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This study examined associations between maltreatment and early developmental vulnerabilities in a population sample of 68,459 children (M[subscript age] = 5.62 years, SD = 0.37) drawn from the Australian state of New South Wales, using linked administrative data for the children and their parents (collected 2001-2009). Associations were estimated between (a) any maltreatment, (b) the number of maltreatment types, and (c) the timing of first reported maltreatment and vulnerability and risk status on multiple developmental domains (i.e., physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and communication). Pervasive associations were revealed between maltreatment and all developmental domains; children exposed to two or more maltreatment types, and with first maltreatment reported after 3 years of age, showed greater likelihood of vulnerability on multiple domains, relative to nonmaltreated children.

To study the effects of perinatal HIV-1 infection and early institutional rearing on the physical and cognitive development of children, 64 Ukrainian uninfected and HIV-infected institutionalized and family-reared children were examined (mean age = 50.9 months). Both HIV infection and institutional care were related to delays in physical and cognitive development, with a larger effect of the rearing environment. Family care, even of compromised quality, was found to be more favorable for children's physical and cognitive development than institutional care. The impact of the quality of child care on physical and cognitive development is discussed in light of future interventions. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

This study examined physiological, emotional, and attentional regulatory functions as predictors of self-regulation in 125 infants followed 7 times from birth to 5 years. Physiological regulation was assessed by neonatal vagal tone and sleep-wake cyclicity; emotion regulation by response to stress at 3, 6, and 12 months; and attention regulation by focused attention and delayed response in the 2nd year. Executive functions, behavior adaptation, and self-restraint were measured at 5 years. Regulatory functions showed stability across time, measures, and levels. Structural modeling demonstrated both mediated paths from physiological to self-regulation through emotional and attentional processes and direct continuity between vagal tone and each level of regulation. Results support the coherence of the regulation construct and are consistent with neurobiological models on self and consciousness.

Puberty is advanced by sex hormones, yet it is not clear how it is best measured. The interrelation of multiple indices of puberty was examined, including the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS), a picture-based interview about puberty (PBIP), and a physical exam. These physical pubertal measures were then associated with basal hormones responsible for advancing puberty. Participants included 160 early adolescents (82 boys). Puberty indices were highly correlated with each other. The physical exam stages correlated well with boys' and girls' testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone and less so with girls' estradiol. The PDS and PBIP were similarly related to basal hormones. Self-report may be adequate when precise agreement is unnecessary. Multiple measures of puberty are viable options, each with respective strengths.

Children raised without a biological father in the household have earlier average ages of first sexual intercourse than children raised in father-present households. Competing theoretical perspectives have attributed this either to effects of father absence on socialization and physical maturation or to nonrandom selection of children predisposed for early sexual intercourse into father-absent households. Genetically informative analyses of the children of sister dyads (N = 1,382, aged 14-21 years) support the selection hypothesis: This association seems attributable to confounded risks, most likely genetic in origin, which correlated both with likelihood of father absence and early sexual behavior. This holds implications for environmental theories of maturation and suggests that previous research may have inadvertently overestimated the role of family structure in reproductive maturation.

Four studies explored children's beliefs about the stability of positive traits among three groups. Findings indicated that younger children were more likely than older children or adults to believe that negative physical and psychological traits would change positively, that they could control the expression of a trait, and that extreme positive traits would be retained over development. All age groups distinguished between the malleability of biological and psychological traits. (JPB)

Examined longitudinally the effects of infants' age, body dimensions, and experience on the development of crawling. Although most infants displayed multiple crawling postures en route to walking, development did not adhere to a strict progression of obligatory, discrete stages. Duration of experience with earlier forms of crawling predicted the speed and efficiency of later, quite different forms of crawling. (EV)

Surveyed 4,000 third and sixth graders and their parents and teachers, from 4 Chinese provinces. Found that, although only children scored higher on tests of verbal ability, were taller, and weighed more than firstborn and later born children, other measures of academic and personality development were similar between the groups. (MDM)

Compared family characteristics and developmental outcomes of African-American children from three rural contexts in South Africa: the homeland, the resettlement, and white-owned farms. Child outcomes were highly intercorrelated in all three contexts, but correlations among family variables, and between family and child variables, showed different patterns across areas. (BC)

The effects of fetal cocaine exposure on newborn cry characteristics were studied in 80 cocaine-exposed and 80 control infants. Findings were consistent with the notion that two neurobehavioral syndromes, excitable and depressed, can be described in cocaine-exposed infants and that these two syndromes are a result of direct neurotoxic effects and indirect effects secondary to intrauterine growth retardation. (Author/GLR)

A study of 8 to 35 month olds found that informally employed mothers had more undernourished children than did formally employed or nonworking mothers. With maternal education controlled for, no effects of maternal employment on children's growth patterns were found. Percentage of family income earned by the mother was associated with children's growth patterns. (BC)

Four experiments tested three to six year olds' and adults' understanding of animals' growth changes. All subjects understood that animals get larger with age. Older children and adults, but not younger children, allowed for dramatic changes in the size and shape of animals over the animals' lifespans. (BC)

