Search

Abstract Acquisition of specialized cellular features is controlled by the ordered expression of transcription factors (TFs) along differentiation trajectories. Here, we find a member of the Onecut TF family, ONECUT3, expressed in postmitotic neurons that leave their Ascl1 +/Onecut1/2 + proliferative domain in the vertebrate hypothalamus to instruct neuronal differentiation. We combined single-cell RNA-seq and gain-of-function experiments for gene network reconstruction to show that ONECUT3 affects the polarization and morphogenesis of both hypothalamic GABA-derived dopamine and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)+ glutamate neurons through neuron navigator-2 (NAV2). In vivo, siRNA-mediated knockdown of ONECUT3 in neonatal mice reduced NAV2 mRNA, as well as neurite complexity in Onecut3-containing neurons, while genetic deletion of Onecut3/ceh-48 in C. elegans impaired neurocircuit wiring, and sensory discrimination-based behaviors. Thus, ONECUT3, conserved across neuronal subtypes and many species, underpins the polarization and morphological plasticity of phenotypically distinct neurons that descend from a common pool of Ascl1 + progenitors in the hypothalamus.

The aim of the present study was to validate the Slovenian version of the ZKPQ-50-CC (Aluja et al., 2006). The ZKPQ-50-CC is a shortened, cross-culturally validated version of the Zuckerman Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ; Zuckerman et al., 1988), based on an alternative five-factor model of personality. Our sample included 2138 emerging adults (1534 females; Mage = 21.28 years; SD = 3.62) who filled in both the ZKPQ-50-CC and the Big Five Inventory (BFI; John et al., 1991). The results of a confirmatory factor analysis showed similarities to those of the original validation study across four European countries (Aluja et al., 2006). To improve upon the psychometric properties of the ZKPQ-50-CC scales, however, we removed six items with low factor loadings (below .30), resulting in the ZKPQ-44-CC. The five factors (Impulsive Sensation Seeking, Neuroticism-Anxiety, Aggression-Hostility, Activity, and Sociability) of the adjusted instrument suggested acceptable internal reliability, as well as satisfactory convergent and divergent validity against the BFI factors. We also determined relatively high levels of temporal stability (measurements two years apart) of the alternative five factors in a smaller follow-up sample (n = 168). Despite several drawbacks, we consider the ZKPQ-44-CC appropriate for psychological research in Slovenia.

Abstract Touch is the primary way people communicate intimacy in romantic relationships, and affectionate touch behaviors such as stroking, hugging and kissing are universally observed in partnerships all over the world. Here, we explored the association of love and affectionate touch behaviors in romantic partnerships in two studies comprising 7880 participants. In the first study, we used a cross-cultural survey conducted in 37 countries to test whether love was universally associated with affectionate touch behaviors. In the second study, using a more fine-tuned touch behavior scale, we tested whether the frequency of affectionate touch behaviors was related to love in romantic partnerships. As hypothesized, love was significantly and positively associated with affectionate touch behaviors in both studies and this result was replicated regardless of the inclusion of potentially relevant factors as controls. Altogether, our data strongly suggest that affectionate touch is a relatively stable characteristic of human romantic relationships that is robustly and reliably related to the degree of reported love between partners.

Abstract Recent cross-cultural and neuro-hormonal investigations have suggested that love is a near universal phenomenon that has a biological background. Therefore, the remaining important question is not whether love exists worldwide but which cultural, social, or environmental factors influence experiences and expressions of love. In the present study, we explored whether countries’ modernization indexes are related to love experiences measured by three subscales (passion, intimacy, commitment) of the Triangular Love Scale. Analyzing data from 9474 individuals from 45 countries, we tested for relationships with country-level predictors, namely, modernization proxies (i.e., Human Development Index, World Modernization Index, Gender Inequality Index), collectivism, and average annual temperatures. We found that mean levels of love (especially intimacy) were higher in countries with higher modernization proxies, collectivism, and average annual temperatures. In conclusion, our results grant some support to the hypothesis that modernization processes might influence love experiences.

Despite being bio-epidemiological phenomena, the causes and effects of pandemics are culturally influenced in ways that go beyond national boundaries. However, they are often studied in isolated pockets, and this fact makes it difficult to parse the unique influence of specific cultural psychologies. To help fill in this gap, the present study applies existing cultural theories via linear mixed modeling to test the influence of unique cultural factors in a multi-national sample (that moves beyond Western nations) on the effects of age, biological sex, and political beliefs on pandemic outcomes that include adverse financial impacts, adverse resource impacts, adverse psychological impacts, and the health impacts of COVID. Our study spanned 19 nations (participant N = 14,133) and involved translations into 9 languages. Linear mixed models revealed similarities across cultures, with both young persons and women reporting worse outcomes from COVID across the multi-national sample. However, these effects were generally qualified by culture-specific variance, and overall more evidence emerged for effects unique to each culture than effects similar across cultures. Follow-up analyses suggested this cultural variability was consistent with models of pre-existing inequalities and socioecological stressors exacerbating the effects of the pandemic. Collectively, this evidence highlights the importance of developing culturally flexible models for understanding the cross-cultural nature of pandemic psychology beyond typical WEIRD approaches.

