Are trajectories of self-regulation abilities from ages 2-3 to 6-7 associated with academic achievement in the early school years?

A C P Sawyer; C R Chittleborough; M N Mittinty; L R Miller-Lewis; M G Sawyer; T Sullivan; J W Lynch

doi:10.1111/cch.12208

Are trajectories of self-regulation abilities from ages 2-3 to 6-7 associated with academic achievement in the early school years?

Child Care Health Dev. 2015 Sep;41(5):744-54. doi: 10.1111/cch.12208. Epub 2014 Oct 20.

Authors

A C P Sawyer¹, C R Chittleborough¹, M N Mittinty¹, L R Miller-Lewis^{2

3}, M G Sawyer^{2

3}, T Sullivan¹, J W Lynch^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Discipline of Public Health, School of Population Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
² Research and Evaluation Unit, Women's and Children's Health Network, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
³ Discipline of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁴ School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.

PMID: 25332070
DOI: 10.1111/cch.12208

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate the association between two key aspects of self-regulation, 'task attentiveness' and 'emotional regulation' assessed from ages 2-3 to 6-7 years, and academic achievement when children were aged 6-7 years.

Methods: Participants (n = 3410) were children in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Parents rated children's task attentiveness and emotional regulation abilities when children were aged 2-3, 4-5 and 6-7. Academic achievement was assessed using the Academic Rating Scale completed by teachers. Linear regression models were used to estimate the association between developmental trajectories (i.e. rate of change per year) of task attentiveness and emotional regulation, and academic achievement at 6-7 years.

Results: Improvements in task attentiveness between 2-3 and 6-7 years, adjusted for baseline levels of task attentiveness, child and family confounders, and children's receptive vocabulary and non-verbal reasoning skills at age 6-7 were associated with greater teacher-rated literacy [B = 0.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.04-0.06] and maths achievement (B = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.03-0.06) at 6-7 years. Improvements in emotional regulation, adjusting for baseline levels and covariates, were also associated with better teacher-rated literacy (B = 0.02, 95% CI = 0.01-0.04) but not with maths achievement (B = 0.01, 95% CI = -0.01-0.02) at 6-7 years. For literacy, improvements in task attentiveness had a stronger association with achievement at 6-7 years than improvements in emotional regulation.

Conclusions: Our study shows that improved trajectories of task attentiveness from ages 2-3 to 6-7 years are associated with improved literacy and maths achievement during the early school years. Trajectories of improving emotional regulation showed smaller effects on academic outcomes. Results suggest that interventions that improve task attentiveness when children are aged 2-3 to 6-7 years have the potential to improve literacy and maths achievement during the early school years.

Keywords: academic achievement; early childhood; self-regulation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Achievement
Attention*
Australia / epidemiology
Child
Child Development*
Child, Preschool
Emotions
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Parents
Schools
Self-Control
Time Factors