Using a multidimensional model of attention to predict low‐income preschoolers’ early academic skills across time

Abstract

The current study examines the organization of attention skills across the preschool year before kindergarten, and tests how distinct attention subcomponents predict early academic skills in a sample of low‐income children (n = 99). Children completed well‐validated attention tasks in fall at 4.5 years old and spring at 5 years old, capturing the abilities to selectively focus, sustain attention, and employ executive control. Exploratory factor analyses at both time points support a 2‐factor model differentiating selective and sustained attention from attention processing speed and executive attention, suggesting that attention in low‐income preschoolers may have a simpler organization than the 3‐factor structure found in adulthood. Multiple regression models find children's ability to selectively focus and sustain attention serves as a robust concurrent and longitudinal predictor of academic skills. These results highlight the role of selective and sustained attention processes in supporting school readiness for economically vulnerable children.

Maternal childhood trauma and perinatal distress predict the development of attention in infants from 6 to 18 months in a Swedish cohort study

“…Attention in infancy is fundamental to cognitive development and learning and is linked to language development (Yu et al, 2019), social behavior (Bowers et al, 2019), and academic skills in childhood (Shannon et al, 2021). The primary goal of the current study was to investigate whether maternal distress affects the development of attention in infancy.…”

“…Attention has also been linked to the development of self-regulation and executive function in childhood, and later in life (Cuevas & Bell, 2014;. Attention has also been reported to be a predictor of social development (Bowers et al, 2019), cognitive functioning (Lawson & Ruff, 2004), language development (Yu, Suanda, & Smith, 2019), and academic skills (Shannon, Scerif, & Raver, 2021). Poor attention skills are related to several neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (Barkley, 1997), autism spectrum disorder (Matson, Rieske, & Williams, 2013), and fragile X syndrome (Scerif, Longhi, Cole, Karmiloff-Smith, & Cornish, 2012).…”

Higher Tablet Use Is Associated With Better Sustained Attention Performance but Poorer Sleep Quality in School-Aged Children

“…A child looking at the teacher may in fact be attending to inner thoughts about last night’s football game. In recent years, a flurry of studies has begun to investigate the role of cognitive attention in facilitating classroom learning ( Trautmann and Zepf, 2012 ; Shannon et al, 2020 ). The pioneering work of Posner and colleagues has been instrumental in identifying a set of separable but interconnected neural systems ( Posner and Petersen, 1990 ; Petersen and Posner, 2012 ) responsible for responding quickly and accurately to incoming information by selecting relevant and ignoring irrelevant stimuli ( Chica et al, 2014 ), and the sustained attention system that helps regulate attention control over time ( Mahone and Schneider, 2012 ).…”

Maternal childhood trauma and perinatal distress are related to infants’ focused attention from 6 to 18 months

“…To maintain focus for a period of time on tasks requires effort and hence it is often linked to the development of self-regulation and executive function in childhood 12 – 14 . There is substantial evidence showing that the ability to focus in infancy is predictive to social development 15 , cognitive functioning 16 , language development 17 , and academic skills 18 later in life. In addition, poor focused attention is related to several neurodevelopmental disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 19 and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) 20 .…”