of box') contributes to children's learning challenges with action verbs and RVCs.

A 2x2 design was employed, manipulating Change-of-State ('state-change' vs. 'no-state-change') and Endstate ('salient' vs. 'inconspicuous'). Ninety-six monolingual Mandarin-speaking children (M = 5.32 yrs, SD = 1.07, range: 3.1~6.8) were randomly assigned to either the salient or inconspicuous condition and asked whether a given RVC or action verb appropriately described an event. Each child evaluated both a state-change and a no-state-change event. Logistic regression model was applied to analyze acceptance rates as the dependent variable.

Results revealed a significant interaction between Change-of-State and Endstate (β = -5.96, p = .017) for RVCs. In state-change events, children accepted RVCs regardless of endstate salience. However, in no-state-change events, higher endstate salience reduced RVC acceptance.

No significant interaction was found (β = -1.35, p = .068) for action verbs. Not Endstate (β = -.45, p = .286), but Change-of-State significantly affected action verb acceptance (β = -2.51, p < .001). Overall, children showed a preference for applying action verbs to state-change events.

These findings suggest that Mandarin-speaking children are sensitive to the degree of endstate achievement when learning RVCs. Further exploration of action type may be necessary to understand the challenges in applying action verbs.

Attachment research suggests parents’ sensitivity to their children (i.e., reading children’s signals accurately and responding in timely, attuned ways) impacts their socio-emotional development, including behavior problems. Most research has focused on typically developing children, but growing evidence supports this notion in children with autism, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, and psychiatric disorders (Biringen et al., 2022). Our study extended prior work to children with language disorders, focusing on under-studied Arab families and using a longitudinal design to address the predominance of cross-sectional research in clinical populations. We hypothesized that children of less sensitive mothers would show more behavior problems over time.

Forty Arab-Israeli mothers and their children aged 4–9 years (M_months= 68.63, SD = 16.47; 10 female) participated in Time1, and 31 of them participated in Time2 (two years later). Twenty-two children were diagnosed with stuttering, and 18 with expressive language delay. Maternal sensitivity was assessed at Time1 through observed mother-child interactions (narrating with a picture book and “social play” without physical objects), coded using the Sensitivity scale (Biringen et al., 2008) and through the Reaction to Speech Disfluency Scale (Humeniuk & Tarkowski, 2016). Higher scores on the latter indicate less attuned and more negative maternal responses when children stutter or struggle expressing themselves (e.g., irritation, speaking for the child). Children’s language disorder severity and verbal IQ were assessed using standard tests. Behavior problems were measured at Time1 and Time2 using mothers’ reports on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997).

Controlling for background variables, regression analyses showed that lower maternal sensitivity (observed and self-reported) predicted more behavior problems at Time1 and an increase in these problems by Time2.

These findings extend prior research to Arab-speaking children with language disorders, emphasizing the importance of maternal sensitivity in shaping socio-emotional outcomes and highlighting the need for targeted interventions to support these families.

Study objectives

Executive functioning (EF) is a critical factor associated with various neurodevelopmental and mental health outcomes. Poor EF has been linked to higher externalizing and internalizing problems in school-age children. EF develop rapidly during early childhood, a period that also coincides with the emergence of socio-emotional problems in at-risk children. However, research on longitudinal early EF development and its associations with child mental health remains limited. The aim of the present study is to examine the associations between longitudinal EF profiles from infancy to 5 years of age and socio-emotional problems in children, as reported by parents at age 5.

Methods

The children in the sample were drawn from the longitudinal FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. Children with available parent report of socioemotional problems at 5 years evaluated using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and longitudinal EF profiles based on assessments conducted at 8 months, 2.5 years, and 5 years of age were included (N=830). Children's longitudinal EF profiles were identified (Karonen et al., under review) using item response theory (IRT) and latent profile analysis (LPA). Three profiles were identified: (1) 'Below Average' (14.2%), where children consistently performed below average on EF tasks at all time points; (2) ' Lower Average' (56.0%); and (3) 'Higher Average' (29.8%). The latter two profiles were differentiated by their performance on the working memory task at age 5. Between-group differences in children's socioemotional problems will be tested using general linear modelling.

Results expected

We expect an association between child’s poorer early EF profile and higher internalizing and externalizing problems.

Conclusions

The longitudinal study design will offer valuable insights into the early developmental profiles of EF and their impact on children's socio-emotional well-being. Gaining a better understanding of how to identify children at risk for mental health problems is crucial for the early preventive interventions.

Several studies have shown that conversation-based activities are particularly effective in improving theory of mind and wellbeing among school-aged children. The objective of this study was to verify whether a conversation-based training is able to increase theory of mind, resilience, empathy, and adaptive coping strategies, and to simultaneously decrease maladaptive coping strategies in school-aged children. This goal was pursued using a randomized pre-post research design, with two groups receiving an identical training in different phases of the longitudinal intervention study. The sample was composed of 285 Italian children attending fourth and fifth grade of primary school (Mage = 10.00; SD = 0.57; girls = 121), of which 142 randomly assigned to the first experimental group (G1) and 143 assigned to the second experimental group (G2). At Time 1 (autumn), Time 2 (winter), and Time 3 (spring), children completed self-report questionnaires on the target constructs. The intervention lasted one month and consisted in four weekly sessions of a conversation-based training (each lasting 50 minutes). G1 received the training between Time 1 and Time 2, whereas G2 between Time 2 and Time 3. Overall, analyses conducted through linear mixed effects models revealed a significant time × Training Group interaction for coping strategies and resilience, with post-hoc tests showing a substantial reduction in internalizing coping strategies among fifth graders following the intervention t(299) = 4.926, p < 0.001. No significant variations emerged in the other constructs, neither in fourth nor in fifth graders. The present results suggest that a relatively short intervention based on group discussions of mental states, resilience and coping strategies, can reduce some forms of maladaptive coping strategies. However, only older children benefited from the training. Therefore, future studies will need to diversify the training contents depending on the age of the participants to achieve better results.

