Self-Regulation and School Readiness

Executive Functions as Predictors of School Performance and Social Relationships: Primary and Secondary School Students

This study examined the relationship between executive functions (EFs) and school performance in primary and secondary school students aged 8 to 13 years (N = 146, M = 10.4, 45.8% girls). EFs were evaluated using the Trail Making Test (TMT), Verbal Fluency (VF), and the Stroop Test. Students' GPAs and teachers' assessment of academic skills were used to measure school performance. To evaluate the students' social behavior, participants were asked to rate all their classmates' prosocial behavior and nominate three students with whom they preferred to do school activities; teachers also provided evaluations of students' social skills. EF measures explained 41% (p = .003, f 2 = .694) of variability in school performance and 29% (p = .005, f 2 = .401) of variance in social behavior in primary school students. The predictive power of EFs was found to be lower for secondary school students, although the TMT showed significant prediction and explained 13% (p = .004, f 2 = .149) of variance in school performance and 15% (p = .008, f 2 = .176) in peer ratings of prosocial behavior. This paper discusses the relevance of EFs in the school environment and their different predictive power in primary and secondary school students.

Early Life Stress: Effects on the Regulation of Anxiety Expression in Children and Adolescents

This study examined children's (N = 79; 9-10 years) and adolescents' (N = 82; 15-16 years) ability to regulate their emotion expressions of anxiety as they completed a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C). Approximately half in each age group were internationally adopted from institutional care (N = 79) and half were non-adopted, age-matched peers (N = 82). Institutional care was viewed as a form of early life stress. Coders who were reliable and blind to group status watched videos of the session to assess anxiety expressions using the Child and Adolescent Stress and Emotion Scale developed for this study. Children exhibited more expressions of anxiety than adolescents, and youth adopted from institutions showed more expressions of anxiety than their non-adopted counterparts. The role of early life stress on observed anxiety expressions remained significant after controlling for differences in age, physiological stress responses measured through salivary cortisol reactivity, and self-reports of stress during the TSST-C. This suggests possible deficits in the regulation of expressive behavior for youth with early life stress histories, which cannot be explained by experiencing the task as more stressful.

How do different components of Effortful Control contribute to children's mathematics achievement?

This work sought to investigate the specific contribution of two different components of Effortful Control (EC) -attentional focusing (AF) and inhibitory control- to children’s mathematics achievement. The sample was composed of 142 children aged 9–12 year-old. EC components were measured through the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ; parent’s report); math achievement was measured via teacher’s report and through the standard Woodcock–Johnson test. Additionally, the contribution of other cognitive and socio-emotional processes was taken into account. Our results showed that only AF significantly contributed to the variance of children’s mathematics achievement; interestingly, mediational models showed that the relationship between effortful attentional self-regulation and mathematics achievement was mediated by academic peer popularity, as well as by intelligence and study skills. Results are discussed in the light of the current theories on the role of children’s self-regulation abilities in the context of school.

Context Matters for Social-Emotional Learning: Examining Variation in Program Impact by Dimensions of School Climate

This paper examines whether three dimensions of school climate-leadership, accountability, and safety/respect-moderated the impacts of the INSIGHTS program on students' social-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes. Twenty-two urban schools and N = 435 low-income racial/ethnic minority students were enrolled in the study and received intervention services across the course of 2 years, in both kindergarten and first grade. Intervention effects on math and reading achievement were larger for students enrolled in schools with lower overall levels of leadership, accountability, and safety/respect at baseline. Program impacts on disruptive behaviors were greater in schools with lower levels of accountability at baseline; impacts on sustained attention were greater in schools with lower levels of safety/respect at baseline. Implications for Social-Emotional Learning program implementation, replication, and scale-up are discussed.

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

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.

