Jingjing Zhu

The preschool years represent a critical developmental window characterized by rapid socioemotional growth and the initial formation of interpersonal behavioral patterns (Sun et al., 2025). This hi...

The primary aim of the present study was to examine the potential moderating role of screen time in the links between shyness and indices of socio-emotional adjustment in young Chinese children. Participants were N = 211 children (112 boys, 99 girls) ages 43–66 months (M = 58.84 months, SD = 5.32) recruited from two public kindergartens in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. Mothers completed assessments of children’s shyness and screen time, and both mothers and teachers completed measures of indices of children’s socio-emotional functioning (prosocial, internalizing problems, learning problems). Among the results, shyness was positively associated with internalizing problems and negatively associated with prosocial behavior, whereas screen time was positively associated with internalizing problems. However, several significant shyness × screen time interaction effects were observed. The pattern of these results consistently revealed that at higher levels of screen time, links between shyness and indices of socio-emotional difficulties were exacerbated. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of shyness and screen time in early childhood.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with social adjustment difficulties, but few studies have examined the underlying mechanisms in Chinese preschoolers. This study examined the relationship between CU traits and social adjustment among Chinese preschoolers as well as the moderating role of the teacher-child relationship in the association. Participants were 484 preschool children aged 3–6 years old from Shanghai, China (Mage = 5.56 years, SD = 0.96 years). Parents reported children’s CU traits and teachers reported their relationship with children and rated children’s social adjustment as well. The results revealed that (1) children with higher CU traits positively related to aggressive and asocial behavior with peers, but negatively related to prosocial behavior; (2) the teacher-child relationship moderated the relationship between CU traits and social adjustment in children. Specifically, teacher-child conflict exacerbated the aggressive and asocial behavior of children with CU traits and reduced the prosocial behavior of children with CU traits. These findings extended the current research on CU traits and had important implications for early interventions targeted at children with CU traits.

The present study explored the moderating role of household chaos and gender in the relation between social avoidance and social adjustment among Chinese preschool migrant children. Participants were 148 children (82 boys, M_age = 62.63 months, SD = 0.05) from two kindergartens, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. Multi-source assessments included: (1) mother ratings of children’s social avoidance; (2) mother ratings of families’ household chaos; (3) teacher ratings of children’s prosocial behavior, peer exclusion, interpersonal skills, and internalizing problems. Results showed that social avoidance significantly predicted peer exclusion among Chinese migrant preschoolers. Moreover, household chaos moderated the relationship between social avoidance and social adjustment. Specifically, at higher levels of household chaos, social avoidance was negatively associated with interpersonal skills. In contrast, social avoidance was not associated with interpersonal skills at a lower level of household chaos. In addition, social avoidance was positively associated with peer exclusion among boys but not girls. The current findings inform us of the importance of reducing household chaos to buffer the negative adjustment among socially avoidant young children who migrated from rural to urban China. The findings also highlight the need to pay particular attention to migrant socially avoidant boys’ development in early childhood and the importance of considering the meaning and implication of social avoidance for migrant preschoolers in Chinese culture.