Parental Reflective Functioning (PRF) refers to a parent's ability to reflect on their own internal mental and emotional states (thoughts, feelings, desires) as well as those of their child (Fonagy et al., 1991). It involves understanding that one’s own thoughts and feelings can be influenced and transformed by acknowledging the thoughts and feelings of the other, and has proven a fruitful direction in both theory and research, especially regarding sensitive parenting, parent-child interactions, and the formation of secure relationships. PRF is a critically important capacity for foster parents, considering the high levels of trauma and the emotional and behavioral difficulties often experienced by foster children. It helps foster parents tolerate and manage their children’s challenging behaviors and dysregulated emotional states, while also positively influencing the children’s attachment representations. However, to our knowledge, research on foster parents’ PRF is limited, especially regarding children in preschool and early school years, and completely absent in the Greek context.

The purpose of the present study, which is part of the first author's ongoing doctoral research on the formation of secure relationships between foster parents and young children, is to evaluate the PRF of foster parents in Greece. Participants were 30 foster parents, mothers and fathers, who foster children between the ages of 4 and 7. PRF has been assessed through the Parental Development Interview (PDI) (Fonagy et al., 1998), which evaluates PRF while also allowing for the overall exploration of the parent-child relationship in the present. The findings suggest that foster parents' PRF is associated with better parental care, greater parental satisfaction, and a sense of self-efficacy, as well as better communication within the family. At the same time, the findings highlight the significant need for psychoeducational intervention programs that focus on PRF.

Risky play is a fundamental aspect of children's development as, according to existing research, it promotes self-confidence, independence and psychological resilience, by helping children to overcome fears and to develop coping skills in challenging situations. However, in 21st century western societies, there is a tendency to avoid risky play in favour of children’s safety, while research on risky play is limited, especially in environments not designed for this purpose.
The presented research focuses on children's, parents' and teachers' perceptions and experiences regarding risky play. It is conducted in one preschool educational setting with cultural heterogeneity and the presence of children with disabilities, which gives an inclusive and empowering character to the study findings. Data will be collected through focus groups with the children, the parents and the preschool teachers of the particular setting, thus allowing for a deeper understanding of participants' experiences and perceptions. The research questions are:
1. How do children perceive and engage in risky play?
2. How does the school environment support or hinder children's risk taking in their play?
3. What are parents' and preschool teachers’ fears and concerns about risky play?
4. What is the role of preschool teachers in facilitating risky play?
The findings so far, highlight the desire of children to engage in risky play against adult restrictions, its contribution to developing children's self-confidence, independence and agency, as well as the diverse factors associated with risky play. At the same time, they highlight the importance of developing positive attitudes towards risky play as significant for children's development and the crucial role of parents and teachers in creating safe environments for risky play.

Early childhood peer relationships play a crucial role in social, cognitive, and emotional development. Peer rejection has been consistently linked to the emergence of externalizing behaviors and early antisocial tendencies in preschoolers. Understanding this relationship is essential for early intervention and prevention strategies to mitigate long-term behavioral maladjustment. This systematic review synthesizes empirical evidence to explore how peer rejection in early childhood contributes to the development of externalizing behaviors, including aggression, impulsivity, and antisocial traits, in preschoolers. Additionally, this review examines potential mediating and moderating factors influencing this relationship. A systematic search was conducted across multiple databases, including PubMed, PsycINFO, and ResearchGate, following systematic review guidelines. Inclusion criteria required studies to (1) be published in peer-reviewed journals between 2009 and 2024, (2) focus on preschool-aged children (3–6 years old), (3) investigate the association between peer rejection and externalizing behaviors or antisocial traits, and (4) utilize longitudinal, cross-sectional, or experimental designs. Findings consistently demonstrate that peer rejection in early childhood significantly predicts increases in externalizing behaviors, including physical and verbal aggression, noncompliance, and impulsivity. Peer rejection fosters social alienation, reinforcing maladaptive attitudes toward authority and increasing the risk of antisocial behaviors. Key mediating factors include poor emotion regulation, executive dysfunction, harsh parenting, and deficient social skills, while protective factors such as teacher support, social skills training, and structured intervention programs help mitigate the negative effects of peer rejection. Additionally, children who experience peer rejection are more likely to associate with antisocial peers and to interpret ambiguous social cues as hostile, further reinforcing maladaptive behaviors. These findings highlight the critical importance of early interventions focusing on emotion regulation and positive peer relationships. Future research should explore the effectiveness of early intervention programs and the longitudinal impact of peer rejection across different developmental stages.

Keywords: peer rejection, early childhood, externalizing behaviors, antisocial traits, social-emotional development

BACKGROUND: In recent years, there is a surge in research studies investigating the intersection of autism and gender diversity. These studies have shown that, in adolescents and adults, gender diversity is elevated in autistic individuals. Almost all prior studies focused on adolescents or adults, and very limited research has examined gender diversity in autistic children. The few prior studies including autistic children (3 studies on gendered play and 1 study on gender identity) relied heavily on parent reports, examined a limited number of outcomes, and did not assess cognitive abilities.

METHOD: The present study examined aspects of gendered play and gender identity in 120 children without intellectual disability (30 autistic boys, 35 non-autistic boys, 20 autistic girls, 35 non-autistic girls) aged 4–11 years. Vocabulary and abstract reasoning were also assessed. For gendered play, measures were employed to assess parent-reported composite play, observed toy play, self-reported activity preferences, self-reported toy preferences, and self-reported playmate preferences. For gender identity, children’s self-reports were used to assess own-gender similarity, other-gender similarity, gender contentedness, and wish to be of the other gender.

RESULTS: Consistently across all 9 play and identity outcomes, there were differences between autistic boys and non-autistic boys in the same direction, suggesting increased gender nonconforming play and increased gender identity variance in autistic boys. These differences in play and identity in boys were mostly medium or large and were mostly significant. Autistic and non-autistic boys did not differ in vocabulary, abstract reasoning, or age. No consistent, clear, or significant differences emerged in comparisons of autistic and non-autistic girls.

CONCLUSION: Gender diversity may emerge early in childhood in autistic individuals, although the developmental trajectory may differ for autistic boys and girls. The relatively unaltered development in autistic girls may be in part explained by masking and exposure to female peers and adults.

