Behavior Problems In Kindergarten Research Articles

Teachers' self-efficacy and perceptions of school climate are uniquely associated with students' externalizing and internalizing behavior problems

Early externalizing and internalizing problems undermine children's school success and long-term well-being. Leveraging a large, U.S.-representative dataset (N ≈ 14,810), we examined how kindergarten teachers' self-efficacy and school climate perceptions were linked to students' behavior problems in kindergarten and first grade. Teachers' self-efficacy and school climate perceptions were uniquely linked to kindergarteners' externalizing and internalizing behaviors, after controlling for demographic covariates and children's executive functions. Kindergarten teachers' higher self-efficacy predicted lower levels of children's externalizing problems in first grade, while teachers' positive school climate perceptions predicted children's lower internalizing problems in first grade. Longitudinal models demonstrated that teachers' perceived school climate and self-efficacy were uniquely associated with decreases in children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors from kindergarten to first grade. Findings highlight the importance of teachers' self-efficacy and school climate for children's socio-emotional development and underscore an urgent need to determine how best to support teacher well-being to optimize children's outcomes.

Teacher-child closeness as a protective factor for at-risk children experiencing residential mobility

The current study explored the extent to which teacher-child closeness during prekindergarten moderates the association between residential mobility and behavior problems in kindergarten for children living in non-parental care. Data were obtained from the Head Start Impact Study. The sample included 260 children (53% male) who were eligible for Head Start. On average, children were 48.57 months old (SD = 6.95), and were 42% Anglo-American, 40% African-American, and 18% Hispanic-American. Results indicated that teacher-child closeness during prekindergarten was negatively related to behavior problems in kindergarten. Further, although residential mobility was not directly related to behavior problems in kindergarten, teacher-child closeness was a significant moderator between moving and externalizing, but not internalizing, problems. These findings suggest that closeness with teachers may help to curb the impact of mobility on externalizing problems during the transition to kindergarten for children in non-parental care. Implications for future research and intervention development are discussed.

Residential mobility predicts behavioral problems for children living in non-parental care during the transition to kindergarten

The present study examines the extent to which residential mobility during the transition to kindergarten (cumulative moves during prekindergarten and kindergarten) is related to externalizing and internalizing behavior problems for children from low-income families who are living in non-parental care. A second, exploratory aim of this study was to investigate whether family service receipt moderated these relations. Data were obtained from the Head Start Impact Study. The sample included 300 children (53% male) who were eligible for Head Start. Residential mobility was conceptualized as three dichotomous variables: never moved, moved 1–2 times, and moved 3 or more times during the prekindergarten and kindergarten years. Predictor and outcome data were collected in the spring of prekindergarten and kindergarten. Moving three or more times was significantly related to more externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in kindergarten, controlling for family and child covariates, as well as for children's behavior problems in prekindergarten. Receipt of family services moderated the association between moving three or more times and externalizing problems, but not internalizing problems. This relation was in the opposite direction than expected, however, such that children who moved frequently and received more services demonstrated more externalizing problems than their peers. Implications of study findings for supporting highly mobile children living in non-parental care and directions for future research are discussed.

Adverse Experiences in Early Childhood and Kindergarten Outcomes.

To examine associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in early childhood and teacher-reported academic and behavioral problems in kindergarten. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national urban birth cohort. Subjects with primary caregiver-reported information on ACE exposures ascertained at 5 years and teacher-reported outcomes at the end of the child's kindergarten year were included. Outcomes included teacher ratings of academic skills, emergent literacy skills, and behavior. We included 8 ACE exposures on the basis of the original Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Kaiser study and created an ACE score by summing individual adversities. We examined the associations between teacher-reported academic and behavioral outcomes and ACE scores by using logistic regression. In the study sample, 1007 children were included. Fifty-five percent had experienced 1 ACE and 12% had experienced ≥ 3. Adjusting for potential confounders, experiencing ≥ 3 ACEs was associated with below-average language and literacy skills (adjusted odds ratio [AORs]: 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-2.9) and math skills (AOR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-2.9), poor emergent literacy skills, attention problems (AOR: 3.5, 95% CI: 1.8-6.5), social problems (AOR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.4-5.0), and aggression (AOR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.2-4.6). In this study of urban children, experiencing ACEs in early childhood was associated with below-average, teacher-reported academic and literacy skills and behavior problems in kindergarten. These findings underscore the importance of integrated approaches that promote optimal development among vulnerable children.

