Predicting individual differences in low-income children's executive control from early to middle childhood

Executive Function and Narrative Language Abilities in Emergent Bilingual Preschoolers: An Exploratory Study

PURPOSE

In light of the importance of preschool oral narrative skills as precursors to literacy, this exploratory study examined expressive language skills among emergent bilingual Latine preschoolers using a naturalistic personal narrative task. To understand the factors that support language use in the personal narrative context for this population, we examined the contribution of children's executive function (EF) skills to their narrative language abilities.

METHOD

Children completed two subtests from the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment to measure EF and produced two personal narratives in response to conversational prompts. A series of linear regressions were used to evaluate the relation between children's EF skills and their narrative production ability, narrative organization, and expressive language skills derived from automated analyses of narrative samples.

RESULTS

EF was found to predict children's ability to produce a personal narrative but not the language skills children demonstrated in these narratives.

CONCLUSIONS

The current findings suggest that EF is implicated in emergent bilingual Latine children's narrative abilities. At the preschool age, the contribution of EF to narrative language production is apparent in the global task of producing a narrative, rather than in the organizational or linguistic features of the narrative. As such, supporting both EF and narrative skills might be an important means of facilitating preliteracy among bilingual children.

Effects of North Carolina's Pre-Kindergarten Program at the End of Kindergarten: Contributions of School-Wide Quality

The positive effects of pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programming may be enhanced in later grades for children who subsequently experience high-quality educational environments in elementary school. The current study tested this hypothesis in relation to the effects of North Carolina's NC Pre-K program on child outcomes at the end of kindergarten, including language, literacy, mathematics, and working memory. Measures of elementary school quality were examined as moderators of the NC Pre-K effects, including school-wide academic proficiency and school-wide growth in academic achievement. We found no reliable effects of NC Pre-K participation for children attending elementary schools with average levels of quality. However, the positive effects of NC Pre-K participation on language and working memory skills were evident for children attending elementary schools with higher levels of academic proficiency and academic growth, respectively. No evidence of moderation was found in relation to literacy and mathematics skills.

Child maltreatment, cognitive functions and the mediating role of mental health problems among maltreated children and adolescents in Uganda

BACKGROUND

Child maltreatment poses high risks to the mental health and cognitive functioning of children not only in childhood but also in later life. However, it remains unclear whether child maltreatment is directly associated with impaired cognitive functioning or whether this link is mediated by mental health problems. Our study aimed at examining this research question among children and adolescents in Uganda.

METHODS

A sample of 232 school-going children and adolescents with a mean age of 14.03 (SD = 3.25) was assessed on multiple forms of maltreatment using the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology Exposure-Pediatric Version (pediMACE). Executive functions were assessed by the Tower of London task and working memory by the Corsi Block Tapping task, while mental health problems were assessed using the Child PTSD Symptom Scale for PTSD and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC).

RESULTS

In total, 232 (100%) of the participant reported to have experienced at least one type of maltreatment in their lifetime including emotional, physical, and sexual violence as well as neglect. We found a negative association between child maltreatment and executive functions (β = - 0.487, p < 0.001) and working memory (β = - 0.242, p = 0.001). Mental health problems did not mediate this relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

Child maltreatment seems to be related to lower working memory and executive functioning of affected children and adolescents even after controlling for potential cofounders. Our study indicates that child maltreatment the affects children's cognitive functionality beyond health and well-being.

Home Language Environment and Executive Functions in Mexican American and Chinese American Preschoolers in Head Start

Research Findings

Using two groups of dual language learners (DLLs), the current study examined links between two developmental constructs closely linked to school readiness: the home language environment (HLE) and executive function (EF). In a sample of 90 children (age range = 38-70 months, 59% girls) from either Mexican American (MA, N = 46) or Chinese American (CA, N = 44) low-income families enrolled in Head Start preschool programs, parents reported on their HLE (home language balance, home English/heritage language activities) and children's EF (inhibitory control and attention shifting) was measured by cognitive tasks. Findings showed preschool-aged DLLs in low-income immigrant families received more heritage language exposure relative to English language exposure at home. Several demographic variables (parental education, per capita income, DLL group, child age of English acquisition, child generation, child English receptive vocabulary) were related to various aspects of HLE. Controlling for covariates, the amount of heritage language activities at home was uniquely and positively related to children's attention shifting.