The study explored the psychometric characteristics of the Revised Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (EATQ-R-SF). Based on data of 238 early adolescents, we examined the factor structure of the EATQ-R-SF, reliability, and gender differences in mean levels of trait scores. The results showed a satisfactory fit to the models, although the fit indices for some subscales did not reach the recommended values. Internal consistency of the scales was satisfactory. Girls exhibited higher levels of fear, pleasure sensitivity, affiliation and positive emotionality than boys. The reliability of scores was appropriate for use in research, although it would need further improvement.

The study examined unique predictive relations of personality traits with three components of subjective well-being (WB) in a normative sample (N = 272; 70% females) of Slovene elderly (M = 71.82 years, SD = 6.03). Investigating the concurrent relationships, we relied on the Big Five personality model and the Keyes’s model of WB, which entails emotional well-being (EWB), psychological well-being (PWB), and social well-being (SoWB). We also considered the participants’ background characteristics (age, gender, marital status and educational level), and their subjective health status in predicting the components of WB. The respondents filled-in a scale of subjective health, constructed for the purpose of the study, the Big Five Inventory and the Mental Health Continuum – Short Form. The demographic characteristics did not significantly contribute to any aspect of WB, whereas self-reported health significantly improved the prediction of EWB and PWB. The Big Five uniquely predicted all of the components of WB, over and above demographics and subjective health. Agreeableness was a significant single predictor across the components of WB. Higher levels of conscientiousness and lower levels of neuroticism contributed to EWB. Conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness predicted PWB, and openness predicted SoWB.

This exploratory study examined the role of illness representations and personality in hypertensive adolescents’ and emerging adults’ life satisfaction. Even though earlier research showed that illness representations and personality traits predict life satisfaction in paediatric samples suffering from other chronic illnesses, these associations were not yet explored on youth with essential hypertension. The 97 participants were assessed for demographic and medical data, life satisfaction, illness representations (own illness representations – OIR, and perceived important others’ representations about participants’ illness – PIOIR), and personality (self-report and peer-report). Regression analyses indicated that OIR and self-reported personality traits accounted for 24% of the variance in general life satisfaction, 33% of variance in family-related life satisfaction, 25% of variance in friends-related life satisfaction, and 25% of variance in self-related life satisfaction. When entering PIOR illness representations and peer-assessed personality traits as predictors of life satisfaction domains, these predictors accounted for 29% of the variance in general life satisfaction, 23% of variance in family-related life satisfaction, 17% of variance in friends-related life satisfaction, 24% of the variance in the living environment-related life satisfaction, and 20% in self-related life satisfaction. More specifically, the personality traits of agreeableness (self-report), neuroticism (self-report) and openness (peer report), as well as the illness representations dimensions (OIR: concern and emotional burden; PIOIR: identity, comprehension, consequences and treatment control of PIOIR), were shown to be the most important predictors of different domains of life satisfaction.

Sensors based on in vivo measurements of photosynthetic pigments fluorescence enable real-time phytoplankton monitoring with high spatial and temporal resolution. A combination of chlorophyll a (CHL) and phycocyanin (PC) fluorescence sensors was used for phytoplankton quantification and differentiation in two small water bodies, Koseze Pond and pond in Hotinja vas. The high correlation of CHL and PC fluorescence signals with biovolume was confirmed during the two-year monitoring in anatural pond environment in spite of a seasonal succession of the phytoplankton. Additionally, disturbances of the sensors were investigated. Water bodies containing predominantly algae yielded false positive signals of the PC sensor, which reached up to 1% of the intensity of the CHL signal. Similarly, underestimated counts of cyanobacteria measured with CHL fluorescence sensor can be adjusted using PC fluorescence sensor.

Cyanobacterial blooms in fresh water bodies have a serious negative impact on human, animal and environmental health. The impact of electro-oxidation of water containing Planktothrix rubescens in electrolytic cell equipped with diamond electrodes has been tested. The treatment had an immediate effect on cyanobacterial phycocyanin and chlorophyll fluorescence response and total cell biovolume. Cyano-bacterial number reduced for 80 % 130 h after a single treatment of 500 mL of a water sample through electrolytic cell with a flow rate 1 L/min. Obtained results indicate a great potential of the method for in-lake cyanobacterial control.

