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Surprisingly little research has considered whether parent-child activities facilitate social-emotional development and whether these associations differ for boys and girls. To address this gap, this study leveraged the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (2006-2008) to examine the extent to which story reading, storytelling and music activities longitudinally predicted social-emotional development. Parents reported the frequency of parent-child activities when children (N = 2567) were aged 3-6 and their social-emotional functioning two years later. Multi-group analyses indicated significant sex differences after controlling for family income. Story reading was negatively associated with hyperactivity and emotional/anxiety problems whereas storytelling was negatively associated with physical and indirect aggression among boys, but not girls. Storytelling and music activities were associated with lower hyperactivity among girls. More frequent parent-child activities predicted more prosocial behaviours among both boys and girls. This study highlights that each parent-child activity has its own distinctive implications on social-emotional functioning.

In this study, we examined cross‐cultural differences in sociability, a core personality facet of the higher order extraversion trait, which has been reported at lower levels in Eastern versus Western cultures several decades ago. Up until now, however, East–West cultural comparisons on the Western‐defined construct of sociability have been limited, despite the extensive research published on extraversion indicating that this personality dimension is globally relevant across cultures. Following current practices, we first assessed for measurement invariance (MI) on the Cheek and Buss sociability scale between Chinese (n = 816, 47.2% male, M = 18.51 years, SD = 1.26 years) and Canadian (n = 995, 30.8% male, M = 19.62 years, SD = 1.25 years) young adult samples to ensure any comparisons would be valid and meaningful. Results from a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (exact invariance) showed that there was measurement non‐invariance at the scalar level in the sociability construct across country and country by sex, and the newer alignment method (approximate invariance) confirmed these results, suggesting that mean level comparisons of sociability were biased and noninformative. Our findings indicated that although a few of the higher‐level personality dimensions such as extraversion are considered universal, the facets underlying their meaning, like sociability, are not as clearly delineated between cultures. Alongside the present‐day pursuit of understanding personality across cultures through an indigenous measurement lens in tandem with the notion of universality, researchers should also consider narrowing their focus onto lower‐level facets, each of which is likely to be uniquely embedded into a cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that there are distinct types of children's shyness within eastern and western cultures, with different origins, developmental courses, and outcomes. However, the measures used to examine children's shyness in eastern contexts have been developed almost exclusively in the North American context. Whether shyness subtypes and their predictive associations are conserved between western and eastern cultures on a children's shyness measure developed in an eastern context is an empirical question. Here we examined (a) whether two subtypes from the Chinese Shyness Scale (i.e., anxious and regulated) were identified in a western context, and (b) whether cultural context moderated the relation between the two subtypes of shy behavior and a widely used western characterized social anxiety measure. The participants were children aged 3–5 years from China (Mage = 4.46 years, SD = 0.64, n = 182, 53.8% boys) and Canada (Mage = 3.99 years, SD = 0.82, n = 201, 42.3% boys). The results indicated that the two shyness subtypes and the one‐factor social anxiety construct were identified in both cultures. Subsequently, latent moderation structural equation modelling revealed that anxious shyness was significantly and positively related to social anxiety in children from both countries, but more strongly in Canada. Conversely, regulated shyness was significantly and positively related to social anxiety in Canadian children, but not in Chinese children. Findings are discussed regarding possible cultural explanations for why the relations between two Chinese shyness subtypes and social anxiety are different in Chinese and Canadian contexts and their implications to understanding cross‐cultural differences in developmental shyness. Research Highlights: Two subtypes of shyness (anxious and regulated shyness) reported in China were identified in both China and CanadaCountry/culture moderated the relation between shyness subtypes and social anxietyAnxious shyness was positively related to social anxiety in both countriesRegulated shyness was positively related to social anxiety in Canadian children, but not in Chinese children [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relations between shyness and internalizing problems have been mainly explored at the individual level, with little known about its dynamics at the group level. This study aims to examine the mediating effect of individual-level sport engagement and the moderating effect of class-level sport participation in the relations between shyness and internalizing problems. The participants were 951 children attending primary and middle school from grade 3 to grade 7 (Mage = 11 years, 509 boys) in urban areas of China. Cross-sectional data were collected using self-report assessments. Multi-level analysis indicated that (1) shyness was positively associated with internalizing problems; (2) sport engagement partially mediated the relations between shyness and internalizing problems; and (3) class sport participation was a cross-level moderator in the mediating relations between shyness, sport engagement, and internalizing problems. Shy children in classes with a higher level of sport participation tend to have less sport engagement and more internalizing problems than those in classes with a lower level of sport participation. These findings illuminate implications from a multi-level perspective for shy children's adjustment in a Chinese context. The well-being of shy children could be improved by intervening in sport activity, addressing both individual engagement and group dynamics, such as class participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extriangulated categories were introduced by Nakaoka and Palu, which is a simultaneous generalization of exact categories and triangulated categories. Axiom (ET4) for extriangulated categories is an analogue of octahedron axiom (TR4) for triangulated categories. In this paper, we use homotopy cartesian squares in pre-extriangulated categories to investigate axiom (ET4). We provide several equivalent statements of axiom (ET4) and find out conditions under which the axiom is self-dual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The effects of a 1‐methylcyclopropene (1‐MCP) treatment combined with laser microporous film (LMF) packaging on the quality of postharvest Xiahei grapes during storage at 4 ± 1 °C were investigated. Compared with the control group, the 1‐MCP + LMF treatment significantly decreased the weight loss and respiration rate of the grapes (P < 0.05). Additionally, the combination of 1‐MCP and LMF maintained relatively high titratable acid, ascorbic acid, and total soluble phenol contents, as well as low levels of soluble solids. The combined application of 1‐MCP and LMF also reduced the accumulation of superoxide anions, hydrogen peroxide, and malondialdehyde. Except in a few samples, the superoxide dismutase, ascorbic peroxidase, and catalase activities were higher under 1‐MCP + LMF treatment. Conversely, lipoxygenase, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase, and cellulase activities were lower than in the control. The results suggested that the combined application of 1‐MCP and LMF significantly mitigated water evaporation, retarded nutrient consumption, induced catabolism, and minimised oxidative damage of grapes during storage. These changes prolonged the shelf life of Xiahei grapes to 60 days at 4 ± 1 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ascertaining whether and the extent to which different aspects of parenting are associated with prosocial behaviors could inform parenting programs in cultivating healthy development. Multilevel meta‐analyses (k = 124) involving children and adolescents were conducted to examine associations between parenting and prosocial behaviors while accounting for demographic and study characteristics. Authoritative parenting (r =.174, p <.001) was associated positively whereas authoritarian parenting (r = −.107, p <.001) was associated negatively with prosocial behaviors. These associations remained robust across infancy, childhood, and adolescence in both individualistic and collectivistic cultures. These associations also were invariant across child and parent gender. Moderating effects relevant to the type of prosocial behaviors under examination were identified. Authoritative parenting was associated positively with general, public, emotional, anonymous, dire, compliant, and other specific types of prosocial behaviors (e.g., sharing), but associated negatively with altruistic prosocial behaviors. Authoritarian parenting was associated negatively with general and altruistic prosocial behaviors, but not other specific types. Moderating effects relevant to study design and informant of parenting were found. No moderating effects were identified for the informant and target of prosocial behaviors. Associations of permissive (r = −.096, p <.01) and neglecting parenting (r = −.054, p =.543) remain unclear due to insufficient number of studies and publication biases. Implications for theories, research, and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]