Practice or Policy

The findings underscore the importance of incorporating language background considerations when designing intervention programs that target HLE and EF in low-income DLLs.

Social Emotional Learning Program Boosts Early Social and Behavioral Skills in Low-Income Urban Children

Social emotional learning (SEL) programs are increasingly being implemented in elementary schools to facilitate development of social competencies, decision-making skills, empathy, and emotion regulation and, in effect, prevent poor outcomes such as school failure, conduct problems, and eventual substance abuse. SEL programs are designed to foster these abilities in children with a wide range of behavioral, social, and learning needs in the classroom, including children who are economically disadvantaged. In a previous study of kindergartners residing in a high-poverty community (N = 327 at baseline), we observed significant behavioral improvements in children receiving an SEL program-The PATHS® curriculum (PATHS)-relative to an active control condition within one school year. The present investigation sought to determine whether these improvements were sustained over the course of two school years with intervention and an additional year when intervention was no longer provided. Further, using multilevel models, we examined whether baseline measures of neurocognition and stress physiology-known to be adversely impacted by poverty-moderated heterogeneous outcomes. Finally, a preliminary linear regression analysis explored whether neurocognition and physiological stress reactivity (heart rate variability, HRV) predict change in outcomes postintervention. Results confirmed that students who received PATHS sustained significant behavioral improvements over time. These effects occurred for the full sample, irrespective of putative baseline moderators, suggesting that children in high-risk environments may benefit from SEL interventions irrespective of baseline cognitive functioning as a function of overall substantial need. Of interest is that our exploratory analysis of change from waves three to four after the intervention concluded brought to light possible moderation by baseline physiology. Should subsequent studies confirm this finding, one plausible explanation may be that, when an intervention providing protective effects is withdrawn, children with higher HRV may not be able to regulate physiological stress responses to environmental challenges, leading to an uptick in maladaptive behaviors. In reverse, children with lower HRV-generally associated with poorer emotion regulation-may incur relatively greater gains in behavioral improvement due to lesser sensitivity to the environment, enabling them to continue to accrue benefits. Results are discussed in the context of possible pathways that may be relevant to understanding the special needs of children reared in very low-income, high-stress neighborhoods.

The Mediating Effect of Self-Regulation in the Association Between Poverty and Child Weight: A Systematic Review

Deficits in self-regulation (SR) have been proposed as a potential contributor to child overweight/obesity, a public health concern that disproportionately affects children living in poverty. Although poverty is known to influence SR, SR has not been considered as a potential mechanism in the association between poverty and child obesity. The aim of the current paper was to systematically review the current literature to determine whether SR is a viable mechanism in the relationship between child exposure to poverty and later risk of overweight/obesity. We systematically review and summarize literature in three related areas with the aim of generating a developmentally informed model that accounts for the consistent association between poverty and child weight, specifically how: (1) poverty relates to child weight, (2) poverty relates to child SR, and (3) SR is associated with weight. To quantify the strength of associations for each pathway, effect sizes were collected and aggregated. Findings from the studies included suggest small but potentially meaningful associations between poverty and child SR and between SR and child weight. The conceptualization and measurement of SR, however, varied across literature studies and made it difficult to determine whether SR can feasibly connect poverty to child obesity. Although SR may be a promising potential target for obesity intervention for low-income children, additional research on how SR affects risk of obesity is crucial, especially based on the lack of success of the limited number of SR-promoting interventions for improving children's weight outcomes.

