World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Developmental Psychology
H-index 41

Developmental Psychology

0012-1649

Published by: American Psychological Association

https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/dev

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Psychology 44 594 667 41

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 658
Documents by Best Scientists*: 686
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 24
SCIMAGO H-index: 256
SCIMAGO SJR: 1.567
Impact Factor: 3.1

Overview

Top Research Topics at Developmental Psychology?

Developmental Psychology is organized to address concerns in the fields of Developmental psychology, Social psychology, Cognition, Cognitive development and Cognitive psychology. The Developmental psychology works featured in it incorporate elements from Social relation, Perception and PsycINFO. Developmental Psychology dives deep in exploring the relationship between the study of Social relation and Social environment.

The research on Social psychology featured in Developmental Psychology combines topics in other fields like Social change and Social perception. The work tackled in it goes beyond the discipline of Cognitive development as it also encompasses Concept learning. The work on Cognitive psychology addressed in it expands to the thematically related Visual perception.

  • Developmental psychology (97.41%)
  • Social psychology (20.06%)
  • Cognition (17.71%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Ecology of the family as a context for human development: research perspectives (4589 citations)
  • Current patterns of parental authority. (3560 citations)
  • School Readiness and Later Achievement (3322 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Developmental Psychology:

The journal articles cover a variety of subjects, including Developmental psychology, Social psychology, Social relation, Cognition and Cognitive development. The most cited publications focus on Developmental psychology but the discussions also offer insight into other areas such as Cognitive psychology and Social environment. The Cognitive development research presented in the most cited publications focuses mostly on Language development and, on occasion, topics in Vocabulary.

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

  • Social psychology
  • Cognition
  • Developmental psychology

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

Developmental Psychology covers a variety of subjects, including Developmental psychology, PsycINFO, Ethnic group, Socioeconomic status and Cognition. The journal holds forums on Developmental psychology that merges themes from other disciplines such as Context (language use), Longitudinal study and Anxiety. The research on PsycINFO tackled can also make contributions to studies in the areas of Affect (psychology), Race (biology), Language development, Clinical psychology and Early childhood.

Issues in Ethnic group were discussed, taking into consideration concepts from other disciplines like Psychological intervention, Mediation (Marxist theory and media studies), Outgroup, Moderation and Social identity theory. The journal deals with Socioeconomic status in conjunction with other fields like

  • Educational attainment which intersects with area such as Conger,
  • Transactional leadership and Personality most often made with reference to Parenting styles.. The in-depth study on Cognition also explores topics in the intersecting field of Cognitive psychology.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • The trajectory of counterfactual simulation in development. (4 citations)
  • Social media use and friendship closeness in adolescents' daily lives: An experience sampling study. (3 citations)
  • Social wariness, preference for solitude, and peer difficulties in middle childhood: A longitudinal family-informed study. (3 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in Developmental Psychology (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Nancy Eisenberg (48 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Jay Belsky (41 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Laurence Steinberg (37 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Michael Tomasello (37 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Robert Plomin (36 papers) absent at the last edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in Developmental Psychology (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of Michigan (190 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition, 4 less than at the previous edition,
  • Arizona State University (151 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition, 10 less than at the previous edition,
  • Pennsylvania State University (137 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition, 7 less than at the previous edition,
  • Max Planck Society (119 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition, 2 more than at the previous edition,
  • Harvard University (117 papers) published 3 papers at the last edition, 4 less than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 16.36% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 25.00% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 13.04% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 15.22% of all publications and 46.74% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Career Path in Behavioral Analysis

If you are intrigued by the topics discussed in Developmental Psychology and considering a career related to behavioral analysis, you might be considering becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Practicing as a BCBA opens a wide range of opportunities in sectors such as healthcare, education, and social work, where you can apply these psychological principles to make a difference. To get you started on this career journey, we have prepared a detailed guide on how to become a behavior analyst in Kentucky.

Becoming a BCBA involves a combination of comprehensive academic study and practical experience. Ideally, your educational journey will begin with a bachelor's degree in psychology, education, or a related field, followed by a master's or doctoral degree in behavior analysis. Additionally, the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) requires a certain amount of supervised practical experience to be eligible for exam and certification. This guide will provide in-depth information on these requirements and how you can fulfill them in Kentucky.

Please note that requirements might slightly vary from state to state. Hence, while this guide focuses on Kentucky, it can give you a broad understanding that can be useful irrespective of your location.

Top Publications

  • Parental emotion and emotion regulation: A critical target of study for research and intervention to promote child emotion socialization.

    Nastassia J. Hajal;Blair Paley

    (2020)
    290 Citations
  • The Development of loneliness through adolescence and young adulthood: Its nature, correlates, and midlife outcomes

    Tilmann von Soest;Maike Luhmann;Denis Gerstorf

    (2020)
    180 Citations
  • Sexual identity development milestones in three generations of sexual minority people: A national probability sample.

    Meg D. Bishop;Jessica N. Fish;Phillip L. Hammack;Stephen T. Russell

    (2020)
    158 Citations
  • Findings, issues, and new directions for research on emotion socialization

    Nancy Eisenberg

    (2020)
    130 Citations
  • Social media use and friendship closeness in adolescents' daily lives: An experience sampling study.

    J. Loes Pouwels;Patti M. Valkenburg;Ine Beyens;Irene I. van Driel

    (2021)
    130 Citations
  • Effects of a statewide pre-kindergarten program on children’s achievement and behavior through sixth grade.

    Unknown

    (2022)
    115 Citations
  • Emotion-related socialization in the classroom: Considering the roles of teachers, peers, and the classroom context.

    Carlos Valiente;Jodi Swanson;Dawn DeLay;Ashley M. Fraser

    (2020)
    102 Citations
  • Changes in family chaos and family relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a longitudinal study.

    Jenna R Cassinat;Shawn D Whiteman;Sarfaraz Serang;Aryn M Dotterer

    (2021)
    101 Citations
  • Family resilience and psychological distress in the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed methods study.

    Lauren Eales;Gail M Ferguson;Sarah Gillespie;Shelby Smoyer

    (2021)
    99 Citations
  • Effects of spatial training on mathematics performance: A meta-analysis.

    (2022)
    97 Citations

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

For those interested in expanding their expertise beyond a traditional psychology degree, several related online programs offer specialized paths. For example, art therapy programs combine creative expression with psychological principles, providing a unique approach to mental health treatment.

Another valuable option is pursuing an online masters in social work, which equips students to address social and behavioral challenges at both individual and community levels. This degree often leads to careers in counseling, case management, or policy advocacy.

Students seeking to fast-track their education can explore an accelerated masters in psychology. These programs condense coursework, allowing for quicker entry into professional roles such as research, therapy, or consulting.

For those focused on clinical support roles, an online masters degree in mental health counseling prepares graduates to become licensed counselors providing essential mental health services.

By exploring these diverse pathways, students can tailor their educational journey to align with specific career goals in the dynamic field of psychology and mental health.

Best Scientists Contributing to This Journal