A new study conducted by the Florida Atlantic University has suggested that a rise in mental health disorders in children and adolescents can be owed to the decline in the opportunities for independent play through recent years such as roaming around and playing around without adult supervision. In 2021, the rate of anxiety and depression in teens was at an all-time high and was declared a national emergency. Children and teens need more opportunities to be able to contribute to family conversations and community life in order to feel trusted, responsible, and capable of being able to effectively manage the real world. Contrary to popular belief, allowing children to engage in risky play helps them prevent future phobias and reduces anxiety for unknown and “scary” situations which as a result, promotes self-confidence. Over the recent years, many factors have resulted in this reduction in play, including longer school hours and the pandemic. The fear of academic failure and insufficient achievement has been a large source of distress for teens and prevents time for individual play. The pandemic has led to parents wanting to take extra measures to protect their children, increasing schooling both in and out of school, and restricting independent play from fear. Even though parental guidance is needed in younger years, it needs to be recognized that adolescents need their freedom to be able to grow both physically and mentally.

Read the full article here!: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230309101330.htm

Tulsi Patel

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

In a recent study done by the American Psychological Association, teens and adolescents who reduced their social media usage by 50% saw a significant increase in the positive attitude they had towards their body image, weight, and overall appearance. On average, teens spend about 6-8 hours per day on social media, and these hours exposes them to beauty ideals and standards set by the mass that for many, are unattainable. The study that they conducted only looked at the short-term effect of reducing social media usage and it proved to be a potential component in treating “body-image-related disturbances” and is greatly beneficial to the vulnerable population with heavy social media usage. They expanded their research to include any gender limitations as well, but found that gender did not play a part in the differences in the views on body image. Teens and adolescents can be encouraged to decrease their screen time, especially on social media sites, to show positive improvement in mood and view for a short period of time. Currently, the same team is trying to conduct a study where the long-term effects of this strategy can be analyzed to prove even more greater psychological benefits.

Read the full article here!: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230223132843.htm

Tulsi Patel,

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

There has been new research that supports positive parenting in the cognitive functioning in children. Positive parenting relates to positive psychology, which is the psychology focused on positive behaviors and strengths in order to build meaning and purpose. In this type of parenting, parents are encouraged to pay more attention to good behaviors and advocate for empathy and building stronger relationships. They are encouraged to set limits with reasonable consequences, establish realistic expectations, model behavior, and express more love towards their children. This parenting changes over time and should be adaptable to age, temperament, neurodevelopment differences, and culture. It helps nurture cognitive responsivity and with attention, focus, and communication. According to Psychology Today, “positive parenting interventions were effective in enhancing mental abilities and language”. Currently, there is a positive trend that parents are started to move from traditional parenting to positive parenting, as there have been positive results associated with it.

Read the full article here!: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/going-beyond-intelligence/202302/positive-parenting-and-childrens-cognitive-development

Tulsi Patel

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

The multiple demand network in adults and children starting from the age of 4 have clinically shown similarities when focused on solving tough problems. The network helps with focus and attention, memory, and solving difficult problems. This network is located in the frontal and parietal cortices. Another similarity that was noticed was that children from ages 4-12 had different demand and language networks, just as adults do. When tasked with a challenging task, both children and adults will have activated demand networks but inactivated language networks. There are, however, some differences in brain activity between adults and children: the response time was delayed significantly in children which confirms that it takes years to fully develop the brain to an “adult level”. These findings help researchers identify how disruptions in the neurodevelopment of cognitive control can differ in those with brain disorders such as ADHD, conduct disorders, and other injuries. This will help with development of new material that can help those with issues with cognitive control and will lead in future enhancements in the equipment that can do so. This study also helps to advocate for those with said issues and allow for more researchers to participate in these studies.

Read the full article here!: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230213082152.htm

Tulsi Patel

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

The new generation (Generation Z) of children is starting to show interest in making a difference in the world and is starting to understand that politics may be a gateway for them. And so, this may be a valuable way to build a meaningful connection with them. Parents should engage their children in meaningful conversations surrounding politics and specifically in regard to identities, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. It helps them understand how communities and societies work today. This new generation values openness and authenticity in conversations and being treated as adults when talking to their parents. Parents should not be afraid of talking about their personal beliefs and political stances and how they might align with or differ from that of their children. It is important to show children that it is okay to have differing opinions and tensions when it comes to politics, and being able to navigate these opinions is a part of being an adult. Adults should also model civil disclosure such as positive behaviors, constant engagement, and not showing aggression and dismissiveness when talking to their children. It is important to maintain humility, curiosity, understanding, and empathy during conversations. If there is the respect shown in the conversation, this generation of children is more likely to be actively engaged. Now, more than ever, we need to bring politics to the everyday table and get them to understand how their voices can change the world. 

Article Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/young-people-decoded/202211/3-ways-talk-gen-z-about-politics

Tulsi Patel

UConn KIDS Research Assistant

The hippocampus functions in forming and stabilizing memories, playing a role in memory processing and learning. During early childhood, the hippocampus is rapidly developing and so young children need afternoon naps in order to help this brain structure to process new information into memories. The hippocampus can only hold a certain amount of information before it gets overpowered and is unable to process it, so napping helps it slow down and take the time to process information. For example, a 2020 study showed that children who took a nap after storytime were able to better recall the events in the story than those who did not. 

