Motivation at preschool age and subsequent school success: role of supportive parenting and child temperament

Children's motivation has been identified by prior research as a predictor of academic achievement, but motivation in preschool age remains largely understudied. The present study examined the role of motivation at preschool age as a process mechanism through which maternal beliefs and supportive parenting in early childhood are related to children's academic success in first grade. Additionally, the role of child temperament as a predictor of motivation and academic success and as a moderator in the relations between supportive parenting and child motivation was examined. NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development data - a longitudinal study of 1364 children and their families - were used in the study. The results indicated that lower levels of maternal obedience beliefs and higher levels of supportive parenting in early childhood were associated with higher levels of children's motivation in preschool age, which in turn was associated with higher levels of academic success in first grade. Children with higher levels of effortful control also expressed higher levels of motivation and subsequent academic success. Children with higher levels of surgency had higher academic success, but did not differ in terms of motivation. Child negative emotionality was related to neither motivation nor academic success. Additionally, the relations between maternal supportive parenting and children's motivation did not vary depending on child temperamental characteristics. The results of the study highlight the role of motivation at preschool age in children's subsequent academic success and the need for further investigation of development of motivation in early childhood

The relations between social class, maternal values of self-direction and conformity, and child persistence.

The purpose of this study was to extend the understanding of contextual factors that are associated with children's motivational development in early childhood. The study examined the relations between family social class, maternal values of self-direction and conformity, and child persistence in accomplishing a challenging task, which was conceptualized as one of the component processes of motivation. Two hundred thirty one mothers and their 3.5-year-old children participated in the study. Consistent with Kohn's (1979) theoretical perspective, the findings indicated that middle-class mothers valued self-direction in their children more and conformity less than mothers of the working class. Children of mothers who valued self-direction more than conformity showed higher levels of persistence. The study also tested a model in which maternal values served as a mediator between family social class and child persistence. No direct association between family social class and child persistence was found, thus the mediational model was not supported. Implications for developmental programs and directions for future research are stated

The role of household chaos in understanding relations between early poverty and children’s academic achievement

The following prospective longitudinal study used an epidemiological sample (N = 1,236) to consider the potential mediating role of early cumulative household chaos (6–58 months) on associations between early family income poverty (6 months) and children's academic achievement in kindergarten. Two dimensions of household chaos, disorganization and instability, were examined as mediators. Results revealed that, in the presence of household disorganization (but not instability) and relevant covariates, income poverty was no longer directly related to academic achievement. Income poverty was, however, positively related to household disorganization, which was, in turn, associated with lower academic achievement. Study results are consistent with previous research indicating that household chaos conveys some of the adverse longitudinal effects of income poverty on children's outcomes and extend previous findings specifically to academic achievement in early childhood

