Literature on the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional (ICU) traits has suggested different versions of the instrument for assessing these traits during development. However, consensus on the instrument version and the best factorial solution remains a matter of debate, with only a few studies having validated ICU versions from a longitudinal perspective. The current study aims to contribute to the literature by comparing ICU models in a longitudinal sample of early adolescents (N = 739; 70.6% of eligible subjects, 371 females and 368 males, in the 6th grade at baseline assessment and in the 8th grade at the second assessment). We tested the validity of various versions of the ICU scales and their respective dimensions by conducting a series of confirmatory factor analyses to verify the factor structure, alongside assessments of internal consistency. For the best-fitting structure, we then analyzed gender and longitudinal invariance in addition to construct and predictive validity, using internalizing and externalizing criteria as well as prosocial behavior. From the comparative analysis, it emerged that the abbreviated 11-item ICU scale version displayed overall better data fit than the full 24-item version. Moreover, its confirmed gender invariance underscores its applicability across genders within the studied age group. With regard to longitudinal invariance, our findings advise caution when comparing ICU scores across early adolescence. Practical implications are discussed.

OBJECTIVE: There is limited research on the impact of preschool attendance on socio-emotional problems. This study aimed to investigate the association between not attending preschool and emotional and behavioural problems among children aged 3-5 years in Sweden.
METHODS: We analysed cross-sectional data from 9395 children, rated by both parents or by one parent. The dependent variable, emotional and behavioural problems, was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Preschool attendance served as the independent variable. Single and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted.
RESULTS: Only 1.2% of children did not attend preschool. Single logistic regression models, using SDQ subscales with scores at or above the cut-off point as outcomes, showed that not attending preschool was associated with peer relationship problems, rated by mothers, and with peer relationship problems and overall difficulties, rated by fathers. These associations remained significant when controlling for covariates. Children with parents born outside Sweden or with lower educational levels had higher odds of experiencing peer relationship problems and overall difficulties.
CONCLUSIONS: Children who do not attend preschool are at heightened risk of experiencing peer relationship problems. It is important to ensure that children who may benefit most from preschool education receive adequate support.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has tremendously disrupted societal behaviors and norms. People had to cope with new situations, including restrictions on free movement, home confinement, and school closures, among others. With less scope for physical classes, online classes became rampantly common during and after the pandemic. A virtual learning platform cannot replace the societal learning and preparation of children that normally occurs in school settings. The pandemic had a multifaceted impact on children, disrupting their routine work, social life, and mental health. Such uncertain circumstances are bound to interfere with their emotional well-being, with long-term consequences. It is imperative to screen for the effects of the pandemic situation among children for timely action.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in both rural and urban areas of Puducherry, India, between February and April 2022, toward the fag end of the pandemic. Face-to-face interviews were conducted among caregivers of 621 children aged 6-17 years. Details such as sociodemographic, personal, and behavioral aspects of the child were collected. Emotional and behavioral difficulties during the pandemic were assessed using the parent (caregiver) version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-25 (SDQ-25). Univariate analysis was performed using the chi-square test. Four different regression models were fitted to ascertain the factors influencing the overall difficulty score as well as the SDQ subscales, namely, the internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial scores. A P value of <0.05 was considered significant.
RESULTS: Overall, 101 (16.3%) children aged 6-17 years were likely to have emotional and behavioral difficulties according to the SDQ scores. Abnormal externalizing, internalizing, and prosocial scores were documented among 160 (25.8%), 258 (41.5%), and 285 (45.9%) children, respectively. Caregivers reported disruptions in their children\'s academic performance (426, 68.6%), sleeping patterns (269, 43.3%), and eating habits (256, 41.2%). The use of digital devices for noneducational purposes was reported among 97 (35.9%) children. Younger caregivers (18-45 years), children who used digital devices for >2 hours per day, children who experienced any death due to COVID-19 in their family, and caregivers who perceived that the psychological changes in their children were due to the pandemic were predictors of abnormal SDQ scores. Physical activity for more than two hours per day reduced the risk of emotional and behavioral difficulties in children by 60%.
CONCLUSIONS: This research underscores the potential ramifications of the pandemic on the mental well-being and lifestyle of children. Implementing initiatives that promote positive mental health and conducting preventive screening for vulnerable populations, such as children, are considered essential, anticipating the challenges posed by such unprecedented pandemic circumstances in the future.

