Poster #36 - Longitudinal links among behavioral regulation, executive function, and literacy skills for crisis- and conflict-affected children

• In Event: Poster Session 18

Abstract

Introduction

Research in high-income countries has established strong evidence in support of the role of behavioral regulation and executive function in young children’s literacy development in school (Blair & Razza, 2007; McClelland et al., 2007; Weiland & Yoshikawa, 2013). However, such evidence is generally scarce for children in underrepresented populations in low-income countries, despite some promising recent findings (e.g., Willoughby et al., 2019; Wray et al., 2020). Therefore, we wish to further examine the relationship among these constructs in children’s development using data from a longitudinal study of conflict- and crisis-affected children in a low-incoming country.

Specifically, in 2016-2017, the International Rescue Committee designed and implemented an after-school remedial program called Learning in a Healing Classroom (LIHC) in 30 primary schools in Diffa, Niger. LIHC in Niger has two components: 1) HCT (Tutoring in a Healing Classroom): a math and literacy curriculum infused with SEL principles and positive classroom practices, and 2) SEL: two sets of brief skill-targeted SEL activities (Mindfulness-based activities targeting stress and emotion regulation, and Brain Games activities targeting executive function).

Research Questions

In this current paper, we wish to further understand the developmental trajectories of the children who received remedial programming. Specifically, our research questions are: 1) how do children’s self-regulation and executive functions develop over the period of the remedial program, and 2) how do these developments in self-regulation and executive functions predict children’s improvement in literacy skills?

Study population

We focus on the 1795 primary-school students in Diffa, Niger, who received at least HCT during the programming period (HCT + SEL: N = 900; HCT: N = 895).

Measures

The following measures were collected three times during the school year (T1: 11/2016, T2: 03/2017, T3: 06/2017):

Literacy skills. Children’s literacy skills were measured via the early grade reading assessment (EGRA; RTI International, 2009).

Behavioral regulation: Children’s behavioral regulation was measured via the preschool self-regulation assessment – assessor report (McCoy et al., 2017; Smith-Donald et al., 2007).

Executive function: working memory and inhibitory control. Executive function was measured via The Rapid Assessment of Cognitive and Emotional Regulation (RACER; Ford et al., 2019).

Analytical strategy

To answer our research questions, we built Structural Equation Models (SEM) using the lavaan (Rosseel, 2012) and blavaan (Merkle & Rosseel, 2015) packages in R. Specifically, we tested cross-lagged models where EGRA, PSRA, IC, and WM at previous waves predicted those in subsequent waves. We hypothesized that behavioral regulation and executive function would positively predict children’s later literacy skills.

Preliminary results

Preliminary results suggest that literacy skills at T1 positively predict behavioral regulation at T2, which further predicts better literacy skills at T3. Additionally, literacy skills at T1 positively predict inhibitory control and working memory at T2, and literacy skills at T2 also positively predict behavioral regulation at T3. The cross-lagged SEM model fits the data adequately, χ^2(19) = 15.02, p = 0.72; CFI = 1, RMSEA < 0.001, SRMR = 0.01.

Authors

• Zezhen Wu
  Presenting Author

• Ha Yeon Kim, New York University

• J. Lawrence Aber, New York University