Childhood Self-Regulation, Academic Achievement, and Occupational Attainment

Abstract

The general aim of this thesis was to extend knowledge of the interplay between self-regulation (SR) skills during childhood in relation to academic achievement and later adult educational and occupational attainment.Previous research has shown that cool SR (i.e., cognitive) is more closely linked to academic achievement than hot SR (i.e., motivational/emotional). However, studies investigating both cool and hot SR in relation to academic achievement have been restricted to young children. Therefore, Study I assessed cool and hot SR in relation to academic achievement over a longer time period. The results showed that cool SR at age 3 was related to achievement already at age 6. Hot SR at age 3 did not predict achievement until later on in elementary school.Study II investigated the contribution of interference control and attention skills at age 6 to concurrent and later academic achievement at age 10. As the learning material becomes increasingly more complex throughout elementary school and teachers may give less support, interference control was expected to have a delayed effect on academic achievement relative to attention skills. Results showed that attention skills were related to academic achievement at age 6, whereas interference control only predicted academic achievement at age 10.Study III investigated task persistence in young adolescence in relation to academic achievement later in school and educational and occupational attainment in midlife. Results showed that task persistence contributed to change in grades between ages 13 and 16. Further, task persistence predicted later educational and occupational attainment (men only). Importantly, individual differences in intelligence, motivation, social background, and later educational attainment did not account for these effects. The findings point to a fundamental role of self-regulation in childhood for successful academic achievement and later attainment in adulthood.