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A challenge in dealing with gender dysphoria in children is the mixture of stable and temporary fluctuations in the feelings of gender dysphoria during development. This study examines the absolute and relative stability and the patterns of change of the feelings of gender dysphoria using data from a six-year longitudinal survey across three cohorts. The participants consisted of 2,031 people (999 boys and 1,032 girls) from fourth to ninth grades who completed the feelings of gender dysphoria scale. As a consequence of examining the changes in mean values by grade as absolute stability, the scores of boys slightly decreased from fourth to ninth grade; however, almost no significant change was found for girls. Latent profile analysis revealed 11 patterns including 22.6% of students who increased the score only within 1-2 years. The correlation between each grade as relative stability resulted in a positive correlation between each grade for boys and girls. In addition, the correlation coefficient increased as the grade increased, indicating that relative stability increased. The correlation coefficient was higher for girls than boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss what longitudinal research is, why it is necessary, and how to conduct it in real developmental- research context. Longitudinal research can be conducted using various research designs, but their common features are that data are collected from the same subject at multiple time points and analyses focus on change over time and relationships within individuals. Longitudinal approaches with these characteristics are beneficial to developmental research because they enable the researcher to (1) separate the effects of age, cohort, and period, (2) quantify trajectories of intraindividual change and how these differ between individuals, and (3) identify clues to causal relationships (especially temporal order) . Taking a longitudinal approach increases the complexity of research design and data-analysis methodology. However, this cost is offset by the potential to broaden and deepen developmental research by generating creative research questions of a different kind from those generated by cross-sectional studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of recess as a mediating variable between autism spectrum disorder （ASD） traits and psychosocial maladjustment in children. The participants were 5,366 pairs of general elementary and junior high school students （grades 4-9） and their parents. A path analysis revealed that the higher the ASD traits, the more time was spent on non-interpersonal play during recess. The results of estimating the extent to which the mediating variable, recess time, explained the association between ASD traits and psychosocial maladjustment showed that the indirect effect via recess play ranged from 20% to 60% of the total indirect effects （recess time + friendships） and from 20% to 40% of the total effects （direct effects + indirect effects）. Although recess play was regarded as one of the subcomponents of friendship, it explained 65% of the indirect effects of prosocial behavior, 46% of depression, and 26% of aggression, suggesting that the role of recess in friendship is exceptionally large. We consider that psychosocial maladjustments are mediated by recess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to clarify psychological and social maladjustments in children who exhibit strong feelings of gender dysphoria (GD). This study surveyed 58 people who experience persistent feelings of and have been diagnosed with GD as well as 5,221 students (grades 4-9). The GD group answered questions about their feelings during childhood. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed 20 points to be the cut-off on the scale. Moreover, 0.82% of boys and 2.02% of girls in elementary schools and 0.60% of boys and 3.27% of girls in middle schools scored over 20. Compared to others, these students displayed higher rates of depression, aggression, peer problems, a desire for thinness, bulimia, self-injury, and delinquent behaviors. Specifically, boys with stronger feelings of GD showed a higher rate of peer problems and abnormal eating behaviors when compared to girls. Therefore, this essay discusses how psychological and social maladjustments are mediated by personal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study comprehensively examined the causal effects of various free-time activities (learning, reading, playing outdoors, viewing television, playing video games, and using cellular phones) on academic achievement and emotional-behavioral adjustment (prosocial behavior, peer relationships, depression, and aggression) using large-scale longitudinal data obtained from 5,408 elementary and junior high school students (2,729 boys and 2,679 girls). Results from the two models (lagged effects and simultaneous effects models) used to test the causal relationships among variables were highly consistent. The findings showed the following: (1) learning and reading positively affected, while playing outdoors negatively affected academic achievement; (2) playing outdoors and learning positively affected, while reading and playing video games (solo playing) negatively affected emotional-behavioral adjustment. These results suggest that indoor activities requiring large amounts of cognitive processing contribute to academic development and that activities performed with friends or parents lead to emotional-behavioral development. Notably, since the above results were not necessarily consistent with previous findings in Western countries, they may reflect sociocultural factors specific to Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the feeling of gender dysphoria (incongruity between one's physical sex and gender awareness) in children, and its relationship with internalizing and externalizing problems. Students (N＝5,204, including 2,669 boys and 2,535 girls in grades 4-9) completed a series of self-report questionnaires that assessed their feeling of gender dysphoria (using our original 13-items tool), depression, and aggression. A factor analysis revealed that 12 items from the gender dysphoria scale loaded on one factor and exhibited sufficient internal consistency. Further, the data showed a comparatively weak correlation with parent- and teacher-reported opposite sex behavior, except for the relationship between self-reports by boys and teacher-reports. A multiple regression analysis indicated that the feeling of gender dysphoria showed a moderate relationship with depression and aggression. Specifically, it was revealed that junior high school boys with a higher feeling of gender dysphoria showed a relatively stronger relationship with depression as compared with junior high school girls, as well as elementary school boys and girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the stability of aggression by analyzing five-year longitudinal data of elementary and junior high school students in one suburban Japanese city. Approximately 2,500 students (3rd grade through 9th grade) participated in this study. The latent trait-state model (Cole & Maxwell, 2009) with multiple group analysis was conducted to analyze the five-year three cohort data. The authors measured aggression with the Hostility-Aggression Questionnaire for Children (Sakai et al., 2000). Results showed that the trait-state model was best fitted to aggression, indicating that both the trait factor and an autoregressive occasion factor contributed to the degree of aggression. The data also indicated that the trait component explained the state of aggression moderately well, although there were sex differences for this result. In addition, the effect of the trait component on aggression increased with grade level. This finding suggests that the individual differences in aggression become fixed during late elementary school and junior high school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the extent to which developmental appraisal by nursery teachers predicts psychosocial maladaptation in elementary school, and developed the Developmental Scale for Nursery Record (DSNR). A 7-year longitudinal investigation was conducted on 2,400 children from all day nursery and elementary schools in a suburban Japanese city. Nursery school teachers used the Nursery Teacher's Rating Development Scale for Children (NDSC) to assess children's development. Multiple regression analysis revealed that externalizing problems were predicted by tendencies of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (hyperactivity and inattention), while internalizing problems were predicted by tendencies of autism spectrum disorder (sociality, flexibility, and communication) and tendencies of developmental coordination disorder (gross motor control). Academic performance was influenced by tendencies of the three disorders (inattention, communication, and fine motor control). Item-level analysis identified 35 items that contributed to the prediction of psychosocial maladaptation, and these items were assigned to the DSNR. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the DSNR had optimal levels of reliability and factorial validity. Despite substantial reduction of the number of items, the DSNR showed as much predictive accuracy as did the original NDSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]