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Though some models of emotion contend that happiness and sadness are mutually exclusive in experience, recent findings suggest that adults can feel happy and sad at the same time in emotionally complex situations. Other research has shown that children develop a better conceptual understanding of mixed emotions as they grow older, but no research has examined children's actual experience of mixed emotions. To examine developmental differences in the experience of mixed emotions, we showed children ages 5 to 12 scenes from an animated film that culminated with a father and daughter's bittersweet farewell. In subsequent interviews, older children were more likely than younger children to report experiencing mixed emotions. These results suggest that in addition to having a better conceptual understanding of mixed emotions, older children are more likely than younger children to actually experience mixed emotions in emotionally complex situations.

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Research should acknowledge the influence of subtype symptoms when examining outcomes such as academic achievement. The upcoming DSM-V should consider the results as indicating the educational relevance of ADHD subtype classification.

The importance of well-specified research questions in the evaluation of early predictors of later inattention and hyperactivity is examined. In an analysis of a nationally representative sample of 2,717 children aged 4 to 10, latent growth trajectories for television viewing and inattention and hyperactivity are determined and the relationship of the two constructs examined. Analyses reveal a logistic latent growth model as the best description of the trajectory of television viewing across time, whereas a quadratic trend represents the best portrayal of the trajectory for symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity. Results do not support the presence of a meaningful relationship between television viewing and inattention and hyperactivity, which is inconsistent with previous findings from the same data set. The importance of the nature of well-specified research questions and the need to use contemporary longitudinal evaluation techniques to avoid misleading conclusions based on limited analyses and results are discussed.