The paper presents concurrent predictive relations of personality traits with social behaviour of children at the transition from early to middle childhood. Personality ratings of firstgraders (N = 316) were collected using the Inventory of Child and Adolescent Individual Differences (Zupančič & Kavčič, 2009) and the Social Competence and Behaviour Evaluation Scale (La Freniere et al., 2001) was employed to obtain assessments on the children's social competence, internalizing behaviour, and externalizing behaviour. To account for the same rater bias, the children's personality and social behaviour were rated by both teachers and assisstent teachers in the first grade of a nine-year compulsory school; the predictions were based on two sets of their cross-ratings. The firstgraders' social competentnce was consistently (over the cross-ratings) predicted by high conscientiousness, mainly due to ratings of child compliance, whereas low conscientiousness was predictive of internalizing behaviour, especially due to low ratings of subjectively perceived child intelligence. Disagreeableness (both antagonism and strong will) and low neuroticism contributed to assessments of the observed children's externalizing behaviour. In regard to neuroticism, ratings of child fear/insecurity were positively related to externalizing and ratings of child shyness were negatively associated with the observed incidence of externalizing behaviour.

The Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality domains was demonstrated as useful taxonomy to classify parents' descriptions of children and adolescents across several countries. In the present study, 156 Slovene children (Mage= 6.95 years) with cognitive disabilities (CD) were described by their mothers and fathers. A coding scheme developed within a previous international research project was used to categorize the expressions generated by the parents. The scheme includes five main categories, with three subcategories each, and ten additional categories outside the FFM. Over 70% of parental responses were coded within the FFM sugesting that this taxonomy is also relevant for categorizing characteristics of individuals with CD. There was a significant agreement between the spouses on describing their child with CD. In comparison to samples of normative children across different studies, Agreeableness received a higher proportion of descriptions by parents, mostly due to reports coded in Helpfulness and low Manageability subcategories. A lower proportion of descriptors was coded in the Openness/Intellect category, mostly due to reports on interests of children with CD. The lowest proportion of descriptors was ascribed to the Conscientiousness and Emotional Instability categories. Most of the responses outside the FFM were coded in the Disabilities category as the parents often mentioned their child's disabilities in the course of interview.

The contribution presents a follow-up study of sibling relationship and personality in 87 sibling dyads in early/middle childhood from parental perspective. At Time 1 all siblings attended pre-school and one year later approximately half of the older siblings entered compulsory school. At both times of measurement siblings' mothers and fathers independently reported on their children's personality characteristics using the Inventory of Child Individual Differences (Halverson et al., 2003; Slovene adaptation, Zupančič & Kavčič, 2009) and on the observed sibling warmth, agonism, and rivalry using the Parental Expectations and Perceptions of Children's Sibling Relationships Questionnaire (Kramer, 2001). The predictive relationship obtained by two sets of cross-rater analyses (between maternal ratings of child personality and paternal reports on sibling relationship, and vice versa) suggested that (a) personality traits of both siblings and (b) the match between siblings' personalities are associated with sibling type (affectionate, involved or average) membership. Among personality traits, disagreeableness seems to be an especially significant contributor to sibling relationship quality.

The study investigated the personality structure of adolescents in early and middle adolescence periods. The research was conducted longitudinally and was based on a multiple-informant approach. Target adolescents, their classmates and mothers (self)assessed the adolescents' personality characteristics separately by using the Inventory of Child Individual Differences (ICID). At the first measurement, the target group were 219 adolescents (M = 14;7 years) attending the eighth-grades of elementary schools in different regions of Slovenia. The second measurement was performed two years later, when most of the respondents attended the second grade of secondary schools (the attrition of the sample by 14 %). Following the inspection of the results of component analyses conducted by the 15 ICID scales a four component solution was retained across the three groups of informants. With regard to adolescent self-report and mothers' report, four components were suggested at both times of measurement: extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional instability and disagreeableness, whereas the four components by ratings of peers yielded a combined extraversion – emotional stability, conscientiousness, amiability and disagreeableness. At both measurements the intellect/openness, presumably capturing the intelligence and open to experience marker scales, was not identified as an independent component. In self- and peer reports the intelligence scale loaded for the conscientiousness component, whereas according to mothers' assessments it correlated negatively with the emotional instability component. The open to experience scale loaded for the extraversion component (self-report and report by mothers) and to the extraversion – emotional stability component (peer assessments), respectively.

This paper presents an overview of recent personality trait research in children and early adolescents, with a special focus on studies in Slovenia. In the search for the precursors of the adult Big Five, a free-descriptive strategy to assess personality in non-adult samples is emphasized. Findings suggest that parents describe infants and toddlers in terms that are predominantly categorized in the Five-Factor Model taxonomy. Distributions of descriptors show developmental patterns from infancy to early adolescence and small cultural differences. Based on the parental natural language used to describe children across countries, ecologically valid assessment tools were created. The Inventory of Child Individual Differences (ICID; Halverson et al., 2003) was conceptualized as an age and culturally neutral instrument, and is widely used in Slovenia. Cross-sectional studies on ICID ratings of 3 to 14 year-olds provide information on age, sex, and cultural differences in child/adolescent personality trait expression across observers. Several aspects of trait consistency from early to middle childhood, using a longitudinal and multiple-informant approach, are reviewed, as well as the aspects of consistency across contexts and informants. Concurrent and longitudinal predictive values of the ICID trait assessments are shown in relation to several social and academic outcomes. In addition to the variable-centered method, results based on the child-centered approach suggest several internally replicable personality types. Developmental and cross-observer consistency in the structure of personality types, stability of type membership and its predictive validity versus personality traits is described. Prospects for future research on child personality development are suggested, including new methods of assessment and the investigation of links between early personality and important life outcomes.