Classroom quality at pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children’s social skills and behavior problems

Focusing on the continuity in the quality of classroom environments as children transition from preschool into elementary school, this study examined the associations between classroom quality in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and children’s social skills and behavior problems in kindergarten and first grade. Participants included 1175 ethnically-diverse children (43% African American) living in low-wealth rural communities of the United States. Results indicated that children who experienced higher levels of emotional and organizational classroom quality in both pre-kindergarten and kindergarten demonstrated better social skills and fewer behavior problems in both kindergarten and first grade comparing to children who did not experience higher classroom quality. The examination of the first grade results indicated that the emotional and organizational quality of pre-kindergarten classrooms was the strongest predictor of children’s first grade social skills and behavior problems. The study results are discussed from theoretical, practical, and policy perspectives.

Prenatal cocaine exposure: The role of cumulative environmental risk and maternal harshness in the development of child internalizing behavior problems in kindergarten

This study examined the associations between prenatal exposure to cocaine and other substances and child internalizing behavior problems at kindergarten. We investigated whether maternal harshness or cumulative environmental risk mediated or moderated this association. Participants consisted of 216 (116 cocaine exposed, 100 non-cocaine exposed) mother–infant dyads participating in an ongoing longitudinal study of prenatal cocaine exposure. Results indicated that, as hypothesized, maternal harshness moderated the association between prenatal cocaine exposure to child internalizing in kindergarten such that prenatal cocaine exposure increased risk for internalizing problems at high levels of maternal harshness from 7 to 36months and decreased risk at low levels of harshness. Contrary to hypothesis, the association between prenatal cocaine exposure and child internalizing in kindergarten was not mediated by maternal harshness or cumulative environmental risk. However, cumulative environmental risk (from 1month of child age to kindergarten) was predictive of child internalizing behavior problems at kindergarten. Results have implications for parenting interventions that may be targeted toward reducing maternal harshness in high risk samples characterized by maternal substance use in pregnancy.

Predicting Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior in Kindergarten: Examining the Buffering Role of Early Social Support

This study tested an ecological model predicting children's behavior problems in kindergarten from risk and protective factors (parent psychological distress, parenting behavior, and social support) during early childhood. Study participants were 1,161 sociodemographically diverse mother–child pairs that participated in a longitudinal birth cohort study. The predictor variables were collected at two separate time points and based on parent reports; children were an average of 2 years old at Time 1 and 3 years old at Time 2. The outcome measures were collected when children reached kindergarten and were 6 years old on average. Our results show that early maternal psychological distress, mediated by suboptimal parenting behavior, predicts children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors in kindergarten. Moreover, early social support buffers the relations between psychological distress and later suboptimal parenting behavior and between suboptimal parenting behavior and later depressive/withdrawn behavior. Our findings have several implications for early intervention and prevention efforts. Of note, informal social support appears to play an important protective role in the development of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, weakening the link between psychological distress and less optimal parenting behavior and between suboptimal parenting behavior and children's withdrawal/depression symptoms. Increasing social support may be a productive goal for family and community-level intervention.

The Influence of Rurality and Parental Affect on Kindergarten Children's Social and Behavioral Functioning

Research Findings: Children's early academic achievement is supported by positive social and behavioral skills, and difficulties with these skills frequently gives way to underachievement. Social and behavioral problems often arise as a product of parent–child interactional patterns and environmental influences. Few studies have examined the role of a salient aspect of children's environments, community locale, in the relationship between parenting practices and child outcomes. Using a large, nationally representative sample, we examined whether preschool parenting practices and children's social-behavioral skills in kindergarten were related to geographic setting (rural vs. city, suburban, and town). Results indicated that rural children experienced greater difficulties with parent-reported externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, rural parents displayed less emotional support than parents in other settings. Preschool parenting behaviors were associated with social skills and behavior problems in kindergarten, as reported by both parents and teachers. Parents' emotional supportiveness was found to account for the relationship between geographic setting and parent-reported children's social skills, such that rural parents who provided less emotional support had children with lower social skills in kindergarten. Practice or Policy: Findings of this research indicate that rural children may face particular risk for behavioral issues and highlight the need for increased behavioral supports in rural communities. Moreover, our results suggest that interventions designed to promote parents' support of children's emotions may have particular utility for rural families.

Externalizing behavior problems among polydrug cocaine-exposed children: Indirect pathways via maternal harshness and self-regulation in early childhood.

