Noona Kiuru

A home-school partnership refers to the shared responsibility between home and school, whereby families and school staff work together to support student learning (Epstein, 2018; Goodall & Montgome...

This study investigates developmental paths of reading fluency and comprehension among adolescents in lower secondary education. Furthermore, we examined the association between these paths, literacy-related emotions and psychological well-being. This longitudinal study’s sample ( n = 1,035, 55% girls) comprised Finnish adolescents (mean age = 13.79, SD = 0.35 at the outset) in Grades 7 and 9. The participants’ reading fluency and comprehension were measured using standardized tests, while literacy-related emotions and psychological well-being were measured via self-reports. Research questions were analyzed using latent profile analysis. Three developmental paths of reading skills were found: (1) low reading comprehension and low and slowly increasing reading fluency (11%), (2) average-increasing reading comprehension and fluency (59%) and (3) high reading comprehension and high-increasing reading fluency (30%). Adolescents on Path 3 reported higher literacy-related enjoyment, hope, and pride and lower literacy-related anger, anxiety, hopelessness, and shame than adolescents on other paths. No differences between paths were found in life satisfaction, but adolescents on Developmental path 1 and 3 reported a higher level of depressive symptoms than adolescents on Path 2, and their symptoms increased faster from Grade 7 to 9. Reading skills continue to develop during adolescence, and the development follows heterogenous paths. A nonlinear connection exists between reading skills and depressive symptoms, which would be important to consider in the efforts to support adolescent reading skills and well-being. The results suggest that both adolescents with particularly low and high reading skills are vulnerable to increased depressive symptoms.

Purpose: This study investigated the associations between dimensions of temperament and loneliness in adolescents and further explored whether the associations differed according to adolescents’ psychological flexibility. Methods: 885 Finnish Grade 9 adolescents ( M _age 15.80, girls 56.4%) filled in questionnaires on their temperament, loneliness and psychological flexibility. Results: High levels of Negative affectivity (NA) and Affiliativeness (AF) were identified as potential risk factors for adolescent loneliness, while high Effortful Control (EC) was found to be associated with lower levels of loneliness. Additionally, psychological flexibility was found to buffer the effect of high NA and high AF on loneliness, suggesting that psychological flexibility can protect against loneliness in adolescents presenting temperamental risk factors. Conclusions: In light of this novel finding, we posit that promoting adolescent psychological flexibility with values- and acceptance-based interventions, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), can make important contributions in efforts to tackle adolescent loneliness.

Although prior research has identified population-level trends in facial emotion recognition (FER) in middle childhood, it is unclear whether all children follow a similar developmental trajectory. To address this gap, we used a person-oriented approach to identify qualitatively distinct FER profiles based on accuracy and bias. The sample (N = 3,717, 51% girls, baseline Mage = 8.20, SD = 0.86) came from a Finnish social-emotional learning intervention study, with data collected across three waves (2013-2015). We applied latent profile analysis and random-intercept latent transition analysis to examine FER profiles and their stability across early school years. Moreover, we assessed whether parenting and children's social-emotional adjustment were associated with FER profile membership and transitions. We found five FER profiles: balanced accuracy (14%-26%), sadness bias (34%-38%), positively biased (34%-38%), anger bias (3%-4%), and low accuracy (2%-7%). While the three largest profiles showed moderate stability, children in the anger bias and low accuracy profiles were more likely to transition to other profiles. Compared with the positively biased profile, children in the anger bias profile experienced lower parental warmth and fewer peer problems and showed less prosocial behavior. These findings suggest substantial heterogeneity in children's FER development and link emotion-specific patterns to children's social functioning. Understanding that children may follow distinct developmental trajectories could help design targeted interventions to support children's social skills. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

As students progress through grades, school absences (SA) tend to rise, a trend observed alongside the growing importance of peer relations. While much research has examined SA, less is known how different reasons for SA and peer relations are related. This study focused on Grade 7 students ( N = 838) and their experiences after the transition from primary to lower secondary school. The data were collected at two points during Grade 7, in the autumn (T1) and in the spring (T2). Ordinal logistic regression was used to model both a) the relationships among the three student-reported SA reasons (sickness, truancy and other reasons) and b) the links between these SA reasons and two different aspects of peer relationships (peer-rated peer preference and a self-reported closeness with best friends at school). The results showed that SA due to sickness, truancy and other reasons predicted each other in Grade 7. Moreover, a higher level of peer preference was related to lower SA due to sickness and truancy in the autumn of Grade 7, but higher SA due to other reasons in the spring of the same school year. A higher perceived closeness with best friends at school was related to lower truancy at both time points. This study highlights the importance of understanding the links between different reasons for SA and the protective effect of positive peer relations on SA due to sickness and truancy after the transition to lower secondary school.

Background: Digital parenting is an evolving concept that needs to be further studied and understood more profoundly. Objective: To explore the key themes of digital parenting and whether background factors (guardian type, children’s age, parents’ interest and competence in using digital technology) are related to these themes. Methods: An online questionnaire with six semi-structured open-ended questions was asked from 174 parents. Using a mixed-method approach, first a thematic analysis was conducted to reveal the themes. Next the relationship between background factors and the prevalence of the different quantified themes were examined. Results: Six main themes were generated based on parents’ responses: (1) parenting styles related to digital technology; (2) social interaction through digital technology; (3) activities involving digital technology; (4) benefits of digital technology for family; (5) downsides of digital technology for family; and (6) the desired changes to digital technology. The most common subthemes concerned parents’ attempts to restrict their children’s digital technology use, using digital technology together and individually and how digital technology promotes family’s social interactions. The parents with the lowest interest and competence in using digital technology were less likely to mention using it as a family. Compared to fathers, mothers were more likely to mention restricting digital technology and emphasize its negative impacts on family. Conclusions: Restricting digital technologies (e.g., limiting screen time) was largely emphasised by the parents rather than supporting its use. Nonetheless, parents have implemented digital technologies in their family life and use them in many ways with family members.