Los Deseos y la Expresión de la Gratitud en los Jóvenes

Poucos estudos examinaram o desenvolvimento da gratidão em jovens, e nenhum estabeleceu relações entre sua gratidão e seus desejos. Assim, solicitamos a 358 participantes norte-americanos entre 7 e 14 anos de idade (56% meninas; 55% brancos) que escrevessem qual seria o seu maior desejo e o que eles fariam a seu benfeitor. Utilizando qui quadrado e estimativa de curva linear, encontramos que os mais jovens (de 7 a 10 anos de idade) foram significativamente mais propensos a expressar desejos hedonistas (desejo por ganho imediato) e gratidão concreta (não considerando os desejos do benfeitor); os jovens mais velhos (de 11 a 14 anos de idade) foram significativamente mais propensos a desejar seja algo envolvendo bem-estar futuro para si mesmos seja o bem-estar de outros e gratidão conectiva (levando em conta os desejos do benfeitor).Em ambos os grupos etários, houve uma relação inversa significativa entre desejos hedonistas e gratidão conectiva.Esta pesquisa tem implicações para encorajar o sentimento e a expressão de gratidão conectiva.Little research has examined the development of gratitude in youth, and none has related their gratitude to their wishes. We therefore asked 358 7- to 14-year-old North American participants (56% female; 55% White) to write their greatest wish and what they would do for their benefactor. Using chi-square and linear curve estimation, we found that younger youth (aged 7 to 10) were significantly more likely to express hedonistic wishes (desire for immediate gain) and concrete gratitude (not taking the benefactor's wishes into account); older youth (aged 11 to 14) were significantly more likely to wish either for something involving future well-being for themselves or the well-being of others and connective gratitude (taking into account the benefactor's wishes). Within both age groups, there was a significant inverse relation between hedonistic wishes and connective gratitude. This research has implications for encouraging the feeling and expression of connective gratitude.Pocos estudios han examinado el desarrollo de gratitud en los jóvenes, y ninguno ha relacionado su gratitud a sus deseos. Por lo tanto, pedimos a 358 participantes de América del Norte de 7 a 14 años de edad (55% femenino, 55% blanco) a escribir su mayor deseo y lo que harían por su benefactor. Utilizando un distribución ji-cuadrado y estimación curva lineal, encontramos que los más jóvenes (de 7 a 10 años de edad) fueron significativamente más propensos a expresar los deseos hedonistas (deseo de ganancia inmediata) y la gratitud de concreto (no tomar los deseos del benefactor en cuenta); los jóvenes mayores (de 11 a 14 años de edad) fueron significativamente más propensos a desear sea para algo relacionado con el bienestar futuro para sí mismos o para el bienestar de los demás y gratitud conectivo (tomando en cuenta los deseos del benefactor). Dentro de ambos grupos de edad, existe una relación inversa significativa entre los deseos hedonistas y gratitud conectivo. Esta investigación tiene implicaciones para fomentar el sentimiento y la expresión de gratitud conectivo

Grateful parents raising grateful children: Niche selection and the socialization of child gratitude

Given that children’s exposure to gratitude-related activities may be one way that parents can socialize gratitude in their children, we examined whether parents’ niche selection (i.e., tendency to choose perceived gratitude-inducing activities for their children) mediates the association between parents’ reports of their own and their children's gratitude. Parent-child dyads (N =101; children aged 6-9; 52% girls; 80% Caucasian; 85% mothers) participated in a laboratory visit and parents also completed a seven-day online diary regarding children’s gratitude. Decomposing specific indirect effects within a structural equation model, we found that parents high in gratitude were more likely to set goals to use niche selection as a gratitude socialization strategy, and thereby more likely to place their children in gratitude-related activities. Placement in these activities, in turn, was associated with more frequent expression of gratitude in children. We describe future directions for research on parents’ role in socializing gratitude in their children

Classroom quality at pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children's social skills and behavior problems

Focusing on the continuity in the quality of classroom environments as children transition from preschool into elementary school, this study examined the associations between classroom quality in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children's social skills and behavior problems in kindergarten and first grade. Participants included 1175 ethnically-diverse children (43% African American) living in low-wealth rural communities of the US. Results indicated that children who experienced higher levels of emotional and organizational classroom quality in both pre-kindergarten and kindergarten demonstrated better social skills and fewer behavior problems in both kindergarten and first grade comparing to children who did not experience higher classroom quality. The examination of the first grade results indicated that the emotional and organizational quality of pre-kindergarten classrooms was the strongest predictor of children's first grade social skills and behavior problems. The study results are discussed from theoretical, practical, and policy perspectives

The role of persistence at preschool age in academic skills at kindergarten. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development biennial meeting,