This study examined direct and indirect associations between prenatal cocaine exposure (CE) and children's externalizing problems in kindergarten via higher maternal harshness and lower self-regulation in early childhood. Other environmental risk variables, such as child exposure to community violence and experience of hunger, were used as additional predictors. The sample consisted of 216 mother-infant dyads recruited at delivery from local area hospitals (116 cocaine-exposed, 100 nonexposed). Maternal harshness was coded from observations of mother-toddler interactions at 2 years of age, and children's self-regulation was measured at 3 years of age using several laboratory paradigms. Maternal reports of externalizing behavior problems were obtained at both time points and at kindergarten. Teacher reports were obtained and classroom observations of externalizing behaviors were conducted in the kindergarten classroom. Results indicated significant indirect associations between CE and maternal reports of externalizing problems via higher maternal harshness at 2 years and higher externalizing problems at 3 years of child age. A second indirect path from CE to externalizing problems in the school setting via higher maternal harshness at 2 years and lower self-regulation at 3 years was also significant. There were significant associations between community violence exposure and maternal reports of externalizing problems, and between hunger and externalizing problems in the school setting. Results highlight the role of parenting and self-regulation in early childhood as critical process variables in the indirect association between CE and externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten.

Parent Involvement, Emotional Support, and Behavior Problems

AbstractWe examined relations between parent involvement and kindergarten students' behavior problems in classrooms with varying levels of teacher emotional support. Multi-informant data were collected on n = 255 low-income Black and Hispanic students, and n = 60 kindergarten classrooms in the baseline year of an intervention trial. Hierarchical linear models revealed a moderated negative effect between parents' home-school communication and teacher emotional support on student behavior problems in kindergarten, as well as negative associations between school-based involvement and behavior problems. For children in classrooms with less teacher emotional support, greater communication between home and school was related to higher levels of behavior problems. Among children in classrooms with more teacher emotional support, this negative relationship was attenuated. Results illuminate the need to consider parent involvement within the context of classroom practices.

Single Parenting and Child Behavior Problems in Kindergarten

Two waves of data from a sample of 89 poor and near-poor single black mothers and their preschool children were used to study the influences of parenting stress, physical discipline practices, and nonresident fathers’ relations with their children on behavior problems in kindergarten. The results indicate that higher levels of parent stress, more frequent spanking, and less frequent father–child contact at time 1 were associated with increased teacher-reported behavior problems at time 2. In addition, more frequent contact between nonresident biological fathers and their children moderated the negative effect of harsh discipline by mothers on subsequent child behavior problems. Specifically, when contact with the father was low, maternal spanking resulted in elevated levels of behavior problems; with average contact, this negative effect of spanking was muted; and with high contact, spanking was not associated with increased behavior problems in kindergarten. The implications of these findings for future research and policy are discussed.

A conceptual model for the development of externalizing behavior problems among kindergarten children of alcoholic families: role of parenting and children's self-regulation.

The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model predicting children's externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten in a sample of children with alcoholic (n = 130) and nonalcoholic (n = 97) parents. The model examined the role of parents' alcohol diagnoses, depression, and antisocial behavior at 12-18 months of child age in predicting parental warmth/sensitivity at 2 years of child age. Parental warmth/sensitivity at 2 years was hypothesized to predict children's self-regulation at 3 years (effortful control and internalization of rules), which in turn was expected to predict externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten. Structural equation modeling was largely supportive of this conceptual model. Fathers' alcohol diagnosis at 12-18 months was associated with lower maternal and paternal warmth/sensitivity at 2 years. Lower maternal warmth/sensitivity was longitudinally predictive of lower child self-regulation at 3 years, which in turn was longitudinally predictive of higher externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten, after controlling for prior behavior problems. There was a direct association between parents' depression and children's externalizing behavior problems. Results indicate that one pathway to higher externalizing behavior problems among children of alcoholics may be via parenting and self-regulation in the toddler to preschool years.

The Effect of Father–Toddler and Mother– Toddler Role Reversal on the Development of Behavior Problems in Kindergarten

AbstractRole reversal is a relationship disturbance in which a parent looks to a child to meet a parent's need for comfort, parenting, intimacy or play, and the child attempts to meet these needs. The current study examined, within a developmental psychopathology framework, the effect of father and mother role reversal with toddlers on the development of attention problems, externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, and social problems in kindergarten. In a normative sample, N=57, role reversal was assessed in an observational paradigm, and teachers rated behavior problems. Father role reversal predicted attention problems and externalizing symptoms, whereas mother role reversal predicted social problems. Gender was an important moderator such that father role reversal predicted social problems for boys and mother role reversal predicted social problems for girls. The importance of a developmental psychopathology perspective, the role of fathers, and implications for the development of diagnosable disorders and for preventive interventions are discussed.

