The current study examined mothers’ and fathers’ dyadic trajectories of perceived social support and their associations with children’s prosociality. Data were drawn from 4,329 children (52% male, 48% female; 44% Black, 22% Hispanic, 17% White) in a prospective birth cohort study of low-income families. Repeated-measures latent class analysis identified three trajectories of social support at the level of the mother–father dyad from birth to age five: “High and Concordant” (64%), “Paternal-Advantaged, Declining Maternal” (20%), and “Maternal-Advantaged” (16%) social support. Child prosocial behavior differed significantly across dyadic social support trajectories. Children of parents in the “Paternal-Advantaged, Declining Maternal” (M = –0.06, SE = 0.20; p < .001) and “Maternal-Advantaged” (M = –0.26, SE = 0.19; p < .001) social support trajectories scored significantly lower on prosocial behavior at age five than those with “High and Concordant” social support (M = 0.37, SE = 0.04). These differences persisted at age nine for children of parents in the “Paternal-Advantaged, Declining Maternal” social support trajectory. Findings suggest that consistent and adequate social support within the parental dyad is critical to cultivating children’s prosocial skills.

Under the network meta-analysis (NMA) framework for aggregate data, there are limited possibilities for evidence synthesis across multiple treatment doses or timepoints. Model-based network meta-analysis (MBNMA) has been recommended as a framework for either evidence synthesis across multiple dose levels or across multiple timepoints to circumvent the limitations of the NMA. A joint dose–response and time–course MBNMA (DT-MBNMA) is proposed that combines the strengths of both DT-MBNMA. This framework allows for combining data at multiple timepoints from studies in early clinical development with a broad range of doses to late-stage clinical studies with a limited range of doses. The method respects randomization and allows for assessment of consistency and hence satisfies the requirements from reimbursement agencies. The method was validated in a simulation study, showing that the drug effect parameters and therefore indirect treatment effects could be recovered without bias, while the precision of the treatment effects was dependent on the simulated network. Compared with a standard NMA, the methodology increased the statistical efficiency of the indirect treatment comparison (ITC). The use of the method was further illustrated on a dataset consisting of seven randomized clinical trials (RCTs) (26 treatment arms) in the treatment of obesity with Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), with a broad range of doses and follow-up times. The method integrated phase 2 and 3 data seamlessly into the meta-analysis and provided greater precision on the treatment effects compared to NMA. Finally, the statistical framework may be used to support clinical decision-making, providing a framework for ITC during drug development.

Longitudinal research on the development of deception across the lifespan remains limited, particularly regarding trajectories of lie-telling and their associations with later problems. The current study aimed to address this gap using longitudinal data of 3,017 Quebec francophone children (47.2% girls, 52.8% boys, aged ∼6 years). Growth mixture modeling identified distinct trajectories of parent and teacher reported lie-telling from ages 6 to 19 years, with reports showing links to early aggressive-disruptive behavior. Trajectories of perceived lying by parents and teachers were also associated with antisocial personality disorder and criminal records in early adulthood. Findings suggest that identifying patterns of observed lying may inform theoretical understanding of the developmental evolution and interpersonal significance of deception over time, as well as highlight potential long-term interventions for problematic lying.

This study investigates the role of working memory (WM) in the development of receptive and productive abilities in Spanish among intermediate second/additional language (L2/A) learners. Participants completed WM assessments and receptive and productive language tasks targeting grammatical gender agreement on articles and adjectives (receptive: acceptability judgment task [AJT]; productive: information gap activity). Results showed group-level improvement for productive performance, but substantial variability in growth for both receptive and productive performance. WM did not significantly predict growth in either ability, suggesting that WM may not strongly influence the development of gender agreement accuracy at this intermediate proficiency level. To extend the analysis beyond behavioral outcomes, an exploratory post hoc analysis examined associations between WM and neural responses during receptive processing. By examining parallel receptive and productive performance and integrating behavioral and neurocognitive approaches, this study highlights the value of interdisciplinary methods moving forward for understanding the role of WM in L2/A development.

The Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS) began in 2002 as a longitudinal prospective adoption study of birth parents, adoptive parents, and adopted children (n = 361 adoptees). It expanded in 2007 to include a second cohort of adoptees (n = 200), and a third cohort of siblings (siblings reared by the birth mother at age 7 [n = 217 siblings in 2013] and additional siblings in both birth and adoptive family homes [n = 881 siblings in 2016]). Data are available in a national repository within the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) study and have been integrated into analyses with national and international cohorts. Birth and adoptive families were originally enrolled through a systematic recruitment approach that began with efforts to partner with all domestic adoption agencies in specific regions of the United States following the birth of a child. Longitudinal assessments are ongoing and occurred in 9-month intervals until the adoptees turned 3 years of age, and in 1- to 2-year intervals thereafter to age 21. Data collection includes child temperament, cognition, behavior, and physical health; birth and adoptive parent personality, mental and physical health, context, parenting, and marital relations; the prenatal environment; genetic, hormonal, and cardiovascular data; and geocoding. A unique aspect of the adoption-sibling design is its ability to detect environmental influences on development and test complex interactions and correlations between genetic, prenatal, and postnatal environmental influences on a range of outcomes. The sample and procedures are described, followed by an overview of multicohort findings and opportunities for integration with other registries.