Background:

Mental health problems are prevalent among children, with 13.4% of young people worldwide meeting diagnostic criteria (Polancyzk et al., 2015). Anxiety problems are particularly common, yet few families access support (Reardon et al., 2018). Long waiting times and perceived stigma are frequently cited barriers to accessing treatment. One way to address these issues and increase access is to deliver treatment online and through parents.

A treatment to meet this need already exists – Online Support and Intervention for child anxiety (OSI). OSI is a digital, parent-led treatment based on cognitive behavioural therapy principles, consisting of eight modules and therapist support. A recent randomised controlled trial (the Co-CAT study; Creswell et al., 2024) showed that OSI was clinically and cost effective, and acceptable to families and clinicians.

Methods:

Following the Co-CAT study, participating clinical teams were invited to continue using OSI in their routine practice (i.e. outside of a research study). This formed a service evaluation project called OSI-GROWS (GRowing OSI With Services). Initial outcomes from the OSI-GROWS project are promising and comparable to those in the Co-CAT study. However, we have little information about which groups of children do not benefit from OSI, and what characteristics may predict poorer outcomes.

Predictors of outcome in the OSI-GROWS project will be explored, along with predictors of acceptability and engagement. OSI collects child demographics, including age, gender, primary anxiety problem, and suspected or diagnosed neurodevelopmental conditions, that will be used as predictor variables.

Results and Discussion:

The findings from this study will increase our understanding of which families benefit least from online, parent-led treatments for child anxiety problems and inform adaptions to OSI to ensure that the intervention is as effective as possible for more families.

This poster presents findings from an exploratory study examining how families adapt and function when a child is diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight families, whose experiences are explored from three temporal perspectives—past, present, and future—shedding light on challenges, coping strategies, and evolving aspirations. The qualitative data reveal complex emotional trajectories, with families describing a profound initial impact of the diagnosis, a period of adjustment and adaptation, and varying degrees of hope and concern for what lies ahead.

To complement these qualitative insights, we also report aggregate data from 100 families raising a child with various rare genetic disorders (including Angelman syndrome, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Rett syndrome, Smith-Magenis syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, Turner syndrome, Williams syndrome, Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome, Dandy Walker syndrome and different types of Mucopolysacharidosis). Results indicate that many parents experience a notable decline in the quality of their relationship following the child’s diagnosis. However, this stress is accompanied by significant growth in certain aspects of self-actualization. Participants frequently reported deeper understanding of others, an enhanced sense of empathy, and a heightened sense of purpose or meaning in life.

By integrating qualitative and quantitative findings, this research highlights the multifaceted nature of family adaptation in the face of rare genetic conditions. The results underscore the importance of providing both emotional and practical support for parents, as well as interventions aimed at strengthening partner relationships. Ultimately, these insights may inform the design of targeted, holistic programs to better meet the needs of families navigating the challenges posed by rare diseases.

Mental health problems tend to cluster in urban areas, highlighting the significant impact of city living on psychological well-being (Krabbendam et al., 2021). Urbanicity emerged as a crucial factor in understanding the development of mental health issues (van der Wal et al., 2021). Urban stressors such as high population density, access to facilities and green space, and social cohesion have been linked to mental health outcomes. Research suggests that growing up in an urban environment increases the risk of developing mental disorders, including anxiety and depression (Penkelle & Kohler, 2014; Krabbendam et al., 2021).

Beyond individual mental health, urban environments may also shape family dynamics. Neighborhood disadvantage has been associated with higher parenting stress (Spijkers et al., 2002) and increased child problem behavior (Sellström & Bremberg, 2006). However, previous studies primarily focused on socioeconomic status, overlooking other urban factors that may shape parenting and child development. Moreover, few studies have examined how urban stressors impact parenting behavior itself.

This cross-sectional study examined whether urbanicity-related factors relate to parenting and child behavior. We surveyed 169 Dutch parents (n = 127 mothers) with children aged 2 to 17 years (M_age = 8.75, SD = 4.42). Most participants lived in high-density neighborhoods (66.1%) with moderate to high socioeconomic status (67.7%). Parents provided self-reports on general health, stress, urban stressors, neighborhood social cohesion, parenting stress, parenting behavior, and child problem behavior. Using multiple regression models, we will analyze whether urbanicity (parents’ experiences of urban stressors, socioeconomic position, and population density) relates to parenting stress, parenting behavior, and child problem behavior. Results will be available in August 2025.

Understanding the relationship between the urban environment and parenting could provide valuable insights for designing more effective, context-aware parenting interventions. Our findings could also offer insight into moderation factors in intervention research.

Increasing evidence indicates that both adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the unpredictability of a child's environment may increase the risk of subsequent mental illness. In this study, we investigate the associations between ACEs and the level of unpredictability in children’s living environments at age 9. Additionally, we explore the possible interaction effect of ACEs and unpredictability on children's mental health at the same age.

This study is part of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study (Karlsson et al., 2017). At this stage, the sample included 81 children who participated in the study visit at age 9. Data collection is still ongoing. Unpredictability in the childhood environment was assessed using the Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC, Glynn et al., 2022). ACEs were measured using the Pediatric ACEs and Related Life-Events Screener (PEARLS). Children's mental health was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach et al., 2000).

Children's reports of unpredictability were significantly correlated with their reports of ACEs (r = .047**). When comparing three groups based on ACE levels (low, moderate, and high), the level of unpredictability was higher in the high-ACE group (M = 7.07, SD = 5.82) compared to both the low-ACE group (M = 3.8, SD = 2.7) and the moderate-ACE group (M = 4.28, SD = 3.56) (F = 4.035, p = .021).

Preliminary findings suggest that ACEs and environmental unpredictability are linked, contributing to a potential cumulative risk to a child’s well-being. While the two measures are correlated, they account for only about 20% of shared variance and should therefore be considered independently. In the poster presentation, we will present these associations with a larger study sample. We will also explore the direct and interaction effects of ACEs and unpredictability on children's mental health outcomes.