Dose–Response Effect of Mother–Infant Clinical Home Visiting on Aggressive Behavior Problems in Kindergarten

The objective of this follow-up study was to assess the long-term effects of clinical infant home-visiting services on child outcomes at school entry. Participants were 63 five-year-olds from low-income families, half of whom were referred to parent-infant home-visiting services during the first 18 months of life due to concerns about the caretaking environment. Families received between 0 and 18 months of weekly home visits based on infant age at entry into the study. At age 5, children were rated by teachers on the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire for behavior problems in the classroom and by parents both on the Simmons Behavior Checklist for behavior problems at home and on the Achenbach Social Competence Items for positive play behaviors with friends. With initial family risk status and child gender controlled, teacher-rated hostile behavior problems decreased in dose-response relation to the duration of early home-visiting services, which accounted for 15% of the variance in child hostile behavior. Parents' reports of positive play behaviors were positively linearly related to service duration. Parents' reports of behavior problems were less reliably related to service duration than teacher reports. Early home-visiting services reduced the incidence of aggressive behavior problems among socially at-risk children for up to 3.5 years after the end of services.

Father Involvement Moderates the Effect of Maternal Depression During a Child's Infancy on Child Behavior Problems in Kindergarten.

This research investigated whether father involvement in infancy may reduce or exacerbate the well-established adverse effect of maternal depression during a child's infancy on behavior problems in childhood. In a community sample (N = 350), the authors found that fathers' self-reported parenting styles interacted with the amount of time fathers spent caring for their infants to moderate the longitudinal effect of maternal depression during the child's infancy on children's internalizing, but not externalizing, behaviors. Low to medium amounts of high-warmth father involvement and high amounts of medium- or high-control father involvement at this time were associated with lower child internalizing behaviors. Paternal depression during a child's infancy exacerbated the effect of maternal depression, but this moderating effect was limited to depressed fathers spending medium to high amounts of time caring for their infants. Results emphasize the moderating role fathers may play in reducing or exacerbating the adverse long-term effects of maternal depression during a child's infancy on later child behavior problems.

Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children's school outcomes through eighth grade.

This study followed a sample of 179 children from kindergarten through eighth grade to examine the extent to which kindergarten teachers' perceptions of their relationships with students predict a range of school outcomes. Kindergarten teachers rated children's behavior and the quality of the teacher-child relationship. Follow-up data from first through eighth grade were organized by epoch and included academic grades, standardized test scores, work-habit ratings, and discipline records. Relational Negativity in kindergarten, marked by conflict and dependency, was related to academic and behavioral outcomes through eighth grade, particularly for children with high levels of behavior problems in kindergarten and for boys generally. These associations remained significant after controlling for gender, ethnicity, cognitive ability, and behavior ratings. The results have implications for theories of the determinants of school success, the role of adult-child relationships in development, and a range of early intervention and prevention efforts.

Longitudinal Patterns of Heart Rate and Fighting Behavior in 9− through 12-Year-Old Boys

To assess the temporal stability of heart rate and to examine its relationship with fighting behavior. Heart rate at ages 9 through 12 was compared to a composite measure of fighting behavior in three cohorts of low socioeconomic status boys (n = 138; two cohorts of boys who had been rated as having disruptive behavior problems in kindergarten and one normative cohort) while controlling for body size, pubertal status, and level of family adversity. Heart rate showed moderate stability at 1- and 2-year intervals in two of the three cohorts. The composite fighting score was related to heart rate for 11-year-old boys in the normative cohort and 12-year-old boys in one of the disruptive cohorts. These data support the conclusion that there is a relationship between heart rate and aggression even within a low socioeconomic status sample.

Revised Behavior Problem Checklist: Stability, prevalence, and incidence of behavior problems in kindergarten and first-grade children.

Multiple teacher ratings on the 6 scales of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist (RBPC) were obtained on 2 cohorts of children in kindergarten and Grade 1. Results were compared to those previously obtained with the RBPC and other types of assessments

Revised Behavior Problem Checklist: Stability, prevalence, and incidence of behavior problems in kindergarten and first-grade children.

Revised Behavior Problem Checklist: Stability, prevalence, and incidence of behavior problems in kindergarten and first-grade children.