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Behavioral Sciences
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Social Behaviors in Childhood: Causes and Consequences
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Social Behaviors in Childhood: Causes and Consequences

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychiatric, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2024 | Viewed by 2410

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xuechen Ding

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
Interests: social behavior; peer relationship; socioemotional adjustment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wan Ding

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
Interests: parenting and child mental health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Normative development of children’s social, emotional, and school adjustment stems from sources including both family and peer groups. Parent–child and peer interactions have unique and significant implications for children, and these social relationships serve as a foundation for feelings of security and belonging. During the socialization process in family and school contexts, children display a wide variety of social behaviors, including aggressive behavior, social withdrawal, prosocial behavior, antisocial behavior, cooperative behavior, bullying behavior, etc. However, several issues require further exploration. For example, what are the different causal relations that might underlie children’s social behaviors? What is the trajectory of these social behaviors at different developmental stages? Could we find a more neural basis for these social behaviors via advanced techniques (e.g., EEG, ERP, fNIRS, fMRI)? In light of these premises, this Special Issue aims to advance the literature on the development trajectory of children’s social behaviors and their cognitive neural mechanisms. We therefore call for papers on empirical research that focuses on predictors and outcomes of children’s social behaviors in family and school contexts from early childhood to emerging adulthood, risk/protective factors among these associations, social behaviors in different contexts, or their cognitive neural mechanisms. A longitudinal design is especially encouraged. Cross-sectional designs that focus on age differences, meta-analysis, and systematic review are also welcome.

The tentative completion schedule is as follows:
Abstract submission deadline: April 30, 2024
Notification of abstract acceptance: May 15, 2024
Proposed submission deadline: November 20, 2024

Dr. Xuechen Ding
Dr. Wan Ding
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • social behavior
  • social withdrawal
  • aggressive behavior
  • prosocial behavior
  • antisocial behavior
  • parent–child interaction
  • parenting
  • bullying
  • adjustment
  • neuroscience

