Predicting Academic Achievement from Cumulative Home Risk: The Mediating Roles of Effortful Control, Academic Relationships, and School Avoidance

Effortful control and school adjustment: The moderating role of classroom chaos

“…EC and TSR conflict were negatively related, whereas EC and TSR closeness were unrelated, which is consistent with the results found in previous research (Myers & Morris, 2009; Rudasill, 2011; Rudasill & Rimm-Kaufman, 2008; Swanson et al., 2012; Yang & Lamb, 2014). Classroom chaos is likely partially a function of challenging child behavior, resulting in an increase in behavior management that can contribute to TSR conflict (Buyse et al, 2008).…”

“…In contrast, children who are higher in EC are less likely to exhibit negative behaviors that warrant attention from teachers; thus, depending on the classroom context, some teachers may have fewer opportunities to establish close relationships. Additionally, in this study higher EC relative to classroom peers was related to higher school liking and lower avoidance, which was consistent with a small body of literature (Iyer et al, 2010; Jahromi et al, 2013; Silva et al, 2011; Swanson et al, 2012; Valiente et al, 2007). EC helps to facilitate positive experiences in school (Fredricks et al, 2004), thereby increasing children’s feelings of school liking while decreasing avoidance.…”

“…Correlations at the zero-order level demonstrate a negative association between EC and school avoidance across time and reporters (Iyer, Kochenderfer-Ladd, Eisenberg, & Thompson, 2010; Swanson, Valiente, & Lemery-Chalfant, 2012). Although zero-order correlations are useful for understanding if a relation between EC and school avoidance exists, they may artificially inflate relations because zero-order correlations cannot account for variation that is due to theoretically and empirically meaningful controls such as age, sex, socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and previous academic skills.…”

Associations among parental education, home environment quality, effortful control, and preacademic knowledge

“…Broadly speaking, these studies generally found support for mediation by self-regulatory skills (Dilworth-Bart, 2012; NICHD ECCRN, 2003; Razza, Martin, & Brooks-Gunn, 2010; Swanson, Valiente, & Lemery-Chalfant, 2012). For example, preschoolers’ concurrent and kindergarten self-regulation mediated the relation between preschoolers’ home risks and first grade academic achievement (Sektnan, McClelland, Acock, & Morrison, 2010).…”

“…First, these studies all focused on older preschoolers, kindergarteners, or school-aged children (e.g., Swanson, Valiente, & Lemery-Chalfant, 2012). Second, previous research was conducted in higher SES or nationally representative samples (e.g., NICHD ECCRN, 2003; Sektnan et al, 2010) and therefore generalizability to lower SES populations is questionable, especially given differences in these relations between poor and near-poor groups (Razza, Martin, & Brooks-Gunn, 2010).…”