How does maturation influence behavior

There are many types of aggression, such as the following: instrumental Definition instrumental: Behavior intended to hurt another person because the aggressor wants to obtain or retain specific possessions or privileges.

These forms of aggression usually wane as the brain matures and empathy increases between the ages of 2 to 6. Caregivers and adults need to provide guidance for children throughout this process, and discipline is one such means of guidance. One type of discipline is corporal punishment, and this involves causing harm to the body such as in spanking or slapping. Because of how easily it can become distinctly abusive, corporal punishment should never be done in anger. Studies on corporal punishment have found numerous negative effects upon long-term development, and they have also found that this technique is less effective than others in modifying unwanted behavior.

However, it is also important to sift human wisdom through the filter of Scripture. Consider what is said in Proverbs , , ,17, and Hebrews as you decide where you stand on this form of discipline. An alternative to corporal punishment is psychological control, which involves parents threatening to withdraw love and support from their children Barber Source: Barber, B. Intrusive parenting: How psychological control affects children and adolescents. The disciplinary technique depends on children feeling guilt and gratitude towards their parents, and it has understandably been associated with negative long-term effects as well Barber, Source: Barber, B.

Maternal affection moderates the impact of psychological control on a child's mathematical performance. Gender and maturation differences in health-related physical fitness and physical activity in Turkish children. Pak J Biol Sci ;10 12 Confounding effect of biologic maturation on sex differences in physical activity and sedentary behavior in adolescents. Pediatr Exerc Sci ;22 3 Physical activity and sedentary behavior among adolescents in rural South Africa: levels, patterns and correlates.

BMC Public Health ;14 40 The instruments used to assess sedentary behavior were variable, with most studies employing self-reported measures. Only one study used accelerometry as a measure of SB 20 Different instruments were used to classify biological maturation. Secondary sex characteristics 16 The other studies used the percentage of predicted height 20 The ages of the samples were heterogeneous, involving children and adolescents aged 10 to 16 years.

Three of the seven studies included in the present review employed control variables in the statistical analyses, including sleep time 16 A direct association was observed between sedentary and tempo of biological maturation, with sedentary behavior increasing with advancing chronological and biological age in both genders. With respect to the timing of biological maturation, early maturing girls exhibited greater sedentary behavior 18 In the studies of Murdey et al. According to the studies reviewed, a direct association exists between tempo of biological maturation and sedentary behavior, i.

In the study of Machado Rodrigues et al. Murdey et al. However, according to Murdey et al. One possible explanation for this behavior is parental support and the influence of television or internet, which favor sedentary activities. The studies analyzing the association of sedentary behavior with timing of biological maturation early, on time or late demonstrated greater sedentary behavior in early maturing adolescents of both genders 4 4.

However, in some studies this relationship varied between genders. In the studies of Brodersen et al. Taken together, these findings highlight the inconsistency of the results and the need for further studies evaluating the relationship between biological maturation and sedentary behavior. These divergences might be related to methodological differences between studies, including the sample selection procedures, measurement difficulties and variability, and classification of the two variables.

An increase in sedentary time during pubertal development may have implications for future chronic diseases in this population 21 According to van Jaarsveld et al.

This suggests that early maturation may be a cause of, or is at least a risk marker for, differences in lifestyle. Furthermore, early maturing girls and boys tend to have older friends and acquire similar behaviors in order to comply with the rules of certain groups and gain participation and identity.

Puberty produces a transformation in the relations between parents and their children and the adolescent's timing of maturation thus stimulates the desire to cut family ties to engage in a deviant behavior 4 4.

However, studies addressing the association between timing of biological maturation and sedentary behavior are potentially difficult because of the confounding effect of age and other factors that might influence the school environment. According to Machado Rodrigues et al. In other words, the effect of gender on sedentary behavior was attenuated and nonsignificant when biological maturation was statistically controlled.

Thus, biological maturation is a source of variation for gender differences in sedentary behavior during adolescence. However, although differences in the timing and tempo of biological maturation may contribute to gender differences in sedentary behavior, it is rather the combination of social, psychological, physical and physiological changes associated with biological maturation that underlie these differences and not only the state of maturity.

