This study investigates whether children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more susceptible to false memory production compared to typically developing children. We interpret the results within the framework of major false memory theories. A total of 28 children with ADHD and 27 typically developing children participated. All completed intellectual and executive function assessments, including the Wechsler Intelligence Scale and the inhibition subtest of the NEPSY-II, and performed a free recall Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task adapted for children. This DRM task measured correct recall, false recall (i.e., critical lures), and extra-list intrusions. Participants also rated their confidence in their responses. A significant interaction was observed between group and response type. Children with ADHD recalled fewer correct words and produced more false memories than typically developing children. Lower inhibition scores correlated with higher false memory rates. However, both groups showed greater confidence in their correct responses than in their false memories. These findings suggest that inhibition impairment in children with ADHD may affect source monitoring, leading to a higher susceptibility to false memory. These results align with activation-based theories of false memories.

Social role and goal congruity theories propose that occupation gender stereotypes and goal affordances affect career interests. These assumptions were tested by examining adolescents' preferred career interests and their interest in highly gender-stereotyped occupations (HGSOs) in which their gender is also a minority (gender stereotype incongruent). U.S. students aged 12-17 years in 8th and 9th grades (N = 879; 46.5% boys) completed an online survey assessing the gender stereotype and career goals of their preferred future occupation using established rating scales (Barth et al., 2018; Barth & Yang, 2022). Students also reported the gender stereotypes and goal affordances of four HGSOs (Education, Healthcare, Engineering, Construction). Although most adolescents' preferred careers were highly gender stereotyped, their perceptions were more gender neutral. Consistent with goal congruity theory, high-earning or societally beneficial careers were of greatest interest to girls and boys, respectively. But girls rated power/status more importantly than boys. Interest in gender stereotype incongruent occupations was associated with higher ratings on all goals. Gender stereotypes for these occupations were associated with boys' interest in education and girls' interest in engineering. Findings supported and challenged social role and goal congruity theories, suggesting the need to reconsider adolescents' perceptions of gender and stereotypes.

This longitudinal study examined the predictive role of emotion reactivity and regulation on sleep quality across early to middle childhood. Participants were typically developing Swedish children (N = 116, 49% girls), with reactivity and regulation assessed at ages 3, 6 and 9 years, and sleep quality measured at the age of 9 years. Results provided partial support for preregistered hypotheses. Regulation was consistently associated with sleep quality, with concurrent regulation at the age of 9 years showing the strongest association. Reactivity only correlated with sleep quality at the age of 9 years. Exploratory path analysis showed more complex patterns. Regulation emerged as the most consistent predictor of better sleep quality. Early reactivity (ages 3 and 6 years) showed small positive links to later sleep, whereas higher concurrent reactivity at the age of 9 years predicted poorer sleep quality. Mediation analyses suggested that regulation may serve as a mechanism linking reactivity to later sleep quality. Together, these findings underscore both the developmental value and the complexity of emotion-sleep relations, highlighting the need for nuanced, context-sensitive approaches to understanding how emotional functioning supports children's sleep health.

This prospective study investigated object exploration and combination play, in addition to (pre-)symbolic play in children at elevated likelihood for autism (EL; younger siblings of autistic children and very preterm children). Play of EL-children with (n = 22) and without (n = 61) a best-estimate research diagnosis of autism at 36 months was measured using detailed coding of direct observations at the (corrected) age of 10 and 14 months. As expected, autistic and non-autistic EL-children progressed to (pre-)symbolic play following the onset of combination play. There were no significant differences between both groups for most play behaviours at 10 and 14 months. Non-autistic EL-children did engage in more general combination play acts than autistic EL-children at 10 months. Moreover, 25% of the non-autistic EL-children showed general combination play, versus none of the autistic EL-children at 10 months. At 14 months, non-autistic EL-children spent slightly more of their playtime in spontaneous (pre-)symbolic play than autistic EL-children at 14 months. Object play behaviours were more similar than different between autistic and non-autistic EL-children at 10 and 14 months when playing alone. Our findings do not offer strong support for using solitary object play assessment as a method to identify autism in these very young EL-children.

