Factor structure of self-regulation in preschoolers: Testing models of a field-based assessment for predicting early school readiness

Abstract

The importance of early self-regulatory skill has seen increased focus in the applied research literature, given the implications of these skills for early school success. A three-factor latent structure of self-regulation consisting of compliance, cool executive control, and hot executive control, was tested against alternative models, and retained as best fitting. Tests of model equivalence indicated the model held invariant across Head Start and private child care samples. Partial invariance was supported for age and gender. In the validity model, because of substantial amount of shared variance among latent factors, we included a second-order factor explaining the two types of executive control. Higher-Order Executive Control positively predicted teacher report of learning behaviors and social competence in the classroom. These findings are discussed in light of their practical and theoretical significance.

Preschoolers Self-Regulation and Their Early School Success

“…Preschoolers already learn alongside and in collaboration with teachers and peers, and utilize their emotions to facilitate learning. Social emotional skills especially undergird their adaptation to the sometimes challenging preschool environment and subsequent successful schooling (Denham et al, 2011). Self-regulation becomes important for preschooler because it relates to mental health (Florez, 2011).…”

Identifying Finnish Children’s Impulsivity Trajectories From Kindergarten to Grade 4: Associations With Academic and Socioemotional Development

“…Compliance and behavior regulation are considered important also in social interactions with teachers and peers (e.g., Denham, Warren-Khot, Bassett, Wyatt, & Perna, 2012;Eisenberg, Valiente, & Eggum, 2010). Previous studies have shown that poor regulation skills are associated with low levels of social competence in school-aged children (Denham et al, 2012;Eisenberg et al, 1995;Fabes et al, 1999) and high rates of externalizing problems in both children and adolescents (Eisenberg et al, 2000;Lengua, 2002).…”

“…Previous studies have shown that poor regulation skills are associated with low levels of social competence in school-aged children (Denham et al, 2012;Eisenberg et al, 1995;Fabes et al, 1999) and high rates of externalizing problems in both children and adolescents (Eisenberg et al, 2000;Lengua, 2002). Different dimensions of regulation may have different antecedents and trajectories, as indicated by King's and colleagues ' (2013) findings that between 8 and 12 years of age, increases in effortful control but not impulsivity were associated with the level and rate of change in positive adjustment and adjustment problems.…”

“…Moreover, we expected children in the high impulsivity group(s) to show lower skill levels in literacy (e.g., Clark et al, 2010;McClelland et al, 2006;Neuenschwander et al, 2012) than children in the low impulsivity group(s), but we did not set a specific hypothesis on the relations between impulsive behavior and motivation due to insufficient literature on this age group (see, however, Rhodes et al, 2013 for self-regulation and motivation on adolescents). Finally, we expected the high impulsive group(s) to show poorer social competence (Denham et al, 2012;Eisenberg et al, 1995;Fabes et al, 1999) and less positive relationships with their teachers (Henricsson & Rydell, 2004;Valiente et al, 2008) in comparison to the low impulsivity group(s). Relatedly, we expected that teachers would provide more individual support for children in the high impulsivity group(s) than children in the low impulsivity group(s) (Nurmi, 2012;Valiente et al, 2007).…”

“…Poor behavioral regulation is manifested in children's problems with paying attention, remembering instructions, and focusing on the task at hand (McClelland et al, 2007), all of Impulsivity Trajectories from Kindergarten to Grade 4 8 which hinder task completion and skill development. Children with low levels of behavioral regulation tend to be disruptive and impulsive and have weak rule internalization and selfcontrol (Macdonald et al, in press;Valiente, Lemery-Chalfant, & Castro, 2007).Compliance and behavior regulation are considered important also in social interactions with teachers and peers (e.g., Denham, Warren-Khot, Bassett, Wyatt, & Perna, 2012;Eisenberg, Valiente, & Eggum, 2010). Previous studies have shown that poor regulation skills are associated with low levels of social competence in school-aged children (Denham et al, 2012;Eisenberg et al, 1995;Fabes et al, 1999) and high rates of externalizing problems in both children and adolescents (Eisenberg et al, 2000;Lengua, 2002).…”