Objective. While problematic internet use (PIU) has been widely studied in elder adolescents and adults, younger children remain underexplored. Researches often examine PIU in isolation, despite its strong links to screen time (ST) and mental health problems (e.g., Restrepo et al., 2020; Chen & Fan, 2024). These associations became particularly pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to increased ST and potentially exacerbated PIU and its psychological consequences. This study applies Latent Class Analysis with covariates to classify children (7–13 years) based on PIU, screen time, and emotional and behavioral difficulties, using a multidimensional approach to identify PIU profiles and examine the predictive role of age, gender, and parental education.

Methods. Data from 869 Lithuanian children (mean age = 9.94 years, 47.4% girls) were analyzed. The sample, collected between 2020 spring – 2023 winter (COVID and early post-COVID period), relied on parental reports of PIU (Compulsive Internet Use Scale), leisure ST, and total difficulties (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ).

Results. A three-class model provided the best fit. Among 7–13-year-olds, low-risk users (33.4%) showed moderate PIU and ST with low SDQ difficulties; moderate-risk users (54.9%) had higher PIU, increased ST, and elevated SDQ difficulties; high-risk users (11.7%) exhibited severe PIU, excessive leisure ST (~5 hrs/day), and significant emotional and behavioral problems. Older children and boys were significantly more likely to belong to the higher risk group, while parental education did not significantly predict risk level. Overall, demographic factors did not distinguish between moderate- and high-risk users.

Conclusions. As demographic factors alone do not explain risk transitions, additional individual or contextual factors may contribute. High-risk users not only had severe PIU but also had more emotional and behavioral difficulties and excessive leisure ST. These findings underscore the need for comprehensive, developmentally sensitive interventions addressing ST regulation and mitigation of emotional and behavioral problems risks.

This research combines a systematic literature review and a qualitative study to deepen our understanding of how European youth define mental well-being, identify key influencing factors, and propose concrete actions for improvement. The literature review synthesizes qualitative studies on youth perspectives on mental well-being. A multidisciplinary search across electronic databases yielded 40,369 results, from which 23 studies were selected using AI-supported screening. Findings reveal that youth often conflate mental well-being with related concepts (e.g. mental health, quality of life, happiness), yet primarily describe it as an overarching sense of “feeling well” or “doing well.” They view mental well-being as complex, multidimensional, and deeply context-dependent, with strong links to their social environment—particularly the quality of their relationships, especially with parents and friends. Based on these insights, we propose a youth-informed conceptual framework that captures the broad range of influential factors while recognizing personal experiences and contextual influences. The qualitative study engages Dutch adolescents (aged 12–18) in focus groups, providing deeper insights into youth well-being through (1) a semi-structured discussion on key factors shaping mental well-being, (2) a co-creation exercise to assess and refine the youth-informed framework, and (3) a final discussion proposing concrete actions at multiple socioecological levels. By integrating a systematic literature review with direct youth engagement, this study bridges research and lived experience, providing both a broad conceptual overview and tangible recommendations. The findings offer valuable insights for future research, policies, and interventions aimed at promoting youth mental well-being across Europe.

Studies showed that the COVID-19 has affected people’s lives around the world but death rates varied across the contries. Research showed that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted not only parents but also children’s mental health. They experienced problems such as worry, loneliness, and anxiety (Orgiles et al., 2020), as well as an increase in their anxiety levels compared to the pre-pandemic phase (e.g., Hawes et al., 2020; Ravens-Sieberer et al., 2020). COVID-19-related anxiety, stress and experiences are found to be associated with increased mental health problems in mothers (Hart & Han, 2021) and also in their children. Thus, present study aimed to investigate children’s anxiety levels during the pandemic by controlling pre-pandemic levels of both mothers’ and children’s anxiety in Türkiye. Specifically, how mothers’ COVID-19 experiences mediated by their general anxiety levels during pandemic in predicting their children’s anxiety. Since children differentially effected by their environment the moderating roles of children’s temperamental traits (negative affect and sensory processing sensitivity) were also tested in the association between maternal and child anxiety levels during pandemic. Four moderated mediation models were tested by the Process Macro (Model 14; Hayes, 2018; see Figure 1). 324 mother-child pairs were recruited for this study and the measurements were collected both before the pandemic and during the pandemic. Findings suggested that maternal anxiety related to COVID-19 and mothers’ losses due to COVID-19 were both positively related to maternal general anxiety during the pandemic, which in turn, were significantly related to child anxiety indicating a full mediation model. Additionally, for the temperamental trait of negative affect, a moderated mediation model was marginally significant. Results will be discussed by comparing the findings from different countries.

In the present study, emphasis was placed on examining the contribution of factors related to executive functions according to the division of "hot" versus "cold" executive functions. Alongside the executive functions, factors related to anxiety and social anxiety were examined, as well as environmental factors related to the socio-economic background of the adolescents, including household income levels, and mediating and moderating variables related to gender and metacognitive abilities.

The final sample of the current study included 100 participants, adolescents from the Arab society in Israel, native Arabic speakers. The average age was 15.5 years with a standard deviation of 0.32.

To assess the executive functions, the participants' parents completed a brief questionnaire designed to evaluate executive functions ("hot" versus "cold"). In addition, the participants were tested on tasks assessing "hot" executive functions, such as the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and a computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test designed to assess "cold" executive functions, as well as a backward digit span task to assess working memory, associated with "cold" executive function.

The tendency for antisocial behavior among the participants was examined based on self-report using a questionnaire (Bendixen & Olweus, 1999), while levels of general anxiety and social anxiety were assessed through self-reports using anxiety questionnaires and a social anxiety questionnaire. Additionally, attitudes toward the tendency to use psychoactive substances were assessed with a shortened questionnaire. Finally, cognitive processes were evaluated through performance on Raven's Progressive Matrices test.

The study's findings particularly highlight the relationship between "hot" executive functions, especially self-regulation, emotional control, and risk-taking, and the tendency toward antisocial behavior. This relationship was not consistently reflected in the context of "cold" executive functions.

The findings of the study are discussed mainly in the context of the literature on executive functions and the development of antisocial personality.

