Longitudinal Associations Between Executive Control and Developing Mathematical Competence in Preschool Boys and Girls

Executive control (EC) is related to mathematics performance in middle childhood. However, little is known regarding how EC and informal numeracy differentially support mathematics skill acquisition in preschoolers. A sample of preschoolers (115 girls, 113 boys), stratified by social risk, completed an EC task battery at 3 years, informal numeracy assessments at 3.75 and 4.5 years, and a broad mathematics assessment during kindergarten. Strong associations were observed between latent EC at age 3 and mathematics achievement in kindergarten, which remained robust after accounting for earlier informal numeracy, socioeconomic status, language and processing speed. Relations between EC and mathematics achievement were stronger in girls than in boys. Findings highlight the unique role of EC in predicting which children may have difficulty transitioning to formal mathematics instruction.     

Looking back, looking forward: Re-searching the conditions for curriculum integration in the middle years of schooling

In Australia, and internationally, integration is a widely promoted middle school curriculum reform strategy. Integration is claimed to engage students by providing opportunities to work on a few cross-disciplinary objectives, to apply knowledge across the subject boundaries and to work on tasks with meaning and relevance. While these curriculum goals enjoy a certain popularity among middle school reformers and curriculum integration adherents, in practice, the prevalence of integration is patchy and provisional. In this article, we (re) examine two of our studies of middle school integration over the past decade to explore the reasons for this apparent disparity between the rhetoric and the reality. In our re-search for integration, we look back at our data to identify enabling and inhibiting conditions for curriculum reform and develop a list of key program characteristics. Finally, we look forward, drawing on the notion of institutional resilience to speculate on the reasons why some middle school programs seem to flourish while others wither.     

Targeting Parenting in Early Childhood: A Public Health Approach to Improve Outcomes for Children Living in Poverty

In this article, the authors posit that programs promoting nurturing parent–child relationships influence outcomes of parents and young children living in poverty through two primary mechanisms: (a) strengthening parents' social support and (b) increasing positive parent–child interactions. The authors discuss evidence for these mechanisms as catalysts for change and provide examples from selected parenting programs that support the influence of nurturing relationships on child and parenting outcomes. The article focuses on prevention programs targeted at children and families living in poverty and closes with a discussion of the potential for widespread implementation and scalability for public health impact.     

Adolescents' emotion regulation in daily life: links to depressive symptoms and problem behavior

This study examined links between emotion regulation and adjustment in a sample of 152 adolescents in Grades 7 (M age = 12) and 10 (M age = 15). Emotion regulation was assessed using the experience sampling method, in which adolescents provided multiple reports about the intensity, lability, and strategies used to regulate negative emotions across 1 week. Adolescents also completed self-report measures of adjustment. Adolescents who reported more intense and labile emotions and less effective regulation of these emotions also reported more depressive symptoms and problem behavior. Responding to negative emotions with disengagement (e.g., denial) or involuntary engagement (e.g., rumination) was less effective in regulating negative affect, and greater use of these strategies was related to higher levels of depressive symptoms and problem behavior.     

Effortful Control,Behavior Problems,and Peer Relations: What Predicts Academic Adjustment in Kindergartners from Low-Income Families?

This study used a short-term longitudinal design to examine the role of effortful control, behavior problems, and peer relations in the academic adjustment of 74 kindergarten children from primarily low-income families. Teachers completed standardized measures of children's effortful control, internalizing and externalizing problems, school readiness, and academic skills. Children participated in a sociometric interview to assess peer relations. Research Findings: Correlational analyses indicate that children's effortful control, behavior problems in school, and peer relations are associated with academic adjustment variables at the end of the school year, including school readiness, reading skills, and math skills. Results of regression analyses indicate that household income and children's effortful control primarily account for variation in children's academic adjustment. The associations between children's effortful control and academic adjustment do not vary across the sex of the child or ethnicity. Mediational analyses indicate an indirect effect of effortful control on school readiness through children's internalizing problems. Practice or Policy: Effortful control emerged as a strong predictor of academic adjustment among kindergarten children from low-income families. Strategies for enhancing effortful control and school readiness among low-income children are discussed.     

Preschool Children’s Adjustment Following a Hurricane: Risk and Resilience in the Face of Adversity

Research Findings: It is clear that disasters negatively affect both adults and children. Yet there is little research examining the mechanisms whereby some people are negatively affected by disasters whereas others are resilient to these negative effects. Family functioning and child characteristics might be factors that influence the impact of disasters on young children. We tested this premise in a sample of 118 children living in an area affected by a Category 3 hurricane, with 47 of these children participating before and after the hurricane. Results indicated that disaster experiences and emotion regulation are predictors of adjustment following natural disasters. Findings also suggested that the effects of disaster experiences on children’s adjustment are sometimes indirect through their impact on parental depression and parent hostility. Practice or Policy: These findings indicate that working to minimize the likelihood of parent–child separations during disasters could reduce the negative effects of disasters on children. In addition, promoting better emotional regulatory abilities in young children may help them to be more resilient when experiencing natural disasters, and providing parents with the support they need to more effectively parent may also decrease the likelihood that children will experience adjustment difficulties following disasters.     

The impact of body image and Afrocentric appearance on sexual refusal self-efficacy in early adolescent African American girls

Research examining the association between body image and sexual risk-taking has been mostly limited to clinical and/or White female samples. It is unclear whether body image plays a role in sexual risk-taking among African American early adolescent females. Moreover, research has neglected to consider body image within a cultural and ethnic framework. A positive sense of Afrocentric appearance may influence, either positively or negatively, sexual attitudes and behaviors among African American early adolescent girls. The purpose of this study, conducted with 156 urban African American early adolescent females, was to examine the relationships among body image, Afrocentric appearance, and sexual refusal self-efficacy. Results found no significant association between body image and sexual refusal self-efficacy. However, structural equation modeling found that a positive sense of Afrocentric appearance significantly predicted increased sexual refusal self-efficacy. Implications of this study in regard to culturally-based teenage pregnancy prevention and education initiatives are discussed.