Social Behaviors in Childhood: Causes and Consequences

Dear Colleagues,

Normative development of children’s social, emotional, and school adjustment stems from sources including both family and peer groups. Parent–child and peer interactions have unique and significant implications for children, and these social relationships serve as a foundation for feelings of security and belonging. During the socialization process in family and school contexts, children display a wide variety of social behaviors, including aggressive behavior, social withdrawal, prosocial behavior, antisocial behavior, cooperative behavior, bullying behavior, etc. However, several issues require further exploration. For example, what are the different causal relations that might underlie children’s social behaviors? What is the trajectory of these social behaviors at different developmental stages? Could we find a more neural basis for these social behaviors via advanced techniques (e.g., EEG, ERP, fNIRS, fMRI)? In light of these premises, this Special Issue aims to advance the literature on the development trajectory of children’s social behaviors and their cognitive neural mechanisms. We therefore call for papers on empirical research that focuses on predictors and outcomes of children’s social behaviors in family and school contexts from early childhood to emerging adulthood, risk/protective factors among these associations, social behaviors in different contexts, or their cognitive neural mechanisms. A longitudinal design is especially encouraged. Cross-sectional designs that focus on age differences, meta-analysis, and systematic review are also welcome.

The tentative completion schedule is as follows:
Abstract submission deadline: April 30, 2024
Notification of abstract acceptance: May 15, 2024
Proposed submission deadline: November 20, 2024

Dr. Xuechen Ding
Dr. Wan Ding
Guest Editors

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• social behavior
• social withdrawal
• aggressive behavior
• prosocial behavior
• antisocial behavior
• parent–child interaction
• parenting
• bullying
• adjustment
• neuroscience