Although there is evidence that young children's inhibitory control (IC) is related to their academic skills, the nature of this relation and the role of potential moderators of it are not well understood. In this meta-analytic study, we summarized results from 75 peer-reviewed studies of preschool and kindergarten children (14,424 children; 32-80 months old [M = 54.71 months; SD = 9.70]) across a wide range of socioeconomic status. The mean effect size (r) across studies was .27 (95% confidence interval [.24, .29]), indicating a moderate and statistically significant association between self-regulation and academic skills. The association between IC and academic skills was moderated by type of IC behavior task (i.e., hot vs. cool behavior task), by method of assessing IC (i.e., behavior task vs. parent report), and by academic subject (i.e., literacy vs. math), but not by other methods of assessing IC (i.e., behavior task vs. teacher report, parent report vs. teacher report) or by grade (i.e., preschool vs. kindergarten). The results of this meta-analysis suggest that there are preferred methods for assessing IC (i.e., cool behavior tasks, teacher reports) that should be considered when examining the relations between IC and academic skills in young children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

There is strong evidence that self-regulatory processes are linked to early academic skills both concurrently and longitudinally. The majority of extant longitudinal studies, however, have been conducted using autoregressive techniques that may not accurately model change across time. The purpose of this study was to examine the unique associations between two components of self-regulation, attention and executive functioning (EF), and growth in early literacy skills over the preschool year using latent-growth-curve analysis. The sample included 1,082 preschool children (M-age = 55.0 months, SD = 3.73). Children completed measures of vocabulary, syntax, phonological awareness, print knowledge, cognitive ability, and self-regulation, and children’s classroom teachers completed a behavior rating measure. To examine the independent relations of the self-regulatory skills and cognitive ability with children’s initial early literacy skills and growth across the preschool year, growth models in which the intercept and slope were simultaneously regressed on each of the predictor variables were examined. Because of the significant relation between intercept and slope for most outcomes, slope was regressed on intercept in the models to allow a determination of direct and indirect effects of the predictors on growth in children’s language and literacy skills across the preschool year. In general, both teacher-rated inattention and directly measured EF were uniquely associated with initial skills level; however, only teacher-rated inattention uniquely predicted growth in early literacy skills. These findings suggest that teacher-ratings of inattention may measure an aspect of self-regulation that is particularly associated with the acquisition of academic skills in early childhood.

Emotion dysregulation is associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and confers risk for behavior problems and functional impairment; however, there is little guidance on best practices for measurement in adolescents. We developed a parent-report version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-P). Evidence of reliability and validity was evaluated in a large community online sample (Study 1: n = 978; M = 13.52 years; SD = 1.93) and in two samples of adolescents with ADHD (Study 2, Sample 1: n = 78; M = 12.12 years, SD = 0.91; Sample 2: n = 206; M = 15.35 years; SD = 0.85). A four-factor solution of the DERS-P was obtained in Study 1 and confirmed in Study 2, with factors demonstrating acceptable internal consistency. The community sample was generally rated as less dysregulated than the ADHD samples. Support was obtained for convergent, concurrent, and incremental validity evidence. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the DERS-P as a psychometrically sound parent-report measure of emotion dysregulation in 11- to 17-year-old adolescents.

No abstract

Teachers’ adoption and implementation of evidence‐based programs is often limited. Program characteristics may be important facilitators or barriers of use, yet little is known about which attributes influence teacher decisions. Using a discrete choice experiment with a sample of general education elementary teachers (N = 230), we examined (a) preference for attributes of school‐based interventions, (b) relative preference for three intervention packages with experimentally manipulated characteristics, and (c) teacher characteristics related to the above preference profiles. Intervention outcomes were the most important characteristics in teachers’ intervention decisions. Most teachers’ responses suggested preference for a social and emotional learning program (57.9%) or school‐based consultation for behavioral interventions (35.8%); a small group of teachers preferred a general support intervention (5.8%). Teachers preferring the general support intervention reported greater mental health symptoms, lower mental health literacy and lower confidence in program effectiveness than peers preferring other interventions. Implications for intervention development and future directions are discussed.