Roles of Executive Functioning and Language in Developing Low-Income Preschoolers' Behavior and Emotion Regulation

Young children's regulation of their behaviors and emotions is a foundational skill that undergirds learning, academic achievement, and social competence (Bierman & Erath, 2006; McClelland et al., 2018). Executive functioning (EF) and language are two cognitive skillsets that facilitate behavior and emotion regulation (Blair & Ursache, 2011; Cole, Armstrong, & Pemberton, 2010). What is not yet fully understood is how these two skillsets may work together to promote these regulatory skills. The present study investigated the independent and interactive contributions of EF and language skills at preschool entry to the development of behavior and emotion regulation across the year in a primarily low-income sample. Results indicated that language at preschool entry was associated with children's emotion regulation development during preschool, especially for children who entered preschool with low EF. As such, incorporating language-promoting activities into early childhood interventions designed to facilitate emotion regulation may enhance efficacy, particularly for children at risk for later emotional, academic, and behavioral difficulties due to low emerging EF skills. Unexpectedly, language was not associated with behavior regulation, and EF was not independently linked to behavior or emotion regulation in this sample.

An Applied Contextual Model for Promoting Self-Regulation Enactment Across Development: Implications for Prevention, Public Health and Future Research

This theoretical paper presents a public health approach for promoting self-regulation across development that is based in cross-disciplinary theory and research. The self-regulation promotion model includes three key approaches that are each dependent on the relationship that children and youth have with caregivers: teaching self-regulation skills, building supportive environments, and providing co-regulation. This model extends the science of self-regulation insofar as it: (1) focuses on promoting wellbeing (not only reducing risks) across domains of functioning, (2) addresses self-regulation intervention across childhood and through young adulthood, (3) integrates multiple theories and applies them to intervention in meaningful ways, and (4) identifies specific strategies that can be used in natural developmental contexts and that address the social ecological environment as well as the individual child. We describe seven key principles that support the model including a description of self-regulation processes and implications for promoting self-regulation at each developmental stage. We end with broad implications for intervention, highlighting the relevance of the self-regulation promotion model for practitioners, policy makers, and prevention researchers.

Self-Regulation in Early and Middle Childhood as a Precursor to Social Adjustment Among Low-Income, Ethnic Minority Children

Although existing research has shed much light on the development of ethnic minority children, many studies focus on maladjustment, such as behavioral problems, without also speaking to positive experiences in children's lives, such as friendship. An aspect of development that predicts both positive and negative outcomes for children is self-regulation. The present study investigates precursors and sequelae of self-regulation in middle childhood among low-income, ethnic minority children. The four self-regulatory constructs examined in the current study include low-level executive function (EF; e.g., working memory), high-level EF (e.g., planning), effortful control (EC; e.g., delay of gratification), and impulsivity (e.g., does not think before doing). EC in preschool was related to high-level EF and impulsivity in elementary school. High-level EF explained positive and negative aspects of social development during middle childhood. Additionally, self-regulation during elementary school played a mediating role between EC in preschool and social development in middle childhood.

Working memory moderates the association between early institutional care and separation anxiety symptoms in late childhood and adolescence

Adverse caregiving, for example, previous institutionalization (PI), is often associated with emotion dysregulation that increases anxiety risk. However, the concept of developmental multifinality predicts heterogeneity in anxiety outcomes. Despite this well-known heterogeneity, more work is needed to identify sources of this heterogeneity and how these sources interact with environmental risk to influence mental health. Here, working memory (WM) was examined during late childhood/adolescence as an intra-individual factor to mitigate the risk for separation anxiety, which is particularly susceptible to caregiving adversities. A modified "object-in-place" task was administered to 110 youths (10-17 years old), with or without a history of PI. The PI youths had elevated separation anxiety scores, which were anticorrelated with morning cortisol levels, yet there were no group differences in WM. PI youths showed significant heterogeneity in separation anxiety symptoms and morning cortisol levels, and WM moderated the link between caregiving and separation anxiety and mediated the association between separation anxiety and morning cortisol in PI youth. Findings suggest that (a) institutional care exerts divergent developmental consequences on separation anxiety versus WM, (b) WM interacts with adversity-related emotion dysregulation, and (c) WM may be a therapeutic target for separation anxiety following early caregiving adversity.

