The present study was designed to examine the longitudinal relations between parenting daily hassles and young children's later prosocial and aggressive behaviors, as well as the mediating role of parenting practices in a non‐Western society. The final sample was 159 middle class Turkish school age children (45.3% girls, Mage= 84.69 months, 76.9% from public school, 23.1% from private school in Bolu, Ankara, and İstanbul) and their mothers. Overall, we found longitudinal evidence that parenting daily hassles, warmth, and physical punishment were significantly and differentially associated with children's prosocial and aggressive behaviors 3 years later. The present findings extend our understanding of the interplay of parenting and stress in predicting children's prosocial and aggressive development in a non‐Western culture

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Developmental theories and previous research have emphasized the significance of cooperation and self-control in middle childhood. The present study extends previous research by examining (a) the growth of cooperation and self-control as well as the relations between them in middle childhood (third to sixth grade) and (b) the extent to which mothers' and fathers' parenting during early childhood (54 months and first grade) was associated with children's cooperation and self-control. The sample included 705 children (51% female, 86% White) and their mothers, fathers, and teachers in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). Children, on average, exhibited increases in self-control but not cooperation from third to sixth grade though the increases were smaller for children who had higher self-control or cooperation at third grade. Children who exhibited higher self-control at third grade tended to exhibit higher cooperation at third grade; similar positive associations emerged for the changes in self-control and cooperation over time. In addition, if a child exhibited higher self-control at one time point relative to their typical average level, they tended to also exhibit higher cooperation at the same time point relative to their typical average level. However, these relative deviations within person were not associated over time. Lastly, maternal and paternal sensitive and stimulating parenting in early childhood was positively associated with children's cooperation and self-control in middle childhood. Overall, our findings shed light on the growth of and the relations between cooperation and self-control in middle childhood and highlight the role of maternal and paternal parenting in early childhood.

Abstract Background Understanding the role of environmental toxicant exposure on children’s development is an important area of inquiry in order to better understand contextual factors that shape development and ultimately school readiness among young children. There is evidence suggesting negative links between exposure to environmental toxicants and negative physical health outcomes (i.e. asthma, allergies) in children. However, research on children’s exposure to environmental toxicants and other developmental outcomes (cognitive, socioemotional) is limited. Objectives The goal of the current review was to assess the existing literature on the links between environmental toxicants (excluding heavy metals) and children’s cognitive, socioemotional, and behavioral development among young children. Methods This literature review highlights research on environmental toxicants (i.e. pesticide exposure, bisphenol A, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, tobacco smoke, polychlorinated biphenyls, flame retardants, phthalates and gas pollutions) and children’s development across multiple domains. Results The results highlight the potential risk of exposure to multiple environmental toxicants for young children’s cognitive and socioemotional development. Discussion Discussion will focus on the role of environmental toxicants in the cognitive and socioemotional development of young children, while highlighting gaps in the existing literature.

Parental involvement has been associated with increased adolescent prosocial behaviors, but we know little about the peer and school-level explanatory mechanisms behind these associations. The current study aimed to examine the intervening roles of deviant peer affiliation and school connectedness in links between parental involvement and prosocial behaviors among U.S. Latino/a adolescents. Participants included 306 U.S. Latino/a adolescents ( M age = 15.50 years, SD = .42 years, 46% girls, 81.0% U.S. Mexican) from communities in the Northern Great Plains, who reported on parental involvement, deviant peer affiliation, school connectedness, and prosocial behaviors. Path analyses showed that parental involvement was directly and indirectly related to prosocial behaviors via both deviant peer affiliation and school connectedness. Parental involvement was related to lesser deviant peer affiliation, which was in turn related to greater school connectedness, which was further related to higher prosocial behaviors. The discussion focuses on the importance of studying the interplay of parent, peer, and school factors in understanding prosocial behaviors among U.S. Latino/a youth.

Traditional social cognitive model of prosocial development suggests important links between both sociocognitive and socioemotive traits and prosocial behaviors. The present study examined the relations among perspective taking, empathic concern, prosocial moral reasoning, and public, emotional, compliant, and anonymous prosocial behaviors in Filipino and Turkish young adults to test the generalizability of this traditional model. Participants were 257 college students recruited from state universities in Ankara, Turkey (57 women, 83 men; Mage = 19.26 years, SD = 0.63) and Manila, the Philippines (75 women, 42 men; Mage = 18.41 years, SD = 1.44). Results showed that the relations among perspective taking, empathic concern, prosocial moral reasoning, and four types of self-reported prosocial behaviors were robust across two countries and gender. Perspective taking was positively related to empathic concern, which, in turn, was positively related to emotional and compliant prosocial behaviors. Perspective taking was also positively related to prosocial moral reasoning, which, in turn, was positively related to anonymous and negatively related to public prosocial behaviors. Overall, the findings provide support for the generalizability of traditional model of prosocial development and extend our understanding of prosocial behaviors to two non-Western, collectivist-oriented societies.

Evidence suggests an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, particularly among emerging adults. However, theories on altruism born of suffering or adversarial growth suggest that we might also see prosocial behavior as a function of the pandemic, which may protect against mental health challenges. Because cultural values are central in determining prosocial behavior, the current study explored how cultural values were differentially associated with adaptive prosocial behaviors that might protect against mental health challenges. Participants for the current study included 5,682 young people aged 18–25 years from 14 different countries around the world (68% female, 62% college students). Path analyses suggested that there were few differences in patterns as a function of culture, but revealed that horizontal individualism and horizontal and vertical collectivism were indirectly associated with lower levels of depression via prosocial behavior toward family members. Discussion focuses on the importance of coping by strengthening family relationships via prosocial behavior during the pandemic.

Moral disengagement is a social cognition people use to engage in wrongdoings even when they know it is wrong. However, little is known about the antecedents that predict moral disengagement. The current study focuses on the development of self-control and cooperation during middle childhood as two antecedents of moral disengagement among 1,103 children (50% female; 77% White, 12% Black, 6% Hispanic, and 5% other). Children's self-control at age 8 and growth in self-control from age 8 to 11 were positively linked to adolescents seeing themselves as having self-control at age 15, which then predicted less moral disengagement at age 18. Children's cooperation at age 8 also was positively linked to adolescents’ self-views of cooperation at age 15, which in turn, was associated with less moral disengagement at age 18. These findings demonstrate the potential of self-control and cooperation as intrapersonal and interpersonal strengths during middle childhood for mitigating moral disengagement 10 years later.