Developmental Psychology

A new study finds that how fathers react when their toddlers are scared—whether they minimize the fear or become overly involved—is linked to distinct differences in the children's anxiety and behavior two years later.

Many teenagers sleep in on weekends to catch up on rest. New research associates this irregular schedule with differences in the physical structure and internal communication of the developing brain, which may relate to cognitive growth.

Researchers have mapped a pathway connecting infant screen time to teenage anxiety. The study associates early screen exposure with accelerated brain network maturation, which predicts more hesitant decision-making in childhood and greater anxiety in adolescence.

Three new studies highlight how the timing of cardinal knowledge mastery predicts school readiness. Researchers found that complex parent-child conversations aid development, whereas parental math anxiety is linked to lower preschool numeracy skills.

A new study finds that children exposed to violence show increased activity in the insula when seeing or hearing their parents. This suggests trauma changes how the developing brain processes caregiver signals.

Toddlers who consume processed meats and sugary snacks may face cognitive hurdles later in childhood. Research published in the British Journal of Nutrition suggests unhealthy eating at age two is linked to lower intelligence scores at school age.

New findings suggest digital media alters the specific categories of words toddlers acquire. Researchers found that video consumption is associated with knowing fewer body part words, regardless of the total number of words a child knows.

Researchers have created a detailed model of perinatal brain growth, revealing how white and gray matter trajectories shift during gestation. The study also identifies early sex-based differences in brain structure.

Using a bottle to soothe infants at bedtime may backfire. A new study finds this practice disrupts the ability to self-soothe, leading to shorter sleep duration and more frequent interruptions as the baby grows.

New research suggests early physical contact, like hugging or hand-holding, fosters kindness later in life. Adolescents who recalled being held often had more secure attachments to their mothers, which predicted higher levels of compliant prosocial behavior.

A large-scale analysis reveals that while most autistic preschoolers gain language skills through therapy, a distinct subgroup does not. Researchers identified lower motor imitation skills as a key predictor for limited progress.

Adolescent exposure to common air pollutants like nitrogen dioxide is linked to faster cortical thinning, according to a new study. These structural changes occurred primarily in brain regions responsible for executive function and emotional processing.

Preschoolers who spend just one hour a week gardening develop better eating habits and physical activity levels, according to new research published in Acta Psychologica focusing on five-year-old children.

A new study suggests that a father’s early warmth predicts his child’s future inflammation and blood sugar levels. The findings highlight how paternal engagement stabilizes family dynamics to protect children’s long-term health.

Longitudinal data suggest music training acts as a cognitive buffer, protecting vocabulary development in adolescents from high-deprivation backgrounds.