Children's Self-regulation Skills Research Articles

The Relationship Between Preschool Children's Self-Regulation Skills and Their Mothers' Parental Attitudes

The present study aimed to determine the link between self-regulation skills of pre-school children and mothers’ attitudes towards parenting. The research was performed with 392 mothers living in Hatay/Turkey with children aged 4-6. The data were collected using “The Self-Regulation Skills Scale for 4-6 year-old Children” and “The Parental Attitude Scale-Mother Form”. The results indicate that girls have higher attention and behavioral regulation skills compared to boys. While children’s working memory varies by age, it was seen that the order of birth did not change self-regulation scores. Parental attitudes are more negative among mothers aged 40 and over than those of younger ones, and mothers who completed primary education have lower levels of efficacy perceptions and show less affection to their children compared with high school and higher education graduates. A moderate positive correlation was discovered between the self-regulation skills of children and mothers’ parental attitudes. The results are discussed within the scope of the related literature and recommendations are offered.

Maternal sensitivity in early childhood and body mass index in adolescence: A population-based study on the role of self-regulation as a mediator

Maternal sensitivity has been implicated in various aspects of child health and development, including overweight. However, long-term effects, the role of paternal sensitivity and the explanatory pathways are unclear. This study examined whether maternal sensitivity in early childhood is prospectively associated with adolescent body mass index and whether children's self-regulation mediates this relation. Data from 540 children and their mothers were available from a large cohort study in the Netherlands. Maternal sensitivity was assessed at child ages 1, 3, and at 4 years paternal sensitivity was also included. Children's self-regulation skills were observed at age 3, eating behaviour was assessed at 10 years, and child BMI was measured at 13 years. Longitudinal structural equation modelling was applied. The cross-sectional association between maternal sensitivity and child self-regulation was significant, while lower levels of self-regulation and higher levels of food responsiveness and restrained eating predicted a higher child BMI at 13 years. Furthermore, a direct association of paternal sensitivity at 4 years with BMI at 13 years was found, but only in girls. Maternal sensitivity was not directly associated with child BMI after adjusting for covariates. Our findings showed the importance of self-regulation in the early years for subsequent weight development. Nevertheless, as self-regulation could not explain the relationship between parenting and child weight, research should focus on the contribution of other contextual factors, such as feeding styles and the social environment, to this relationship.

Time spent playing predicts early reading and math skills through associations with self-regulation

Children's play time has declined in recent decades, which could negatively impact early self-regulation—a vital component of school readiness. To date, studies have not fully explored how the time spent playing relates to children's self-regulatory skills, and in turn, their early reading and math competencies. Using data from time diaries and direct assessments of self-regulation, prereading, and math skills, this study examined how minutes spent playing at home predict these skills in a sample of 128 children followed from age four to five. Additionally, it considered whether self-regulation explained links between play time and prereading and math. Results showed that the time spent playing positively related to children's self-regulation. Moreover, through its association with self-regulation, play time had indirect effects on prereading and math skills measured one year later. Results suggest that fostering opportunities for play time during the preschool years may help to boost school readiness skills.

The Role of Preschool Dosage and Quality in Children's Self-Regulation Development.

The present study examined how the dosage and quality of the federal preschool program "Head Start" (HS) in the US related to children's self-regulation skills in kindergarten. Using Propensity Score Matching and multiple regression (OLS), this study explored how the number of years and hours a week of HS were related to self-regulation among 2,383 children, who entered the program either at 3 or 4years old. An additional year in HS was significantly positively associated with self-regulation in kindergarten, while the number of hours a week in HS was not. However, the quality of teacher-child interactions moderated the relation between hours a week in HS and self-regulation. Findings contribute to the growing body of evidence about how dosage and quality of early childhood education experiences relate to children's development.

