The controlled direct effect of temperament at 2-3 years on cognitive and academic outcomes at 6-7 years

Abstract

16There is widespread interest in temperament and its impact upon cognitive and academic 17 outcomes. Parents adjust their parenting according to their child's temperament, however, 18 previous studies have not accounted for parenting while estimating the association between 19 temperament and academic outcomes. We examined the controlled direct effect of 20 temperament (2-3 years) on cognitive and academic outcomes (6-7 years) when mediation by 21 parenting practices (4-5 years) was held constant. Participants were from the Longitudinal 22 Study of Australian Children (n=5107). Cognitive abilities were measured by the Peabody 23 Picture Vocabulary Test (verbal) and the Matrix Reasoning test (non-verbal). Literacy and 24 numeracy were reported by teachers using the Academic Rating Scale. Mothers reported 25 children's temperament using the Short Temperament Scale for Toddlers (subscales: 26 reactivity, approach, and persistence). Parenting practices included items about engagement 27 in activities with children. Marginal structural models with inverse probability of treatment 28 weights were used to estimate the controlled direct effect of temperament, when setting 29 parenting to the mean. All temperament subscales were associated with cognitive abilities, 30 with persistence showing the largest controlled direct effect on verbal (β=0.58; 95%CI 0.27, 31 0.89) and non-verbal (β=0.19; 0.02, 0.34) abilities. Higher persistence was associated with 32better literacy (β=0.08; 0.03, 0.13) and numeracy (β=0.08; 0.03, 0.13), and higher reactivity 33 with lower literacy (β=-0.08; -0.11, -0.05) and numeracy (β=-0.07; -0.10, -0.04). There was 34 little evidence that temperamental approach influenced literacy or numeracy. Overall, there 35 was a small controlled direct effect of temperament on cognitive and academic outcomes 36 after accounting for parenting and confounders. 3 37 Introduction 38 There is widespread interest in whether children's temperament influences their cognitive and 39 academic outcomes [1, 2]. Temperament is the individual characteristics in behavioral styles 40 that are biologically-based, but also shaped by experiences and environment [3]. Three 41 aspects of temperament thought to impact learning and cognition are reactivity, persistence 42 and approach [4]. Reactivity encompasses a child's emotional intensity and volatility [4], and 43 may interfere with the child's learning processes [1, 5]. For example, a highly reactive child 44 may become easily frustrated and find it difficult to learn [6]. Children with high persistence 45are more likely to stay on task and maintain their attention despite distractions [4], which has 46 benefits for learning [7]. Temperamental approach is the degree of comfort experienced when 47 4 62 than easy children. Parental engagement in play and cognitive stimulation activities has 63 positive impacts on children's outcomes [14], and differential parental engagement for 64 temperamentally easy and difficult children might, in part, explain effects of temperament on ...