{"title":"Not so bad for whom? Family-specific associations between daily helicopter parenting and emerging adults' affective well-being.","authors":"Yue Wang, Skyler T Hawk, Liu Yang","doi":"10.1037/dev0002012","DOIUrl":"10.1037/dev0002012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This preregistered 30-day diary study investigated reciprocal, time-lagged, within-family associations between maternal helicopter parenting and emerging adults' affective well-being (i.e., positive and negative affect). Dynamic Structural Equation Models examining reports from 146 first-year university students (<i>M</i><sub>age</sub> = 18.74, 55.5% female) revealed positive next-day associations between changes in perceived maternal helicopter parenting and negative affect, on average. No average effects existed for positive affect. Examining within-person effect heterogeneity identified four subgroups of emerging adults' affective responses to their perceived maternal helicopter parenting: detrimental (e.g., decreased/unchanged positive affect and increased negative affect; 51.4%), beneficial (21.9%), mixed-effects (increased positive and negative affect; 6.9%), and noneffectual (13.7%). Established subgroups did not differ on participants' endorsement of traditional Chinese family and cultural values. Results indicate largely detrimental effects of helicopter parenting among Chinese emerging adults. These effects were heterogeneous, however, underscoring the need for family-specific investigations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"2374-2385"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144250357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma Armstrong-Carter, Lucy E Clark, Jeylan T Mortimer
{"title":"The duration and intensity of adolescents' childcare and eldercare responsibilities: Links to short- and long-term educational outcomes.","authors":"Emma Armstrong-Carter, Lucy E Clark, Jeylan T Mortimer","doi":"10.1037/dev0002051","DOIUrl":"10.1037/dev0002051","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This longitudinal study documents individual differences in the intensity and duration of adolescents' childcare and eldercare responsibilities from ages 14 to 18. Further, it investigates how adolescents' caregiving responsibilities are associated with socioeconomic background, and educational achievement in high school and at midlife. Participants (<i>N</i> = 1,130, 52% female, 12% Asian, 9% Black, 4% Hispanic) were followed longitudinally from ages 14 to 46. They reported the number of hours they provided care for children and elderly persons at four yearly time points during adolescence, their high school grade point averages, whether they graduated from high school on time, and their educational attainment at age 46. Parents reported their household income and level of education. Adolescents who provided extensive childcare (high intensity, long duration) and sporadic eldercare (high intensity, short duration) across 4 years came disproportionately from families with socioeconomic disadvantages. They also exhibited lower educational attainment in adulthood, even after controlling for socioeconomic status and other demographic factors. Further, extensive childcare responsibilities were associated with declines in grades across high school. Whereas eldercare was not associated with academic grades between subjects, within-subjects analyses revealed that adolescents had lower grades during years when they provided more eldercare. In the context of prior evidence that youth with high levels of family obligations are highly motivated to excel in school, our findings suggest that institutional barriers may be hindering their short- and long-term educational goals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"2233-2245"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12407241/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144974546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alex Mackiel, Yinyuan Zheng, Anam Barakzai, Alex Shaw
{"title":"\"You didn't take my side!\": When children expect others to be more upset at friends.","authors":"Alex Mackiel, Yinyuan Zheng, Anam Barakzai, Alex Shaw","doi":"10.1037/dev0002205","DOIUrl":"10.1037/dev0002205","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Loyalty is a defining feature of adult friendships, but when does it become key to children's friendships? In three studies (<i>N</i> = 429), we assessed children's beliefs about loyalty among friends. In Study 1, 4- to 11-year-olds were told that a protagonist stayed out of (i.e., remained neutral to) a situation involving their friend and acquaintance and were asked who they thought would be more upset at this. As children matured, they were more likely to predict that the protagonist's friend would be more upset than the protagonist's acquaintance at their neutrality. Study 2 replicated this finding in 4- to 11-year-olds and tested a boundary condition of our account in which we predicted and found that children did not believe a friend would be more upset than the protagonist's acquaintance, namely, when friends made mistakes. Study 3 tested whether 6- to 7-year-olds and 10- to 11-year-olds can use upset reactions to infer friendship. We found that 10- to 11-year-olds inferred that a person who was upset at the protagonist's neutrality was the protagonist's friend but thought that a person who