Although anticipated affect has been shown to influence young adults' willingness to engage in counter-stereotypic fields of study and careers, research has not yet explored whether elementary school children also anticipate negative affect for violating gender norms. The present studies explored elementary school students' knowledge of gender stereotypes, anticipated embarrassment and willingness to play counter-stereotypic characters in a play. In Study 1 (N = 56, M = 9.46 years) and Study 2 (N = 49, M = 9.52 years), children anticipated more embarrassment and were less willing to play a character with gender stereotype-incongruent behaviours and roles, compared to gender stereotype-congruent characters. In Study 3 (N = 47, M = 11.43 years), children anticipated more embarrassment and were less willing to play a character with a stereotype-incongruent occupation compared to gender stereotype-congruent occupations. In a combined analysis across the three studies, knowledge of gender stereotypes predicted children's embarrassment to play counter-stereotypic roles. The results are discussed with respect to the development of gender norms and occupational aspirations in children.

As they become older, adolescents tend to prefer sleeping and rising later. Yet, it is still unclear if these sleep changes occur due to advancing age or because adolescents are more pubertally mature. This was investigated cross-sectionally in a sample of 121 Brazilian 9-to-17-year-olds. Participants reported their sleep habits (bed/rise times, time in bed [TIB] on weekdays and weekends, social jetlag) and circadian preferences (Morningness-Eveningness Scale for Children), which were analysed according to changes in age and pubertal status [self-rated Pubertal Development Scale (PDS); clinician-rated Tanner stages]. Older age related only to later weekday bedtimes. Later week/weekend bedtimes and reduced TIB were more associated with Tanner stages, especially pubic hair (adrenal) maturation, while evening preference was linked to higher PDS and genital/breast (gonadal) Tanner stages. Adolescents' sleep habits mapped differently onto age/pubertal status: higher adrenal development related to reduced sleep time, while higher gonadal development associated with eveningness preferences.

Parental autonomy support, the extent to which parents facilitate their child's independent use of decision-making and problem-solving skills, is an important contributor to adolescent development. This study aimed to explore the effect of parental autonomy support on academic burnout and loneliness among adolescents and whether this link was mediated by the emotion reactivity of the adolescent. Participants (N = 965) were recruited from a Chinese middle school and completed a three-wave longitudinal study, filling out the Parental Autonomy Support Scale, the Emotion Reactivity Scale, the School Burnout Inventory and the University of California at Los Angeles Loneliness Scale. The results revealed that T1 parental autonomy support negatively predicted T2 emotional reactivity and T3 loneliness, but it did not predict T3 academic burnout. T2 emotional reactivity negatively predicted T3 academic burnout, but it did not predict T3 loneliness. T2 emotion reactivity mediated this relationship between T1 parental autonomy support and T3 academic burnout. This is the first study to identify the mediating role of emotion reactivity between parental autonomy support and academic burnout and loneliness. It demonstrated the need for parents to pay attention to the way they support their adolescents' autonomy and help them manage their emotion reactivity.

Preterm birth is associated with later language impairment and delay. Socio-economic deprivation is linked to decreased language exposure in early childhood, but it is unknown how prematurity influences this relationship. This study investigated the effects of socio-economic status and gestational age at birth on language exposure, in a sample of 47 preterm and 53 term infant-parent dyads. Videos were coded for parental language and gesture using a novel coding scheme. Video codes revealed no significant differences in the language and gesture used by parents of preterm infants versus term infants during interaction. Socio-economic status was positively correlated with quantity and variety of words used, and mean length of utterance (all r > .25, p < .015). Deprivation, and especially the increased prevalence of deprivation among the preterm population, may be a key factor to consider when examining the risk of language delay for infants born early.

We examined age-related attitudes in 56 German children (M = 6.5, 4-8 years; 55% female) using newly developed behavioural (seating and team formation task), explicit (picture rating) and implicit [single-target implicit association test (ST-IAT)] measures. Stimuli comprised pictures of younger and older adults. Children placed younger adults closer to themselves and placed more older adults in an opposing team, rated pictures of younger adults more positively than those of older adults, and evinced more favourable implicit evaluations of younger than older targets. This shows that already young children evaluate younger and older adults differently, underscoring the need for further research on the development of age-related attitudes in childhood.

The ability to read and write multi-digit numbers is increasingly recognised as a critical component of mathematical literacy. Previous studies showed that this skill takes years to develop, and children are not fluent even by the fourth grade. Here, we examined fifth-grade children as they read aloud briefly presented digit strings. They were no less accurate than adults. Moreover, several of their number reading patterns resembled those of adults, indicating adult-like functioning of the visual analyzer - the cognitive process that parses digit strings. Specifically, the children scanned digits from left to right, showed an advantage for outer digits over inner digits and demonstrated a dissociation between digit identification and position encoding. These findings indicate that by the fifth grade, children not only exhibit task proficiency in number reading, but they also rely on cognitive processes that are already mature in key aspects.

Self-control development in children and adolescents is shaped by both genetic and environmental influences, yet little is known about how these factors interact across developmental stages. This two-wave longitudinal study investigated the interplay between the DRD2 gene rs1799732 polymorphism and negative parenting in predicting self-control among 9-14-year-olds, with a focus on differences between childhood and adolescence. Results revealed that the effects of negative parenting on self-control were concentrated in childhood (ages 9-11) and varied by genotype. Children with the GG allele were more vulnerable to negative parenting, exhibiting reduced self-control, whereas those carrying the T allele (TT/TG) demonstrated enhanced self-control under similar conditions, suggesting a possible 'training' effect. These findings highlight childhood as a critical period of environmental sensitivity and underscore the need for personalized parenting strategies that account for genetic differences. Limitations include the study's restricted developmental window, the exclusion of positive parenting and other family subsystems, and the need for replication using multi-wave designs and broader samples. The results provide novel insights into gene-environment interactions and offer practical guidance for targeted interventions to foster self-control in youth.

Drawing upon family systems theory, we examine the congruent and incongruent effect of paternal and maternal psychological control on middle school students' academic physical exhaustion. Results from polynomial regressions on 202 middle school students supported the congruent effect hypothesis. Furthermore, asymmetrical incongruent effects were observed, with students experiencing higher academic physical exhaustion when paternal psychological control was high combined with maternal psychological control low, compared with the reverse scenario. These findings highlight the pivotal role played by both fathers and mothers in reducing middle school students' academic physical exhaustion.

Relations between children's motor skills and internalizing problems are poorly understood. The environmental stress hypothesis (ESH), originally developed for motor-impaired children, may provide understanding, yet has been scarcely examined in typically developing children. Therefore, we examined: (1) relations between children's motor skills and internalizing problems; (2) the role of secondary stressors, specifically interpersonal conflicts and externalizing problems; and (3) the role of personal resources, namely, prosocial behaviour and social self-efficacy (SSE). About 1154 Dutch primary school children (mean age 9.0 years, 50.0% boys) participated. Multilevel structural equation models showed that children's motor skills were related to internalizing problems, with a weak indirect relation via interpersonal conflicts. SSE had a weak indirect relation with internalizing problems. Prosocial skills (personal resource) and externalizing problems (secondary stressor) did not mediate relations between motor skills and internalizing problems. The ESH seemed applicable in typically developing children, although relations were weaker than for motor-impaired children.

Despite extensive research on childhood maltreatment's pathogenic effects, transdiagnostic mechanisms linking maltreatment to psychiatric disorders remain underexplored. This study examined intolerance of uncertainty (IU) as a mediator and the behavioural inhibition system (BIS) as a moderator in the associations between childhood maltreatment and both anxiety and depression. Data were collected from 3503 Chinese adolescents (51.0% male; M = 14.00, SD = 1.34). The results showed that IU mediated the associations between childhood maltreatment and both anxiety and depression. BIS significantly moderated direct and indirect pathways in both models. Notably, Johnson-Neyman analysis identified a transition point (at standardized BIS scores ≤ -1.80) where BIS' moderating effect on the maltreatment-depression pathway shifted from significant to non-significant. This pattern was not observed in the anxiety model. This divergence suggests distinct roles of BIS in anxiety versus depression. The findings suggest that IU and BIS may serve as potential intervention targets in efforts to mitigate the psychopathological outcomes associated with childhood maltreatment.

This study investigates whether children's trust in information sources is influenced by the groomed or ungroomed appearance of an individual and whether age affects this decision-making process. A total of 662 children aged 4-10 from kindergarten, second grade and fourth grade participated. Children viewed photos of identical twins labelled as groomed or ungroomed, then watched videos where these individuals named unfamiliar shapes. Results showed that children across all age groups significantly preferred the groomed individual. Analysis of their explanations revealed that kindergarteners relied more on appearance-based justifications compared with older children. From second grade onward, children increasingly shifted towards accuracy- and skill-based explanations, even without direct evidence of competence. This developmental trend suggests that as children's language and reasoning abilities improve, they begin to provide more epistemic justifications rather than relying on superficial cues. Overall, the findings indicate that appearance strongly affects children's epistemic trust decisions throughout early and middle childhood. The study highlights the importance of educational practices that help children critically evaluate information sources based on reliability and competence rather than external appearance.

Given the lack of evidence, we cannot definitively determine the relationship between attachment networks and problematic mobile phone use, hindering effective intervention strategies. Therefore, a three-wave longitudinal study was designed to explore the heterogeneity of parent-child attachment networks using latent profile analysis (LPA) and random intercept latent transition analysis (RI-LTA). Participants included 2116 adolescents (ages 14-21; 53.8% girls). Results identified five stable parent-child attachment network profiles, each showing moderate but decreasing stability. Notably, adolescents who were grouped into an attachment network characterized by secure maternal attachment but insecure paternal attachment, similar to those in attachment networks with both insecure maternal and paternal attachment, scored higher levels of problematic mobile phone use than those who were grouped into attachment networks with both secure maternal and paternal attachment. Our findings fill empirical gaps and provide strong evidence supporting attachment-based interventions to reduce problematic mobile phone use.

Extensive research has examined empathy in autistic people; this has largely been conducted by asking autistic participants to complete measures and engage in experimental procedures or by consulting with close relatives. To the best of our knowledge, this study is one of the first to seek the views of autistic participants on their self-perceived empathic capacity. In this case, empathy was explored within a wider context of self-concept. The study recruited 100 participants who were asked to complete 10 statements about themselves. Subsequently, participants were asked to rate their self-perceived empathy on a scale of 1-10, providing justification for this. Autistic and non-autistic participants made a comparable proportion of references to numerous psychological traits. However, non-autistic participants made a higher proportion of references to being happy, friendly and caring. Autistic participants gave lower self-ratings of empathy compared to non-autistic participants; however, the thematic analysis showed that both groups felt they had cognitive and affective empathic capacity, with nuanced differences between the groups. This paper highlights the importance of involving autistic voices in research about their empathic capacity and self-concept, identifying nuance in the autistic experience that has been generally overlooked in previous research.

Using structural equation modelling (SEM), this study tested whether parental monetary investments (PMI) and parental time investment (PTI) mediate the effects of family income (FI) on primary math achievement (PMA) in a sample of Bangladeshi children (N = 760, 52% boys, M = 9.1 Years, SD = 3.3 at baseline), studying over 24 months. In doing so, the background variables (fourth-grade math scores, child's age, and sex) were controlled in the model. The results from SEM suggested that fewer PMIs in children's math stimulating materials and fewer PTIs in children's at-home math practices partially mediated the association between lower-FI and poor PMA. Although PTI had a greater amount of variance (15%) in the associations of lower-FI with lower-PMA as compared to PMIs (11%), the full model explained 25% of the variance in the lower-FI and lower-PMA link with control variables. Future directions for policy and research are discussed.

In the present study, 43 Italian school-age children (age range = 7-14 years, 16 females) with (N = 19) and without DD (N = 24) were presented with pairs of visual displays separated by varying interstimulus intervals and performed either a temporal integration or segregation task despite an identical visual input. Children with DD had lower accuracy and slower RTs for longer temporal intervals. Additionally, efficiency (combined accuracy and speed trade-off) increased as a function of age only in the DD group, most markedly for the integration condition. Results suggest that visual temporal processing deficits in DD may depend on short-term/working memory liability as well as the existence of possibly differentiated developmental trajectories for integration and segregation abilities.

With the popularization of short-form video platforms, excessive use of short-form videos among preschool children has become increasingly prevalent. However, the mechanisms underlying its impact on children's social behaviour development remain unclear. This study aims to examine the relationship between the overuse of short-form videos and prosocial behaviour and aggressive behaviour in preschool children, as well as the mediating roles of empathy and emotional regulation. Parents of 799 preschool children were invited to complete the Short-Form Video Overuse Scale, Empathy Questionnaire, Emotional Regulation Scale, Prosocial Behaviour Scale and Aggressive Behaviour Scale. The results revealed that: (1) Short-form video overuse was negatively correlated with prosocial behaviours and positively correlated with aggressive behaviours; (2) Short-form video overuse influenced prosocial and aggressive behaviours through the mediating role of empathy (it is noteworthy that short-form video overuse was positively correlated with empathy, while higher empathy levels were simultaneously associated with both more prosocial and aggressive behaviours); (3) Short-form video overuse also affected prosocial and aggressive behaviours through the mediating role of emotion regulation. These findings contribute to understanding the multifaceted effects of short-form video overuse on children's behavioural development and highlight the need for parents and educators to address preschool children's video usage.