Background: Naikan therapy, a psychotherapeutic approach from Japan, is said to deepen self- and other-awareness by reflecting on past experiences through three key questions. It is sometimes applied in educational settings. For children, instructional texts may be modified. For example, "What has this person done for me?" may be reworded as "Things to be thankful for," "What have I done for this person?" as "Things that made others happy," and "What difficulties have I caused this person?" as "Things to apologize for." However, a key feature of Naikan therapy is its emphasis on objective facts rather than subjective emotions. This raises the question of whether making instructional texts more subjective affects clients' recollections and experiences, leading to this investigation.
Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 112 participants aged 18 and older who had no prior Naikan therapy experience. Participants recalled both past and present periods using either conventional or modified instructional texts with altered expressions, then described their recollections and impressions. Considering the order effect, participants were randomly assigned to four groups in an online setting. However, for the final analysis, comparisons were made between two groups: the conventional and modified groups. Analysis was conducted using KH Coder, a text-mining software program.
Results & Discussion: Results suggest traditional instructional texts are less likely to interfere with Naikan-based recall. The conventional group tended to focus on their actions' impact on others, while the modified group searched for feelings of gratitude or apology from a self-perspective.
Limitations and Future Directions: This study was conducted with adults, and the same results may not necessarily apply to children. However, when implementing Naikan therapy for children, if modifications are made to the instructional texts for better comprehension, therapists need to provide appropriate explanations.

Online hate speech (OHS) is a form of cyberviolence that involves disseminating discriminatory content targeting specific groups based on characteristics such as ethnicity, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. The rapid increase in OHS has emerged as a major public concern, particularly given its growing prevalence among young people. Despite the expanding body of research on OHS, little is known about adolescents’ perceptions and experiences—whether as direct targets or as bystanders. This study addresses this gap by exploring how adolescents in Italy understand, perceive, and respond to OHS.

Through a qualitative approach, six focus groups were conducted with adolescents aged 14 to 16, attending the 9th and 10th grades across Italy. A thematic analysis of the data, employing both deductive and inductive coding, identified three key categories: Definition and Characteristics of OHS, Impact on Targeted and Non-Targeted Individuals, and Responses to OHS.

Findings indicate that adolescents frequently conflate OHS with cyberbullying, perceiving it as aggression toward individual(s) rather than as systemic violence against marginalized groups. Additionally, the study highlights that exposure to OHS negatively affects not only those targeted but also bystanders, influencing their well-being and social behaviors. Adolescents' responses to OHS and their strategies to counter it were also explored, highlighting factors, that may influence their willingness to intervene (or not) to limit the spread of hate (i.e., victim blaming, individualism, belonging to a minority group).

This research underscores the need to address adolescents' misconceptions about OHS and foster critical awareness. Understanding how young people perceive and react to OHS is crucial for developing effective interventions that empower them to recognize, and counter OHS. The study’s findings provide valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and social media platforms aiming to promote digital citizenship and a safer online environment.

Photo self-disclosure has become one of the main activities among adolescents on social networking sites (SNS). Today, it is well established that adolescents spend a significant amount of time on TikTok, where they share various types of age-restricted content, including photos and videos depicting forbidden behaviors. However, it remains unclear how adolescents’ photo self-disclosure of smoking or posing with electronic or real cigarettes (SPERC) on TikTok is related to narcissism and parental mediation.

This study aims to examine the relationship between narcissism, parental mediation (both active and restrictive), and adolescents' SPERC on TikTok. To achieve this, a quantitative study was conducted (N = 299; M age = 15.35, SD age = 0.48; 62.5% female). Adolescents completed online questionnaires assessing their problematic photo disclosure on SNS and other psychosocial factors, including narcissism and parental mediation.

The results of a three-step hierarchical regression analysis indicate that both narcissism and restrictive parental mediation increase adolescents’ likelihood of engaging in SPERC on TikTok (F = 3.94, p < .05). This suggests that adolescents with higher levels of narcissism and those experiencing stricter parental regulation of social media use are more likely to engage in SPERC on TikTok.

These findings highlight the importance of considering narcissism and parental mediation when designing and implementing prevention or intervention programs aimed at reducing adolescents' SPERC self-disclosure on TikTok.

This research has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No S-MIP-23-16.​

The relationship between parental monitoring (i.e, rule-setting and parental solicitation) and adolescents’ problem behaviors has been examined in many studies. Additionally, few studies have investigated how adolescents interpret rule-setting and parental solicitation and whether neighborhood characteristics moderate the link between parental monitoring and adolescent maladjustment. However, to our knowledge, no study has examined whether adolescents’ interpretations of monitoring practices change as a function of perceived neighborhood characteristics, and whether this has an impact on how they relate to problem behaviors in adolescents. This study aims to examine whether perceived neighborhood disorder moderates the association between parental monitoring practices, adolescents' interpretations of parental monitoring, and adolescents’ problem behaviors. The participants will be 300 Turkish adolescents aged between 14-18 years residing in neighborhoods that vary in terms of crime rates and socioeconomic status. Adolescent will report on parental rule-setting and solicitation (Parental Control and Parental Solicitation Questionnaires; Kerr & Stattin, 2000), interpretations of parental monitoring (anticipated negative feelings, perceptions of being intruded on, perceived mattering to parents, and perceived legitimacy of parental monitoring) by using 4 vignettes (Selçuk et al., 2022), neighborhood disorder (the Perceived Neighborhood Disorder Scale; Ross & Mirowsky, 1999), and internalizing and externalizing problems (the Youth Self Report/11-18; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). We anticipate that perceived neighborhood disorder will moderate (1) the relationship between parental monitoring practices and adolescents’ interpretations of parental monitoring and (2) the direct relations between parental monitoring practices and adolescents’ problem behaviors. As previous research does not provide a solid ground, we do not have a specific hypothesis as to whether adolescents who perceive higher levels of neighborhood disorder will report more benign or more negative interpretations, and more or less problem behaviors compared to those who perceive lower levels of neighborhood disorder. We will test our hypotheses with a moderated mediation path analysis.