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 2228 KiB  
Article
Estimating the Heterogeneous Causal Effects of Parent–Child Relationships among Chinese Children with Oppositional Defiant Symptoms: A Machine Learning Approach
by Haiyan Zhou, Fengkai Han, Ruoxi Chen, Jiajin Huang, Jianhui Chen and Xiuyun Lin
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 504; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bs14060504 - 18 Jun 2024
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Abstract
Oppositional defiant symptoms are some of the most common developmental symptoms in children and adolescents with and without oppositional defiant disorder. Research has addressed the close association of the parent–child relationship (PCR) with oppositional defiant symptoms. However, it is necessary to further investigate [...] Read more.
Oppositional defiant symptoms are some of the most common developmental symptoms in children and adolescents with and without oppositional defiant disorder. Research has addressed the close association of the parent–child relationship (PCR) with oppositional defiant symptoms. However, it is necessary to further investigate the underlying mechanism for forming targeted intervention strategies. By using a machine learning-based causal forest (CF) model, we investigated the heterogeneous causal effects of the PCR on oppositional defiant symptoms in children in Chinese elementary schools. Based on the PCR improvement in two consecutive years, 423 children were divided into improved and control groups. The assessment of oppositional defiant symptoms (AODS) in the second year was set as the dependent variable. Additionally, several factors based on the multilevel family model and the baseline AODS in the first year were included as covariates. Consistent with expectations, the CF model showed a significant causal effect between the PCR and oppositional defiant symptoms in the samples. Moreover, the causality exhibited heterogeneity. The causal effect was greater in those children with higher baseline AODS, a worse family atmosphere, and lower emotion regulation abilities in themselves or their parents. Conversely, the parenting style played a positive role in causality. These findings enhance our understanding of how the PCR contributes to the development of oppositional defiant symptoms conditioned by factors from a multilevel family system. The heterogeneous causality in the observation data, established using the machine learning approach, could be helpful in forming personalized family-oriented intervention strategies for children with oppositional defiant symptoms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Behaviors in Childhood: Causes and Consequences)
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19 pages, 778 KiB  
Article
Interplay between Children’s Electronic Media Use and Prosocial Behavior: The Chain Mediating Role of Parent–Child Closeness and Emotion Regulation
by Xiaocen Liu, Shuliang Geng and Donghui Dou
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 436; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bs14060436 - 23 May 2024
Viewed by 519
Abstract
In the contemporary digital milieu, children’s pervasive engagement with electronic media is ubiquitous in their daily lives, presenting complex implications for their socialization. Prosocial behavior, a cornerstone of social interaction and child development, is intricately intertwined with these digital experiences. This relation gains [...] Read more.
In the contemporary digital milieu, children’s pervasive engagement with electronic media is ubiquitous in their daily lives, presenting complex implications for their socialization. Prosocial behavior, a cornerstone of social interaction and child development, is intricately intertwined with these digital experiences. This relation gains further depth, considering the significant roles of parent–child relationships and emotion regulation in shaping children’s social trajectories. This study surveyed 701 families to examine the association between children’s electronic media use and prosocial behavior, specifically exploring the mediating roles of parent–child closeness and emotion regulation. Structural equation modeling was employed for the analysis. Children’s electronic media use negatively correlated with prosocial behavior, parent–child closeness, and emotion regulation. In contrast, a positive association emerged between parent–child closeness, emotion regulation, and prosocial behavior. Emotion regulation also correlated positively with prosocial behavior. Statistical analyses revealed that parent–child closeness and emotion regulation function as both individual and sequential mediators in the relation between electronic media use and prosocial behavior. The study’s analyses reveal that fostering children’s prosocial behavior in the digital era requires strong family ties, effective emotional management, and balanced digital exposure, which are pivotal for their comprehensive development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Behaviors in Childhood: Causes and Consequences)
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11 pages, 412 KiB  
Article
Reciprocal Relations between Cognitive Empathy and Post-Traumatic Growth in School Bullying Victims
by Fang Liu, Bo Chen, Xinrong Liu, Yifan Zheng, Xiao Zhou and Rui Zhen
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 435; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bs14060435 - 23 May 2024
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Abstract
The association between post-traumatic growth (PTG) and cognitive empathy is well documented; however, few studies have tested the causal pathways explaining this association in school bullying victims’ later recovery and growth in the long term. This study used a longitudinal design to examine [...] Read more.
The association between post-traumatic growth (PTG) and cognitive empathy is well documented; however, few studies have tested the causal pathways explaining this association in school bullying victims’ later recovery and growth in the long term. This study used a longitudinal design to examine the reciprocal relations between cognitive empathy and post-traumatic growth (PTG) in school bullying victims. We screened 725 adolescents who had experienced school bullying as our final subjects out of the 2173 adolescents we surveyed over three periods (November 2019, 2020, and 2021). Controlling for gender, cross-lagged analysis revealed that both cognitive empathy at T1 and T2 predicted adolescents’ later PTG at T2 (γ = 0.096, p < 0.05) and T3 (γ = 0.085, p < 0.05), respectively, but the predictive effect across time points from PTG to cognitive empathy was not significant. The results delineated a specific directionality in the relation between cognitive empathy and PTG and suggested an important role of cognitive empathy in fostering school bullying victims’ later recovery and growth. These findings contribute to ongoing research into ways researchers and educators may help and support school bullying victims. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Behaviors in Childhood: Causes and Consequences)
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Review

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12 pages, 728 KiB  
Review
Ineffective Learning Behaviors and Their Psychological Mechanisms among Adolescents in Online Learning: A Narrative Review
by Ji Li, Li Fang, Yu Liu, Jiayu Xie and Xiaoyu Wang
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14(6), 477; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/bs14060477 - 6 Jun 2024
Viewed by 408
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries and regions experienced a surge in online learning, but the public complained about and questioned its effectiveness. One of the most important reasons for this was the inadequate metacognitive abilities of adolescents. Studies in learning sciences have [...] Read more.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries and regions experienced a surge in online learning, but the public complained about and questioned its effectiveness. One of the most important reasons for this was the inadequate metacognitive abilities of adolescents. Studies in learning sciences have identified various inefficient learning behaviors among students in online learning, including help abuse, help avoidance, and wheel spinning; all closely related to metacognition. Despite concerns about ecological validity, researchers in psychology have proposed the agenda-based regulation framework, the COPES model, and MAPS model, which may help explain the inefficient learning behaviors among adolescents in online learning. Future studies should aim to verify these theoretical frameworks within the context of online learning and elucidate the causes of inefficient learning behaviors; the design and optimization of online learning systems should be informed by theories in cognitive psychology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Behaviors in Childhood: Causes and Consequences)
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