This study extends research on relations between parental distress and mind-mindedness in high-risk samples by exploring these relations in parents of children who had/had not received professional support for mental health, emotional or behavioural difficulties. An online survey was completed by parents of children who had received professional input around mental health or behaviour (n = 67) versus a comparison group (n = 84) who had not. Measures of parental mind-mindedness, parental distress, and parent-child relationship quality (closeness and conflict) were administered. Parents in the clinical group reported higher distress, conflict with their child and negative mind-mindedness. Moderated mediation analyses showed the association between positive mind-mindedness and parental distress was fully mediated by conflict in both groups, and partially mediated by closeness in the clinical group. Negative mind-mindedness had a direct effect on parental distress, not mediated through relationship quality. Findings indicate that more positive and less negative mind-mindedness provides a buffer against parental distress. Interventions enhancing mind-mindedness are likely to alleviate parental distress and improve parent-child relationships. The findings are consistent with the proposal that mind-mindedness is a relational construct rather than a trait-like quality of the caregiver.

Previous studies have found that increased cognitive load during a task might result in the use of 'easier' motor strategies that nevertheless achieve task goals. Here, we investigated the influence of cognitive load on bimanual or unimanual strategy use in preschoolers, through a combination of secondary data analysis and new empirical data. Experiment 1 investigated block-stacking strategies under high, medium and low cognitive load tasks in 3-year-olds and showed that 3-year-olds demonstrated significantly more unimanual strategy use in the high cognitive load task. Experiment 2 investigated (i) whether this effect persisted across preschool years and (ii) whether it was modulated by differences in executive function abilities. There was no age effect in motor strategy use under high cognitive load from 3 to 5 years of age. However, individual differences in inhibitory control and working memory use were significantly associated with differences in unimanual strategy use. These results are interpreted as evidence for a cognitive/action trade-off in which higher cognitive demands result in the adjustment of motor strategies such as use of unimanual stacking instead of bimanual coordination in preschoolers.

Whether scientific reasoning is a domain-general or domain-specific ability remains controversial. This longitudinal study followed 53 German aged 6-9 years (31 females, 22 males) from kindergarten into elementary school to investigate how kindergarten-age scientific reasoning, intelligence, and disciplinary knowledge influence their third-grade mathematics and German language abilities (based on teacher ratings). Scientific reasoning was assessed with comprehensive inventories (the Science-Kindergarten and the Science-Primary School Reasoning Inventories). Intelligence, language abilities (receptive language and text comprehension in kindergarten and elementary school, respectively), and kindergarten mathematics were assessed with standardized instruments. Kindergarten scientific reasoning predicted third-grade mathematics abilities independent of parental education levels, and also the intelligence and kindergarten mathematics ability of the children. The language ability of children was predicted solely by kindergarten language abilities. These findings support the view that scientific reasoning is a domain-general science skill, which is different from intelligence and relevant for mathematics learning among elementary school students.

Emotional film clips are frequently used to induce emotions in age-mixed samples, but past research warrants doubt that this evokes comparable effects across age groups. We investigated age differences in target-emotion intensity and emotion specificity (the tendency to primarily respond with one target emotion rather than others), using data from a film-rating study with 5843 individual ratings. Ninety-nine persons from four age groups (adolescents; younger, middle-aged and older adults) rated their emotional responses to 66 happy, fearful, angry, sad, disgusting and neutral film clips. Crossed-random-effects models showed differential age effects across target emotions. When age differences emerged, older adults responded more intensely and adolescents responded less intensely than other age groups. Emotional specificity was lower in older adults versus younger age groups for disgusting and neutral films, but higher for happy films. We conclude that age-equivalent responding to emotional films may be rather the exception than the rule.