This study examined the emotional reactions and coping resources of Bedouin teenagers (ages 12–18) following the events of October 7, 2023 and the subsequent Iron Swords War between Israel and Hamas forces in Gaza. The study focused on the relationships between subjective exposure, personal sense of coherence, community resilience, and the use of different coping strategies, on the one hand, and anxiety, anger, and psychological distress, on the other. During 2024, 762 participants completed the study questionnaire, which addressed the different study variables. The findings revealed significant differences between the boys and the girls. Specifically, the girls reported higher levels of subjective exposure and emotional reactions. Personal sense of coherence was found to be a significant protective factor. In contrast, the use of nonproductive coping strategies increased distress. This study underscores the need for intervention programs tailored for this society and by gender, as well as training for educational professionals, to help them to identify and treat emotional reactions to stress in ways that take into consideration the Bedouin cultural context. This study enhances our understanding of how Bedouin teenagers cope with stressful situations and crises.

Background: Adolescence is a sensitive developmental period when exposure to violence can be particularly detrimental to mental health. While acute trauma responses are quite well-studied, reactions to ongoing violence require distinct consideration.

Objective: This study aimed to validate the Lithuanian version of the Continuous Traumatic Stress Response (CTSR) scale in adolescents and examine associations between violence exposure and CTS reactions.

Method: The sample comprised 321 adolescents (M(SD)_age=14.19(1.26); 56.4% female) from Lithuania. 54.5% of participants reported continuous violence exposure. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis with measurement invariance testing across genders and employed latent class analysis to identify CTS reaction patterns.

Results: The CTSR scale demonstrated strong structural validity and measurement invariance. Three distinct CTS reaction patterns emerged (low, moderate, high), with a suggested clinical cut-off score of ≥18. The scale showed good differential validity between violence-exposed and non-exposed groups across all subscales (Exhaustion/Detachment, Rage/Betrayal, Fear/Helplessness). Different forms of violence exposure (neglect, psychological, physical, and sexual abuse) significantly predicted higher CTS reaction patterns.

Conclusions: This study establishes the CTSR as a valid measure for adolescent populations while highlighting the significant relationship between violence exposure and continuous traumatic stress reactions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted adolescent mental health worldwide, with girls experiencing a more pronounced decline in well-being indicators than boys. This study aims to understand the reasons behind reduced well-being in girls by examining gender differences in coping strategies and their association with well-being indicators among adolescents in 7th and 9th grades. Data from the HBSC survey (N = 3,765; 52% boys and 48% girls) were analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM). Results show that girls are more likely than boys to adopt avoidance coping, a strategy associated with poorer well-being, lower life satisfaction, increased psychosomatic symptoms, and poorer self-perceived health. Conversely, boys rated the received family support more positively than girls, which mediates the relationship between gender and distraction coping, contributing positively to well-being and health outcomes. In conclusion, boys and girls differ in their use of avoidance coping strategies, and this difference could contribute to distinct psychological functioning patterns, emphasizing the importance of more nuanced support systems for adolescents. These findings highlight the complex interplay between gender, coping strategies, and well-being indicators, offering a deeper understanding of how adolescents navigate mental health challenges.

In line with the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 2001), this study investigates how social environmental factors, such as the quality of social relations in different domains (friendship, family and school), predict emotional well-being in adolescents through individual cognitive factors (Luijten et al., 2023), such as Emotion Regulation (ER) in adolescents of both native and migratory backgrounds.

It is proposed that Emotion Regulation mediates the association between adolescents’ social relationships, particularly the quality of friendships, and their emotional well-being.

We hypothesize that improvements in emotional regulation partially mediate the impact of school and social well-being on emotional well-being, with a smaller effect on friendships but a stronger effect in classroom settings for adolescents with a migratory background due to their greater sensitivity to structured socialization agents.

Results highlight the positive impact of school relationship quality on emotional regulation across both native adolescents and those with a migratory background. Good school relationships enhance adolescents’ emotional regulation, which is crucial for well-being, with emotional regulation mediating the link between school relationships and emotional well-being. However, this mediating effect is particularly significant for adolescents with a migratory background. This suggests that while school relationships are important for fostering emotional regulation in all adolescents, they play a pivotal role for those from different cultural backgrounds by providing support and stability to navigate the challenges of cultural adaptation. These findings underscore the importance of structured social environments in promoting emotional well-being, especially for adolescents facing cultural integration

Within the coparenting dynamic, mothers may either facilitate (maternal gateopening) or inhibit (maternal gateclosing) fathers’ involvement in childrearing, a process known as maternal gatekeeping (Allen & Hawkins, 1999). Previous research has shown that both types of gatekeeping were associated with mother/father-adolescent relationship, and that gateclosing was related to parental psychological control, highlighting the potential impact of maternal gatekeeping behaviors on family interactions. As such, it is possible that maternal gatekeeping would be associated with adolescent information management and adolescent problem behaviors via its relation with parenting practices. In this study, we aim to examine (1) the association of maternal gateclosing with adolescent disclosure and secrecy about their out-of home activities and adolescent problem behaviors with the intervening role of psychological control and (2) the association of maternal gateopening with the same outcome variables with the intervening role of parental autonomy support. Participants will consist of 200 Turkish adolescents aged 11–14 years and their mothers. Mothers will report on their gateopening and gateclosing behaviors (Maternal Gatekeeping Scale; Fagan & Barnett, 2003), and adolescents will report on parental psychological control (Psychological Control Scale; Barber, 1996), parental autonomy support (autonomy-support subscale of the Children’s Perceptions of Parents Scale; Soenens et al., 2007), self-disclosure and secrecy (Child Disclosure Scale; Stattin & Kerr, 2000), and their internalizing and externalizing problems (Youth Self-Report 11/18; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). We anticipate that (1) maternal gateclosing will relate to higher psychological control, which in turn less self-disclosure, more secrecy, and more internalizing and externalizing behaviors and (2) maternal gateopening will relate to higher autonomy support, which in turn more self-disclosure, less secrecy, and less internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Structural equation modeling with manifest variables will be used to test our hypotheses.

Keywords: maternal gatekeeping, psychological control, autonomy supportive parenting, information management, internalizing problems, externalizing problems.