4-6 YAŞ ÇOCUKLARIN ÖZ DÜZENLEME BECERİLERİ İLE ANNE TUTUMLARI ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİNİN İNCELENMESİ

Bu araştırmanın amacı belirlenen demografik özelliklerin (çocuk yaş, cinsiyet, kardeş sayısı, anne eğitim durumu) ve anne tutumlarının çocukların öz düzenleme becerileri üzerine etkisini incelemektir. Araştırma, nicel araştırma yaklaşımında, korelasyonel araştırma modelindedir. Çalışma grubunu 279 anne oluşturmaktadır. Veriler internet ortamında, ‘Dört-Altı Yaş Çocuklarına Yönelik Öz-Düzenleme Becerileri Ölçeği’ ve “Hamel Anne Tutum Ölçeği” kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Verilerin analizi yapılırken T testi, anova ve korelasyon analizi kullanılmıştır. Bulgulara göre, kardeş sayısı, anne eğitim seviyesi, anne tutumları ve öz düzenleme becerileri arasında anlamlı ilişki olduğu görülmektedir. Anne tutumunu etkileyen faktörlere bakıldığında; çocuk cinsiyeti, yaşı, kardeş sayısı ve anne eğitim seviyesinin anlamlı değişikliğe sebep olduğu bulunmuştur. Çocuğun cinsiyeti, yaşı ve öz düzenleme becerileri arasında anlamlı bir ilişki bulunamamıştır.

Learning to let go: Parental over-engagement predicts poorer self-regulation in kindergartners.

Responsive parenting and parental scaffolding have been shown to foster executive functions (EFs) and self-regulation skills in young children, but could too much parental directive engagement be counterproductive? To answer this question, we examined parental responses when children were demonstrating active on-task behaviors in a community sample of 102 dyads. We measured the time that parents spend actively guiding children's behavior relative to following the child's lead and created a measure of parental over-engagement to index the degree of active parental engagement via positive control/scaffolding behaviors. We hypothesized that parental over-engagement would negatively relate to children's self-regulation and EF skills because it creates fewer opportunities for children to practice self-regulation by leading dyadic interaction with their parents. We used an innovative State-Space Grid method to capture second-to-second changes in parental and child behaviors during a set of structured tasks. We examined the conceptual overlap of over-engagement with the global ratings of parenting, revealing that parental over-engagement was negatively correlated with global ratings of parental scaffolding and unrelated to global ratings of parental sensitivity. Next, we showed that parental over-engagement predicted lower levels of child hot EFs and observed self-regulation, controlling for age, parent education, family income, and global ratings of parenting. The predictive validity of over-engagement was unique to times when the child was actively engaged and was absent when the child was passively engaged. This study contributes to the discussion of how parents can support the development of self-regulation during the transition to elementary school. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The Premise and Promise of Activation Parenting for Fathers: A Review and Integration of Extant Literature.

Although research on fathers tends to focus on mother-derived conceptualizations of caregiving, such as sensitivity, it has been theorized that fathers play a unique role in opening their children to the world by encouraging exploration and risk-taking. However, extant research on these forms of paternal caregiving is scattered across multiple related but distinct domains, namely rough-and-tumble play, challenging parenting behavior, and the activation relationship. Based on the overlap in theory and operationalizations of these domains, the present review aimed to define and operationalize a new caregiving construct: activation parenting (AP). Fathers who exhibit frequent and high-quality AP behaviors encourage children to take risks, challenge children physically and socioemotionally, and set appropriate limits during stimulating interactions to ensure safety and prevent over-arousal. Using Belsky's (1984) process of parenting model as a foundation, associations between paternal AP and characteristics of the father, his environment, and his child are reviewed, with a focus on early childhood (i.e., ages 0-5years). The present review found some support for paternal AP occurring more frequently, but not necessarily with higher quality, when fathers had children older than one years old. Unexpectedly, the frequency and quality of paternal AP did not differ much by paternal age or indicators of socioeconomic status, or by child age or gender. In line with underlying theories, higher quality paternal AP in early childhood has been found to be associated with children's self-regulation skills and lower levels of internalizing and externalizing problems. Limitations of the current paternal AP literature are discussed and future directions for research, policy, and clinical work are proposed.

INSIGHT responsive parenting intervention effects on child appetite and maternal feeding practices through age 3 years

