Preliminary construct and concurrent validity of the Preschool Self-regulation Assessment (PSRA) for field-based research

Abstract

This study introduces a portable direct assessment of young children’s self-regulation—the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment (PSRA). The PSRA was designed to assess self-regulation in emotional, attentional, and behavioral domains by using a brief, structured battery of tasks in conjunction with a global report of children’s behavior. Factor analyses from a pilot sample (N = 63) of Head Start children revealed two self-regulation factors reflecting children’s performance on tasks of impulse control and tasks of compliance/executive control. Assessor report of children’s behavior during the assessment was reduced into two additional factors reflecting children’s global attention/impulse control and positive emotion. Moderate correlations between self-regulation factors and children’s social competence, behavior problems, and early academic skills, provide preliminary evidence of the new measure’s validity, and additional empirical evidence for bivariate relations between academic and self-regulatory competence.