Maria von Salisch

Recent research confirms that climate change is having serious negative effects on children’s and adolescents’ mental health. Being aware of global warming, its dramatic consequences for individual and collective goals, and the urgent need for action to prevent further warming seems to be so overwhelming for young people that it may lead to paralyzing emotions like (future) anxiety, worries, shame, guilt, and reduced well-being overall. Many children and adolescents feel hopeless in view of the challenges posed by the transformations towards a sustainable future. Feeling powerless widens the gap between knowledge and action which in turn may exacerbate feelings of hopelessness. One of the tasks for parents, educators, and policymakers is therefore to empower young people to act against global warming, both individually and collectively. Psychological resources were identified as precursors of pro-environmental behavior. A theoretical model (and accompanying empirical research) is presented which elaborates on the links between self-efficacy, self-acceptance, mindfulness, capacity for pleasure, construction of meaning, and solidarity on the one hand, and subjective well-being and sustainable behavior on the other hand. This literature review suggests starting points for programs that aim to promote both psychological resources, subjective well-being, and individual and collective pro-environmental behaviors in young people.

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been shown to improve children’s academic achievements. Because MBIs include different exercises (possibly with differential effects), the teacher-led Breathing Break Intervention (BBI) was developed which focuses exclusively on breathing exercises and body awareness. The short daily breathing practices of BBI were evaluated in terms of their effects on children’s performance in mathematics. In a randomized controlled trial, N = 140 third and fourth graders (49% female) either received BBI (IG, n = 81) or participated in an active control group (ACG, n = 59). Students took a standardized arithmetic test and teachers rated their mathematics performance before (T1) and after (T2) the nine weeks of BBI, and in a follow-up five months later (T3). A mixed multilevel model with a quadratic term of time indicated a significant interaction effect between group and time on the arithmetic test after controlling for working memory updating and parental educational attainment. IG children did not show a steeper linear increase but differed significantly from ACG children in their trajectory of arithmetic performance. At T3, IG children outperformed ACG children. A multilevel ordinal logistic regression of teachers’ ratings of students’ mathematics performance revealed no significant differences between IG and ACG. Results suggest that daily breathing exercises in primary school classrooms contribute to enhancing children’s performance in arithmetic.Preregistration: The study was preregistered at aspredicted.org (#44925).

Introduction: Although the first COVID-19-related lockdown in the Spring of 2020 has contributed to an increase in mental health problems in many children worldwide, less is known about the longer-term effects of the pandemic on their (future) anxiety. This article examines resilience factors against children’s Covid-relatedfut ure anxiety (CRFA).Methods: N = 140 children (48,6% female) in 3rd and 4th grade classrooms in Northern Germany were asked to self-report about their CRFA, their anxiety, and the social climate in their classrooms in September (T1) and December 2020 (T2).Results: Results indicate that 18.6% of the children experienced CRFA “often” in at least one item of the CRFA scale at T1. CRFA was more pronounced in girls and in children from immigrant families. Changes in children’s CRFA between T1 and T2 were predicted by changes in their anxiety and changes in classroom climate. Children in classrooms with increasing levels of peer support tended to have decreasing levels of CRFA, whereas their agemates’ CRFA in less supportive classrooms tended to increase over time.Discussion: These results suggest that peer and teacher social support may bolster children’s resilience against future anxiety in challenging times. Implications for teachers and schools are discussed.

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been shown to improve children’s academic achievements. Because MBIs include different exercises (with different effects), the teacher-led Breathing Break Intervention (BBI) with daily breath-based mindfulness practices was developed and evaluated in terms of its effects on children’s performance in mathematics. In a randomized controlled trial, N = 140 third and fourth graders (49% female) either received BBI (IG, n = 81) or participated in an active control group (ACG, n = 59). Students took a standardized arithmetic test and teachers rated their mathematics performance before (T1) and after (T2) the ten weeks of BBI, and in a follow-up five months later (T3). A mixed multilevel model with a quadratic term of time indicated a significant interaction effect between group and time on the arithmetic test after controlling for working memory updating and socioeconomic status. IG children differed significantly from ACG children in their trajectory of arithmetic performance and outperformed them at T3. A multilevel ordinal logistic regression of teachers’ ratings of students’ mathematics performance revealed no significant differences between IG and ACG. Daily breathing exercises in primary school classrooms seem to be effective in enhancing children's performance in arithmetic. Preregistration: The study was preregistered at aspredicted.org (#44925)

