Poster #73 - Preschool Dual Language Learners: Self-Regulation Skills Matter for Academic and Social-Emotional Outcomes

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Nationally, the rates of DLL preschoolers are rising, making it a priority to understand how to support DLLs in the education environment. Over a quarter of preschoolers in the United States are Spanish-English speaking Dual Language Learners (DLLs). The majority of these DLLs live in poverty (Wildsmith, Alvira-Hammond, & Guzman, 2016). It is critical to examine the skills that contribute to DLL children’s development because an achievement gap is present that persists through development (Castro, Garcia, & Markos, 2013).
Self-regulation skills are a critical set of skills for DLLs to develop because self-regulation skills promote children’s later social-emotional development and academic achievement (Bassett, Denham, Wyatt, & Warren‐Khot, 2012). Self-regulation is the ability to respond to environmental cues to regulate emotions, focus attention, and problem solve frustrating situations (Blair & Razza, 2007). The current study examines the relationship between DLL preschooler’s self-regulation skills, academic achievement, and other social-emotional skills (e.g., externalizing behavior problems).
The current study included 342 DLL preschoolers enrolled in Head Start. The sample consisted of 51% females between the ages of 37 and 75 months (M=51.60, SD=8.38 months). Additionally, 100% of the sample was Hispanic and all children were screened to be proficient in both English and Spanish (See Table 1 for measures). All assessments were completed in the child’s dominant language to allow children the best opportunity to comprehend the material.
The first aim of this study was to determine the factor structure of self-regulation that best fit for DLL preschoolers from low-income homes. There is a debate in the research examining self-regulation as some researchers conceptualize it as a single factor, while others conceptualize it as a two-factor model. A series of Confirmatory Factor Analyses were examined in Mplus Version 7 (Muthen & Muthén, 2010). Results indicate that a two factor model best fits the data, with one factor, hot executive control, encompassing the emotion-related tasks and the second factor, cool executive control, encompassing the cognitive-based tasks. While the one factor model did not fit the data, the two factor model fit the data well χ2 (1, N = 342) = 2.150, p = .143, RMSEA estimate = 0.058, 95% CI [0.000 , 0.168 ]; CFI = 0.990, SRMR = 0.016.
The second aim of this study was to determine if DLL’s self-regulation skills are related to science, math, and language achievement. Path analyses were conducted in Mplus Version 7. Hot executive control was not associated with achievement. However, cool executive control was positively associated with all academic achievement (see Table 2).
The third aim of this study was to determine if DLL preschooler’s self-regulation skills are associated with social-emotional skills. Hot executive control was negatively associated with aggressive, oppositional, and inattentive behavior. Thus, the better your hot executive control skills (e.g., delaying gratification), the lower your aggressive, oppositional, and inattentive behaviors. Cool executive control was not associated with any social-emotional outcomes (see Table 2).
The results of this study underscore the importance of promoting DLL’s self-regulation skills, which help promote academic and social-emotional skills.

Authors

• Elizabeth Frechette, University of Miami
  Presenting Author

• Elica B Sharifnia, University of Miami
  Non-Presenting Author

• Silvia Niño, University of Miami
  Non-Presenting Author

• Daryl Greenfield, University of Miami
  Non-Presenting Author