The present study compared gender differences in parental perceptions of child personality trait expression across different age groups in Slovenia and Russia. The patterns of gender differences in adolescents were further explored using parent and self-rating methods of assessment. Employing the Inventory of Child Individual Differences (Halverson et al., 2003) reports on large samples of children/ adolescents (2 to 15 years) in both countries were obtained. Gender differences were small and similar across countries, and their patterns were closer to each other for the same data source across countries than they were for the two sources of information within the country. The parents in both countries concurred in rating daughters as somewhat more achievement orientated, compliant, considerate, and organized, whereas sons were assessed as slightly more active, antagonistic, and distractible. At the higher-order trait level, girls were perceived to be more conscientious and agreeable relative to the boys, especially from middle childhood onwards. Regarding self-reports, adolescent girls also scored significantly higher on Considerate and Positive Emotions scales than boys, while the former reported on higher agreeableness relative to the latter in Slovenia only. Gender differences were evident even in parental assessments of the youngest group but they did not systematically increase over children's age.

Contemporaneous and longitudinal predictive relations between three blocks of predictors and measures of children's social adjustment (social competence, internalizing and externalizing behaviour) after the school entry were investigated. The first block of predictors captures expressions of child personality dimensions as perceived by pre-school teachers/assistant school teachers, the second block contains parental education and self-evaluations of parenting in mothers and fathers of the target children, and the third block refers to children's pre-school attendance prior to school entry. Using the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale, school teachers reported on firstgraders' social adjustment. The Inventory of Child Individual Differences was employed to assess personality when the target children were 3, 4, 5, and 6 years old, while at ages 3 and 6 their parents filled-in the Family Environment Questionnaire to provide self-reports on parenting. The blocks of predictors jointly explain a relatively large portion of variance in firstgraders' social adjustment both contemporaneously and longitudinally. Personality characteristics significantly predict all of the criteria measures, while family environment and pre-school attendance explain additional variance in internalizing behaviour (depressive, anxious, isolated, and dependent behaviour), over and above the contribution of personality. Perceptions of children's conscientiousness-openness at the beginning of the school year as well as through early childhood and of their agreeableness in preschool predict teacher ratings of the firstgraders' social competence. Externalizing behaviour (angry, aggressive, egotistical and oppositional behaviour) was consistently predicted by low conscientiousness-openness, extraversion-emotional stability, and low agreeableness. Finally, low conscientiousness-openness in school, low extraversion-emotional stability in preschool, maternal inefficient control of the firstgraders' behaviour, low education of the father and absence of children's previous pre-school experience predicted internalizing behaviour.

General theory of life span development, as proposed by Baltes (1997), involves an interplay of three component processes or strategies that people use to cope with their everyday problems and to achieve their goals: selection refers to specification of goals (elective selection) or search for new goals when previous ones cannot be attained (loss-based selection). The second one, optimisation, refers to allocating one's time and efforts in attaining (selected) goals. The third strategy, compensation, refers to acquiring both new skills and resources to achieve the (selected) goals when goals were found hard to attain. An instrument proposed by Freund and Baltes (2002) was translated into Slovene, and applied to 651 adults aged 18 to 86 years. Both internal reliability and construct validity of the Slovene version of the instrument were found satisfactory. Further analyses showed that all strategies but elective selection decrease with age, mostly with more significant spurts in late adulthood. Analyses also revealed males to exhibit the highest level of strategy use in middle adulthood, and females to show consistent decline of strategy use throughout the adult years. Some developmental implications of these findings are discussed in the concluding section of the paper.

Parental differential treatment is an important feature of non-shared family environment which contributes to the development of behavioural differences between siblings growing up in the same family. To investigate the frequency, direction, and patterns of parental differential treatment of siblings in Slovene families, mothers and fathers of 93 sibling-pairs in early/middle childhood provided self-reports in a two-wave longitudinal study. Most of the parents reported on low levels of differential treatment, predominantly expressing somewhat more affection and control towards the older than towards the younger sibling. Over a one-year time period, the average frequency of parental differential treatment did not change significantly, whereas the stability was estimated as moderate for maternal and low for paternal assessments. Maternal and paternal self-ratings were moderately correlated. However, the mothers reported on somewhat higher levels of differential control and (only in wave 1) affection than the fathers. Nearly half of the families were characterized by a congruent pattern of parental differential treatment indicating that both parents showed more affection and control towards the older of the two siblings. A complementary family pattern reflecting an opposite direction of maternal and paternal differential treatment emerged in approximately a quarter of the participating families.