was upset at the protagonist's mistake was not their friend. However, 6- to 7-year-olds were less likely to infer that the upset person was the friend in the neutrality context and responded similarly in both conditions. Altogether, children increasingly expected friends to be upset at disloyalty from their friends as they matured. We interpret these findings as evidence for a developing belief about the loyalty obligations that exist in friendships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"2137-2151"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147965339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Linking childhood adversity and daily hassles to adolescent sleep behaviors: Diurnal cortisol as a mediating pathway.","authors":"Mingjun Xie, Qianqian Gao, Wei Wang, Xingyi Chen, Samuele Zilioli, Danhua Lin","doi":"10.1037/dev0002234","DOIUrl":"10.1037/dev0002234","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study sought to examine whether diurnal cortisol served as an intermediary pathway linking childhood adversity and daily hassles to adolescent sleep behaviors (i.e., duration and quality). Data were drawn from 255 Chinese adolescents (32.2% female; Mage = 11.678 years, SD = 0.741, range = 10-14 years). Adolescents filled out a survey on demographics and childhood adversity at T1. One year later (T2), they completed 7-day reports on daily hassles and sleep behaviors and provided saliva samples for 3 consecutive days. Six months later (T3), adolescents completed a follow-up survey on their sleep behaviors. Multilevel structural equation models were conducted to examine the mediating effects of diurnal cortisol on associations between stressors and sleep duration and quality. Specific associations emerged between stressors and adolescent diurnal cortisol: Adolescents who reported greater childhood adversity at T1 exhibited a smaller cortisol awakening response (CAR) at T2; by contrast, on days when adolescents perceived more daily hassles, they exhibited a larger CAR the next day. For links between diurnal cortisol and sleep behaviors, distinct associations were observed for daily (within-person) versus longer term (between-person) effects. Finally, waking cortisol and CAR mediated the links between prior-day daily hassles and next-day sleep duration; the indirect effects of diurnal cortisol were not supported for the links between childhood adversity and sleep behaviors. Observing the temporal, time-lagged mechanism of diurnal cortisol explaining the links between daily stressors and sleep behaviors, this study points to important implications for practices on promoting adolescent sleep health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"2412-2424"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148346868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arnault-Quentin Vermillet, Joshua C Skewes, Christine E Parsons
{"title":"Asymmetric patterns in early parent-infant nighttime care: Persistence of maternal involvement during father leave periods.","authors":"Arnault-Quentin Vermillet, Joshua C Skewes, Christine E Parsons","doi":"10.1037/dev0002109","DOIUrl":"10.1037/dev0002109","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>How do first-time fathers and mothers share the care of their new infant at night? Using smartphone-based experience sampling, we compared parental reports during maternity and paternity leave. During maternity leave, mothers reported engaging in 2.70 more nighttime care events than fathers, performing approximately 77% of the nighttime checking or responding to infants. During paternity leave, fathers' reported share of nighttime care increased by about 17%, while mothers reported that their share decreased by 14%. However, mothers checked on their infants on average 1.43 times more than fathers during paternity leave. The total number of nighttime checks was similar between the maternity and paternity leave periods, despite infants being older during paternity leave, when sleep patterns typically stabilize. We also found considerable discrepancies between partners' reports: both parents consistently reported their partners doing less nighttime care than the partners reported themselves. The discrepancy was particularly pronounced in mothers' evaluations of father involvement during maternity leave. These findings reveal persistent asymmetries in parental nighttime care, even when fathers are on paternity leave. We suggest that the distribution of nighttime care, therefore, is not solely driven by parental leave status but might reflect established infant care routines, social norms, and other biological factors. These findings have implications for understanding the development of co-parenting dynamics and informing policies aimed at promoting father involvement in early infant care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"2262-2268"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145679204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gwendolyn Ngoh, Lit Wee Sim, Stella Tsotsi, Kiat Hui Khng, Pei Pei Setoh, Evelyn Chung Law, Kerry Lee, Ai Peng Tan, Helen Yu Chen, Yap-Seng Chong, Anne Rifkin-Graboi
