Predicting Academic School Readiness and Risk Status from Different Assessment Approaches and Constructs of Early Self-Regulation

Adaptation and psychometric properties of the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task in young Iranian children

Executive functions (EF) lay the foundation for healthy development. However, few reliable and valid measures of EF have been developed among children in less developed countries such as Iran. The present study addressed this gap by examining the factor structure, score variation, and psychometric properties of a short EF task, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS), among children from two metropolitan cities (Isfahan and Tehran) in Iran. Participants (N = 693; 58% male; Mage = 5.88 years) were recruited through a convenience sampling approach and tested with the HTKS along with other performance-based EF measures and parent reports of EF difficulties. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that both one-factor and two-factor structures were acceptable and that a one-factor solution was optimal. Results demonstrated significant variability in scores and age-related differences in EF skills, with higher scores observed in older children. The task indicated acceptable internal consistency, interrater agreement, and test-retest stability. For construct validity, the HTKS was significantly related to other performance-based measures of EF, tapping into working memory, cognitive flexibility, and planning skills after controlling for child's age, gender, parental education, and city. Together, these findings underscore the promise of the HTKS task as a brief, economical, and easily administered EF task that reliably and validly captures variation in EF skills among Iranian children.

Instability in the environment and children's in-school self-regulatory behaviors

Introduction

Experiences of chronic and/or extreme stress early in childhood are associated with altered self-regulatory behaviors. However, there is a range of variability in children's behavioral outcomes after experiences of stress. Understanding what contributes to this variability in children's responses to stress can aid in the development of more effective programs aimed at supporting children's self-regulatory processes. The current study examined relationships between indices of environmental stability and changes in children's self-regulatory behaviors.

Methods

Ratings of children's self-regulatory behavior were collected in collaboration with a school program once a month over the course of the academic year. Measures of environmental stability were collected for each child.

Results

Children demonstrated increases in self-regulatory behaviors over the course of the study. Additionally, children in home environments characterized by high levels of environmental instability demonstrated greater positive behavior change during the program.

Discussion

This study suggests that there are important individual differences in children's patterns of self-regulatory behavior changes, and points to complex interactions between children's home environment, implementation of a more positive and stable environment, and changes in behavior.

Conflicting Definitions of Self-Regulation in Occupational Therapy: A Scoping Review

AIMS

To understand how occupational therapy literature conceptualizes, discusses, describes, implies, and operationalizes self-regulation.

METHODS

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and JBI methodology guided the review. MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsychInfo and ERIC databases were searched with studies from 2000 - June 2023 deemed eligible. Two reviewers extracted data with results presented in figurative, tabular, and narrative synthesis. Critical appraisal was conducted using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist for systematic reviews. Content analysis of construct descriptions was conducted.

RESULTS

A total 4159 articles were screened for eligibility, and eighty-one assessed at full text. Nine additional studies were retrieved through hand-searching. Sixty-four studies were included and underwent critical appraisal. Content analysis revealed five self-regulation constructs and associated terms in the occupational therapy literature, including self-regulation, executive function, emotion regulation, interoception and social-emotional learning.

CONCLUSIONS

Five distinct self-regulation constructs were analyzed in the occupational therapy literature, with various terms used to describe and define these. Self-regulation and executive function were often described as linked constructs. Similarly, lack of congruence between self-regulation measures, identified interventions and the underlying self-regulation construct was identified.

Unravelling self-regulation in early childhood: protocol for the longitudinal SPROUTS study

BACKGROUND

Enough is known about self-regulation to establish it as a priority target for education and intervention efforts beginning in early childhood, yet not enough to meaningfully and reliably alter developmental trajectories. Rather than resigning our aspirations, we need more nuanced and integrative understanding of self-regulation abilities and change.

METHODS

Launching in 2024, SPROUTS is a 3-year longitudinal study of early self-regulation, beginning in the pre-school period (3-5 years old at Wave 1) with retrospective data back to birth and annual data collection across the transition to school period (ages 5-7 years at Wave 3). Data will be collected on children's self-regulation, related abilities, outcomes, as well as prior and current contexts. One nested study within each Wave-that contributes complementary insights via supplementary and in-depth methods and data-will enable further exploration of contemporary issues related to self-regulation.