The number of harmful cyanobacterial blooms has increased significantly at the global level in recent years. One of the characteristics of cyanobacteria that gives them advantage over other phytoplankton organisms are auxiliary photosynthetic pigments, such as phycocyanin. This fluorescent pigment emits light at a different wavelength as chlorophyll and can therefore be used for detection of cyanobacteria in situ. In this study we used submersible phycocyanin fluorescence sensors and compare their voltage output to concentration of extracted phycocyanin, cell counts and biovolume. The relation was linear in all three cases; however, the variability of regression line slopes between different cyanobacteria strains was high in the case of PC extract concentration and cell count. The highest uniformity in the linear fits was between fluorescence signal and biovolume therefore making it the best candidate for fluorescence sensor voltage output conversion. In the context of this work we also compared different methods for PC extraction. Modifying the equations by subtracting the absorption at 750 nm almost entirely reduces the false PC concentration estimation due to sample turbidity.

The present study explored individual constellations of five personality dimensions (personality types) and their internal replicability with a sample of 4- to 14-year-olds (N = 1341). Employing an age- and culture-decentered assessment tool the target participants were rated by their mothers and the procedure by Asendorpf et al. (2001) was followed to derive personality types. Several cluster solutions were investigated with the one representing four personality types appearing the most interpretable. The average type included individuals (26%) expressing mean levels of conscientiousness, extraversion, openness/intellect, and neuroticism, and a relatively high level of agreeableness. The reserved children/adolescents (35 %) scored below-average in openess/intellect, relatively low in conscientiousness and extraversion, and they were rated relatively high for neuroticism. The wilful participants (30 %) were high in openness/intelect and within the average range they appeared relatively extraverted and disagreeable. The resilient type turned out to be the least capacious as it captured extremly conscientious, extraverted, open, emotionally stable and relatively high agreeable individuals. More girls than boys were classified as average and the boys were, in comparison to the girls, more often assigned to the wilful and to the reserved personality types. The wilful type was the most common in early childhood, the reserved type memberhip was the most frequent in middle and late childhood, and early adolesscents were the most frequently classified to the average type.

The contribution presents a study with 3-year-olds and examines relative contribution of children's age of entry to pre-school (1 and 3 years), their personality type (resilient, average, willful) and maternal parenting style (optimal, less-than-optimal) to the development of individual differences in social behavior. Employing The Family Environment Questionnaire (Zupančič, Podlesek, & Kavčič, 2004), 2 internally replicable parenting styles were identified with maternal and paternal self-report data sets. The styles differed mainly by authoritative parenting and stimulation, and appeared structurally similar between the spouses. Parental agreement on individual style membership significantly exceeded chance levels, but was relatively low. Therefore further analyses considered maternal parenting style only. The mothers also filled in The Inventory of Child Individual Differences (Halverson et al., 2003) and the teachers (concurrently and one year later) filled in The Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation scales (LaFreniere et al., 2001). Child personality type membership was based on classifications derived in a previous study. Relatively, the personality type exerted the strongest and the most consistent effects on child social behavior in pre-school. Social functioning of the resilient and the willful children was somewhat more efficient in comparison to their counterparts with the average profile, even though the latter showed the most improvement in these domains between ages 3 and 4. With the willful children only, less-than-optimal parenting had an adverse effect on the development of externalizing behavior, while the development of social adjustment was negatively affected by the children's late entry to pre-school.

The present study explored gender differences and cross-contextual continuity in personality traits and robust personality dimensions of 192 pre-school children. Child personality was assessed separately by mothers, fathers and pre-school teachers employing The Inventory of Child Individual Differences (Halverson et al., 2003). The inquiry was conducted in three waves of measurement, when the same children were three-, four-, and five years old. Overall, the gender differences in child personality were small in their size, but consistent over the early childhood. At the domain level, small gender differences in child personality were reflected through parental, but not pre-school teachers' reports. Over the three waves, the girls were ascribed more Extraversion and less Neuroticism than were the boys. At the trait level and across the time span, the girls were rated higher in achievement orientation, compliance, intelligence and organization as compared to the boys, who were, relative to the girls, attributed more antagonism, distractibility, fear/insecurity and shyness. Children of both genders were consistently rated alike with respect to their activity level and strong will. In comparison to the gender effects, more informant effects on the perceived child personality were obtained and they were larger in magnitude, but consistent across times of measurement. Parents attributed their children more achievement orientation, activity, compliance, consideration, intelligence, openness to experience, organization, positive emotion, sociability and strong will than did teachers, who perceived the same children to be more antagonistic, distractible, fearful/insecure,and shy in comparison to the parental reports.

