Childhood Disruptive Behaviour and School Performance across Comprehensive School: A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

In the present study we examined 1) whether childhood disruptive behaviour, in terms of aggressiveness, hyperactivity and social adjustment, predicts school performance since toddler age or whether becomes it relevant first since middle or late childhood, 2) whether gender differences within the associations between school performance and disruptive behaviour exist, and 3) whether there are trait specific effects in these associations, i.e. whether hyperactivity is more relevant determinant for later school success than aggression and social adjustment. The subjects were derived from a representative, population based cohort study where 3600 subjects we followed for 27 years since their childhood. Our sample consisted of 973 participants (516 girls) who were 3, 6 and 9 years of age at baseline and were followed over their whole compulsory education, i.e. 3 rd , 6 th , and 9 th grades. The most prominent finding was a gender specific association between disruptive behaviour and school performance: hyperactivity predicted later school performance among girls whereas aggression predicted school performance among boys. The association between social adjustment and school performance was less clear. Disruptive behaviour at toddler age (at the age of 3) was not predictable for later school performance but it started to predict school performance at later age, i.e. when it was assessed at the ages of 6 and 9, and the associations were true throughout the whole 9-year comprehensive school. Our findings suggest that early childhood disruptive behaviour has long-lasting effects. Thus, its intervention before the school entry would be of high importance.

Does Childhood Temperamental Activity Predict Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior over a 30-Year Period? Evidence from the Young Finns Study

“…Sedentary behavior has also been shown to contribute to morbidity and mortality [45]. Research shows that high temperamental activity is associated with poor school performance in adolescent girls [46] and adult atherosclerosis in women [21]. High levels of temperamental activity are also shown to be related to ADHD [47].…”

Why Wait? Early Determinants of School Dropout in Preventive Pediatric Primary Care

“…Many factors that influence the process of early school leaving are already identified [ 8 ] and can be divided in student-related (e.g. overall poor health in childhood and adolescence [ 3 ], externalizing and internalizing behavior [ 9 , 10 ], life-style, personality [ 3 , 11 , 12 ], sex differences and gender beliefs [ 13 ], family-related (e.g. living in a single-parent family[ 14 ]) and school-related factors (e.g.…”

Children First

“…Considering the demonstrated impact of mental health problems on social, emotional, cognitive, and educational functioning, it is of critical importance that we bring our resources to bear on the reconceptualization of mental health care for the children and youth of Canada. The connection between mental health and school success (defined here as the number of years of education completed) has been established and examined; most recently researchers such as Alatupa and colleagues (2011) observed, in a longitudinal study of 973 youth over a 10-year span, that early disruptive behavior has long-lasting effects on grades. Depression has been linked with poor text comprehension and memory (Becker, Ellis, Varner, & Moore, 1997; Owens et al, 2012), and research has demonstrated a high rate of co-occurrence between learning disabilities, depression, and anxiety (see, for example, Canadian Council on Learning, 2009).…”