School climate is associated with cortical thickness and executive function in children and adolescents

A positive school climate has been found to support mental and physical health, academic achievement and social adjustment among youth. However, links between school climate and brain structure have not been investigated to date. In this study, we investigated whether school climate was associated with executive function (EF) and brain structure (cortical thickness and surface area) in children and adolescents. We further examined whether these links varied as a function of socioeconomic background. Participants who ranged from 9 to 18 years of age (N = 108) completed EF tasks and a high-resolution, 3-Tesla, T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Overall school climate, academic support, and family socioeconomic background were assessed using questionnaires. Higher academic support was associated with greater EF task performance and increased global cortical thickness. Additionally, academic support moderated the association between family income and EF, such that children from lower income families performed similarly to their more advantaged peers on EF tasks in the context of positive academic support. This work is the first to link school climate to brain structure and contributes to the growing body of evidence suggesting that academic support may be an important protective factor in the context of socioeconomic disadvantage.

Investigating the Impact of a Musical Intervention on Preschool Children's Executive Function

The impact of music interventions on the cognitive skills of young children has become the focus of a growing number of research studies in recent years. This study investigated the effect of weekly musicianship training on the executive function abilities of 3-to-4-year-old children at a London, United Kingdom preschool, using a two-phase experimental design. In Phase 1, 14 children (Group A) took part in eight weekly musicianship classes, provided by a specialist music teacher, while 25 children (Groups B and C combined) engaged in nursery free play. Results of this Phase showed Group A to have improved on two measures relating to planning and inhibition skills. During Phase 2, Group A continued with music classes, while Group B began music classes for the first time and Group C took part in an art intervention. Repeated measures ANOVA found no significant difference in performance improvement between the three participant groups during phase 2; however, the performance difference between groups was nearing significance for the peg tapping task (p = 0.06). The findings from this study contribute to current debates about the potential cognitive benefit of musical interventions, including important issues regarding intervention duration, experimental design, target age groups, executive function testing, and task novelty.

Behavioral Self-Regulation, Early Academic Achievement, and the Effectiveness of Urban Schools for Low-Income Ethnic Minority Children

The independent and joint associations between child behavioral self-regulation ability and school effectiveness in relation to academic achievement were examined in a sample of low-income African American (n = 132) and Latino (n = 198) children attending kindergarten and first grade across a large metropolitan area. Child behavioral self-regulation and school effectiveness were positively associated with both reading and mathematics performance. School effectiveness moderated the effect of behavioral self-regulation on reading but not math achievement. Lower child behavioral self-regulation during early elementary school was associated with lower reading achievement the following year but only among children attending less effective schools. Behavioral self-regulation was not related to reading achievement among children attending more effective schools. Implications of these findings for policies addressing disparities in early academic achievement are discussed.

A meta-analysis of the relationship between socioeconomic status and executive function performance among children