Neural Rhythms of Change: Long-Term Improvement after Successful Treatment in Children with Disruptive Behavior Problems

Neural changes were investigated for children with disruptive behavior problems one year after a treatment program ended. Thirty-nine children and their parents visited the research lab before, after, and a year after treatment ended. During those lab visits, electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded during a challenging Go/No-go task. Treatment consisted of intensive 14-week combined cognitive behavioral therapy and parent management training sessions. For the analysis, participants were divided into long-term improvers (IMPs) and long-term nonimprovers (NIMPs) based on changes in their externalizing problem scores. The results showed early no-go theta power (4–8 Hz, 100–250 ms) decreased for long-term IMPs compared to NIMPs. When participants were divided based on changes in their comorbid internalizing symptoms, effects were stronger and reductions in theta power were found for early as well as later phases (250–650 ms). We provided preliminary evidence that theta power is a useful neural measure to trace behavioral change linked to improved self-regulation even up to a year after treatment ended. Results may have implications for the characterization of children with disruptive behavior problems and may lead to the development of novel markers of treatment success.

Self-Regulation and Economic Stress in Children of Hispanic Immigrants and Their Peers: Better Regulation at a Cost?

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Although there is a well-established relationship between economic stress and children's self-regulation, few studies have examined this relationship in children of Hispanic immigrants (COHIs), a rapidly growing population. In a sample of preschool children (N = 165), we examined whether economic stress predicted teacher evaluations of children's self-regulation, whether economic stress predicted children's physiological reactivity (via cortisol levels), and whether economic stress had a similar effect on self-regulation and children's cortisol for COHI versus nonimmigrant children. Greater economic stress was associated with poorer child self-regulation and heightened physiological reactivity across a challenging classroom task for the sample as a whole. However, when we examined children by group, greater economic stress was associated with poorer teacher-reported self-regulation for nonimmigrant children only. In contrast, greater economic stress was related to greater cortisol reactivity across a challenge task for COHIs but not for nonimmigrants.

PRACTICE OR POLICY

Results demonstrate the importance of considering physiological indices of self-regulation (heightened stress physiology), in addition to traditional external indices (teacher report), when assessing self-regulation or risk more generally among preschool samples that are diverse in terms of ethnicity, economic risk, and parents' nativity.

Family poverty and trajectories of children's emotional and behavioural problems: the moderating roles of self-regulation and verbal cognitive ability

Socio-economic disadvantage is strongly associated with children's emotional (internalising) and behavioural (externalising) problems. Self-regulation and verbal cognitive ability have been related to children's emotional and behavioural resilience to socio-economic disadvantage. Despite being inter-related, self-regulation and verbal cognitive ability have not been examined jointly as promoting resilience in young children. This study investigated the roles of self-regulation and verbal cognitive ability in children's emotional and behavioural resilience to family socio-economic disadvantage from early to middle childhood (ages 3, 5, and 7 years; N = 16,916; 49 % girls). Using multivariate response growth curve modelling, we found that the relationship between socio-economic disadvantage and internalising problems was stronger for children with lower verbal cognitive ability. Also, poor children with high and low levels of self-regulation showed a widening gap in both emotional and behavioural problems over time. Poor and non-poor children alike benefited from self-regulation, but poor children appeared to be more vulnerable to low self-regulation. Self-regulation and verbal cognitive ability seem to be important protective factors for young children growing up in poor families.

Toddler's self-regulation strategies in a challenge context are nap-dependent

Early childhood represents a time of developmental changes in both sleep and self-regulation, a construct reflecting the ability to control one's behaviour, attention and emotions when challenged. Links between sleep and self-regulation processes have been proposed, but experimental evidence with young children is lacking. In the current study, we tested the effects of acute sleep restriction (nap deprivation) on toddlers' self-regulation. Healthy children (n = 12; four males; aged 30-36 months (33.9 ± 1.7)) slept on a strict schedule (verified with actigraphy and sleep diaries) for 5 days before each of two afternoon assessments following a nap and a no-nap condition (~11-day protocol). Children were videotaped while attempting an unsolvable puzzle, and 10 mutually exclusive self-regulation strategies were later coded. On average, children lost ~90 min of sleep on the no-nap versus the nap day. Nap deprivation resulted in moderate-to-large effects on self-regulation strategies, with decreases in scepticism (d = 0.77; 7% change), negative self-appraisal (d = 0.92; 5% change) and increases in physical self-soothing (d = 0.68; 10% change), focus on the puzzle piece that would not fit (perseveration; d = 0.50; 9% change) and insistence on completing the unsolvable puzzle (d = 0.91; 10% change). Results suggest that sleep serves an important role in the way that toddlers respond to challenging events in their daily lives. After losing daytime sleep, toddlers were less able to engage effectively in a difficult task and reverted to less mature self-regulation strategies than when they were well rested. Over time, chronically missed sleep may impair young children's self-regulation abilities, resulting in risk for social-emotional, behavioural and school problems.