{"title":"Grandparental care and early childhood development: A decade's worth of insight from three Singaporean cohorts.","authors":"Gwendolyn Ngoh, Lit Wee Sim, Stella Tsotsi, Kiat Hui Khng, Pei Pei Setoh, Evelyn Chung Law, Kerry Lee, Ai Peng Tan, Helen Yu Chen, Yap-Seng Chong, Anne Rifkin-Graboi","doi":"10.1037/dev0002083","DOIUrl":"10.1037/dev0002083","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Singapore's aging population and the geographical proximity of Singaporean families may contribute to comparatively high rates of grandparental caregiving. This study describes the prevalence of grandparental caregiving and investigates concurrent and longitudinal effects of grandparental care on infant and preschool-aged children's preacademic, executive function, and socioemotional outcomes for the first time in Singapore. In the present study, grandparental caregiving was operationalized as time spent and as children's preferences for their grandparents. Data from three longitudinal studies conducted over the past decade were used (259 from Growing Up in Singapore Toward Healthy Outcomes [GUSTO], 122 Singapore Preconception Study of Long-Term Maternal and Child Outcomes [S-PRESTO], and 39 from Singapore Parenting and Cognition in Early Childhood [SPACE]). Results suggested that grandparental care may be on the decline in recent years and most of the grandparental care-child outcome associations were not significant. Still, when effects were observed, the majority were negative when time spent was considered and positive when preference was considered. Furthermore, maternal sensitivity significantly moderated the association between grandparental care and child outcomes, exemplifying the importance of considering children's larger caregiving network when examining the effects of grandparental care. A greater understanding of how to support grandparental caregiving for optimal child outcomes will be beneficial. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"2215-2232"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145490367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Understanding the dynamics of interparental conflict, adolescents' responses, and adjustment problems: A network analysis.","authors":"Jichao Jia, Liping Ma, Wei Tong, Tong Wu, Xiaoyi Fang","doi":"10.1037/dev0002221","DOIUrl":"10.1037/dev0002221","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Grounded in family theories, interparental conflict is conceptualized as a relational process that interacts dynamically with adolescents' responses to interparental conflict and their adjustment problems, potentially forming a negative cycle within the family system. The present study investigated three contemporaneous network models and two cross-lagged panel network models to explore the relationship among the components of interparental conflict (i.e., hostility, constructive, withdrawal, and compliance), adolescents' responses (i.e., scapegoating, mediation, avoidance, father-adolescent coalition, and mother-adolescent coalition), and their adjustment problems (i.e., depression, anxiety, aggression, and deviant behavior). A total of 768 adolescents (<i>M</i><sub>age</sub> = 15.02, <i>SD</i> = 1.57; 49.60% girls) completed the survey. Results indicated that (a) the components of all subsystems are intercorrelated and coalesce into a feedback-based network of family; (b) compliance conflict behaviors are related to coalition with the compliant parent, while other conflict behaviors are related to coalition with the parent without corresponding behavior; and (c) interparental conflict behaviors of fathers and mothers have different associations with adolescents' responses and adjustment outcomes. These findings revealed how negative dynamics are interconnected within the family system, highlighted the distinct nature of different interparental conflict behaviors, and suggested that the gender of parents should be considered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"2307-2321"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148253993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Long-term legacy of parents' secure base script knowledge: Cascading implications for family relationships and children's positive development.","authors":"Haley M Herbert, Juyoung Kim, Grazyna Kochanska","doi":"10.1037/dev0002279","DOIUrl":"10.1037/dev0002279","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A large body of research implicates adults' attachment security, largely formed in their early experiences, as a key factor shaping their future romantic and parenting relationships. Family system theories suggest that the interparental relationship is key for other relationships within the family, including those in individual mother- and father-child dyads. Few studies, however, have elucidated how the legacy of parents' attachment security unfolds through family relationships to child outcomes. We test a developmental longitudinal cascade, conceptualized as a sequential mediation model, from parents' attachment security, assessed as their secure base script knowledge when children were infants, to their self-reported interparental relationship quality at toddler age, to their observed relationships with their children at age 3 years, and, ultimately, to children's developmental outcomes at age 4.5 years (self-regulation and moral self). We leverage multimethod data (interviews, reports, observations) from a study of 200 community families in the U.S. Midwest (mothers, fathers, and children). We adopt recent perspectives that emphasize positive socialization processes and successful outcomes rather than detrimental pathways conferring risks. In analyses that controlled for the continuity of interparental and parent-child relationships, we supported several mediational paths. Results for mother-child dyads supported the entire hypothesized longitudinal sequence from mothers' attachment security to the mother-child relationship to children's positive developmental outcomes. For father-child dyads, that key cascade was not supported. However, several shorter alternative indirect paths were found in both dyads. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13641137/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149116753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emily R Padrutt, Isabella Stallworthy, Meriah DeJoseph, Sylia Wilson, Daniel Berry