Early psychological deprivation is associated with increased risk for cardiometabolic disorders, and rapid catch-up growth following improved care environments may further influence this risk. Using data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project – a randomized longitudinal study of children institutionalized in infancy assigned to high-quality foster care, continued institutional care, or raised by biological families – we examined cardiometabolic outcomes in early adulthood. Participants were 81 women and 58 men (mean age 22.6 years), predominantly Romanian. We assessed associations between care type and cardiometabolic traits including blood pressure, lipid and glucose metabolism, and metabolic syndrome. Results indicated that adults with histories of institutionalization displayed poorer lipid metabolism compared to non-institutionalized controls. Notably, individuals randomized to foster care showed increased BMI and waist circumference in adulthood relative to those who remained in institutional care. Longitudinal latent class analyses revealed four distinct BMI trajectories from infancy to early adulthood. The accelerated BMI trajectory, predominantly comprising foster care participants, was associated with the greatest prevalence of metabolic syndrome. These findings suggest that both lipid dysregulation and persistent increases in BMI represent ongoing concerns for cardiometabolic risk following early psychosocial deprivation. Those exposed to early adverse care may benefit from ongoing cardiometabolic monitoring and lifestyle interventions.

The role of n-6 PUFA, especially linoleic acid (LA), in adiposity remains contested. While clinical interventions suggest improved body composition with higher LA intake, observational evidence using dietary data is inconsistent, and few studies consider circulating fatty acids or longitudinal changes in adiposity. Using multivariable linear models, we evaluated cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between n-6 PUFA and waist circumference (WC), weight and whole-body fat mass (FM) in the UK Biobank Cohort. Cross-sectionally (n 272 587, 54 % female, mean age 57 years), higher circulating LA was inversely associated with WC, weight and FM. Participants in the highest v. lowest quintile of LA had significantly smaller WC (–11·04 (–11·17, –10·91) cm), lower weight (–11·77 (–11·92, –11·62) kg) and lower FM (–7·87 (–7·97, –7·77) kg). Associations for total n-6 were generally consistent with those for LA. Conversely, non-LA n-6 was positively associated with WC (1·46 (1·32, 1·61) cm), weight (2·41 (2·25, 2·58) kg) and FM (1·81 (1·69, 1·92) kg). Longitudinal analyses (n 58 335, 51 % female, mean age 55 years) largely corroborate these patterns, with annual changes in WC, weight and FM inversely associated with LA and positively associated with non-LA n-6. Higher circulating LA, but not non-LA n-6, was associated with lower WC, weight and FM both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Our findings potentially support dietary recommendations to promote LA-rich oils. Divergent associations between LA and non-LA n-6 caution against treating n-6 PUFA as a homogeneous group. Examining the distinct health effects of individual non-LA n-6 is warranted.

Irritability is a core symptom and diagnostic criterion in several childhood psychiatric disorders. Research has documented bidirectional associations between child irritability and parenting practices; however, cultural variations in these associations remain underexplored.

Using three-wave longitudinal data (N = 2,408) from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) in the United States, this study examined associations between child irritability, parenting behaviors (psychological aggression, physical assault, neglect, and non-violent discipline) and parenting stress across three racial–ethnic groups: non-Latine Black (n = 1,167; 605 males), non-Latine White (n = 614; 314 males), and Latine (n = 627; 316 males) using cross-sectional and temporal network analyses.

Parenting behaviors and stress were associated with child irritability concurrently and longitudinally across groups. Results showed bidirectional effects between parenting behaviors/stress and child irritability across ages 3, 5, and 9, with more similarities than differences between groups. Physical assault and lower use of non-violent discipline predicted higher future child irritability (partial correlations = 0.03–0.18 for physical assault and 0.04–0.07 for non-violent discipline) across racial–ethnic groups.

These findings suggest parenting interventions may be scalable across cultural contexts to promote positive child outcomes and well-being, though future work should elucidate culturally specific factors that inform tailored practices.

