Early interventions supporting parental sensitivity have proven effective. Despite advancements in telemedicine, research on remote group parenting interventions remains limited. This study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of “C@nnected,” a brief group videoconferencing intervention aimed at enhancing maternal sensitivity in mother–infant dyads in primary care settings in Santiago, Chile. A feasibility randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods. Of 44 mother–infant dyads randomized, 26 were assigned to receive the intervention, whereas 18 were allocated to the control group. Eligibility and recruitment rates were 89% and 36%, respectively, with adherence at 50% and follow-up at 64.5%. The intervention demonstrated high acceptability in both the quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Mothers who participated in the intervention showed high scores in credibility and expectancy and reported increased knowledge, stronger bonds with their children and greater satisfaction and competence in their motherhood role. This pilot study underscores the potential of “C@nnected” while identifying areas for improvement. The findings provide valuable insights into refining and further evaluating its efficacy through an RCT.

This study examined associations between paternal, maternal, and dual-parental attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and child socioemotional functioning over the first two years of life, combined and separated by child sex. The sample included mothers (N = 3,207) and fathers (N = 3,211) from a prospective cohort in Canada. Parents completed the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale within two weeks of childbirth. Children’s socioemotional functioning was assessed using the ASQ-SE at 6 months and the BITSEA at 12, 18, and 24 months. Paternal and maternal ADHD symptoms were associated with problems in child socioemotional development in the first two years of life, with significant differences based on parent and child sex. Paternal ADHD symptoms were associated with more socioemotional difficulties in boys (aOR 1.68, 95% CI 1.13–2.51) and fewer socioemotional difficulties in girls, while maternal ADHD symptoms were associated with more socioemotional problems in girls (aOR 2.09, 95% CI 1.24–3.52) and the entire sample, including both boys and girls, between 12 and 24 months. Dual-parental ADHD symptoms had the largest effect on socioemotional development (OR 4.43, 95% CI 1.14–17.16). Our findings provide evidence that exposure to paternal and maternal ADHD symptoms, especially when both parents exhibit symptoms, is associated with worse socioemotional outcomes during early childhood.

At present, in music education scholarship, there is a renewed interest and enthusiasm in materiality motivated by theories that gather under the title of ‘New Materialism’. Beyond the field of music education, doubts and reservations towards new materialism are being discussed, but these discussions are not yet entering music education debates. There are reservations concerning the lack of continuity with ‘old’ materialisms, some internal inconsistencies within the theories, problems that arise when new materialist concepts of agency and decentring are applied, and propositions that new materialism is not emancipatory, as claimed, but represents a further twist of Neoliberalism.

In the first analysis purporting to causally link environmental pollution to personality, Schwaba and colleagues leveraged a natural experiment driven by the United States. They used the Clean Air Act to assess the impact of decreased atmospheric lead on the “big five” personality traits. Using data from an online personality test taken by more than 1.2 million U.S. residents, Schwaba et al. reported that people born after lead levels had peaked in their county of birth had more mature, psychologically healthy personalities in adulthood (higher agreeableness and conscientiousness, and lower neuroticism) than cohorts born earlier and exposed to higher levels of atmospheric lead. One concern with their findings is that personality differences among people born in different periods could come from factors unrelated to lead, for example, access to abortion and birth control, or demographic, cultural, or technological changes. Schwaba et al. recognized this possibility but did not fully explore it. When we account for cohort-wide changes by introducing birth year fixed effects into Schwaba et al.’s models, the estimated effects of the lead phaseout on personality largely disappear, becoming indistinguishable from zero while remaining precise. Meanwhile, the estimated birth year fixed effects are jointly significant, suggesting differences in personality traits across cohorts. These results indicate that any effects of the lead phaseout on more mature, psychologically healthy adult personalities are not consistently observable in the data used by Schwaba et al. More broadly, they caution against making causal inferences without controlling for time period effects.

Posthuman understanding of music and bodies as matter highlights otherwise forms of musical embodied learning. In this paper, we focus on an early childhood classroom music event and think diffractively with cognitive and posthuman theories in order to extend our insight into it. Accordingly, we explore cognitive approaches to music and movement, as well as posthuman concepts such as agency, embodiment, affect and desire, (de)territorialisations and assemblages. As music educators, we acknowledge the relationship between music and movement in early childhood, but our posthuman reading of the event enables a more equitable understanding of children’s music learning.

Early adversity increases risk for child mental health difficulties. Stressors in the home environment (e.g., parental mental illness, household socioeconomic challenges) may be particularly impactful. Attending out-of-home childcare may buffer or magnify negative effects of such exposures. Using a longitudinal observational design, we leveraged data from the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program to test whether number of hours in childcare, defined as 1) any type of nonparental care and 2) center-based care specifically, was associated with child mental health, including via buffering or magnifying associations between early exposure to psychosocial and socioeconomic risks (age 0–3 years) and later internalizing and externalizing symptoms (age 3–5.5 years), in a diverse sample of N = 2,024 parent–child dyads. In linear regression models, childcare participation was not associated with mental health outcomes, nor did we observe an impact of childcare attendance on associations between risk exposures and symptoms. Psychosocial and socioeconomic risks had interactive effects on internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Overall, the findings did not indicate that childcare attendance positively or negatively influenced child mental health and suggested that psychosocial and socioeconomic adversity may need to be considered as separate exposures to understand child mental health risk in early life.

This study investigates teachers’ musical abilities in Shandong kindergartens in China, making a comparison between public and private kindergartens. For this research, five public and five private kindergartens were selected within the same city. The methods of non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The findings show that the overall musical abilities of public kindergarten teachers were greater than those of private kindergarten teachers. This study reveals that leadership and government policy are important factors for influencing the results, and puts forward recommendations for making changes in policy to improve teachers’ musical abilities in private kindergartens.

Prenatal stress has a significant, but small, negative effect on children’s executive function (EF) in middle and high socioeconomic status (SES) households. Importantly, rates and severity of prenatal stress are higher and protective factors are reduced in lower SES households, suggesting prenatal stress may be particularly detrimental for children’s EF in this population. This study examined whether prenatal stress was linked to 5-year-old’s EF in a predominantly low SES sample and child sex moderated this association, as males may be more vulnerable to adverse prenatal experiences. Participants were 132 mother-child dyads drawn from a prospective prenatal cohort. Mothers reported on their depression symptoms, trait anxiety, perceived stress, everyday discrimination, and sleep quality at enrollment and once each trimester, to form a composite prenatal stress measure. Children’s EF was assessed at age 5 years using the parent-report Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Preschool (BRIEF-P) Global Executive Composite subscale and neuropsychological tasks completed by the children. Mixed models revealed higher prenatal stress was associated with lower BRIEF-P scores, indicating better EF, for females only. Higher prenatal stress was associated with lower performance on neuropsychological EF measures for both males and females. Results add to the limited evidence about prenatal stress effects on children’s EF in low SES households.