Background: The Balloon Analogue Risk Task for Children (BART-C) demands self-regulation of emotion that requires risk-tolerance and adaptive risk-taking to make good decisions under stress (hot cognition).
Methods: BART-C measures of adaptive risk-taking in 5,409 children K-8th grade were analyzed for improvements by grade, for relationships to executive functioning (EF) and for associations with school characteristics and academic achievement.
Findings: BART-C improved across grades. Boys showed significantly greater Recklessness, particularly in middle school. EF was a partial mediator between grade and Variability and Recklessness. Better BART-C Total score and less Recklessness were related to lower free-or-reduced-school-lunch percentage and better math and reading proficiency of children's schools.
Conclusions: BART-C is a potential "hot-cognition" measure of self-regulation and adaptive risk-taking for children.
Keywords: Adaptive risk-taking; Balloon analogue risk task (BART); Bubblegum analogue risk task for children (BART-C); Cognitive development; Executive function; Self-regulation.
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