This study investigated the relationship between parental reports of children\'s behavioral problems and their cheating behaviors on simulated academic tests, addressing a significant gap in understanding early childhood academic cheating and its potential links to broader behavioral issues. We hypothesized that children\'s early problem behaviors would be predictive of their academic cheating. To test these hypotheses, children aged 4 to 12 years took part in six unmonitored academic tests that measured their cheating behaviors while their parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire elsewhere. Separate hierarchical linear regressions revealed that children\'s problem behaviors, as reported by parents, overall significantly predict children\'s cheating behaviors even after accounting for demographic variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, and parental religiosity. Specifically, the Conduct Problems subscale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire showed a significant and unique association with children\'s cheating behaviors above and beyond the common contributions of all predictors. However, the Child Behavior Checklist scores and the scores on the other Strengths and Difficulties subscales were not significantly or uniquely related to cheating. These findings offer new insight into simulated childhood academic cheating and its relation to problem behaviors observed by parents.

BACKGROUND: Peer influence, the development of attitudes, and behavioral changes are some of the phenomenal changes that happen in adolescence.
METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken to find out the association between peer influence and behavior among 355 adolescents within the age group of 16 to 18 years, randomly chosen from Pre-university schools of Udupi district, Karnataka using the Peer Influence Scale (PIS) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).
RESULTS: The results indicate that their peers highly influenced 43.9% of the participants. Meanwhile, 23.1% and 7.9% of adolescents who participated in the survey showed borderline and abnormal behavior, respectively. The association between peer influence and behaviour was assessed using the Chi-square test; the results (χ2=14.545, P = 0.001) revealed that peers highly influence adolescent behavior and change adolescent conduct significantly.
CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents should be aware of the accepted and non-accepted behaviors in society and be wise in choosing the right peers who later influence their behavior. Parents need to check the conduct of their children and guide them in developing their identity.

Background: The current study aims to assess the psychological conditions of Italian adolescents with obesity seeking an in-hospital multidisciplinary body weight reduction program, by exploring their psychological adjustment, emotional states, and co-occurring eating disorder symptoms. Methods: The study involved ninety-two consecutive Italian adolescents with obesity (31 males, 61 females), with a mean age ± SD: 16.4 ± 1.1 years and body mass index (BMI): 38.3 ± 6.04 kg/m2). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26) were used for the evaluations. Differences between genders, degrees of obesity (Group 1 = BMI SDS 2-2.99 and Group 2: BMI SDS > 3), and those with or without eating disorder symptoms (Group 1: EAT-26 ≤ 20 and Group 2: EAT-26 > 20) were explored. Results: The results showed that females reported higher scores on the Emotional Symptoms, Prosocial Behaviors, Total Difficulties, and Total Impact subscales of the SDQ, the BDI, both subscales of the STAI, and the Bulimia subscales of the EAT-26 than males, independently from the degrees of obesity. Participants with eating disorder symptoms (Group 2: EAT-26 > 20) showed higher scores on the Emotional Symptoms and Total Difficulties subscales of the SDQ, the BDI, and both subscales of the STAI than those of Group 1 (EAT-26 ≤ 20). Conclusions: The study explores the psychological conditions of adolescents with obesity. The results can inform appropriate treatment approaches for the management of obesity in developmental age groups, which not only take into account the medical and physical aspects of obesity, but also the behavioral, emotional, and social difficulties expressed by adolescents, in addition to specific eating disorder symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Early life exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) may negatively affect neurobehavioral development in children, influencing their cognitive, emotional, and social functioning. Here, we report a study on prenatal PM2.5 exposure and neurobehavioral development focusing on different time points in the first years of life.
METHODS: This study was part of the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort that follows mother-child pairs longitudinally. First, the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) was employed on 88 newborns aged one to two months to assess their autonomic/physiological regulation, motor organisation, state organisation/regulation, and attention/social interaction. Second, our study included 393 children between the ages of four and six years, for which the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess the children\'s emotional problems, hyperactivity, conduct problems, peer relationship, and prosocial behaviour. Prenatal PM2.5 exposure was determined using a high-resolution spatial-temporal method based on the maternal address. Multiple linear and multinomial logistic regression models were used to analyse the relationship between prenatal PM2.5 exposure and neurobehavioral development in newborns and children, respectively.
RESULTS: A 5 μg/m³ increase in first-trimester PM2.5 concentration was associated with lower NBAS range of state cluster scores (-6.11%; 95%CI: -12.00 to -0.23%; p = 0.04) in one-to-two-month-old newborns. No other behavioural clusters nor the reflexes cluster were found to be associated with prenatal PM2.5 exposure. Furthermore, a 5 μg/m³ increment in first-trimester PM2.5 levels was linked with higher odds of a child experiencing peer problems (Odds Ratio (OR) = 3.89; 95%CI: 1.39 to 10.87; p = 0.01) at ages four to six. Additionally, a 5 μg/m³ increase in second-trimester PM2.5 concentration was linked to abnormal prosocial behaviour (OR = 0.49; 95%CI: 0.25 to 0.98; p = 0.04) at four to six years old. No associations were found between in utero PM2.5 exposure and hyperactivity or conduct problems.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that prenatal exposure to PM may impact neurobehavioural development in newborns and preschool children. We identified sensitive time windows during early-to-mid pregnancy, possibly impacting stage changes in newborns and peer problems and prosocial behaviour in children.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the implementation of a standardized screening using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as part of the routine pediatric health check-ups in the Dresden area (Germany) in order to detect emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) in children early and allocate them to indicated preventive programs and/or to further counselling and treatment services.
METHODS: 1.) Semi-structured interviews were performed with participating pediatricians (n=4), practice staff (n=4) and custodians of screened children (n=17) and subjected to content analysis regarding feasibility, advantages and disadvantages of the screening and the targeted allocation, as well as barriers and facilitators of using the screening and the preventive programs and further services. 2.) A self-developed questionnaire survey (descriptive analysis: means and frequencies) was conducted among pediatricians (n=34/99) to inquire about the implementation of the SDQ screening regarding feasibility, advantages, disadvantages and necessary conditions for a potential adoption of the screening to standard health services.
RESULTS: In the interviews, the pediatricians and practice staff reported that the SDQ screening embedded in routine pediatric health check-ups was simple and could be carried out in a few minutes. The screening helped to identify and address possible EBPs in children and to recommend a targeted service. Apart from the expenditure of time, no disadvantages were mentioned. As expected, parent-related (e.g. fears, attitudes and trust in the pediatrician), child-related (does not want to reveal any information about him- or herself , attitude and motivation), service provider-related (presentation of services), organizational (necessary signatures, financing, waiting time) and service-related (duration, costs, venue, designation) factors influenced the families\' use of the screening and further services. Interviewed custodians whose child participated in an indicated preventive program within the project (n=11) would recommend the SDQ screening and preventive program to other families. In the questionnaire survey 28/31 pediatricians \"completely\" or \"rather\" agreed on a 5-point Likert scale that the SDQ screening and targeted allocation should be included in standard pediatric care.
CONCLUSIONS: The use of the SDQ, which is one of the most widely used and, despite its brevity, most valid screening instruments for the early detection of EBPs, in routine pediatric health check-ups and the targeted allocation of further health services represent a feasible approach to the early identification and clarification of EBPs in children as well as their allocation to indicated preventive services.
CONCLUSIONS: An adoption of the novel form of care (SDQ screening and targeted allocation to indicated preventive programs and further services) to standard pediatric care unfolds its benefits if preventive and care services for EBPs in children are made available nationwide.

