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We leveraged nationally representative data from the Panel study of Income Dynamics-Child Development Supplement (N = 3,562) and the Early Childhood Longitudinal study (N = 18,174), to chart the development of working memory, indexed via verbal forward and backward digit span task performance, from 3 to 19 years of age. Results revealed nonlinear growth patterns for forward and backward digit span tasks, with the most rapid growth occurring during childhood followed by a brief accelerated period of growth during early adolescence. We also found similar developmental trajectories on digit span task performance for males and females across the U.S. population. Together, this study highlights the relative importance of the childhood period for working memory development and provides researchers with a reference against which to compare the developmental changes of working memory in individual studies. From a practical perspective, clinicians and educators can also use this information to understand important periods of working memory growth using national developmental trends.

On March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The social isolation and economic stress resulting from pandemic have the potential to exacerbate child abuse and neglect. This study examines the association of parents' perceived social isolation and recent employment loss to risk for child maltreatment (neglect, verbal aggression, and physical punishment) in the early weeks of the pandemic. Participants (N = 283) were adults living in the U.S. who were parents of at least one child 0-12 years of age. Participants completed an online survey approximately 2 weeks after the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was a pandemic. The survey asked about recent changes (i.e., in the past 2 weeks) to employment status, parenting behaviors, use of discipline, use of spanking, and depressive symptoms. Nearly 20% of parents had hit or spanked their child in the past two weeks alone. Parents' perceived social isolation and recent employment loss were associated with self-report of physical and emotional neglect and verbal aggression against the child, even after controlling for parental depressive symptoms, income, and sociodemographic factors. Parents' perceived social isolation was associated with parental report of changes in discipline, specifically, using discipline and spanking more often in the past 2 weeks. Associations were robust to analyses that included two variables that assessed days spent social distancing and days spent in 'lockdown.' Study results point to the need for mental health supports to parents and children to ameliorate the strain created by COVID-19., Author(s): Shawna J. Lee [sup.1] , Kaitlin P. Ward [sup.1] , Joyce Y. Lee [sup.1] , Christina M. Rodriguez [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.214458.e, 0000000086837370, School of Social Work, University [...]

Background and Objective: Sixty countries worldwide have banned the use of physical punishment, yet little is known about the association of physical and nonphysical forms of child discipline with child development in a global context. The objective of this study is to examine whether physical punishment and nonphysical discipline are associated with child socioemotional functioning in a global sample of families from 62 countries and whether country-level normativeness of physical punishment and nonphysical discipline moderated those associations. Methods: Data for this study are from 215,885 families in the fourth and fifth rounds of the United Nations Children's Fund Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Bayesian multilevel logistic models were used to analyze the associations of physical punishment and nonphysical discipline (i.e., taking away privileges and verbal reasoning) with three different outcomes representing children's socioemotional functioning: getting along well with other children, aggression, and becoming distracted. Results: The use of physical punishment was not associated with getting along with other children, was associated with increased aggression, and was associated with increases in distraction. Taking away privileges was associated with lower levels of getting along with other children, higher levels of aggression, and higher levels of becoming distracted. Verbal reasoning (i.e., explaining why a behavior was wrong) was associated with higher levels of getting along with other children, higher levels of aggression, and higher levels of becoming distracted. Country-level normativeness moderated some of these associations but in general the direction of effects was consistent. Conclusions: Results suggest that eliminating physical punishment would benefit children across the globe and align with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which calls for all children to be free from physical violence. More attention needs to be focused on the associations of nonphysical forms of discipline with child functioning across the globe.