The role of psychosocial factors in the increase of sedentary behavior in adolescents may be related to social demands such as doing homework, employment, dating, and the pressure from parents who consider this behavior to be safer 3 3. The physical and physiological changes associated with puberty and the growth spurt in girls include changes in body composition increased fat deposition and proportions breast development and broadening of the hips , discomfort related to the regular menstrual cycle and a reduction in blood hemoglobin levels, which compromise motor and physiological performance and favor the acquisition of more sedentary leisure-time activities.

In addition, advanced maturation in girls is associated with lower motor skill proficiency, as well as with a lower capacity to carry weights and perform resistance exercises. Additionally, the increase in daily duties, work at home or the transition from school to work, might play and important role increasing the time spent in sedentary activities 3 3. In contrast, the physical changes that occur in boys, such as height and body weight gain, an increase in the proportion of lean mass and widening of the shoulders, are beneficial for the participation in physical activities since they result in a more adequate physical contribution to the success in many types of physical activities, particularly those that emphasize speed, power and strength 22 Does controlling for biological maturity improve physical activity tracking?

Med Sci Sports Exerc ;43 5 Sleep time 16 Shorter sleep duration has been associated with more time spent in front of the television, watching television at night, and videogame and internet use in students 23 Sleep duration and its correlates in a sample of Saudi elementary school children.

Singapore Med J ;47 10 Rev Paul Pediatr ;34 1 Sleeping can be considered a sedentary activity since its energy expenditure is 0. Compendium of physical activities: an update of activity codes and MET intensities. Med Sci Sports Exerc ;32 9 Thus, sleep time needs to be controlled so that it is not quantified as sedentary behavior in studies. Likewise, sedentary behavior can differ depending on the age and ethnic background of the student. The older the student, the greater the tendency to engage in low-energy activities, especially television, computer and video game use as leisure-time option.

Older students usually do not feel very attracted to physical activities and replace them with more sedentary activities 26 Furthermore, cultural, historical, linguistic, racial, artistic and religious aspects inherent to the populations studied can influence sedentary behavior 7 7.

Higher levels of sedentary behavior are observed among students of elevated socioeconomic level 26 These students probably have better access to computers and videogames and parents of higher education level more easily acquire electronic devices for their children, thus increasing the prevalence of sedentary behaviors among these students 28 Sallis JF, Glanz K.

The role of built environments in physical activity, eating, and obesity in childhood. Future Child ;16 1 Consequently, socioeconomic level influences sedentary behavior in students and needs to be controlled.

But less educated or low-income parents have a harder time converting what they wish to do into what they actually do. Evidence suggests more educated parents spend more time with their children.

What implications does this have for vulnerable contexts? What strategies can we implement to change this? However, over time low-income parents have vastly increased the time they spend with their children. Less educated parents now spend the same amount of time with their kids than more educated parents did 30 years ago. But highly-educated parents have also increased their time investments over time, and thus we still see income-based inequality in parent engagement.

They do not enjoy time with their kids any less, and they do not completely lack the tools to promote their development. Most homes have at least some books. But the answer is not to give them more books; rather, we must provide tools for optimal decision-making, where the optimal decision is parents doing the things they say they want to do.

Evidence also suggests parents with lower levels of education have just as much positive feelings about spending time in child care and with their children, even though they spend less time in those activities. What does this apparent paradox tell us? That given the opportunity, they would do it more and enjoy it as much. When we survey them, it turns out they know a lot! So if they know, why are they not doing it?

Behavioral economics places parenting in a decision-making framework. The decisions parents make on whether they read to their kids need not be different to any other decision to something not related to kids.

It comes down to this: if you have an hour in front of you, how will you use it? This is a very new way of thinking about parenting. Interventions designed around this concept aim to create the conditions, so they can make decision A vs B: to read vs not; brush their teeth vs not, eat healthier vs not.

We want to help parents go from doing none of what they say they want to do most of the time, to doing at least a little bit of it much of the time.

To do this, we need to manage different cognitive biases that are standing in the way of parents doing things they say they want to do. We want parents to be goal-oriented and think about the future by bringing the future to the present. For example, we send parents reminders via text about setting and meeting a goal for reading time with their kids that week. Or, if parents think other kids are missing school as much as theirs, we show them that might not be true, changing normalization patterns that get in the way of them doing things differently.

Second, children need consistency, so there needs to be routine in caregiving. They need to know where their next meal is coming from, metaphorically, to have confidence about their environment.