Prediction of Children\u27s Early Academic Adjustment from Their Temperament: The Moderating Role of Peer Temperament

The goal of the study was to examine whether target children’s temperamental negative emotional expressivity (NEE) and effortful control in the fall of kindergarten predicted academic adjustment in the spring and whether a classmate’s NEE and effortful control moderated these relations. Target children’s NEE and effortful control were measured in the fall via multiple methods, academic adjustment was measured via reading and math standardized tests in the spring, and observations of engagement in the classroom were conducted throughout the year. In the fall, teachers nominated a peer with whom each target child spent the most time and rated that peer’s temperament. Target children with high effortful control had high reading and math achievement (ps = .04 and \u3c .001, respectively), and children with low NEE increased in engagement during the year (p \u3c .001). Peers’ temperament did not have a direct relation to target children’s academic adjustment. Peers’ NEE, however, moderated the relation between target children’s effortful control, as well as NEE, and changes in engagement (ps = .03 and .05, respectively). Further, peers’ effortful control moderated the relations between target children’s NEE and reading and changes in engagement (ps = .02 and .04, respectively). In each case, target children’s temperament predicted the outcome in expected directions more strongly when peers had low NEE or high effortful control. Results are discussed in terms of how children’s temperamental qualities relate to academic adjustment, and how the relation between NEE and changes in engagement, in particular, depends on peers’ temperament

Links Among Italian Preschoolers’ Socioemotional Competence, Teacher–Child Relationship Quality, and Peer Acceptance

Research Findings: The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships among teacher–child relationship quality (close, conflictive, and dependent), children’s social behavior, and peer likability in a sample of Italian preschool-age children (46 boys, 42 girls). Preschool 10 teachers evaluated the quality of the teacher–child relationship and children’s social behaviors (i.e., social competence, anger-aggression, and anxiety-withdrawal). Peer-rated likability was mea- sured using a sociometric procedure. Results indicated that conflictual teacher–child relationships were related to high aggressive behavior, and dependent teacher–child relationships were positively associated with children’s anxiety-withdrawal. Moreover, we found an indirect association between 15 close teacher–child relationship quality and peer likability through children’s social competence. Practice or Policy: The findings provide evidence that the teacher–child relationship is critical for children’s social behaviors and that social competence was uniquely related to peer likability.Research Findings: The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships among teacher–child relationship quality (close, conflictive, and dependent), children’s social behavior, and peer likability in a sample of Italian preschool-age children (46 boys, 42 girls). Preschool 10 teachers evaluated the quality of the teacher–child relationship and children’s social behaviors (i.e., social competence, anger-aggression, and anxiety-withdrawal). Peer-rated likability was mea- sured using a sociometric procedure. Results indicated that conflictual teacher–child relationships were related to high aggressive behavior, and dependent teacher–child relationships were positively associated with children’s anxiety-withdrawal. Moreover, we found an indirect association between 15 close teacher–child relationship quality and peer likability through children’s social competence. Practice or Policy: The findings provide evidence that the teacher–child relationship is critical for children’

Self-regulation, effortful control, and their socioemotional correlates

International audienc

Children’s Shyness, Peer Acceptance, and Academic Achievement in the Early School Years

In this two-wave longitudinal study, concurrent and longitudinal relations among teacher-reported shyness, peer acceptance, and academic achievement were examined (Ns = 162 and 155; and Msage = 6.09 and 7.07 years). Concurrently, at both times, shyness was negatively related to peer acceptance and academic achievement, and peer acceptance was positively related to academic achievement. Longitudinally, shyness was negatively related to peer acceptance, and peer acceptance was positively related to academic achievement in zero-order correlations, but the relations were no longer significant when accounting for the stability of the constructs. Longitudinal relation between shyness and academic achievement was nonsignificant; however, shyness was indirectly linked to concurrent and later academic achievement through peer acceptance according to bias-corrected bootstrapped confidence intervals. Sex differences in the relations were mixed. These results suggested that a lack of peer acceptance may be a mechanism through which shyness contributed to poor academic achievement in the early school years