Expert guidance encourages interventions promoting structure-based practices to establish predictable eating environments in order to foster children's self-regulatory skills. However, few studies have examined whether and how child characteristics may moderate effects of interventions on maternal feeding practices. This analysis aimed to examine the effect of the INSIGHT Responsive Parenting (RP) intervention delivered largely during infancy, on child appetitive traits at 2.5 years and maternal feeding practices at 3 years. Primiparous mother-newborn dyads were randomized to a RP intervention designed for obesity prevention or a safety control intervention. Mothers completed the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire at 2.5 years and the Structure and Control in Parent Feeding Questionnaire at 3 years. T-tests assessed study group differences on child appetitive traits at 2.5 years and maternal feeding practices at age 3. ANCOVA models assessed the effect of study group on parent feeding practices and tested appetitive traits as a moderator. Two hundred thirty-two mother-child dyads completed the trial. Mothers were predominantly white, non-Hispanic, college educated, and married. RP group mothers used more consistent meal routines, and less pressure, food to soothe, and food as reward compared to controls. Child satiety responsiveness moderated the RP intervention effect on maternal use of limiting exposure to unhealthy foods such that the RP intervention was most effective for children at higher levels of satiety responsiveness. Food responsiveness moderated RP intervention effects on maternal use of pressure, such that at lower levels of food responsiveness, control group mothers used more pressure than RP mothers. The INSIGHT RP intervention demonstrated sustained effects on maternal feeding practices through age 3 years, with some intervention effects showing moderation by child appetitive traits.

Mothers Perceptions of the Role of Pre-schools in the Development of Self-regulation Skills in Children

It is considered agreed upon that self-regulation is an important determinant of academic success. Studies suggest that self-regulation begins to develop early in childhood, that is, the pre-school years. This study attempts to find out if mothers of three-year-old children consider it necessary to send their children to preschool and if they consider preschools to be satisfactorily developing their children’s self-regulation skills. Thus, 20 semi-structured qualitative interviews from mothers of preschoolers, belonging to the upper-middle class of Karachi were conducted. Findings indicate that mothers generally deem preschool to be a necessary activity based center for their children, where they could develop trusting relationships with their peers and teachers and learn to regulate their emotions, thereby developing the overall self-regulation skills in them. Interestingly, a major underlying source of this perception is the demographic changes including the prevalence of more nuclear families and the increasing trend of working mothers in Pakistani society

Self-Regulation in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders "SR-MRehab: Un Colegio Emocionante": A Protocol Study.

Self-regulation refers to the ability to control and modulate behavior, and it can include both emotional and cognitive modulation. Children with neurodevelopmental disorders may show difficulties in self-regulation. The main objective of this study is to improve self-regulation skills in children between 6 and 11 years of age with neurodevelopmental disorders. Methodology: A randomized controlled trial will be conducted with the use of “SR-MRehab: Un colegio emocionante”, based on a non-immersive virtual reality system where virtual objects can be managed by children in a natural way using their hands. Children will be recruited from several schools of Granada (Spain) and they will be randomly allocated to two groups. An assessment will be conducted before and after the intervention and 24 weeks after the end of the intervention process. The experimental group will receive the intervention using virtual reality. The control group will receive a standard self-regulation program. Both interventions will be performed once a week for a total of 10 sessions. Changes in self-regulation, as well as the acceptability of technology with the use of SR-MRehab, will be evaluated. The results will be published and will provide evidence regarding the use of this type of intervention in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Trial registration: Registered with code NCT04418921.

Integrating a Self-Regulation Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention in the Classroom

This article seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of an age-specific, manualized self-regulation treatment approach, Self-Regulation Training System (SRTS). SRTS interventions were implemented through waitlist control design over a span of two months to students in fourth grade classes from eight different elementary schools in the Midwestern United States (N = 373). The sample comprised of 52% boys, with an average age of 9.25 (SD = 0.45). A significant increase in average teacher-reported self-regulation scores was observed in both waitlist and experimental groups after the intervention was administered. In addition, students’ problem behaviors increased in the waitlist group when students had not received the intervention and remained stable once students experienced the intervention in both the experimental and waitlist conditions. Overall, the results provide initial evidence that the classroom wide interventions like the SRTS may be helpful in promoting self-regulation skills in children. Interventions such as the SRTS provide a feasible way for schools to promote self-regulation skills and influence problem behaviors in the classroom.

The Investigation of Self-Regulation Skills of Preschoolers According to Their Attachment Styles to Their Mothers and Maternal Parenting Behaviors*

The self-regulations skills are one of the most obvious indi-cators of academic achievement and social competence. For this reason, it is important to determine the variables that affect the development of these skills.  The aim of this research is to examine whether the level of self-regulation skills of 60-72 months old preschool children differ according to their attach-ment styles to their mothers and to investigate the relationship between parenting behaviors of their mothers and self-regulation skills of children. Survey method was used in the study. The sample consists of a total of 172 children, 84 (%49) of them were boys and 88 (%51) of them were girls, who attend different preschools in İstanbul and their mothers and presc-hool teachers. The Self-Regulation Skills Scale, Doll Family Story Completion Test and Parenting Questionnaire were used as data collection tools. The results indicate that self-regulation skill levels of children who are securely attached to their mot-hers are higher than unsecurely attached children. In addition, it was found that there is a negative relation between self-regulation skills of the children and the mothers’obedience expectation. The findings clearly stress the importance of pa-renting quality as direct and indirect indicator of self-regulation skills.