UNASSIGNED: We wanted to examine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health in Danish school children in 5th to 7th grade (11 to 15 years), and whether the impact differed across age and sex.
UNASSIGNED: We included 793 and 391 school children from winter 2020 and winter 2021, respectively. Mental health was measured using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Data were analyzed by sex using linear regression models adjusting for grade (age), cohabitation, geographical region, employment status of parents, and schools as clusters.
UNASSIGNED: Girls in 5th grade and boys in 6th grade during Covid-19 had statistically significant lower well-being (SWEMWBS) compared with before Covid-19. Girls in 5th and 6th grade during Covid-19 had non-statistically significant lower scores on all subscales of SDQ compared with girls before Covid-19. Girls in 7th grade during Covid-19 had statistically significant lower total difficulty score (SDQ) and fewer conduct problems (SDQ) compared with girls before Covid-19. Boys in 5th grade during Covid-19 had statistically significant fewer conduct problems (SDQ) compared with boys before Covid-19.
UNASSIGNED: This study indicates that the Covid-19 pandemic impacted Danish school children differently across sex and grade (age). During Covid-19, mental health tended to be better among the oldest girls and worse among the youngest girls compared with girls before Covid-19. Boys in 6th grade had poorer mental well-being, and boys in 5th grade had fewer conduct problems during Covid-19 compared with before Covid-19.

High rates of academic underachievement at 9-10 years have been identified in children born at risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia. This study investigated the stability of behaviour from early to mid-childhood and how this relates to academic outcomes in children born with at least one risk factor of neonatal hypoglycaemia in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Behaviour data was collected using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Child Behaviour Checklist 1.5-5, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for 466 children (52 % male; 27 % Māori, 60 % New Zealand European, 2 % Pacific, 11 % Other) at multiple timepoints between ages 2 and 10 years. Academic data was collected at 9-10 years using the e-asTTle online learning and assessment tool. Findings revealed a link between early childhood behaviour and academic outcomes could be detected as early as age 2, suggesting that identifying and addressing early behavioural issues in children at risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia could aid in targeted interventions.