Head circumference (HC) is a low-cost proxy for early brain development, yet few studies have examined its predictive value for specific neurocognitive outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. This study investigated whether trajectories of HC growth from 1 to 24 months predict executive function and fluid cognitive skills at age 4 in a Kenyan cohort (N = 182). Using latent growth curve modeling, we found that greater HC growth was significantly associated with better EF and fluid cognitive skills, independent of initial HC and sociodemographic factors. These associations were robust across subgroups defined by prenatal exposure to HIV and atypical physical growth (i.e., extreme values for weight-for-length, underweight, or HC). Moreover, the predictive association between early HC and later neurocognition was evident within the first 15 months of life. This study highlights the value of monitoring changes in HC as one aspect of early child health and wellbeing. Infants who do not exhibit normative increases in HC in infancy may benefit from early neurocognitive assessments and/or the receipt of early intervention services.

This study examined longitudinal associations between maternal mindful parenting and child social–emotional, behavioral, and language development. Maternal mindful parenting at 18 months was tested for associations with concurrent observed maternal responsivity and lack of punishment toward the child and as a predictor of child internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, social competence and productive language 6 months later, independent of maternal depressive symptoms (a known predictor of both parenting and child outcomes). We also tested whether child negative emotionality (NE) moderated associations between mindful parenting and child outcomes. Participants (N = 316 mothers) were low-income (mean annual income = $19,024), racially and ethnically diverse mothers (48.4% Black; 43.0% Latinx) recruited from Pittsburgh, PA and New York City, NY. Higher mindful parenting was concurrently associated with higher observed maternal responsiveness toward the child and longitudinally associated with all four child outcomes in expected directions; maternal depression was a significant predictor of child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Contrary to hypotheses, at moderately high levels of child NE, the positive effects of mindful parenting on child outcomes were attenuated. Results provide preliminary evidence that mindful parenting is meaningfully associated with parenting behaviors and early childhood developmental outcomes above and beyond symptoms of maternal depression.

Economic hardship is known to shape children’s self-regulation, yet little is understood about how fluctuations in hardship unfold over time and whether different patterns of unpredictability carry unique developmental consequences. Using a socioeconomically diverse sample, we tracked families’ subjective economic hardship across 15–36 monthly assessments and applied an environmental statistics framework to quantify four indices of unpredictability: changepoints in mean, changepoints in variance, coefficient of variation, and noise. PCA identified two distinct forms of economic unpredictability: one marked by frequent, unpredictable hardship, and another by infrequent but abrupt hardship. Economic unpredictability was disproportionately experienced by racially minoritized and lower-income families in our sample, reinforcing structural inequities in economic resources. Relations between these indices and caregiver-reported measures of family routines and day-to-day unpredictability were weak, suggesting wide heterogeneity in the ways families adapt to economic unpredictability. Leveraging propensity score methods, we isolated the effects of unpredictability from hardship severity, finding that both were associated with greater self-regulation challenges in early childhood, with the strongest effects for hardship severity. These findings underscore the importance of capturing economic hardship as a dynamic and multidimensional experience, with implications for policy efforts aimed at promoting stability in families’ access to resources over time.

This article explores young children’s relations with soil, drawing on research that positioned soil as animate, lively and interconnected. The paper investigates how animist approaches offered a mode of encounter for children and their teachers, encouraging them to see themselves as part of a larger ecological community. The research began with a “soil biome immersion” experience where teachers engaged with soil through sensory and arts-based experiences. These initial encounters led to further exploration of child-soil relations through experiential learning and storytelling. Children, as active meaning-makers, co-constructed the inquiry through imaginative and sensory engagements. Findings suggest animism cultivates soil relations, challenging traditional notions of soil as inert and promoting a dynamic understanding of soil ecosystems. Through practices such as storying, drawing and listening, educators supported children’s animist perspectives, deepening their attunement to the more-than-human world. This article contributes to environmental education by demonstrating how animism can enrich children’s ecological awareness and their sense of connectedness to the world.

Research shows that parenting plays an important role in the development of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children. Yet, the specific aspects of positive parenting that may offer the strongest protection against the development of CU traits, as well as the potential role of child attachment to parent in this protection, remain poorly understood. This longitudinal multi-informant study aimed to investigate the mediating role of early mother–child attachment security in the prospective associations between three aspects of maternal sensitivity (positivity, attunement, availability) and subsequent CU traits in children. Maternal sensitivity and mother–child attachment security were observed in the home when children were 12 and 15 months old respectively. Child CU traits were reported by mothers, fathers, and teachers at age 4 years. Analyses revealed that maternal attunement was linked to lower levels of CU traits indirectly through the mediating role of attachment security. There was also a direct, non-mediated negative association between maternal availability and CU traits. Consistent with the notion of equifinality, these findings suggest that different aspects of parenting may be linked to child CU traits via distinct mechanisms, with some but not all of those mechanisms involving parent–child attachment.

Parents involved with child protective services (CPS) often face stressors that compromise their parenting; thus, it is critical to identify sources of resilience at multiple ecological levels. This study leveraged cross-sectional data from a study of CPS-involved parent-child dyads (N = 129). Most parents identified as having a minoritized racial/ethnic identity and as having low income. Parent responsive involvement, constructive discipline, and problematic discipline were coded from observations of parent-child interactions when children were approximately 4 years old (M = 4.19 years, SD = .34; 45.7% female). Neighborhood resource availability was assessed using the Childhood Opportunity Index, a publicly available measure of resources in a given census tract. Parental attachment was coded from the Adult Attachment Interview. Greater neighborhood resource availability and secure-autonomous parental attachment were associated with reduced problematic discipline. Additionally, parental attachment moderated the link between neighborhood resource availability and responsive involvement, such that autonomous parents in more resourced neighborhoods demonstrated strengths in positive, warm parenting. These findings highlight the potential of neighborhood resources and secure attachment to strengthen parenting, even in the face of adversity, supporting the resilience of families in marginalized communities.

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.