3-104 - Analyzing the bidirectional effects of self-regulation skill development and achievement outcomes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Self-regulation skills develop rapidly during early childhood, and children with better self-regulation demonstrate better outcomes in a variety of domains. Although early work on the relation between self-regulation and academic outcomes modeled the association somewhat statically (e.g., self-regulation skills at one time point in relation to academic outcomes at a single point or in relation to growth in academic skills), current research is applying more dynamic modeling methods to capture how self-regulation skills unfold developmentally and transact with emerging academic skills.

This paper symposium will highlight three different studies, two using data from the U.S. and one using data from Norway, that examine transactional relations between self-regulation skills and academic outcomes over the transition to formal schooling. Paper 1 utilizes latent difference score (LDS) models to examine how emerging self-regulation skills prospectively relate to one another and to academic achievement. Findings indicate that growth is self-regulation skills predicted growth in academic outcomes. Paper 2 used cross-lagged panel analyses to examine bidirectional relations between self-regulation and early math, phonological awareness, and vocabulary skills from kindergarten to first grade. Findings indicate bi-directional effects between self-regulation and math skills. Paper 3 examines bidirectional relations between executive function (EF) and early math and literacy skills during the transition to kindergarten using both cross-lagged models and latent growth curve analysis. Results of both indicated moderate reciprocal relations between EF and math over time, but not EF and literacy. Discussion will focus on analytic approaches for capturing the developmental course of self-regulation and early academic achievement.

Sub Unit

• Cognitive Processes

Chair

• Margaret O'Brien Caughy, University of Georgia

Discussant

• Margaret Burchinal, UNC Chapel Hill

Individual Presentations

• Transactional Relations: Developing Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement Among Low Income African American and Latino Children - Presenting Author: Britain Mills, University of Texas School of Public Health; Margaret O'Brien Caughy, University of Georgia; Nazly Dyer, University of Texas at Dallas; Daniel Pacheco, University of Texas at Dallas; Dawn Brinkley, University of Texas at Dallas; Margaret Tresch Owen, University of Texas at Dallas

• Examining developmental pathways between self‐regulation and early academic skills in Norway - Presenting Author: Dieuwer ten Braak, Norwegian Centre for Learning Environment and Behavioural Research in Education; Ingunn Størksen, Norwegian Centre for Learning Environment and Behavioural Research in Education at the University of Stavanger; Thormod Idsoe, Norwegian Centre for Learning Environment and Behavioural Research in Education

• Examining the relations between executive function, math, & literacy during the transition to kindergarten: A multimethod approach - Presenting Author: Megan McClelland, Oregon State University; Sara Schmitt, Purdue University; G. John Geldhof, Oregon State University; David J. Purpura, Purdue University; Robert Duncan, University of California, Irvine