Positive responses to capitalization, the process of sharing positive experiences and emotions, are associated with better relationship wellbeing and consequently health and adjustment in the context of romantic relationships. However, responses to capitalization have rarely been studied in parent-child dyads, whereas most of the research has focused on how parents respond to children's negative emotions. The current study tested associations between maternal positive emotion socialization, specifically capitalization support and children's adaptive regulatory capacity indexed by baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Ninety children (M = 41.87 months, SD = 4.29; 47.8% boys) participated in the study. Capitalization support indexed by maternal active-constructive responses during a conversation was observed and coded. Children's basal RSA levels when watching a calming video were assessed. Mothers also reported their reactions to children's negative emotions, child temperament and relationship closeness. Maternal capitalization support was associated with children's higher basal RSA levels, independent of maternal supportive reactions to children's negative emotions, child negative affect, and relationship closeness. The implication that supportive socialization for positive emotions benefits children's physiological regulation above and beyond that for negative emotions was discussed.

Inattentional blindness (IB), which refers to a failure to detect unexpected stimuli in the visual field, is associated with increased risk from undetected threats. While IB has been attributed to several individual factors, the role of cognitive control capacities, such as executive functions, remains unclear. To investigate this relationship, 154 Chinese children aged 3-6 (52.6% male) completed two IB tasks (static and sustained) and three executive function tasks. Findings show that the executive function tasks were predictive of IB, and this prediction varied by IB type: working memory predicted static IB, while cognitive flexibility predicted sustained IB. This underscores the necessity of specifying IB type and the importance of alignment to the cognitive predictors when studying individual differences in IB. When this alignment is achieved, findings suggest that executive function abilities may be differentially implicated in different IB phenomena.

Is there really a 'right age' for social media? As governments rush to regulate children's digital lives, age-based bans and 'age-appropriate' design regulations are gaining international momentum. However, these are often based on theoretically dated 'ages and stages' models and blunt age thresholds. This article examines three seemingly divergent yet surprisingly convergent approaches. First, emerging regulatory frameworks are embedding 'age-appropriate' design and bright-line age limits. Second, social science research on children's digital experience, offers valuable documentation of developmental variability across ages but provides limited policy-ready guidance and often lacks developmental theory. Third, a normative child rights framework grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child's principle of 'evolving capacities' urges a balance between protection and participation rights in ways that take into account children's variable capacities and increasing autonomy. Given the often fraught and contested nature of the debates over digital policy, we call on developmental psychologists to scrutinize proposed age thresholds, map developmental evidence to diverse contexts, and bring contemporary theory and robust evidence to inform policy. Without this input, decisions that matter to children's digital lives will be left to political expediency and corporate interests, overlooking or even undermining children's rights and developmental needs.

This study investigates the network structure and interconnections of social-emotional skills among high-achieving 10- and 15-year-old students. Using cross-sectional data from the 2019 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Survey on Social and Emotional Skills, we identified central skills and examined how these skills interacted within the networks of the two age cohorts. The sample included 7731 10-year-olds and 7430 15-year-olds from 10 cities across nine countries. Empathy and cooperation were identified as the most central skills in the network of high-achieving 10-year-olds, while cooperation uniquely remained central among 15-year-olds. We also observed denser and more integrated network structures in adolescence. These findings highlight the importance of central skills, particularly cooperation and empathy, in fostering social-emotional competence through developmentally tailored educational programmes.

This study investigated the nature of the association between spatial ability and prosocial behaviour in middle childhood. We used a general-population longitudinal survey from the United Kingdom, which allowed us to control for a wide range of area, family and child covariates, including early verbal ability and parenting, in a large sample (N = 13,355, 51% male). The study's primary aim was to determine whether intrinsic-dynamic spatial skills predicted prosocial behaviour and vice versa across ages 5 and 7 years. The results from cross-lagged panel models with various levels of adjustment indicated that both paths were significant and equally strong. However, when also controlling for verbal ability and parenting practices, verbal ability (but not parenting) confounded the path from prosocial behaviour at age 5 to spatial ability at age 7. Therefore, only the path from spatial to social skills remained significant after adjustment for all confounders. Sex-stratified analyses did not reveal significant differences between the paths for males and females. The present study contributes to our understanding of social and cognitive development in children, highlighting the impact of spatial skills across the social domain. The findings have implications for educational curricula in the early years and primary school.