Quality of childcare influences children's attentiveness and emotional regulation at school entry

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between domain-specific qualities of formal childcare at age 2-3 years and children's task attentiveness and emotional regulation at age 4-5 and 6-7 years.

STUDY DESIGN

We used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (n = 1038). Three domain-specific aspects of childcare quality were assessed: provider and program characteristics of care, activities in childcare, and carer-child relationship. Two self-regulatory abilities were considered: task attentiveness and emotional regulation. Associations between domain-specific qualities of childcare and self-regulation were investigated in linear regression analyses adjusted for confounding, with imputation for missing data.

RESULTS

There was no association between any provider or program characteristics of care and children's task attentiveness and emotional regulation. The quality of activities in childcare were associated only with higher levels of emotional regulation at age 4-5 years (β = 0.24; 95% CI, 0.03-0.44) and 6-7 years (β = 0.26; 95% CI, 0.04-0.48). Higher-quality carer-child relationships were associated with higher levels of task attentiveness (β = 0.20; 95% CI, 0.05-0.36) and emotional regulation at age 4-5 years (β = 0.19; 95% CI, 0.04-0.34) that persisted to age 6-7 years (β = 0.26; 95% CI, 0.10-0.42; β = 0.31; 95% CI, 0.16-0.47).

CONCLUSION

Among children using formal childcare, those who experienced higher-quality relationships were better able to regulate their attention and emotions as they started school. Higher emotional regulation was also observed for children engaged in more activities in childcare. Beneficial effects were stable over time.

Academic performance and social competence of adolescents: predictions based on effortful control and empathy

This study explored the predictive power of effortful control (EC) on empathy, academic performance, and social competence in adolescents. We obtained self-report measures of EC and dispositional empathy in 359 students (197 girls and 162 boys) aged between 12 and 14 years. Each student provided information about the prosocial behavior of the rest of his/her classmates and completed a sociogram. At the end of the school year, we calculated the mean grade of each student and the teacher responsible for each class completed a questionnaire on the academic skills of his/her students. The study confirmed the existence of a structural equation model (SEM) in which EC directly predicted academic performance and social competence. Additionally, empathic concern partially mediated the effect of EC on social competence. Finally, social competence significantly predicted academic performance. The article discusses the practical applications of the model proposed.

An integrative view of school functioning: transactions between self-regulation, school engagement, and teacher-child relationship quality

This study investigates the dynamic interplay between teacher-child relationship quality and children's behaviors across kindergarten and first grade to predict academic competence in first grade. Using a sample of 338 ethnically diverse 5-year-old children, nested path analytic models were conducted to examine bidirectional pathways between children's behaviors and teacher-child relationship quality. Low self-regulation in kindergarten fall, as indexed by inattention and impulsive behaviors, predicted more conflict with teachers in kindergarten spring and this effect persisted into first grade. Conflict and low self-regulation jointly predicted decreases in school engagement which in turn predicted first-grade academic competence. Findings illustrate the importance of considering transactions between self-regulation, teacher-child relationship quality, and school engagement in predicting academic competence.

A longitudinal multilevel model analysis of the within-person and between-person effect of effortful engagement and academic self-efficacy on academic performance

Using data from an accelerated longitudinal study, we examined the within-person and between-person effect of effortful engagement and academic self-efficacy on academic performance across students (N=135) in elementary school. Teachers assessed participants' effortful engagement and participants rated their academic self-efficacy once per year for 3 years. Academic performance was assessed through standardized test scores in reading and math. Multilevel models indicated that within-person change in Effortful Engagement and Academic Self-Efficacy scores significantly predicted concomitant within-person change in reading test scores, B=2.71, p=.043, Pseudo-R2=.02 and B=4.72, p=.005, Pseudo-R2=.04, respectively. Participants with higher between-person levels of Effortful Engagement had higher initial reading test scores, B=10.03, p=.001, Pseudo-R2=.09, and math test scores, B=11.20, p<.001, Pseudo-R2=.15, whereas participants with higher between-person levels of Academic Self-Efficacy showed a faster rate of increase in math test scores across elementary school, B=10.21, p=.036, Pseudo-R2=.25. At the between-person level, Effortful Engagement mediated the association between Academic Self-Efficacy and both reading and math test scores, although no support was found for mediation at the within-person level. Collectively, results suggest that trait-level psychological factors can vary meaningfully within school-aged children and that both within-person change and between-person individual differences in these traits have important consequences for academic performance.