Romantic breakups in late adolescence are often distressing due to the developmental stage's emotional upheaval and identity formation challenges (Erikson, 1968; Collins & Sroufe, 1999). The literature on romantic breakups distress is mainly focused on young adults. Adolescent’s breakup is studied in terms of risk factors (e.g., insecure attachment; Simpson, 1990), negative consequences (e.g., depression, anxiety; Monroe et al., 1999) and reasons for breakups (e.g., lack of communication; Laursen & Collins, 1994) but there is no research focusing on the concept of romantic breakups distress in adolescents. This study aims to address this gap by examining the understanding of romantic breakups in adolescence using a qualitative and a quantitative approach. In relation to first, we conducted four focus groups with high school students (N=90, grade: 10-11^th; 93.3% male, mean age=15.33, SD=.65) to explore their breakup experiences. Thematic analysis was used to identify common terms, emotional outcomes and strategies related to romantic breakups. In relation to the quantitative approach, we adapted the Breakup Distress Scale (BDS; Filed, 2009) to the adolescence age. Insights gained from the focus groups informed the adaptation of the BDS, a 4-point Likert scale with 16 items designed to assess psychological suffering caused by breakups. Preliminary analysis revealed that only 25.6% of the adolescent participants reported experiencing a romantic breakup within the past year. Items related to memories were more frequently endorsed, while those assessing the impact on future relationships were less frequent. Comparing our results with studies involving young adults (Shulman et al., 2013; Zapata-Vega et al., 2022), the mean levels found in adolescents appear to be higher, however, age-related, cultural and methodological differences should be considered when interpreting these findings. This study contributes to the initial understanding of distress management dynamics that arise from romantic breakup in adolescence.

First romantic experiences are a normative part of adolescent development and can be positive or negative for the protagonists depending on how they are managed. The perception of quality that adolescents have of their own relationships is an indicator factor of this management, which is related to previously acquired affective competences. Likewise, dating violence is one of the most significant risks related to the poor management of these first couples. This study examines the relationship between affective competence, perceived quality and dating violence with a structural equation model. A total of 1132 adolescents (55.83% girls) aged 12-20 years participated. All participants had been or were in a dating relationship. Affective competence was assessed using the AICQc (Viejo et al., 2020; 2025). The NRI (Buhrmester y Furman, 2008) was used to assess their perceived quality of their own relationships, and the CADRI (adapted from Benítez and Bandera, 2014) was used to assess perpetration and victimisation behaviours in the adolescent couple. Results showed that higher affective competence was related to lower perceptions of negative quality in the couple, which, in turn, was related to dating violence aggression and victimisation behaviours. Affective competence was also related to lower dating violence behaviours. These results reveal the role of affective competence as a possible protective factor for negative quality as well as dating violence in adolescent couples. Negative quality is also revealed as a risk factor for the development of aggression-victimisation behaviours within the couple. The results are discussed considering the development of affective competence strategies to initiate and manage relationships in order to prevent risks such as dating violence and to foster the development of relationships with a positive quality.

Introduction: Research on adolescent social media use has overlooked the study of the processes through which social media can impact peer relationships. Building on this, Nesi et al. (2018) introduced the "Transformation Framework," a new theoretical model for understanding the role of social media in transforming adolescents’ experiences. Social media, as a real social context, are characterized by eight specific features (i.e., asynchronicity, permanence, publicness, availability, cue absence, quantifiability, visualness, algorithm) that contribute to transform peer relationships by changing, for example, the frequency or intensity of certain experiences or requests. Since there is no existing measure of users' perception of the presence of these eight features, the aim of the present study was to create and validate the “Perceived Social Media Features Scale (PSMF).”

Method: Based on the conceptual definition of each feature, 32 items were created. A total of 1840 adolescents (M_age = 15.83, SD = 1.29; 59.8% F) indicated their level of agreement with each item on a 5-point scale, completing an anonymous self-report questionnaire. To test the factorial validity of the PSMF, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with 8 factors was performed and the internal consistency of each subscale was tested by calculating Cronbach’s alpha.

Results: Results confirmed an adequate fit of the model to the data: χ2 (432) = 1514.761, p < .001; CFI = .929; SRMR = .036; RMSEA = .037, 90% CI [0.035-0.039], with factor loadings ranging from .398 to .747 (p < .001). Cronbach's alpha showed acceptable values for each subscale, greater than .60. Invariance test confirmed the equivalence of the factorial structure across gender.

Conclusion: Although these results are preliminary, the PSMF in its current form appears promising and could represent an important contribution to the study of the role of social media in adolescents’ peer experiences

Unaccompanied immigrant minors (UIMs) represent a vulnerable group whose identity development can be significantly affected by their migration experiences and the absence of parental figures (Garcia & Birman, 2022; Daniel-Calveras et al., 2022). Cultural identity plays a critical role in the psychosocial adjustment of youth, particularly in multiethnic contexts, as a positive cultural identity is linked to better well-being and intercultural competence (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014). However, interventions targeting cultural identity exploration and resolution are scarce for UIMs. This study aimed to explore changes over time in cultural identity exploration and resolution among UIMs in Italy who participated in an adapted version of the Identity Project, an 8-week intervention targeting ethnic-racial identity development (Umana-Taylor & Douglass, 2017). Between February and April 2023, 31 UIMs (Mage = 16.64, SD = 0.76, 55% from Eastern European and 45% from Northern African countries) participated in the intervention, and reported on their levels of cultural identity exploration and resolution at three time points: pretest (T1), posttest (T2; 10 weeks after pretest), and follow-up (T3; 37 weeks after pretest). Qualitative feedback post- intervention was gathered via focus groups at T1 and T2. Results indicated that heterogeneous individual trajectories for both exploration and resolution emerged. At posttest, more than half of the participants reported no significant changes, while the remaining participants showed increased curiosity toward their culture and a shifted attitude toward others. At follow-up UIMs showed a similar variety of responses. Descriptive survey data mirrored these findings, with approximately 50% of participants showing increased exploration from T1 to T2, although some returned to baseline levels by T3. Despite the small sample size, our results suggest that individual differences may influence or even obscure intervention effects (Könen & Karbach, 2021), highlighting the need for personalized intervention strategies to support UIMs in their cultural adaptation.

