New concepts keep popping up, and this study introduced such a new concept to me: shadow loss, not dissimilar to phantom pain. This new paper featuring college students’ experiences with loss during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that although few directly experienced a close death, everyone lost something that impacted their lives. From the press release:… Read More New word of the day: Shadow loss #covid19
Of course, this study and insight is rather an example of correlation, but a very relevant one, IMHO, as researchers have found that inadequate sleep in children affects their emotional functioning in ways that may predict longer-term social problems. From the press release: “Sleep problems in children are routinely linked with lower social competence and… Read More When children are overtired, their facial expressions can forecast social problems years later
We know that the neighbourhood where you are born and raised can have a positive or negative effect on your academic achievement. But how can you mitigate the negative effects of a low-income neighbourhood? Helping behaviour could, ehm, help. From the press release: Children raised in neighborhoods with low socio-economic status are at risk for… Read More How to overcome a low-income neighbourhood as a young child? Prosocial behavior can help.
I really like the concept of pay it forward, and this study published last summer shows that the concept also is the link between secure family relationships and having empathy for friends as a teen. Do note: I wrote the link, not the causal link as the study doesn’t allow to draw this kind of… Read More “Pay it forward” (about friendships between teenagers)
The very first words of this new study by Marks & O’Connell, published in Intelligence are a very clear question: Does the impact of socioeconomic (SES) on children’s test scores increase as children grow older? This is such an important issue, as we often have learned that there is a Matthew effect in place, making… Read More Does the impact of socioeconomic (SES) on children’s test scores increase as children grow older?
Baby’s start communicating very fast, and the oldest question in the book seems to be: is this nature or nurture. Quite often it’s both, but where lies the starting point? A neuroscientist and speech pathologist led a study that uncovered how neural networks in infants influence their language learning skills in early childhood suggesting that… Read More Are we born with communication skills?
We’ve lost a lot of people in the pandemic. A study published in The Lancet this summer shows that more than 1.5 million children around the world are estimated to have lost at least one parent, custodial grandparent, or grandparent who lived with them due to death related to COVID-19 during the first 14 months of… Read More The impact of caregiver deaths due to COVID-19: 1.5 million children lost a primary or secondary caregiver
The negative influence of stress on the cognitive development of infants has been shown again and again, and this new study does the same again, sadly enough. Infants coming from homes with domestic violence often go on to have worse academic outcomes in school due to neurodevelopmental lags and a higher risk for a variety… Read More Again, sadly enough: Infants exposed to domestic violence have poorer cognitive development
This study only shows correlations, typical for screen time research. Paulich and colleagues show in their research that school-aged children who spend more time in front of screens are only slightly more likely to have attention disorders, disturbed sleep or lower grades and The good news is that they are no more likely to suffer… Read More The benefits of screen time for school-aged children?
Having not enough free time can make you feel bad. That’s why as an individual’s free time increases, so does that person’s sense of well-being. But this is only the case up to a point. New research shows that too much free time can also be a bad thing… The study is interesting, but it’s… Read More Too much free time can also be a bad thing (well, maybe)