Conscientiousness: origins in childhood?

In this review, we evaluate developmental and personality research with the aim of determining whether the personality trait of conscientiousness can be identified in children and adolescents. After concluding that conscientiousness does emerge in childhood, we discuss the developmental origins of conscientiousness with a specific focus on self-regulation, academic motivation, and internalized compliance/internalization of standards. On the basis of the accumulated body of evidence, we conclude that self-regulation fosters conscientiousness later in life, both directly and via academic motivation and internalized compliance with norms. We argue that elements of conscientiousness are evident by early childhood; self-regulation skills are likely a core developmental component of conscientiousness; and despite the contribution of heredity to the aforementioned aspects of functioning, environmental factors likely contribute to conscientiousness.

Relations between Preschool Attention Span-Persistence and Age 25 Educational Outcomes

This study examined relations between children's attention span-persistence in preschool and later school achievement and college completion. Children were drawn from the Colorado Adoption Project using adopted and non-adopted children (N = 430). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that children's age 4 attention span-persistence significantly predicted math and reading achievement at age 21 after controlling for achievement levels at age 7, adopted status, child vocabulary skills, gender, and maternal education level. Relations between attention span-persistence and later achievement were not fully mediated by age 7 achievement levels. Logistic regressions also revealed that age 4 attention span-persistence skills significantly predicted the odds of completing college by age 25. The majority of this relationship was direct and was not significantly mediated by math or reading skills at age 7 or age 21. Specifically, children who were rated one standard deviation higher on attention span-persistence at age 4 had 48.7% greater odds of completing college by age 25. Discussion focuses on the importance of children's early attention span-persistence for later school achievement and educational attainment.

Children's Engagement within the Preschool Classroom and Their Development of Self-Regulation

This study used an observational measure to examine how individual children's engagement with teachers, peers, and tasks was associated with gains in self-regulation. A sample of 341 preschoolers was observed and direct assessments and teacher reports of self- regulation were obtained in the fall and spring of the preschool year. RESEARCH FINDINGS: Children's positive engagement with teachers was related to gains in compliance/executive function and children's active engagement with tasks was associated with gains in emotion regulation across the year. Engaging positively with teachers or peers was especially supportive of children's gains in task orientation and reductions in dysregulation. PRACTICE & POLICY: Results are discussed in relation to Vygotsky's developmental theory, emphasizing that psychological processes are developed in the context of socially embedded interactions. Systematically observing how a child interacts with peers, teachers, and learning tasks in the preschool classroom holds potential to inform the creation of professional development aimed at supporting teachers in fostering individual children's development within the early education environment.

Short- and midterm effects of emotional intelligence training on adolescent mental health

PURPOSE

To analyze the effects that an emotional intelligence (EI) educational program based on the EI ability model had on adolescent mental health immediately and 6 months after completion of the training.

METHODS

A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design with a treatment and a control group was used; 479 Spanish adolescents (47.4% male, mean age of 13 years) were involved in the study. Adolescents were recruited through several schools in three Spanish cities. The 2-year training program involved 24 sessions lasting 1 hour each, conducted `weekly during 6 months of 2009 and 2010. Data on psychological adjustment, mental health, and negative affect were collected at baseline, at the end of the training program, and 6 months later. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance.

RESULTS

Students who participated in the EI educational program reported fewer clinical symptoms compared with students in the control group, and these differences persisted 6 months after the conclusion of the program.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that EI programs created to develop skills in perceiving, facilitating, understanding, and managing emotions can be effective at promoting mental health in adolescents.