{"title":"Maternal postnatal depression and sensitive parenting: Considering developmental timing with a causally informative approach.","authors":"Emily R Padrutt, Isabella Stallworthy, Meriah DeJoseph, Sylia Wilson, Daniel Berry","doi":"10.1037/dev0002273","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002273","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Models of intergenerational transmission of depression implicate lower sensitive parenting as a key mechanism linking maternal depressive symptoms and offspring outcomes. A well-developed literature demonstrates consistent, modest, negative associations between maternal depressive symptoms and sensitive parenting. However, this literature relies primarily on methods ill-suited to examine developmental timing or account for confounding with time-varying exposures. To address these limitations, we implemented marginal structural models, an approach developed to test timing effects and address confounding for time-varying exposures. Specifically, we used prospective longitudinal data from a sample of families from low-income, rural U.S. contexts (Family Life Project; <i>N</i> = 1,275; 59% White, 41% Black; 31% living below the federal poverty level) to test chronicity and timing effects of maternal depressive symptoms during infancy on sensitive parenting at 35 postnatal months. Unadjusted models suggested that, compared with stable lower postnatal symptoms, chronically higher (<i>d</i> = -.29, <i>p</i> = .001), early only (<i>d</i> = -.21, <i>p</i> = .009), and later only (<i>d</i> = -.26, <i>p</i> = .004) symptoms were all associated with less sensitive parenting, consistent with the existing literature. However, these differences were attenuated (<i>d</i>s ≤ -.14) and nonsignificant (<i>p</i>s ≥ .396) after adjusting for confounding. Results suggest the statistical association between maternal depression and sensitive parenting may be explained by confounding and highlight the importance of considering additional intervention targets that co-occur with maternal depression and may drive reductions in sensitive parenting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13641154/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149116722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joanna Peplak, J Zoe Klemfuss, Danhua Zhu, Deborah Z Kamliot, Tuppett M Yates
{"title":"Parent-adolescent conversations about mental health and well-being shaped adolescents' anxiety/depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.","authors":"Joanna Peplak, J Zoe Klemfuss, Danhua Zhu, Deborah Z Kamliot, Tuppett M Yates","doi":"10.1037/dev0001895","DOIUrl":"10.1037/dev0001895","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to the mental health and well-being (MHW) of adolescents. The present study aimed to explore how parent-adolescent conversations may have protected (or threatened) adolescent mental health during the first year of the pandemic. We examined how parents and adolescents discussed MHW together and the influence of parents' affective conversational climate on changes in adolescent anxiety/depression over time. Participants were 183 parent-adolescent dyads (adolescents: <i>M</i><sub>age</sub> = 15.23 years, <i>SD</i> = 0.06, 50% female assigned at birth; 47.0% Latine; parents: <i>M</i><sub>age</sub> = 42.76, <i>SD</i> = 6.95, 93% biological mothers) from Southern California, United States. Adolescents reported their symptoms of anxiety/depression in spring 2020 (T1) and winter 2020/2021 (T3). Between July 2020 and March 2021 (T2), parent-adolescent dyads engaged in an 8-min audio-recorded conversation about the pandemic. Conversations were coded for adolescent and parent references to MHW (i.e., their contributions to discussing their own or others' mental health and strategies to cope with challenges) and parents' affective climate (i.e., parents' positive and negative emotion talk). Higher parental contribution and lower adolescent contribution to MHW discussions predicted increases in adolescents' anxiety/depression from T1 to T3. Parents' positive emotion talk predicted decreases in adolescents' anxiety/depression over time, and, at increased levels of parents' negative emotion talk, parental control over the MHW discussion predicted increases in adolescents' anxiety/depression. These findings highlight that conversations may be important social processes that contribute to adolescent well-being during times of crisis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":"1903-1915"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142933151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}