Introduction: Cyberbullying represents a crucial health and socioeconomic problem in our world due to its stronger impact on youths’ psychological and physical health. Although a variety of studies investigated predictors of this phenomenon, limited research focused specifically on the three different roles that youths may have in cyberbullying (i.e., victim, bully, or bystander), and further limited evidence was provided for the role of Emotional Self-Efficacy Beliefs in these roles, both concurrently and prospectively.

Aims: Thus, the general aim of the present work was to examine individual factors associated with cyberbullying roles in middle adolescence, controlling for age and gender, in a short time interval of three months. We considered temperamental characteristics (i.e., Sadness and Impulsivity), individual self-regulatory emotional beliefs (i.e., Self-efficacy in positive emotional expression and Self-efficacy in negative emotional management), and social media engagement as predictors of being cyber-victimized, being cyberbully, or being cyber-bystander.

Method: 606 Italian youths (M_age=15.25; SD=0.51; 60%males) completed the Barratt Impulsivity Scale and the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire for measuring Sadness and Impulsivity; the Emotional Self-regulatory Self-Efficacy Scale for measuring Self-Efficacy in expressing positive emotions and in managing negative emotions, and the Social Media Engagement Scale at T1. After three months, the Florence Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization Scale was used to collect information about youths’ level of involvement in victimization, bullying or bystanding activities online.

Results: Path analysis models showed that Emotional Self-efficacy plays a role in each of the three roles considered, and in particular, lower SE in expressing positive emotions was associated with the cyber-victim and the cyber-bystander roles, while lower SE in managing negative emotions was associated with the cyber-bully role. Temperament determined the probability of being online victims or bullies but not bystanders, and higher social media engagement predicted the probability of being cyber-bully or cyber-bystanders but not victimized.

Perceived Empathic Self-Efficacy (PESE) refers to people's belief in their ability to empathize with others, respond compassionately to their distress, and recognize the emotional impact of their actions (Bandura et al., 2003; Di Giunta et al., 2010). PESE may be a protective factor against various negative outcomes, including loneliness defined as the subjective dissatisfaction with one's social and relational life (Shevlin et al., 2014). Individuals with higher levels of PESE tend to be more other-oriented, which fosters positive social connections and, in turn, helps reduce feelings of loneliness (Eisenberg et al., 2010).

Loneliness is increasingly recognized as a significant risk factor within the general population, particularly among young people (Victor & Young, 2012), and it has become more prevalent over recent decades (Bueker et al., 2021). This study investigates its putative protective role among adolescents aged 14 to 15 years. Over 28 days, once a day, we asked 78 adolescents (71% boys) through a smartphone app to answer questions about loneliness and PESE. We conducted a multilevel regression analysis to investigate the protective effect of PESE on loneliness at the between level (i.e., interindividual differences) and within-person level (i.e., intraindividual changes). Our findings indicated that PESE negatively predicted daily loneliness both at the interindividual (β=-.40; p=.02) and intraindividual levels (β=-.23; p<.01) among adolescents. These results imply that both higher levels on average of PESE and higher-than-expected peaks of PESE may foster stronger social connections, thereby diminishing feelings of loneliness and fulfilling communal needs (Bakan, 1966). Understanding the role of PESE in adolescents can inform the development of interventions to address the daily challenges young people face. By enhancing PESE, these interventions could promote social competencies, reduce loneliness, and ultimately improve overall well-being.

Fan psychology is a mental state which we have when we act as a fan, for example, going to a concert. In Japan, previous studies on fan psychology focused on positive aspects of fan psychology and suggested that it promoted well-being (Matsumoto, 2022; Moriyama, 2022), however, previous studies conducted abroad focused on negative aspects of it and suggested that it negatively affected well-being (Maltby, 2001; Maltby, 2006; Reeves, 2012; Scharf, 2015). Consequently, findings on fan psychology are inconsistent between Japanese and foreign studies. Moreover, previous studies conducted abroad suggested that the intensity of fan psychology related interpersonal relationships and tendency of dependence, but it was not examined well in Japan. The purposes of this study were to develop the Fan Psychology Scale which included both foreign and domestic aspects and examine its factor structure, to examine the effects of fan psychology on well-being, and to examine formation of fan psychology.

In this study, fan psychology, well-being, and interpersonal relationships were investigated on web in a sample of 139 Japanese between the ages of 18 and 63, using Fan Psychology Scale which we developed, MDAS (Sato, Yasuda & Kodama, 2001) and ECR-RS (Komura, Murakami & Toda, 2016).

As a result, we found that fan psychology may be centered around highly intense and negative elements. We suggested that there are no large differences in fan psychology between Japan and other countries. In addition, as well as earlier studies conducted abroad, this study suggested that the high-intensity fan psychology had pathological aspect and negative effect on well-being in Japan as well as abroad. Moreover, this study suggested that poor interpersonal relationships may lead to the formation of maladaptive fan psychology. Therefore, this study suggested the need to examine not only positive aspects of fan psychology but also negative aspects of it in Japan.

Street harassment is a persistent societal challenge rooted in power imbalances, such as gender inequality and sexual double standards. Despite global efforts to prevent street harassment, little attention has been given to the role of youth professionals—those working with youth at the neighbourhood or street level on a daily basis—in addressing this issue.

Youth professionals build long-term relationships with youth, promoting youth’s self-confidence, sense of belonging and pro-social behaviour. This makes them uniquely positioned to contribute to various approaches that can aid in street harassment prevention. On the other hand, their own identities and experiences likely shape how they perceive street harassment, and how they think potential perpetrators need to be approached.

This study explores how youth professionals in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, engage with youth (aged 12-24) who (may) participate in street harassment. More specifically, by applying an inductive data analysis on semi-structured interviews with n = 25 youth professionals, it aims to uncover 1) their perceptions of street harassment, 2) their strategies to approach and communicate with (potential) street harassment perpetrators, and 3) how the first shapes the second.

Preliminary findings indicate that youth professionals perceive street harassment among youth as primarily driven by peer pressure and social norms shaped by social media. However, their strategies to approach and communicate with (potential) street harassment perpetrators often focus on changing individual beliefs and strengthening empathy by leveraging personal relationships. Our findings suggest that it is essential to equip youth professionals with more comprehensive strategies for reducing street harassment and promoting safer spaces for women and minority groups.