Parental restrictive feeding with Latinx adolescents: Examining the role of adolescent effortful control

The objective of this study was to test if youth effortful control, a general process of self-regulation that is rooted in temperament, uniquely predicts maternal restrictive feeding with Latinx adolescents above and beyond demographic/contextual factors, prior use of restrictive feeding, and common markers of obesity-proneness. The study sample consisted of Latinx fifth and sixth graders and their mothers residing in the Midwestern U.S. (N = 97 dyads). Effortful control, maternal restrictive feeding, demographic/contextual factors, and markers of obesity proneness were measured across two waves of data collection approximately one year apart. Results demonstrated an inverse relation between effortful control and maternal restrictive feeding after controlling for Time 1 demographic/contextual factors, maternal BMI, maternal restrictive feeding, youth BMI z-score, and perceived youth weight. Future directions include testing for the presence of an ironic feedback process such that Latinx mothers' attempts to overcome deficits in their children's self-regulation skills through restrictive feeding may be inadvertently maintaining the problem.

Early student (dis)engagement: Contributions of household chaos, parenting, and self-regulatory skills.

Previous studies suggest that the roots of school dropout (a) can be established early in life, (b) are likely to involve multilevel factors (home, child, classroom) operating prior to and during the elementary school years, and (c) can be identified by 3rd grade. The decision to drop out of school is thus a dynamic developmental process that can begin with disengagement in elementary school. Yet few studies have examined the multilevel factors that might contribute to children's early disengagement from school. In the present study, we examined associations between household chaos (i.e., disorganization and instability) from birth to age 5 and student (dis)engagement in third grade. We also examined positive parenting in early childhood (6-60 months) and child self-regulatory skills at kindergarten as potential mediators in this pathway. Participants were 1,097 children who participated in the Family Life Project, a longitudinal study of the development of children living in underresourced high poverty rural areas. Study questions were addressed using structural equation models. Results indicated that, even after taking into account a considerable number of covariates, early positive parenting and children's self-regulatory skills were viable process mechanisms through which early household disorganization, but not instability, was linked to student (dis)engagement in third grade. Findings are discussed with respect to the multilevel proximal forces at play in children's risk for early disengagement from school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Unraveling the Association between Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury and Social Dysfunction: The Mediating Role of Self-Regulation.

Social dysfunction is a common and disabling outcome of childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, the mechanisms that link early brain injury to impaired social behavior are unclear. This longitudinal prospective study involved 129 children, including 86 children with TBI (53 mild, 33 moderate-severe TBI) and 43 age-matched typically developing control (TDC) children. Children with TBI were recruited via consecutive admissions to the emergency department of the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne Australia. At 6 months post-injury, all participants were assessed on measures of intellectual functioning, and parents provided ratings of children's self-regulation skills using gold standard measures of everyday executive function. At 12-month follow up, parents rated children's social adjustment using standardized measures of social skills, communication, and behavior. As expected, children with moderate-severe TBI were rated by parents as having greater self-regulation problems, worse social skills, and poorer communication than the mild TBI and TDC groups. In mediation models, greater self-regulation problems at 6 months post-injury were predictive of poorer social skills and worse overall social adjustment at 12-month follow-up. Moreover, self-regulation skills mediated the effect of moderate-severe TBI, but not mild TBI, on social skills and overall social adjustment. Our findings show that, while impaired social adjustment is common at 12 months following moderate-severe child TBI, the impact of TBI on these outcomes is likely mediated by its effect on self-regulation skills. Evidence for robust prospective associations between self-regulation deficits and later social adjustment difficulties have implications for early identification of children at high risk for chronic social problems.