The relationship between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and executive function (EF) has recently attracted attention within psychology, following reports of substantial SES disparities in children's EF. Adding to the importance of this relationship, EF has been proposed as a mediator of socioeconomic disparities in lifelong achievement and health. However, evidence about the relationship between childhood SES and EF is mixed, and there has been no systematic attempt to evaluate this relationship across studies. This meta-analysis systematically reviewed the literature for studies in which samples of children varying in SES were evaluated on EF, including studies with and without primary hypotheses about SES. The analysis included 8760 children between the ages of 2 and 18 gathered from 25 independent samples. Analyses showed a small but statistically significant correlation between SES and EF across all studies (rrandom  = .16, 95% CI [.12, .21]) without correcting for attenuation owing to range restriction or measurement unreliability. Substantial heterogeneity was observed among studies, and a number of factors, including the amount of SES variability in the sample and the number of EF measures used, emerged as moderators. Using only the 15 studies with meaningful SES variability in the sample, the average correlation between SES and EF was small-to-medium in size (rrandom  = .22, 95% CI [.17, .27]). Using only the six studies with multiple measures of EF, the relationship was medium in size (rrandom  = .28, 95% CI [.18, .37]). In sum, this meta-analysis supports the presence of SES disparities in EF and suggests that they are between small and medium in size, depending on the methods used to measure them.

Classifying trajectories of social-emotional difficulties through elementary school: Impacts of the Chicago school readiness project

Although research has shown fade-out of the cognitive benefits of classroom-based preschool interventions, less is known regarding the durability of social-emotional impacts. This study examines the extent to which the multicomponent Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP) intervention lowered risk of internalizing, externalizing, attention, and social difficulties from Head Start through elementary school for 602 low-income children. Results suggest that most children in this sample showed few social-emotional difficulties over time. However, one quarter of the sample exhibited profiles of transitory or building difficulties over six years. Random assignment to the CSRP preschool intervention significantly reduced children's odds of transitory attention and social difficulties in middle childhood, with preliminary evidence suggesting stronger impacts for children attending elementary schools characterized by low academic rigor and high neighborhood crime. CSRP was not found to be effective in preventing more robust, increasing forms of difficulty in the externalizing and attention domains. Implications for early childhood intervention and policy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Preschool Intervention Can Promote Sustained Growth in the Executive-Function Skills of Children Exhibiting Early Deficits

This study examined the effects of the Head Start Research-Based, Developmentally Informed (REDI) preschool intervention on growth in children's executive-function (EF) skills from preschool through third grade. Across 25 Head Start centers, each of 44 classrooms was randomly assigned either to an intervention group, which received enhanced social-emotional and language-literacy components, or to a "usual-practice" control group. Four-year-old children ( N = 356; 25% African American, 17% Latino, 58% European American; 54% girls) were followed for 5 years, and EF skills were assessed annually. Latent-class growth analysis identified high, moderate, and low developmental EF trajectories. For children with low EF trajectories, the intervention improved EF scores in third grade significantly more ( d = 0.58) than in the control group. Children who received the intervention also demonstrated better academic outcomes in third grade than children who did not. Poverty often delays EF development; enriching the Head Start program with an evidence-based curriculum and teaching strategies can reduce early deficits and thereby facilitate school success.

Developmental associations between bilingual experience and inhibitory control trajectories in Head Start children

Children from lower socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds tend to be at-risk for executive function (EF) impairments by the time they are in preschool, placing them at an early disadvantage for academic success. The present study examined the potentially protective role of bilingual experience on the development of inhibitory control (IC) in 1146 Head Start preschoolers who were followed for an 18-month period during the transition to kindergarten as part of the longitudinal Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2009 study. Using three waves of data, we predicted individual variation in developmental trajectories of IC for three groups that differed in bilingual experience-English monolinguals, Spanish-English bilinguals, and a group of children who transitioned from being Spanish monolingual to Spanish-English bilinguals during the course of the study. Compared to their English monolingual peers, bilingual children from Spanish-speaking homes showed higher IC performance at Head Start entry, as well as steeper IC growth over time. Children who were Spanish monolingual at the beginning of Head Start showed the lowest IC performance at baseline. However, their rate of IC growth exceeded that of children who remained English monolingual and did not differ from that of their peers who entered Head Start being bilingual. These results suggest that acquiring bilingualism and continued bilingual experience are associated with more rapid IC development during the transition from preschool to kindergarten in children from lower SES backgrounds.