Objectives: In order to promote mindfulness in primary school, the Breathing Break Intervention was developed. This collection of short daily breath-based mindfulness practices was introduced to 15 teachers who delivered them up to 3 times a day to their students. Method: In a randomized controlled trial, 146 third and fourth graders (49% female) either received the intervention (n = 81) or participated in the active wait list control group (n = 65). Students were asked to nominate prosocial peers and to report on supportive peer relationships in their classrooms before (pretest) and after (posttest) the 9 weeks of the Breathing Break Intervention, and in a follow-up 5 months later. Results: Mixed multilevel models indicated a group × sex × posttest interaction (t(211) = 2.64, p < 0.01) suggesting that girls in the intervention group were rated to be more prosocial by their peers at posttest than at pretest and than girls in the active control group when children’s age and parents’ education were accounted for. Supportive peer relationships in the active control group deteriorated between pretest and posttest, which occurred immediately before the second school lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas they remained the same in the intervention group (t(223) = 2.56, p < 0.05). Both effects were not maintained at follow-up, probably due to children’s irregular school attendance during the lockdown. Conclusions: Introducing a short daily breathing practice in primary school classrooms seems to be effective in maintaining supportive peer relationships and in stimulating girls’ prosocial behavior. Preregistration: The study was preregistered at aspredicted.org (#44925).

Because emotion knowledge and language skills each contribute to children's success in school and life, the Feeling Thinking Talking (FTT) intervention combines the advancement of language skills and of emotion knowledge in teachers’ child‐directed conversations. Teachers from centers of early childhood education in Germany were taught language support strategies (LSS) and how to apply them during emotion talk while reading picture books, while reminiscing about emotional events, and in everyday conversations with the children in their care. The evaluation of the FTT intervention entailed a comparison between the FTT group (N = 43) and a business‐as‐usual (BAU) control group (N = 67) with N = 110 children (M_age = 49.41 months, range = 33–66 months at T1) who were individually tested using objective tests on receptive vocabulary and emotion knowledge before (T1) and after the FTT intervention (T2), and in a follow‐up 3–6 months later (T3). After a multiple imputation procedure, mixed multilevel models indicated that the children taught by the FTT group teachers made faster progress in their emotion knowledge than their agemates in the BAU condition, especially in their knowledge of mixed emotions, when numerous covariates were controlled. Results suggest that young children's emotion knowledge can be promoted alongside with language skills by a teacher‐led intervention supporting child‐directed emotion talk in early childhood education. Discussion focuses on emotion talk as the mechanism for the transmission of emotion knowledge.

Zusammenfassung. Umfangreiche Forschungen bestätigen, dass eine hohe phonologische Bewusstheit jungen Kindern den Schriftspracherwerb in der Grundschule erleichtert. Unklar ist jedoch, ob ihr Emotionswissen über die bekannten Prädiktoren Alter, sozial-ökonomischer Status (SÖS), Migrationshintergrund, kognitive Fähigkeiten, Wortschatz und Selbstregulation hinaus Einfluss auf ihre spätere phonologische Bewusstheit nimmt. In einer Längsschnittuntersuchung wurde das Emotionswissen, der nonverbale IQ, das Satzverständnis und die behaviorale Selbstregulation von N = 280 Kindern ( M_AlterT1= 49.8 Monate) zu T1 erhoben. Etwa ein Jahr später wurde die phonologische Bewusstheit erfasst. Eine hierarchische Regression zeigte, dass das Emotionswissen über die Einwanderung und den SÖS der Familie und über Alter, IQ, Satzverständnis und Selbstregulation des Kindes hinaus Varianz der späteren phonologischen Bewusstheit aufklärte. Dieses Ergebnis wird in Hinblick auf die soziale Natur des frühen Lernens diskutiert.

Zusammenfassung Die Mehrzahl der Jugendlichen beschäftigt sich mit digitalen Spielen und viele spielen gewalthaltige digitale Spiele. Dass Heranwachsende mit intensiverer Nutzung digitaler Gewaltsp... Summary Playing Violent Digital Games and Openly Aggressive Behavior by Children and Adolescents: A Literature Review on the Direction of Effects The majority of adolescents play digital games and ...