The roles of social mastery motivation and parental response in preschoolers’ vocabulary knowledge and self-regulation

ABSTRACT Social mastery motivation and parental response are important correlates of children's vocabulary and self-regulation skills, but little research has examined their relationships collectively. This study investigated the direct relationships among social mastery motivation (active interaction and positive affect frequencies), parental response, and self-regulation skills and the indirect relationships via vocabulary knowledge. Participants were 182 Hong Kong children (83 girls, mean age 3.82) and their parents. Path analysis revealed that active interaction frequency had direct negative (in boys) and marginal indirect positive relationships (via vocabulary knowledge, in girls) with self-regulation, whereas positive affect frequency was indirectly related to boys’ self-regulation through expressive vocabulary. Parental response was positively related to self-regulation and marginally to social mastery motivation in boys only. Findings highlight that different aspects of social mastery motivation may relate to boys’ and girls’ vocabulary and self-regulation skills, and that parental response may particularly shape boys’ social mastery motivation and self-regulation.

Investigating pre-school children's self-regulation skills in terms of various variables in Northern Cyprus

The purpose of this study is to examine the self-regulation skills of kindergarten children in terms of various variables. The study was conducted in two different kindergarten institutions in Nicosia and Girne District of Cyprus; 122 children aged 48-72 months and their parents (mother or father). In order to measure the participant children’s self-regulation skills, Pre-School Self-Regulation Scale adapted to Turkish was used. Socio-demographic information of the children and the parents participating in the study were determined using the Personal Information Form, which consists of 5 optional questions prepared by the researchers. In the study, it was seen that the scores of the attention/impulse subscale and total scale score of the girls were significantly higher than the boys. No statistically significant difference according to the gender is found in the positive emotional subscale. There was no significant difference in the children's self-regulation skills scores in terms of parental education level, total income status of the family and the number of children in the family. This study, which was conducted for the first time to determine the self-regulatory skills of the children in pre-schools of North Cyprus and the variables affecting these skills, will contribute to the similar work in the future and educational arrangements for education system of North Cyprus.

Self-regulation mitigates the association between household chaos and children's behavior problems

Given the potential negative effects that early childhood behavioral problems have on later development, it is important to elucidate risk and protective factors. This study examined household chaos as a predictor of externalizing and internalizing problems among young children from low-income families. Additionally, self-regulation was examined as a moderator of the association between chaos and behavior problems. One hundred young adult mother-toddler dyads participated. Moderation analyses indicated that self-regulation buffered the association between household chaos and child behavior problems. Specifically, greater household chaos was associated with more behavior problems, but only among children with poorer self-regulation. Notably, this pattern was observed for both externalizing and internalizing problems. These findings suggest that early interventions targeting young children's self-regulation skills could help prevent behavior problems among children living in chaotic home environments.

Associations between physical activity, positive affect, and self-regulation during preschoolers' everyday lives

ObjectivePrevious research on the beneficial effects of physical activity mostly focused on adult samples, although daily physical activity engagement is crucial for children's healthy development. The current study examines associations between preschool-aged children's physical activity, positive affect, and self-regulation during their everyday lives. Both direct and indirect associations between physical activity, positive affect, and self-regulation were investigated. MethodsFor seven consecutive days, 98 children aged four to six years wore a tri-axial accelerometer (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) to assess their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). During this week, parents rated their children's daily positive affect and self-regulation every evening either by an online questionnaire or via a phone interview. ResultsA multilevel structural equation model revealed direct positive associations between daily MVPA and positive affect (within-person level) and between positive affect and self-regulation (within- and between-person levels). There were no direct positive associations between MVPA and self-regulation (within- and between-person level); at the within-person level, a small, unexpected negative association between MVPA and emotional self-regulation was found. MVPA and self-regulation were indirectly related through positive affect on a daily basis. ConclusionsEngaging in more MVPA than usual on a given day was positively associated with preschoolers' daily positive affect, which was associated with higher daily self-regulation levels. Whereas physical activity seems to have short-term associations on a daily basis, positive affect seems to facilitate children's self-regulation skills both intra- and inter-individually.

Early Bilingualism Through the Looking Glass: Latino Preschool Children's Language and Self-Regulation Skills

ABSTRACTDuring the early years, children's language skills are developing rapidly. For bilingual children, the development of both languages is highly sensitive to environmental input. Thus, capturing bilingualism in the early years poses a great challenge for researchers, especially those interested in examining how bilingualism might relate to other developmental areas, such as self-regulation. Traditionally, child development researchers have operationalized bilingualism as a categorical variable, most often relying on the use of self-reported data. In the present study, we compared various ways of capturing childhood bilingualism and demonstrated how these different measures privileged divergent aspects of children's bilingual experience, as well as how they were differentially related to children's self-regulation skills.