Profiles of Kindergarten Classroom and Elementary School Contexts: Associations with the First-Grade Outcomes of Children Transitioning from Head Start

Poor quality classroom and school contexts may impede the academic and behavioral adjustment of low-income students when they transition into kindergarten. Several studies have examined the impact of teacher-student interactions on student progress, whereas others have explored the impact of school-level adversity (e.g., student poverty, school achievement levels). Expanding on prior findings, this study used latent profile analysis to characterize kindergarten contexts in terms of both classroom teacher-student interaction quality and school-level adversity. Following 164 children longitudinally and accounting for functioning in Head Start prior to kindergarten entry, associations between kindergarten context profiles and first grade outcomes revealed that children who experienced dual-risk contexts in kindergarten (classrooms with poor quality teacher-student interactions in schools with high levels of adversity) demonstrated the greatest aggression and social difficulties in first grade. Associations between kindergarten context profiles and first grade academic outcomes were less clear.

Multiple adverse experiences and child cognitive development

During childhood and adolescence, children's social environments shape their cognitive development. Children exposed to multiple adversities in their social environment are more likely to have poorer cognitive outcomes. These findings have prompted interest among pediatric and public health communities to screen and connect youth to appropriate interventions that ameliorate the detrimental effects of adverse exposures. Such intervention efforts can be improved with a stronger conceptual understanding of the relationship between multiple adverse exposures and child cognitive development. This includes disentangling adverse exposures from other risk factors or underlying mechanisms, specifying mechanisms of action, and determining when adverse exposures are most detrimental. This review summarizes findings from the literature on each of these areas and proposes a conceptual model to guide further research and intervention.

Does school mobility place elementary school children at risk for lower math achievement? The mediating role of cognitive dysregulation

Children growing up in poverty have a higher likelihood of exposure to multiple forms of adversity that jeopardize their chances of academic success. The current paper identifies school mobility, or changing schools, as 1 such poverty-related risk. Using a sample of low-income, predominantly ethnic-minority children (n = 381) in Chicago, this study tests the hypothesis that repeatedly changing schools during the 5-year period between Head Start (preschool) and third grade is a potent predictor of children's math achievement in fourth grade and that children's cognitive dysregulation serves as a mechanism through which school mobility may negatively affect children's math achievement. Hierarchical linear models controlling for baseline child and family characteristics (including children's early math and dysregulation measured during Head Start) revealed an inverse relation between the number of times low-income children changed schools between preschool and third grade and children's math achievement on state standardized tests in fourth grade. Furthermore, frequently changing schools (3 or 4 school changes over the same time period) was positively associated with teacher-reported cognitive dysregulation in third grade and negatively associated with children's math achievement in fourth grade. Evidence for the role of children's cognitive dysregulation as a partial statistical mediator was found for the relation between frequently changing schools and math achievement, even after accounting for baseline risk. Results are discussed in terms of school policies, practices, and intervention strategies to prevent the disruptive and potentially stressful experiences of school mobility for young, low-income children.

Stronger Working Memory Reduces Sexual Risk Taking in Adolescents, Even After Controlling for Parental Influences

This study examined the prospective influence of adolescent working memory (WM) on changes in impulsivity and sexual risk taking and assessed whether this relation could be explained by confounding effects of parental influences. Data from 360 community adolescents (M_age  = 13.5 ± 0.95 years; 52% female; 56% non-Hispanic White; low-mid socioeconomic status (SES); recruited from Philadelphia area in 2004-2005) were analyzed using structural equation modeling to predict changes in impulsivity and sexual risk taking over a 2-year follow-up, using baseline assessments of WM, parental monitoring, parental involvement, and SES. Stronger WM predicted reduced involvement in sexual risk taking at follow-up, effects channeled through changes in impulsivity dimensions of "acting without thinking" and "inability to delay gratification." Parental variables had a protective influence on adolescent impulsivity and risk involvement, but the effects of WM operated independently of parental influences.

