Cumulative risk over the early life course and its relation to academic achievement in childhood and early adolescence

Early-life risk factors, such as family disruption, maltreatment, and poverty, can negatively impact children's scholastic abilities; however, most previous studies have relied on cross-sectional designs and retrospective measurement. This study investigated the relation between cumulative risk factors during the early life course and subsequent academic achievement in a cohort of children and adolescents. Data for this study were based on registry-data material from the LIFECOURSE study of 1151 children from the 2000 birth cohort in Reykjavik, Iceland, assembled in 2014-2016. Multiple lifetime risk factors, including maternal smoking during pregnancy, parent's disability status, being born to a young mother, number of children in the household, family income, number of visits to school nurses, and reports of maltreatment, were assessed. Latent class analysis and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used to predict academic achievement in the 4th and 7th grades. Individuals with no risk factors reported the highest average academic achievement in the 4th (M=66 points, SD=17) and 7th grades (M=67 points, SD=15). There was a significant main effect for 4th-grade risk factors and academic achievement (F [7, 1146]=12.06, p<0.001) and a similar relationship between the risk factor profile and achievement scores in 7th grade (F [7, 1146]=15.08, p<0.001). Each additional risk factor was associated with a drop in academic achievement at both grade levels. We conclude that academic achievement declines in proportion to the number of risk factors in early life

Behavioral Self-Regulation and Relations to Emergent Academic Skills among Children in Germany and Iceland

The present study investigated a direct assessment of behavioral self-regulation (the Head-Toes-Knees- Shoulders; HTKS) and its contribution to early academic achievement among young children in Germany and Iceland. The authors examined the psychometric properties and construct validity of the HTKS, investigated gender differences in young children’s behavioral self-regulation, and explored relations between the HTKS and a teacher report of behavioral self-regulation (the Child Behavior Rating Scale; CBRS) and emerging academic skills. Findings supported the construct validity of the HTKS when used with young German and Icelandic children. Multilevel analyses revealed gender differences, particularly on the CBRS teacher-rated measure. Finally, higher levels of behavioral self-regulation were related to higher academic skills after important background variables were controlled, although some cross-cultural differences in the predictive utility of the HTKS and CBRS were observed. Overall, these results extend prior psychometric work on the HTKS to samples of young European children and support the importance of understanding of the role behavioral self-regulation in young children’s development.Keywords: Academic achievement, Europe, School readiness, Behavioral self-regulation, Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders Task (HTKS), Early childhoo

Early Behavioral Self-Regulation, Academic Achievement, and Gender: Longitudinal Findings from France, Germany, and Iceland

A growing body of research suggests that behavioral self-regulation skills are critical for early school success. However, few studies have explored the links between self-regulation and academic achievement among young children in Europe. This study examined the contribution of behavioral self-regulation to academic achievement gains among young children in France, Germany, and Iceland. Gender differences in behavioral self-regulation skills were also explored. A total of 260 children were followed longitudinally over one to two years (average age at Wave 1 was 74.5 months). Behavioral self-regulation was assessed using a structured direct observation (Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task) and teachers assessed how well children could apply behavioral self-regulation in the classroom. Multilevel analyses revealed that higher levels of directly assessed and teacher ratings of behavioral self-regulation predicted higher academic skills after controlling for gender, age, maternal education, and previous achievement, but the relations depended on the cultural context. Also, teacher ratings of behavioral self-regulation were more consistently related to achievement gains than directly assessed behavioral self-regulation. Girls outperformed boys only in the Icelandic sample, which may explain the noticeably large gender differences in later academic achievement in this country. We discuss universal and culture-specific findings as well as implications for educational practices.Keywords: Behavioral self-regulation, Academic achievement, Europe, School readiness, Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task (HTKS

Developmental trajectories of intentional self regulation in adolescence: the role of parenting and implications for positive and problematic outcomes among diverse youth

This study assessed 1574 Grades 5 to 11 youth (63.6% female) from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), a longitudinal study involving U.S. adolescents, to assess if patterns of intentional self regulation (ISR) existed; whether these trajectories differed in relation to several Grade 5 parenting characteristics; and whether ISR trajectories were linked to positive and negative developmental outcomes at Grade 11. Growth mixture modeling identified a four-group solution of ISR trajectories: Steady Decline, Elevated, Late Onset, and Pronounced Decline. Most adolescents reported an incremental decrease in ISR from Grades 5 to 11 (Steady Decline). Lower levels of parental warmth, monitoring, and school involvement at Grade 5 predicted Late-Onset ISR development while Pronounced Decline adolescents reported lower levels of PYD and Contribution at Grade 11. We discuss the finding that youth at initially similar levels of ISR diverged over adolescence, while youth at initially disparate levels converged

Self-Regulation Processes and Thriving in Childhood and Adolescence: A View of the Issues.

Both organismic and intentional self-regulation processes must be integrated across childhood and adolescence for adaptive developmental regulations to exist and for the developing person to thrive, both during the first two decades of life and through the adult years. To date, such an integrated, life-span approach to self-regulation during childhood and adolescence has not been fully formulated. The purpose of this monograph is to provide such integration; in this introduction, the editors of the monograph explain the purposes of the volume and provide a brief overview of the work of the contributing scholars

The role of parenting and goal selection in positive youth development: A person-centered approach

Using a person-centered approach, we examined the relations between goal selection, various indicators of parenting, and positive development among 510 Grades 9 to 11 participants (68% female) in the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), a longitudinal study involving U.S. adolescents. Goal selection was operationalized by the "Selection" (S) subscale of the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation intentional self-regulation measure. Using Configural Frequency Analysis, we assessed the association between Selection, parenting (warmth, monitoring, and school involvement), and PYD. Results indicated that, while having the combination of consistently high Selection and above-median levels of the parenting variables was the most common path to PYD, having consistently low levels of Selection across grades was also related to positive development at Grade 11, regardless of parenting factors. We interpret these findings based in relation to the PYD and the identity development literatures and discuss implications for applied programs