Predictive relations from personality measures to children's social behaviour in pre-school were examined for 3 year old children (at Time 1; T1) who were reassessed one year later (at Time 2; T2). At both times, mothers and fathers separately rated children's personality characteristics using the Inventory of Child Individual Differences (Halverson et al., 2003), while the pre-school teachers assessed the same children on the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale (LaFreniere et al., 2001). Three general predictive models were examined, contemporaneous (at T1 and T2), longitudinal, and cumulative. Mother- and father-rated child personality was contemporaneously predictive of children's social behaviour as assessed by their pre-school teachers. The most consistent predictions across the spouses and at both times of measurement were obtained for child externalizing behaviour. More disagreeable and emotionally stable children, as opposed to their less disagreeable and more in stable counterparts, were concurrently observed to exhibit more externalizing tendencies during the time spent in pre-school. Maternal reports were longitudinally predictive of children's social competence and internalizing behaviour and the father reports predicted internalizing and externalizing behaviour one year later. Neuroticism at age 3 was consistently linked to internalizing tendencies at age 4 across parents both longitudinally and cumulatively. Father-rated Disagreeableness at age 3 was predictive of externalizing behaviour one year later in both longitudinal and cumulative models, while the contemporaneous information on child Disagreeableness and Neuroticism (reversed) at T2, independent of the respective child traits at T1, significantly improved the cumulative predictions of externalizing behaviour from maternal reports. In general, child personality scores derived from maternal data sets were more powerful predictors of children's social behaviour across the models than those obtained from paternal reports. Contemporaneous relations were stronger than longitudinal ones, predictions of social competence were relatively the weakest and the longitudinal links between child personality and later internalizing tendencies were somewhat stronger than were the associations between personality and children's externalizing tendencies at age 4.

The paper reviews evidence on the construct validity and reliability of the newly developed Family Environment Questionnaire (FEQ), and presents data on the structure of socialisation practices the Slovenian parents use in daily interactions with their three-year-old children. The FEQ is a parent report measure designed to provide an assessment of individual differences in parental practices that are representative among the parents of preschool children in the given cultural community. Factor analysis of the 63 items reliably recovered a four-component solution in both, maternal and paternal self-reports indicating the following broad-band parenting practices: Authoritative Parenting, Ineffective Control, Power Assertion, and Stimulation. Variables loading high on more than one component and those that did not load on the same factor obtained from maternal and paternal data were excluded from further analyses. The 51 items that were retained and corresponded to the four factors demonstrate adequate internal consistency for both samples of respondents. In addition, parental stimulation was positively linked to authoritative parenting, while it was negatively related to ineffective control and power assertion. The mothers perceived themselves to be more authoritative and stimulative than did fathers, who described themselves as more power assertive and ineffective in control. The parent-pairs were also found to share, at least to some extent, similar parenting practices, whereas their self-perceived expression of these practices was not dependent on their child's gender.

The paper presents data on the validity of the newly developed culturally- and age-decentered instrument (International Inventory of Individual Differences, ICID), an internationally designed measure of individual differences in children, aged 3 to 12 years, based on a child personality lexicon from parental free descriptions. Using the fifteen of the ICID mid-level scales, three hundred and fifty-two Slovenian three-years-old children were assessed independently by their mothers, fathers and preschool teachers. The preschool teachers also rated children's social adjustment on the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale. Data on satisfactory internal reliability of the childhood personality scales, their congruence across multiple observers and occasions of observed behavior as well as evidence of differential links of these scales to other measures of individual differences (social competence and maladaptive behavior) are reported. The factor structure of the ICID scales across the observers is also shown in comparison to the data collected in other countries. The composition of the mid-level scales into four broad-band personality dimensions (Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) appeared remarkably similar when the factor structures of mothers' and fathers' assessments of three-year-old children were compared, while the preschool teachers' perceived organization of the child personality was found somewhat less differentiated (represented by the combined Conscientiousness/Openness, Extraversion/Neuroticism, and Agreeableness dimensions) in comparison to the parental one.

The present study was designed to analyse the personality structure of children aged one to seven, as perceived by their kindergarten teachers. In addition, gender differences were examined to determine whether kindergarten teachers perceived the personality characteristics of toddler and pre-school girls differently than those of boys. 508 randomly-selected Slovenian children were assessed by their kindergarten teachers using adapted Flemish Big-Five Bipolar Rating Scales. Four-factor structures that explained more than two-thirds of the variance emerged for teachers' personality ratings of children in each of the three age groups: toddlers, three- to five-year-olds and five- to seven-year-olds. However, five of the twenty-five scales, four of them referring to the Conscientiousness dimension, did not appear to be relevant when assessing individual differences in the toddlerhood. Intellect/Openness, as observed for the toddler sample, and the combined Conscientiousness-Intellect/Openness factor, extracted for each of the two older age groups, accounted for the greatest part of the variance. Extroversion was obtained as a second factor in each of the three age groups, while Emotional Stability showed relatively less stability across these groups. Agreeableness was clearly differentiated only in the oldest age group, emerging there for the first time as an independent factor. A few gender differences were found to be significant within the two groups of pre-school children, with girls consistently being rated higher in terms of Conscientiousness-Intellect/Openness.