Association between maladaptive parenting and child self-control over time: cross-lagged study using a monozygotic twin difference design

BACKGROUND

Harsh parenting practices and negative parental feelings may be environmental risk factors for low self-control in children. Children may also evoke certain parenting reactions.

AIMS

To investigate the longitudinal relationship between parenting and self-control, as well as associated outcomes within the monozygotic (MZ) twin differences framework.

METHOD

Longitudinal MZ twin differences analysis was conducted on a community sample of 5184 twins using data from ages 3, 4, 7 and 9 years. Outcomes related to self-control and parenting were analysed at age 12 years.

RESULTS

Non-shared environmental effects of parenting on the development of self-control and an evocative effect of child self-control on parenting were found. Harsh parenting predicted conduct problems for both boys and girls. Self-control at age 9 predicted conduct problems and emotional difficulties at age 12.

CONCLUSIONS

Parenting and child self-control affect one another, highlighting the potential of early interventions that target parents and children simultaneously.

Cognitive development in very vs. moderately to late preterm and full-term children: can effortful control account for group differences in toddlerhood?

BACKGROUND

Preterm birth is thought to have an adverse impact on cognitive development and self-regulation.

AIM

Examining the effect of very vs. moderately to late premature birth on cognitive development and effortful control, as well as evaluating whether effortful control explains the link between preterm birth and poorer cognitive development.

SUBJECTS

Fifty-eight very preterm children (<32 weeks gestation or <1500 g birth weight), 88 moderately to late preterm children (≥32 weeks gestation and ≥1500 birth weight) and 86 full-term children (≥38 weeks gestation and ≥2500 g birth weight) were examined at the corrected age of 24 months.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Observational and parent-report measures of effortful control as well as the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID II, Mental Scale) as a measurement of cognitive development were analyzed.

RESULTS

Very preterm and moderately to late preterm children showed significantly lower cognitive performance compared to full-term children. Lower effortful control scores (on observational measures, but not on parent-reports) were merely found for very preterm children compared to full-term children. Observational measures of effortful control partially mediated the effects of very preterm birth on cognitive performance, but did not explain the effects of moderately to late preterm birth on cognitive performance.

CONCLUSION

Preterm birth in general is related to poorer cognitive performance in toddlerhood. In addition, effortful control mediates the effects of very preterm birth on cognitive development. Findings suggest that different mechanisms link moderately to late premature birth to poor cognitive development.

Temperament and Social Problem Solving Competence in Preschool: Influences on Academic Skills in Early Elementary School

The goals of the current study were to examine whether children's social problem solving (SPS) skills are a mechanism through which temperament influences later academic achievement and whether sex moderates these associations. Participants included 1,117 children enrolled in the NICHD Early Child Care Study. During preschool, mothers and childcare providers rated children's temperamental shyness and inhibitory control, and SPS was assessed using a hypothetical-reflective measure during a laboratory visit. During kindergarten and first grade, teacher-report of math and language skills was collected. Results indicated that high ratings of inhibitory control in preschool, but not shyness, predicted better kindergarten and first grade academic skills. Furthermore, children's SPS competence mediated the relations between both shyness and inhibitory control on later academic skills. The child's sex did not moderate these associations. Results suggest that preventative efforts targeting early SPS skills may buffer against later academic adjustment problems among temperamentally extreme children.

Enhanced efficiency of the executive attention network after training in preschool children: immediate changes and effects after two months

Executive attention is involved in the regulation of thoughts, emotions and responses. This function experiences major development during preschool years and is associated to a neural network involving the anterior cingulate cortex and prefrontal structures. Recently, there have been some attempts to improve attention and other executive functions through training. In the current study, a group of 5 years old children (n=37) were assigned to either a training-group who performed ten sessions of computerized training of attention or a non-trained control group. Assessment of performance in a range of tasks, targeting attention, intelligence and regulation of affect was carried out in three occasions: (1) before, (2) after, and (3) two months after completion of training. Also, brain function was examined with a high-density electroencephalogram system. Results demonstrate that trained children activate the executive attention network faster and more efficiently than untrained children, an effect that was still observed two months after without further training. Also, evidence of transfer of attention training to fluid intelligence and, to a lesser degree, to regulation of affect was observed. Results show that efficiency of the brain system underlying self-regulation can be enhanced by experience during development, providing opportunities for curricular improvement.

