Preschool behavior and first-grade school achievement: The mediational role of cognitive self-control.

Abstract

Universit6 du Qutbec h Montrtal The purpose of this study was to test a model of school achievement that included children's intellectual abilities, preschool behavior, and cognitive self-control. It suggested that teacher-rated preschool behavior such as aggressive, anxious-withdrawn, and prosocial behaviors influence cognitive self-control, which in turn positively determines school achievement at the end of first grade (when controlling for intellectual abilities). Participants were 291 kindergarten children. Results from structural equation modeling demonstrated that all hypothesized path models were significant, except the one between anxious-withdrawn behavior and cognitive self-control. A second model was thus specified in which a path between anxious-withdrawn behavior and school achievement was estimated. The second model offered a better representation of the sample data (comparative fit index = .99, normormed fit index = .98), ×2(19, N = 286) = 29.43, p > .05, and the path between anxious-withdrawn behavior and school achievement was found significant. The role of preschool behavior and cognitive self-control in first-grade school achievement is discussed. There is a consensus that children's successful school transition from kindergarten to the first grade is particularly important because children's grades in the first years of school substantially affect subsequent achievement trajecto- ries (e.g., Alexander & Entwisle, 1988; Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1993; Ensminger & Slusarick, 1992; Reynolds & Bezrucko, 1993; Willms & Jacobsen, 1990). Moreover, children's poor school achievement may constitute a risk factor for mental health difficulties in later childhood or adolescence (e.g., Feldman & Wentzel, 1990; Tremblay et al., 1992) and in adulthood (Caspi, Elder, B Kazdin, 1985). Therefore, a quintessential research problem exists in identifying specific processes that could impair or facilitate children's academic performance during the first years of schooling. Particular attention has been given to the influence of the family processes (e.g., the affective climate, the cognitive stimulation, the quality of the parent-child interaction, parental involvement) and characteristics (e.g., socioeco- nomic level) on school achievement (Crane, 1996; Gorges & Elliott, 1995; Grolnick & Ryan, 1989; Pianta & Harbers, 1996). Children's school experience with peers and their Sylvie Normandeau, ,5.cole de Psychotducation, Universit6 de Montrtal; Frtdtric Guay, Dtpartement de Psychologic, Universit6 du Qutbec h Montrtal. This research was supported by grants from Le Fonds pour la Formation des Chercheurs et l'Aide ~t la Recherche (FCAR- Qutbec) and the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and also by a doctoral fellowship from SSHRC. We thank the children and teachers who so kindly participated in this study. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sylvie Normandeau, Ecole de Psychotducation, Universit6 de Montrtal, P.O. Box 6128, Station Centre-ville, Montrtal, Qu6- bee, H3C 3J7, Canada. Electronic mail may be sent to normande@ere.umontreal.ca. engagement in the school as well as their school-related behavior, such as their motivation or beliefs about them- selves, have been considered in studies of middle-school children or adolescents (e.g., Beyer, 1995; Gottfried, Flem- ing, & Gottfried, 1994; Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994; Wentzel, 1991, 1993; Wentzel, Feldman, & Weinberger, 1991; Wentzel, Weinberger, Ford, & Feldman, 1990). Among the processes that have been associated with school achieve- ment, children's ability to engage in self-control (Kendall, 1993) is of particular importance during the early grades. Indeed, children's ability to concentrate on a task and to participate in the academic routine are determinants of their school achievement (Alexander et al., 1993). Such behavior during the early primary grades enhances learning opportu- nities and contributes favorably to school achievement. Therefore, it is important to focus on processes such as children's ability to engage in cognitive self-control in a learning situation. Cognitive serf-control abilities, along with self-efficacy perception and commitment to academic goals, are a key element involved in children's serf-regulated learning (Zimmerman, 1989, 1990). The current prospective study was undertaken to assess the interplay between children's behavioral characteristics and their ability to engage in cognitive self-control as predictors of their school achievement in first grade. Some limits identified in previous studies led us to consider the mediating role of children's cognitive self-control between their behavioral characteristics in kindergarten and their school performance in first grade. First, little is known about specific processes that could play a mediating role between children's preschool behav- ioral characteristics and later school achievement (Belsky & MacKinnon, 1994). Second, most of the studies that have considered the association between children's behavioral characteristics (anxious-depressive, aggressive, or prosocial 111