Our research shows outdoor parks offer the ideal place for children to engage in risky play. This may challenge parents who understandably wish to keep their kids ‘safe’ all the time.
Grumbling children and teenagers can be so annoying. But it is important to try and decode their complaints.
Scientists and physicians raised concerns early in the pandemic that increased parental stress, COVID infections, reduced interactions with other babies and adults, and changes to health care may affect child development.
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Research findings are mostly reassuring for parents — despite the disruptions to nearly every aspect of life during the COVID-19 pandemic, most children continue to show healthy development.
There’s no expert consensus on whether screen time is good, bad or somewhere in between.
Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock
Terrible or terrific? There is a lot going when you’re two.
Vulnerability to suicide may build up throughout the course of life, and may start with events occurring in the perinatal period and infancy.
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Early life influences have been linked to higher risk of suicide later in life. Reducing those risks, and boosting resilience in children exposed to them, may help reduce suicide rates.
Despite warnings about the impact of climate change on health, surprisingly little has been written about the mental health consequences of climate change for children.
(Unsplash/Callum Shaw)
Research shows climate change is already affecting the healthy psychological development of children worldwide. Children’s mental health risks will only accelerate as climate change advances.
Instagram’s emphasis on filtered photos of bodies harms girls’ self-image.
Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images
Ample research demonstrates the harms Instagram causes teen girls, especially around body image. Meta is now facing the consequences of knowingly marketing a harmful service.
Elementary school students in Brazil learn healthy ways to resolve conflicts during a three-day workshop in 2019.
Sarah Roza
It’s worth going out of your way to ensure that kids practice interacting with others and maintain their friendships.
The disciplinary technique can reduce aggression and help get children to follow family rules.
Brooke Fasani Auchincloss/The Image Bank via Getty Images
Having loads of extra quality time with a toddler or preschooler and feeling flustered? Make sure you know how and where to do this basic disciplinary method the right way.
Playing together at school helps children learn.
Maskot via Getty Images
It’s been 25 years since autism was redefined and the surge in diagnoses and research began. But while we’ve come along way in our understanding of the spectrum, advances in drug therapies has lagged.
Hannah Waddington, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Jessica Tupou, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington e Larah van der Meer, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Unlike Australia, New Zealand doesn’t fund early intervention therapy for autistic children, but there are programmes pre-school teachers and parents can use to help kids develop.