Longitudinal effects of preschool behavioral styles on early adolescent school performance

Abstract

Early behavioral problems and temperament as well as student–teacher relationships each have been shown to be important predictors of school performance. This longitudinal study investigated the relations between children's preschool behaviors and their early adolescent student–teacher relationships and academic achievement. It was hypothesized that preschool behaviors would predict school performance in early adolescents. Results showed that children who were more prone to anxiety as preschoolers tended to have the highest grades as young adolescents. Additionally, children with poor student–teacher relationships, as characterized by dependent and conflictual relationships, had lower grades in school. Thus, in considering the importance of a “child×environment” model for school performance, it appears that it is both the child variable of anxiety and the perhaps environmental variable of student–teacher relationships that are related to school performance.