This study is concerned with Albanian children speaking a nonstandard dialect who learn Standard Albanian (SA) in primary school. Our main research question is whether the phonetic characteristics of these children’s first dialect are influenced by their learning of SA. We followed longitudinally 48 children in 1st, 2nd, and 5th grades (24 girls, 24 boys, 6–11 years old), some of whom grew up in a village, the others in a city. A picture-naming task was used to record four vowel features of interest, which were analyzed acoustically, then statistically with distributional regression models and generalized additive models. We found evidence that the children’s first dialect was affected by SA, suggesting that by 5th grade, they were not fully proficient at distinguishing between the two systems. The four analyzed features followed different developmental trajectories, similar to adults acquiring a second dialect, and similar to feature selectivity observed in language change.

This longitudinal study monitored Theory-of-Mind development in monolingually raised but bilingually educated Spanish children (age 5–6) with varied L2-English curricula (13%–83%) to assess whether higher L2-exposure resulted in advantages on seven ToM concepts (emotion, desires, belief, reference, moral-reasoning, lies, sarcasm). Attention (selective, switching, inhibition) and a full suite of individual-difference effects were also monitored. GLMMs linked greater L2-exposure to higher ToM accuracy, and although all three attention measures contributed to ToM scores, the effect of selective attention was the strongest. L1-vocabulary and NVR routinely predicted ToM scores, and girls surpassed boys on sarcasm. We conclude that bilingualism spurs ToM development quickly and is not linked to L2-vocabulary at this stage. In addition, the fact that L2-exposure and individual differences impacted cognitive, affective, and conative ToM differentially supports an approach that analyses these components separately.

Temperament has been linked to the development of externalizing symptoms, but the nature of these associations remains unclear. Traditional approaches often treat early reactive temperament as static, overlooking developmental variation. This study applied a longitudinal latent change score model to examine how levels and changes in Negative Affect (NA) and Surgency from age 3 to 5 predict Conduct Problems (CP) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms in early childhood. Data from the National Educational Panel Study (N = 2,477) were analyzed. Temperament was assessed at ages 3, 4, and 5 using the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire, and CP and ADHD symptoms were measured at ages 5, 6, and 8 with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Measurement invariance was established. Significant individual differences in developmental change emerged. Change in NA and Surgency, but not baseline levels, predicted higher latent CP and ADHD symptom levels at age 5 and further increases through age 8. These findings indicate that intraindividual change in reactive temperament can be a relevant marker of developmental risk. Temperamental risk for externalizing symptoms in early childhood is not fixed but may be shaped by both stable dispositions and developmental change, highlighting the importance of assessing temperament development to identify early emerging risk.

Executive attention, an underlying mechanisms enabling self-regulation, can be behaviorally indicated by post-error slowing (PES) – a delay in reaction time following an error. PES develops during early childhood – plausibly shaped by genetic and environmental factors. We tested whether mothers’ and children’s PES predicted their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during a real-life stressful situation, and how each one’s PTSD symptoms moderated the other’s. Ninety-five kindergarten-aged children and mother pairs participated. In T1, participants’ PES was measured during a laboratory task. About 1.5 years afterwards, six months after a national traumatic event, mothers reported their own and their child’s PTSD symptoms (T2). Key findings show that for mothers with high PTSD symptoms, children with more developed PES at T1 showed less PTSD symptoms at T2. In contrast, for mothers with low PTSD symptoms, children’s PES was unrelated to their PTSD symptoms. For mothers of children with high PTSD symptoms, those with less developed PES at T1 showed high PTSD symptoms at T2. Mothers of children with low symptoms showed no such relation. The models explained 61.1% of children’s and 51% of mothers’ PTSD symptoms. These findings provide evidence for the protective effect of self-regulation against PTSD, and the mutual dyadic moderating effects of its manifestation.

Research suggests considerable developmental catch-up among adopted children who experienced early adversity across various domains, yet a substantial subgroup continues to exhibit elevated socio-emotional difficulties. Longitudinal studies can provide critical insights into the mechanisms underlying this ongoing vulnerability, yet no systematic review has been conducted to synthesize these findings. This systematic review identified 16 longitudinal studies (N = 3,073 adoptees) through searches in PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, all of which followed children adopted before the age of six into adolescence or adulthood, with an average follow-up period of 10 years. Due to significant heterogeneity across study designs, samples, and measures, a meta-analysis was not feasible; therefore, adoptees’ outcomes and developmental pathways are synthesized narratively. Early adversity and developmental difficulties most frequently predicted later socio-emotional and behavioral outcomes, with some evidence pointing to genetic, epigenetic, and gene–environment interaction effects. Early difficulties may have cascading consequences across multiple developmental domains. Yet, the small number of longitudinal studies and their heterogeneity limits conclusive understanding of developmental pathways. Recommendations are made to inform and strengthen future research efforts.