Abstract: The current study examined the role of preschoolers' motivation, operationalized as persistence, in the formation of language and math skills at kindergarten. The participants were 263 children from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. Demographic information, child persistence, and early cognitive-linguistic skills were assessed at age 3; children's academic skills were assessed at kindergarten. Results indicated that preschooler's persistence was related to their academic skills two years later over and above demographic factors and early cognitive-linguistic skills. The findings are discussed in terms of the importance of early childhood motivation for later school achievement. Keywords: Motivation | Persistence | School readiness | Academic skills | Preschoolers Article: Children's early academic skills are often regarded as a key indicator of children's subsequent academic achievement From a viewpoint of current theoretical perspectives on motivation, for example, selfdetermination theory (Ryan and Deci 2002) or expectancy-value theory (Wigfield and Eccles 2002a), motivation can be described as a source of energy and direction for behavior. As such, motivation predicts child's level of engagement in particular activities and ultimately can affect child's level of performance in these activities, as deeper and longer engagement tends to provide the opportunity to practice existing skills and to acquire new ones Empirically, the importance of motivation for academic success has been convincingly established in research involving elementary and secondary school students (for review, see A body of literature addressing development of motivation in infancy and toddlerhood has shown the relative stability of motivation across the first years of life and positive relations between motivation and concurrent and subsequent levels of cognitive development (for reviews, see A few studies have focused on the relations between child motivation and academic achievement at the time of school entry. Findings from these studies suggest that motivation is positively related to academic achievement concurrently (Walker and MacPhee 2011) and 1 year later The longitudinal relationship between motivation at toddlerhood and academic abilities at time of school entry, however, remains largely unexamined. Only two studies found a significant relationship between children's motivation at preschool age and early elementary school success, controlling for child's initial cognitive abilities Method Participants The participants in this study were 263 children and their mothers from two counties in the Southeastern US who took part in a 3-year longitudinal research project. The data for the current report were collected at the first assessment when children were 3 years of age (M = 42.2 months, SD = 2.0) and at the third assessment when children were 5 years of age (M = 67.5 months, SD = 2.2) and were attending kindergarten. Mothers were 33 years of age on average (SD = 5.91) at the first wave of data collection. Approximately half (51 %) had a 4-year college degree or higher; 74 % of the mothers were living with a partner; and 79 % were currently working outside the home. Average income-to-needs ratio, derived by dividing the total family income by the poverty threshold for that family size, was 2.89 (SD = 1.73); approximately 37 % of the sample had an income-to-needs ratio of less than 2.0, indicating low income; 53 % between 2 and 5; and 10 % greater than 5, indicating high income. Sixty-one percent of the mothers self-identified as European American and 39 % as ethnic minority (31 % as African American and 8 % other ethnic backgrounds). The socio-economic and ethnic composition of the sample was representative of the local population (US Census Bureau 2011). Forty eight percent of the children were boys. The retention rate was 87 % of the original sample at age 5. Mothers of participating children at the 5-year visit were more likely to be European American (χ 2 = 3.89, p < .05) and more educated (t = 2.46, p < .05) than mothers of non-participating children. Continuously participating children did not differ from non-participating children in terms of gender and persistence at age 3, but had higher PPVT scores at age 3 than did nonparticipating children (t = 1.99,p < .05). Procedure Participating families were recruited from preschools and child care centers through letters sent home with the children. Families interested in participating returned contact information to the research team and were invited for a 2-h laboratory visit. Mothers provided written consent before the start of each session. During the sessions, mothers completed a variety of questionnaires, while children participated in a series of assessments. Families received 40and80 for each visit respectively, and children selected a toy after each visit. Measures Demographics Mothers provided demographic information including child gender, maternal ethnicity, level of education, age, marital status, and family income. Ethnicity was coded as 0 (European American) and 1 (ethnic minority), and child gender was coded as 0 (male) and 1 (female). Child early cognitive-linguistic skills The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III (PPVT, Dunn and Dunn, 1997), a nationally standardized measure of receptive vocabulary, was administered to children at the 3-year visit. Standard scores were used in the analysis. Child persistence at age 3 This was assessed through a 4.5-min challenging solitary task that was videotaped for later coding. Children were presented with a wooden shape-sorter in a form of a clock with 12 uniquely shaped slots and 18 wooden pieces of which 12 corresponded to the slots and six were extra, and a clear plastic jar containing the pieces. The objective of the task was to find and put correct pieces into the slots. The child was asked to play with these toys by himself/herself. In pilot work, this task was shown to be challenging but achievable for most 3-year old children, which is precisely the situation that can elicit persistence (MacTurk and Morgan,1995). Persistence was scored as cumulative time (scored in seconds, then recoded into minutes) the child spent trying to put the puzzle together. Non-task oriented activities such as using pieces as building blocks or playing with the hands of the clock were not counted as persistence. Inter-coder reliability for the duration of behavior based on randomly selected 25 % of the videotapes was r = .96, p < .001. Child academic skills at kindergarten These were assessed during the kindergarten year using the Woodcock-Johnson PsychoEducational Battery-Revised (WJ; Woodcock and Johnson 1989), a wide-range comprehensive set of individually administered tests for measuring cognitive abilities and achievement. Four subscales-Verbal Comprehension, Letter-Word Identification, Concept Formation, and Applied Problems-were administered during the visit. A mean of standard scores for Verbal Comprehension and Letter-Word Identification (r = .44,p < .000) comprise WJ Language Skills score, and a mean of standard scores for Concept Formation and Applied Problems (r = .58, p < .000) comprise WJ Math Skills score. Results Preliminary analyses Descriptive statistics and correlations among study variables are presented in Path analysis models Mplus 6.11 was used to conduct path analysis to test the study hypothesis about the association between child's persistence at age 3 and WJ Language and Math skills at kindergarten after accounting for the effects of ethnicity, maternal education, child gender, and PPVT scores at age 3. An unconstrained model that estimated the direct paths from all covariates and persistence at age 3 to WJ Language and Math skills composites was fitted to the data. The predictors were allowed to covary to obtain their unique effects on the WJ composites. The residuals of WJ composites were also allowed to covary. The model showed an adequate fit to the data, χ 2 = 16.6, df = 6, p = .01; comparative fit index (CFI) = .96; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .08. CFI values near 1.0 and RMSEA values smaller than .08 are considered satisfactor