DISCUSSION

Insights generated can potentiate more effective intervention and education efforts by: improving intervention cost-benefit ratios; identifying likely mechanisms of change; easing burdens of unhealthy and antisocial behaviours associated with low self-regulation; and, most importantly, contributing to giving children the best early start to life. These benefits are timely in the context of intense policy and educational interest in fostering children's self-regulation.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Open Science Framework: osf.io/maqdg. Date of registration: 26 Sep 2024.

The role of emotional regulation on early child school adjustment outcomes

Emotional regulation involves managing attention, affect, and behavior, and is essential for long-term health and well-being, including positive school adjustment. The purpose of this secondary data analysis from the Durham Child Health and Development Study was to explore how parent and teacher reported emotional regulation behaviors related to school adjustment outcomes (social skills, academic performance, and academic achievement) during early childhood. Parent and teacher reports on emotional regulation behaviors showed mixed concordance, however they correlated with critical aspects of school adjustment. Clinical and practical implications are discussed, including the role of psychiatric nurses in promoting positive emotional regulation and school adjustment outcomes across settings.

Self-regulated learning as a mediator of the relation between executive functions and preschool academic competence

Executive functions (EF) and self-regulated learning (SRL) are processes for the goal-directed control of cognition and (learning) behavior that positively affect academic outcomes. Based on the finding that EF form the developmental basis for SRL, this study tested a model that assumes SRL as a mediator of the relationship between preschool EF and academic competence. Previous studies that found evidence for this mediation considered as predictors cool EF, which are important in emotionally neutral situations. However, since (pre)school-based learning is also associated with motivational incentives (e.g., praise from teachers and educators), this study aimed to test the validity of the above-mentioned mediation model using as predictors hot EF, which are important in emotional-motivational contexts. To this end, the constructs included in the model were cross-sectionally examined using performance measures and parent ratings in a sample of n = 77 German preschoolers (Mage = 71.61 months, SD = 4.13; 51.9 % girls). Results show that SRL mediates the relationship between hot EF and academic competence. Methodological limitations of the present study and implications for research and practice are discussed.

Interventions and Approaches Targeting Early Self-Regulation or Executive Functioning in Preschools: A Systematic Review

This systematic literature review sought to reconcile the evidence of efficacy for interventions and approaches to enhancing self-regulation and/or executive function in preschool settings. Following PRISMA methodology, a comprehensive search of 20 years of intervention research identified 85 studies that met inclusion criteria. Interventions were categorised by intervention approach and coded for their characteristics (e.g. sample size, dose, duration, interventionist, intervention activities), outcomes (e.g. significance, size of effects) and study quality (i.e. risk of bias). Reconciliation of intervention results indicated (1) within intervention approaches, some approaches had more consistent and robust evidence of efficacy (e.g. mindfulness, mediated play, physical activity) and (2) across intervention approaches, characteristics that had greater (or exclusive) presence amongst the higher efficacy interventions (e.g. cognitive challenge, movement, as well as interventionist, fidelity and dose considerations). Implications for future intervention (re)design, and for theorising about mechanisms of self-regulation and executive function change, are discussed.

Advancing Educational Research on Children’s Self-Regulation With Observational Measures

Self-regulation is crucial for children’s development and learning. Almost by convention, it is assumed that self-regulation is a relatively stable skill, and little is known about its dynamic nature and context dependency. Traditional measurement approaches such as single direct assessments and adult reports are not well suited to address questions around variations of self-regulation within individuals and influences from social-contextual factors. Measures relying on child observations are uniquely positioned to address these questions and to advance the field by shedding light on self-regulatory variability and incremental growth. In this paper, we review traditional measurement approaches (direct assessments and adult reports) and recently developed observational measures. We discuss which questions observational measures are best suited to address and why traditional measurement approaches fall short. Finally, we share lessons learned based on our experiences using child observations in educational settings and discuss how measurement approaches should be carefully aligned to the research questions.