Working memory brain activity and capacity link MAOA polymorphism to aggressive behavior during development

A developmental increase in working memory capacity is an important part of cognitive development, and low working memory (WM) capacity is a risk factor for developing psychopathology. Brain activity represents a promising endophenotype for linking genes to behavior and for improving our understanding of the neurobiology of WM development. We investigated gene-brain-behavior relationships by focusing on 18 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in six dopaminergic candidate genes (COMT, SLC6A3/DAT1, DBH, DRD4, DRD5, MAOA). Visuospatial WM (VSWM) brain activity, measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging, and VSWM capacity were assessed in a longitudinal study of typically developing children and adolescents. Behavioral problems were evaluated using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). One SNP (rs6609257), located ~6.6 kb downstream of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) on human chromosome X, significantly affected brain activity in a network of frontal, parietal and occipital regions. Increased activity in this network, but not in caudate nucleus or anterior prefrontal regions, was correlated with VSWM capacity, which in turn predicted externalizing (aggressive/oppositional) symptoms, with higher WM capacity associated with fewer externalizing symptoms. There were no direct significant correlations between rs6609257 and behavioral symptoms. These results suggest a mediating role of WM brain activity and capacity in linking the MAOA gene to aggressive behavior during development.

Monitoring, metacognition, and executive function: elucidating the role of self-reflection in the development of self-regulation

While an abundance of research has investigated the development of the automatic and controlled processes through which individuals control their thoughts, emotions, and actions, less research has emphasized the role of the self in self-regulation. This chapter synthesizes four literatures that have examined the mechanisms through which the individual acts in a managerial role, evaluating the current status of the system and initiating regulatory actions as necessary. Taken together, these literatures (on executive function, error monitoring, metacognition, and uncertainty monitoring) suggest that self-reflection plays a critical role in self-regulation, and that developmental improvements in self-reflection (via increasing levels of conscious awareness and enhanced calibration of monitoring systems) may serve as driving forces underlying developmental improvement (and temperamental individual differences) in children's ability to control their thoughts and actions.

The Evidence Base for Improving School Outcomes by Addressing the Whole Child and by Addressing Skills and Attitudes, Not Just Content

If we want the best academic outcomes, the most efficient and cost-effective route to achieve that is, counterintuitively, not to narrowly focus on academics, but to also address children's social, emotional, and physical development. Similarly, the best and most efficient route to physical health is through also addressing emotional, social, and cognitive wellness. Emotional wellness, similarly, depends critically on social, cognitive, and physical wellness.

Emotion-related self-regulation and its relation to children's maladjustment

The development of children's emotion-related self-regulation appears to be related to, and likely involved in, many aspects of children's development. In this review, the distinction between effortful self-regulatory processes and those that are somewhat less voluntary is discussed, and literature on the former capacities is reviewed. Emotion-related self-regulation develops rapidly in the early years of life and improves more slowly into adulthood. Individual differences in children's self-regulation are fairly stable after the first year or two of life. Such individual differences are inversely related to at least some types of externalizing problems. Findings for internalizing problems are less consistent and robust, although emotion-related self-regulation appears to be inversely related to internalizing problems after the early years. Self-regulatory capacities have been related to both genetic and environmental factors and their interaction. Some interventions designed to foster self-regulation and, hence, reduce maladjustment, have proved to be at least partially effective.

Emotion-related self-regulation and its relation to children's maladjustment

The development of children's emotion-related self-regulation appears to be related to, and likely involved in, many aspects of children's development. In this review, the distinction between effortful self-regulatory processes and those that are somewhat less voluntary is discussed, and literature on the former capacities is reviewed. Emotion-related self-regulation develops rapidly in the early years of life and improves more slowly into adulthood. Individual differences in children's self-regulation are fairly stable after the first year or two of life. Such individual differences are inversely related to at least some types of externalizing problems. Findings for internalizing problems are less consistent and robust, although emotion-related self-regulation appears to be inversely related to internalizing problems after the early years. Self-regulatory capacities have been related to both genetic and environmental factors and their interaction. Some interventions designed to foster self-regulation and, hence, reduce maladjustment, have proved to be at least partially effective.