Classroom quality at pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children's social skills and behavior problems

Focusing on the continuity in the quality of classroom environments as children transition from preschool into elementary school, this study examined the associations between classroom quality in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children's social skills and behavior problems in kindergarten and first grade. Participants included 1175 ethnically-diverse children (43% African American) living in low-wealth rural communities of the US. Results indicated that children who experienced higher levels of emotional and organizational classroom quality in both pre-kindergarten and kindergarten demonstrated better social skills and fewer behavior problems in both kindergarten and first grade comparing to children who did not experience higher classroom quality. The examination of the first grade results indicated that the emotional and organizational quality of pre-kindergarten classrooms was the strongest predictor of children's first grade social skills and behavior problems. The study results are discussed from theoretical, practical, and policy perspectives

Links between Family Social Status and Preschoolers’ Persistence: The Role

Children who develop persistence in the preschool years are likely to function more effectively during the transition into school. In this study of 231 3-year-old children and their mothers, we examined the relations among family social status, maternal values of self-direction, quality of parenting, and children's persistence in challenging tasks. Results of structural equation modelling path analysis indicated that family social status was related to maternal values of self-direction, which in turn were associated with the quality of maternal cognitive stimulation and emotional support and child persistence at preschool age. Family social status and maternal values were indirectly related to child persistence through emotional support. Focusing on parental values of self-direction and provision of support during challenging tasks may help to reduce the gap in school success between children from lower and higher social status families

The Wishes and Expression of Gratitude of Youth

AbstractLittle research has examined the development of gratitude in youth, and none has related their gratitude to their wishes. We therefore asked 358 7- to 14-year-old North American participants (56% female; 55% White) to write their greatest wish and what they would do for their benefactor. Using chi-square and linear curve estimation, we found that younger youth (aged 7 to 10) were significantly more likely to express hedonistic wishes (desire for immediate gain) and concrete gratitude (not taking the benefactor's wishes into account); older youth (aged 11 to 14) were significantly more likely to wish either for something involving future well-being for themselves or the well-being of others and connective gratitude (taking into account the benefactor's wishes). Within both age groups, there was a significant inverse relation between hedonistic wishes and connective gratitude. This research has implications for encouraging the feeling and expression of connective gratitude