At 3 years of age, children who had received food supplementation were an average of 2.6 cm and 642 grams larger than controls. Home visiting and supplementation combined reduced the number of children with severe growth retardation. Participants were 280 infants and their families from poor neighborhoods in Bogota, Colombia. (RH)

Studied the sleep state organization and EEG patterns at term date in 53 preterm infants as an index of the maturity and integrity of neurophysiological organization that may have implications for their later development. (HOD)

Three self-report methods for rating secondary sexual characteristic growth were compared to physician ratings; the accuracy of self-reported height and weight was also assessed. The usefulness of the Pubertal Development Scale, Tanner ratings, and self-reported height and weight as adequate estimates of pubertal development is discussed. (PCB)

The developmental pattern of concurrent synaptogenesis in rhesus monkeys is consistent with a straightforward model of relations between brain and cognitive development. Concurrent synaptogenesis is hypothesized to lay the primary cortical foundation for a series of developmental levels in middle infancy that have been empirically documented in both human and rhesus infants.(BN)

Recent studies on the biological development of the prefrontal cortex in rhesus monkeys are reviewed. These studies have elucidated the basic neural circuitry underlying the delayed-response function in adult nonhuman primates and suggest that a critical mass of cortical synapses is important for the emergence of this cognitive function. (BN)

The role of experience in the developing brain is considered. A categorization scheme based upon the type of information stored and the brain mechanisms involved in storing the information is proposed. Experience-expectant and experience-dependent information storage are differentiated. (BN)

Reviews Greenough, Black, and Wallace's (1987) conceptual framework for understanding the effects of early experience and sensitive periods on development, and illustrates the applicability of their model with recent data on the consequences for animals and human infants of the acquistion of self-produced locomotion. (BN)

Studied the onset of puberty in girls aged nine to eleven as represented by breast, pubic hair growth, and height. Breast growth, but not pubic hair growth was associated with a positive body image, positive peer relationships, and superior adjustment. Height was linked to superior adjustment and rating of career as important. (RJC)

Examines children's understanding of gender permanence and the genital basis of gender as distinct stages in the development of a gender identity. Subjects were 237 Swedish children aged 3 to 10 years. (CM)

Behavioral observations and sociometric methods revealed a stable dominance hierarchy in eight groups of 12- to 14-year-old male and female adolescents at a summer camp. (JMB)

Investigated the relationship between anthropometric indices and behavioral development during the first two years of life in rural Guatemala. Body length and weight most strongly correlated with behavioral development. When length and weight were controlled statistically, variance in behavioral development was accounted for. (Author/DB)

Describes the relationship between neonatal crying and anthropometric indices of fetal growth. No differences were found between cry features of underweight and overweight infants; both groups required more stimulation than average weight infants to elicit crying. It is suggested that certain cry features may reflect the risk status of neonates with retarded or accelerated fetal growth. (Author/DB)

Newborns were presented with a tape-recorded rattle sound through a single loudspeaker, through two loudspeakers with one onset leading the other by seven msecs., and through two loudspeakers simultaneously. Newborns turned toward the single source sound, but not toward either of the dual source sounds. (Author/RH)

Neonates born without complications to healthy mothers at 14,000 feet or at 490 feet above sea level were evaluated at 24-36- and 48-60-hours-of-life. In comparison with low-altitude infants, high-altitude infants were significantly lighter, shorter, had a smaller arm circumference, and presented more signs of behavioral immaturity in interactive and motoric processes. (Author/RH)

Reports the results of a multiple regression analysis conducted to determine, in a group of three- to six-year-old children, the magnitude of IQ variance accounted for by physical growth variables and socioeconomic status indicators. (RH)

A total of 20 children with idiopathic precocious puberty; 27 adolescents with clinically delayed puberty; and an equivalent number of controls matched for sex, age, and IQ were given a battery of tests including measures of verbal and spatial abilities and a task using a dichotic listening procedure to assess hemispheric lateralization. (Author/RH)

Longitudinal data from a study of child development in Guatemala City were used to describe the influence of socioeconomic status and sex on physical and cognitive growth status. The correlation between growth status variables was also analyzed. (Author/RH)

Considers areas of consensus from commentaries, including the value of an evolutionary perspective and the utility of exploring variations in physical activity play. Examines areas of debate, including the nonplay-play distinction, functions of rough-and-tumble play, and the opportunities of juveniles for exercise training. Calls for more directed research on physical activity play in children. (Author)

Maintains that the "getting into shape" hypothesis of explaining the inverted-U distribution of exercise play across age is likely incorrect. Argues that the biological study of human physical activity play, as recommended by Pellegrini and Smith (1998), will reveal whether physical activity play represents an example of performance-dependent development during a sensitive period. (KB)

Analyses were made of the pattern and frequency of mothers' visits to the intensive care nursery for premature infants. Visiting was found to be uncorrelated with medical, socioeconomic, or demographic variables, but was apparently related to significantly higher state levels achieved by infants who received a program of early stimulation. (Author/DB)