Children in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) are disproportionately at risk of not meeting their developmental potential. Parental discipline can promote and hinder child outcomes; however, little research examines how discipline interacts with contextual factors to predict child outcomes in LMICs. Using data from 208,156 households with children between 36 and 59 months (50.5% male) across 63 countries, this study examined whether interactions between gender inequality and discipline (shouting, spanking, beating, and verbal reasoning) predicted child aggression. Results showed aggression was higher in countries with high gender inequality, and associations between discipline and child aggression were weaker in countries where gender inequality was higher. Improvements in country‐level gender parity, in addition to parenting, will be necessary to promote positive child outcomes in LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, studies documented a marked decline in mental health and well-being when compared with prepandemic levels. This study examined how different coping styles were associated with anxiety, depression, and sleep problems among U.S. adults March–April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from 535 U.S. adults across three time points were analyzed using longitudinal multilevel logistic and linear regression modeling. Avoidant-emotional coping was associated with greater odds of experiencing anxiety (OR = 1.65, p <.001). Both avoidant- and active-emotional coping were associated with greater odds of experiencing depression (OR = 1.67, p <.001, and OR = 1.09, p =.022, respectively) and sleep problems (b = 0.05, p <.001, and b = 0.01, p =.005, respectively). Alternatively, problem-focused coping was associated with lower odds of depression (OR = 0.86, p <.001). Results converge with previous evidence suggesting the perniciousness of avoidant-emotional coping during the pandemic, but also underscore that problem-focused coping strategies may represent one important source of resilience for adults to adapt despite such challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Informed by the family systems theory, the current study aimed to examine whether shared parental responsiveness between fathers and mothers with low income was associated with preschoolers' developmental outcomes. Background: Both fathers' and mothers' parental responsiveness are key contributors to their young children's development. However, the ways in which fathers and mothers work as a system, as well as the role of shared parental responsiveness in child development, are not well understood, especially among families from low‐income contexts. Method: Participants were from the Building Strong Families project, a racially diverse group of families from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds (N = 1,173). Fathers' and mothers' parental responsiveness were observed during father–child and mother–child interactions using the two‐bags task. Preschoolers' child behavior problems, prosocial behaviors, and receptive language served as developmental outcomes of interest. A common fate approach to dyadic analysis was employed to create shared responsiveness and individual residual variance latent variables, which the child outcomes were regressed onto. Moderation analysis by fathers' resident status was conducted. Results: Shared responsiveness positively predicted preschoolers' prosocial behaviors (Β = 0.33, p <.001) and receptive language (Β = 14.85, p <.001), above and beyond individual residual variance. Fathers' resident status did not moderate any of the examined relationships. Conclusion: There may be benefits to young children's development when mothers and fathers demonstrate shared responsiveness. Implications. Interventions serving families with low income could help strengthen mother–father shared responsiveness to promote child development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether avoidant coping behaviours and acculturative stress functioned as mechanisms linking perceived discrimination to internalising mental health symptoms among African immigrants living in the United States. We used cross‐sectional data collected between December 2019 and January 2020 from US‐based first and second‐generation African immigrants (N = 599, 50% first‐generation, 82% Black, 71% female, mean age = 30). Path modelling was performed to examine the mediating role of avoidant coping and acculturative stress on the relationship between perceived discrimination and internalising symptoms. Results showed that perceived discrimination was related to internalising symptoms via avoidant coping and acculturative stress (specifically social and environmental stress). These results provide support that coping strategies and acculturative stress are likely important micro‐level mechanisms by which the discrimination‐mental health association persists. Implications and recommendations for prevention and intervention to reduce negative impacts of perceived discrimination on immigrant mental health are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a risk and resilience framework to examine short-term self-reported changes in relationship conflict early in the COVID-19 pandemic (March and April 2020). Longitudinal data from U.S. adults in a romantic relationship (N = 291) were collected via three waves of an online survey. Participants self-reported anxiety, depression, increased alcohol use, and dyadic coping since the pandemic. Relationship conflict variables included whether the participant reported that they and their partner "had disagreements related to the Coronavirus," "had more disagreements than usual," "had more verbal fights than usual," and "had more physical fights than usual" in the past two weeks. Analyses controlled for sociodemographic characteristics as well as days spent in lockdown and employment change due to COVID-19. Results indicated that couples' disagreement and verbal fighting scores increased from Time 1 to Time 2, but disagreements related to COVID-19 and physical fighting did not. Couples with higher levels of dyadic coping reported fewer fights and disagreements on average. However, dyadic coping did not buffer participants from increases in relationship conflict. Increased alcohol use since the pandemic was positively associated with disagreements related to COVID-19, disagreement scores, and verbal fighting scores. More days spent in lockdown was associated with increases in disagreements related to COVID-19. The conditions created by COVID-19 may contribute to worsening relationship conflict, even among couples who start with high levels of dyadic coping. Depression and alcohol use may contribute to poorer relationship quality during the pandemic. There is need for enhanced intervention and mental health supports to mitigate the potential effects of the pandemic on couples' relationship functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread issue that affects millions of individuals each year. Prior research suggests that IPV approval is associated with an increased likelihood of IPV perpetration. However, scant research has examined predictors of IPV approval, and even less has examined the predictors of IPV approval in Latin America. Social cognitive theory describes the acquisition of ideas, values, attitudes, and behaviors through social observation, including through media. This study uses social cognitive theory to examine the effects of media use on men's approval of IPV in Honduras, while controlling for demographic variables and IPV risk factors. We hypothesized that greater engagement with media (via television, radio, and newspapers or magazines) would be associated with decreases in the approval of IPV. Using ordinal logistic regression, we analyzed data from the Men's Survey Module of the 2011–2012 Honduras Demographic and Health Survey. The final sample included 4,760 currently partnered men. Results suggest that listening to the radio one or more times per week was associated with greater IPV approval, while newspaper/magazine and television use were not significantly associated with IPV approval. Education, marital status, increased age at first cohabitation, and having a female partner or someone else making decisions about earnings were all protective against IPV approval. Further investigation into the content of Honduran radio and other media is called for in order to inform interventions to reduce acceptance of IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across cultures, the majority of individuals will have a sibling relationship in their lifetime. Of particular importance to parents and children is the transition to siblinghood , which refers to the process wherein a child becomes a sibling. Although many parents are concerned about how their children will adjust during the transition to siblinghood, scant empirical work on this subject exists. Available empirical work on the transition to siblinghood has stemmed from developmental psychology; however, social work researchers have yet to deeply explore this body of work. The transition to siblinghood is a topic that is rife with opportunity for social work researchers, who have the ability to study this transition from culturally sensitive, person-in-environment, and social justice perspectives. This article provides an overview of the elements and importance of the transition to siblinghood, introduces a theoretical framework relevant to social workers, reviews existent empirical work on the transition to siblinghood, and elucidates limitations in the literature that social work researchers are adept to address. The article concludes with four recommendations to researchers who are interested in studying the transition to siblinghood through a social work lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]