As the hippocampus matures, past the preschool ages, the capacity of the structure increases, able to process more information and increase memory. And so, as children grow, they transition out of napping, as they may not need it to better their learning. However, parents may be concerned when their child is still napping past the preschool age, which they should not be. Brain development occurs on different timelines and one child may need more time for certain development than another, and that is not of concern. 

This also does not mean that naps should be forced on children for their learning. They have an instinct of when they need to nap and when their brain is working for them, so we just need to listen to the children when they said they need a nap. Afternoon napping should not affect how much sleep a child gets at night. At a younger age, they will need about 11-14 hours of sleep while preschoolers will need 10-13 hours of sleep in total. 

Article Link: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-10-25/toddlers-nap-a-lot-and-then-they-dont-new-research-uncovers-why

Tulsi Patel

UConn KIDS Research Assistant 

Compared to those who have never played video games, those who have proved to be better on cognitive skills tests due to the impulse control and working memory skills they gain from playing. The differences in these two groups were observed as differences in brain activity. Children who played video games for three or more hours per day should have higher brain activity in the frontal regions which are associated with performing faster and more accurately on cognitive tasks and better vision. When playing video games, children are being cognitively demanded, testing their visual processing, and efficiency. 

Even though video games have been linked to mental health and behavioral changes, the findings are not statistically significant, and those results cannot be taken into account when creating trends. However, this does not mean that children should unlimited time playing video games and being on electronics, but the focus should be on what types of games they are playing. The ones that have proved to be the most cognitively demanding are action-adventure, puzzle-solving, sports, and shooting games. Many parents are concerned about their child’s use of video games and how that will affect their development and so it is important to understand the benefits and cons of it. 

Currently, there is an ABCD study going on which is longitudinal, meaning it will take place over longer periods of time, which looks at these trends further and tries to better understand the different factors that play into a child’s development consecutively with video games. This study includes 12000 participants and looks at brain imaging data to learn more about the development of children and hopefully create interventions to enhance life paths. 

Article link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/10/221024130852.htm

Tulsi Patel

UConn KIDS Research Assistant 

When teens and adolescents receive criticism from their parents, they will often internalize it, making them feel bad about themselves. Parents try to discipline their children in order to prevent the misbehavior from recurring again, but when they don’t receive the wanted reaction from the kids, they will continue to discipline. Often, when a child looks down at the ground or does not respond when a parent is disciplining, it is often misunderstood as the child is not getting the message. However, they are, and continuous discipline can cause them to carry guilt and shame around with them which can lead to more destructive behaviors.

Parents need to realize that their authority and physicality can be imposing on children and that they need to get to their level in order to effectively discipline their child. Often, yelling and overbearingness can have the opposite effect of what the parent wants. They need to first explain to the child that the behavior conducted is being criticized and not the child itself, so that they do not carry around that feeling on the daily and start to lose value of themselves. It has been found that teens that grew up believing that they were “bad” people or that there was something wrong with them due to criticism, turn to experimenting with drugs, becoming involved in inappropriate relationships, and even having suicidal ideations.

Parents have the capability of changing the way their children feel about themselves and the words and emotions that they internalize. Instead of acting in the moment when their child misbehaves, it is better to think and understand the child first, and it can lead to positive outcomes in the future.

Article Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/adolescents-explained/202210/kids-may-turn-their-anger-inward-when-criticized-adults

Tulsi Patel

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Today’s Friday Feature is Kaya LeGrand! 

Kaya LeGrand is a second-year PhD student at UConn studying Developmental Psychology. She has a BA in Linguistics from Pomona College, as well as a Master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Emerson College. With her Linguistics degree and her passion for language, she was able to work with people as a speech pathologist. She worked at a residential school for autistic students after finishing her Master’s degree. Realizing that the autistic students she worked with (the ones with the most trouble learning language) are very understudied and that she misses doing research, she decided to go back to school to pursue her PhD.

Currently, she is working on the study Longitudinal Study of Early Language (IRB H02-415OSUBU, PI: Letty Naigles). This study follows individuals with autism spectrum disorder over time to investigate various questions related to language development in autism. She is working on a project that analyzes children’s verb production over the course of development from approximately age 2-5 to determine whether verbs are a particularly difficult aspect of language for children with autism.

Kaya’s favorite activity is to do anything outside, especially hiking and backpacking. She loves hanging out with her dog, Hugo, and playing board games!

The concept of a “gentle” parent is fairly new to this past decade and refers to a parent that tries to emotionally connect with their child and try to understand the etymology behind their child’s behavior. The overarching theme of a gentle parent is that they do not scold or condemn their child immediately, and try to first validate their child’s feelings. When a parent shows an understanding of a child’s emotions, they are essentially trying to get the child to calm down without having to escalate the situation. This approach helps children be able to identify their own emotions and promotes emotional intelligence for the future. Higher emotional intelligence is associated with fewer emotional problems and higher school attainment. This was supported by a research study conducted that showed that mothers who responded sensitively to their children in the first three years of life led to them building better academic and social skills by the age of fifteen. 

In addition to validation and sensitivity, parents need to learn to set boundaries, and children need to learn to follow them. If limits are set in a calm manner, children will learn to treat the situation just the same. Another main concern of misbehavior and negative feelings stems from the inattentiveness of the parents. If parents pay more attention to their children and create a continuous positive environment, children will soon reflect that. In conclusion, gentle parenting needs time and positivity from both the parent and child in order to further promote the relationship and the skills of both parties.  

Article link: https://theconversation.com/what-is-gentle-parenting-an-expert-explains-184282

Tulsi Patel

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS