Mentalization as a core component of parental sensitivity

Abstract

Past research has found that an important regulatory dimension of child temperament, effortful control, predicts child achievement. However, other dimensions of temperament may moderate the relation between effortful control and achievement. This study explored whether exuberance, a reactive temperament dimension, may moderate or compensate for low effortful control when predicting children’s reading and math achievement in first grade. Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 861) were used to test this hypothesis. The hypothesis was supported that for children with average or low exuberance, children’s effortful control positively predicted their reading achievement scores in first grade; whereas for children with high exuberance, children’s effortful control did not predict their reading achievement scores. Instead, highly exuberant children had high reading achievement scores regardless of their effortful control. Exuberance did not moderate the relation between effortful control and math achievement. Results suggest that children’s high exuberance compensates for poor effortful control when learning to read and that parents and teachers should explore strategies for channeling these children’s exuberance to support their academic growth.