This paper reviews early infant measures based on standardised scales of development – both traditional ones and those based on Piaget's sensory-motor theory – and assesses their validity in predicting later mental development. The extremely low predictive power of test scores based on these measures in infancy has provided additional support for discontinuity theories of mental development from infancy to childhood. Conversely, the constructs implicit in earlier measures have been thoroughly criticised, and the search for valid measures of infant development that would reflect a construct similar to mental abilities in childhood has begun. At the outset, research was mostly influenced by the information processing theory. Two broad measures of information processing have been shown to be the most relevant indicators of an infant's mental development, namely habituation and dishabituation. Recent mental scales, such as the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II, thus include items that measure the efficiency of an infant's information processing. Examples of such items are presented and interpreted, as are items reflecting the development of object permanence, the only early sensory-motor measure that shows better predictive effectiveness when compared to traditional developmental test scores. Several newly-developed indicators of infants' mental development, which utilize other measures than those derived from the information-processing approach, are surveyed (understanding causal relations, joint attention behaviours, representation of number), and their possible application within the context of potential items for early mental scales is discussed. Finally, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II, currently one of the best measures of early development, and presently undergoing a standardisation procedure in Slovenia, is evaluated, with analyses of some items from the Mental scale presented within the text.

The present study was designed to examine whether pre-school teachers' free-descriptions of toddlers (1 to 3 years) and pre-school children (3 to 7 years) could be categorised using the Five-Factor Model (FFM) taxonomy. 184 pre-school teachers described randomly-chosen toddlers and pre-school children attending pre-school institutions. The teachers' expressions were coded using the FFM coding scheme comprising five main categories with three subcategories each, and nine additional categories. In addition, frequency distributions of (sub)category use were compared between mothers and pre-school teachers and within caregiver-pairs (mothers and teachers) for the toddlers (N=47) to determine how they might vary according to the role of the person providing the descriptions, and whether the pairs of toddler caregivers agreed when describing the same child. Regardless of the children's ages, a vast majority of the respondents' descriptors were classified within the FFM, which demonstrates the taxonomy useful for describing toddlers and pre-school children in different contexts (family, pre-school). Some differences were found in the proportions of descriptors belonging to specific (sub)categories which were used by different evaluators (mothers, teachers of toddlers), as well as according to the children's ages (as assessed by their teachers), while the level of agreement between mothers and teachers in describing the same toddler was considered low.

This study investigated perceptions of achieved criteria for adulthood (ACA) among emerging adult student samples from Austria ( n = 210), Slovenia ( n = 201), and the United States ( n = 225). Controlling for parental education, students’ age (18-27 years), and gender, we aimed to explain between- and within-sample differences in the ACA by taking the students’ living situation, intimate relationship status, and expectations about their future perspectives into account. The participants indicated the ACA on the questionnaire based on criteria for reaching adulthood used in studies of adulthood conceptions. The students also provided information about when they think they will start the first full-time career, get married, gain financial independence, and become a parent. The Europeans indicated less ACA than the Americans; 20% of the variance in the ACA was, along with the country effect, explained by the intimate relationship status and future perspectives.

During the past decade, developmental psychologists have begun to search for the antecedents of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) adult personality dimensions in childhood. Based on a free-descriptive approach the Five-Factor domains were strongly replicated in descriptions by parents of 3 to 12-year-old children in different countries. This study was designed to examine whether the parental free-descriptions of their infants and toddlers could as well be categorised by the FFM taxonomy. It compared the frequency of category use for several groups of children to determine how they might vary by the child's age, gender, and by which parent provided the descriptions. 101 Slovenian children (mean age 14.4 months) were described by 100 mothers and 85 fathers. Their expressions were coded by an elaborate coding scheme including five main categories, with three subcategories each, and nine additional categories outside the FFM. Approximately four fifths of the parental responses were classified within the FFM, which proves the taxonomy useful for describing the infants and toddlers. No significant differences in the proportions of the descriptors were obtained by the rater and by the child's gender for any of the (sub)categories. Several age differences between the parental perceptions of infants and toddlers were found significant. They are suggested to reflect rapid behavioural changes during the first two years of the child's life. These changes are supposed to shift the parental focus of attention to additional and/or different aspects of the child's behaviour in his/her second year compared to the first year. Thus the parents use somewhat different aspects of the child's behaviour to make social comparisons between the toddlers than between the infants.

The measures of temporal reliability and criterion validity of the Slovenian version of Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale – Preschool Edition (SV-P) are presented and discussed in the present contribution. Test-retest reliability indexes of the basic and composite scales were obtained with a sample of 39 children assessed in a two-month interval, while the temporal stability coefficients were obtained with an independent sample of 48 children evaluated after a six-month interval. All of the temporal reliability measures were proven sufficiently high. Sociometric indicators of a child's popularity and peer rejection were chosen as an external criterion to verify the concurrent validity of the SV-P. All of the children attending the same kindergarten groups as the target children (N=54) participated in a sociometric test. It was implemented in a form of combined nomination and paired-comparison technique using a group photo of the children in a kindergarten group. The results of the composite scales of SV-P – Social Competence, Internalizing Problems, Externalizing Problems and Genaral Adaptation – were related to the children's sociometric positions within the kindergarten group in the expected directions and to a satisfactory degree. In addition, the results obtained by the sociometric procedure with a sample of 210 children were analysed. They highlight the proportions of kindergarten children classified into different sociometric statuses - popular, neglected, rejected, controversial and average – and suggest that during the early childhood the children clearly prefer their same-sex peers.

The contribution presents the first part of the second validation study on the Slovenian version of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale – Preschool Edition (OLSP). The study was implemented with a sample of 95 Slovenian kindergarten children aged from 2;6 to 6;5 years, uniformly sampled by age and gender. OLSP was filled out by the childrens' kindergarten teachers as well as their assisstants. The obtained results show that internal consistency and interrater reliability of the eight basic and the four composite scales of OLSP are satisfactory. No significant gender differences were obtained for any of the scales. The Dependent-Autonomous scale was positively related to the childrens' age, while the Internalizing Problems and General Adaptation composite scales related to age in the expected direction with medium effect sizes. However, the age differences on the latter did not reach statistical significance mainly due to small sample size.

The contribution presents the first Slovenian version of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation - Preschool Edition (OLSP) scale. It was translated and adapted from the American original (SCBE) of the authors LaFreniere and Dumas (1995). 18 preschool teachers participated in the first pilot study of this instrument, which presents the first step towards its standardisation in Slovenia. Using the OLSP and the Questionnaire of Behavioral Reactions - VVR (Horvat, 1985), the teachers evaluated behaviours of 95 children aged between 64 and 75 months, all living in Ljubljana. The results of the study support relevant internal consistency of all basic and composite OLSP scales. The Slovenian translation of the SCBE was further established to be a valid instrument since all of the basic scales constituded the same composite scales as they did in the original American studies. In addition, the basic and the composite scales converged towards the same constructs as did the similar scales of children's behaviors in kindergarten, which have already been well established in Slovenia (VVR). To increase the reliability of the instrument, we constructed the second pilot version of OLSP considering the correlation estimates of the original and additional items with the corresponding basic scales.

Up to the eighties, the psychological interpretations of early cognitive development had been dominated by Piaget's theory of sensori-motor development, according to which infants' knowledge of the world is constructed through their actions upon the world. Older empirical findings also led to a conclusion that infants' basic concepts of objects and representations of objects develop relatively late during the infancy period. Searching for new answers to the old questions about infants' cognitive competence in the first year after birth, and when and how it is manifested in their behaviours, encouraged researchers to re-examine the existing knowledge about the milestones and the mechanisms of early cognitive development, as well as to use new research techniques, and revealed new empirical evidence. These show that infants are much more cognitively competent and that some of their cognitive capacities develop much earlier than Piaget suggested. In the article, some recent findings in the field of infants' development of knowledge about physical world are presented and discussed. Some fundamental points of Piaget's sensori-motor stage of development which were not supported by the recent empirical evidence are highlightened.

Poznavanje značilnosti psihološkega delovanja starejših je prvi pogoj za razvijanje načinov ohranjanja in izboljšanja njihove kompetentnosti, blagostanja in vključevanja v družbo. V prispevku predstavljamo ugotovitve slovenske raziskave o poznavanju dejstev o staranju in značilnostih starejših oseb pri velikem vzorcu različno starih in različno izobraženih odraslih. Z ravnjo izobrazbe se poznavanje dejstev o starejših povečuje, mladi na prehodu v odraslost in starostniki pa v primerjavi s posamezniki v zgodnji in srednji odraslosti poznajo nekoliko manj teh dejstev. V splošnem je poznavanje psihološkega vidika staranja, značilnosti starejših in njihovih potencialov za učenje, spreminjanje in delo na razmeroma nizki ravni. Večina odraslih pozna dejstva o telesnem stanju, zdravju in nekaterih posebnostih psihološkega delovanja starejših. Precej razširjena pa so zmotna prepričanja, ki odražajo negativne stereotipe o staranju in starejših osebah, zlasti na področju spoznavnega, oziroma širše, psihosocialnega delovanja starejših. Na tej podlagi menimo, da je za formalno in neformalno izobraževanje pomembno ustrezno informiranje odraslih.

In several countries, leachate is successfully treated by recirculation to the vegetated landfill cover, as it contains several micro and macronutrients for plant growth. However, the proportion and concentration of some parameters can negatively affect the plant growth and soil quality in the case of high leachate input. The presented research discusses B in leachate and its interactions with soil and plants. A ten-month field research was performed on 1.1 ha of the closed and covered municipal solid waste landfill site irrigated with landfill leachate. B concentration was analysed in leachate, landfill soil cover and in plant leaves. Total B concentration in leachate ranged from 0.8 to 3.83 mg/L. Monthly B mass load on the covered landfill site ranged between 0.2 – 1.5 kg/ha. The concentration of bioavailable B in soil cover gradually increased and ranged between