Executive Functioning and School Adjustment: The Mediational Role of Pre-kindergarten Learning-related Behaviors

164 four-year-old children (14% Latino American, 30% African American, 56% European American; 57% girls) in 22 Head Start classrooms were followed through third grade. Growth curve models were used to estimate the predictive associations between pre-kindergarten executive function (EF) skills and trajectories of academic skill development (math, literacy, overall academic functioning) and social-emotional adjustment at school (social competence, aggression), controlling for child sex, race, verbal IQ, and pre-kindergarten baseline scores. Direct developmental pathways were examined, along with indirect pathways, in which the association between preschool EF and elementary school adjustment was mediated by classroom learning behaviors. Preschool EF significantly predicted later math skills, academic functioning, and social competence, and marginally predicted later literacy skills. Preschool learning behaviors fully mediated the association between EF and later literacy skills and social competence, but did not mediate associations between EF and later math skills or academic functioning. Implications for developmental theory and early education are discussed.

Household instability and self-regulation among poor children

Past research suggests that poverty may negatively influence children's psychological and behavioral health by increasing their exposure to chaotic living conditions in the household. The present study provides a descriptive 'snapshot' of instability in low-income households, and examines the associations between exposure to major destabilizing events over the course of a year and three domains of poor urban children's self-regulation. Descriptive analyses suggest that although caregivers from unstable households report higher average levels of health problems and depression, they also have greater assets/savings, are more educated, and are less likely to be immigrants than caregivers from stable households. Results of propensity score-matched regression analyses reveal that high levels of household instability are significantly and negatively associated with preschoolers' effortful control and global attention/impulsivity control, but not with their executive function. Children from mildly unstable homes (i.e., those who had experienced a single destabilizing event in the past year) showed no significant differences in any domain of self-regulation relative to their peers from stable households, suggesting a dose-response relationship between the number of destabilizing events experienced by children and their outcomes. Implications for theories of poverty-related adversity, stress, and parenting are discussed in addition to future directions for research.

Preschool executive functions, single-parent status, and school quality predict diverging trajectories of classroom inattention in elementary school

A sample of 356 children recruited from Head Start (58% European American, 25% African American, and 17% Hispanic; 54% girls; M age = 4.59 years) were followed longitudinally from prekindergarten through fifth grade. Latent profile analyses of teacher-rated inattention from kindergarten through third grade identified four developmental trajectories: stable low (53% of the sample), stable high (11.3%), rising over time (16.4%), and declining over time (19.3%). Children with stable low inattention had the best academic outcomes in fifth grade, and children exhibiting stable high inattention had the worst, with the others in between. Self-regulation difficulties in preschool (poor executive function skills and elevated opposition-aggression) differentiated children with rising versus stable low inattention. Elementary schools characterized by higher achievement differentiated children with declining versus stable high inattention. Boys and children from single-parent families were more likely to remain high or rise in inattention, whereas girls and children from dual-parent families were more likely to remain low or decline in inattention.

Far transfer to language and math of a short software-based gaming intervention

Executive functions (EF) in children can be trained, but it remains unknown whether training-related benefits elicit far transfer to real-life situations. Here, we investigate whether a set of computerized games might yield near and far transfer on an experimental and an active control group of low-SES otherwise typically developing 6-y-olds in a 3-mo pretest-training-posttest design that was ecologically deployed (at school). The intervention elicits transfer to some (but not all) facets of executive function. These changes cascade to real-world measures of school performance. The intervention equalizes academic outcomes across children who regularly attend school and those who do not because of social and familiar circumstances.

Neighborhood crime and school climate as predictors of elementary school academic quality: a cross-lagged panel analysis

Past research has found negative relationships between neighborhood structural disadvantage and students' academic outcomes. Comparatively little work has evaluated the associations between characteristics of neighborhoods and schools themselves. This study explored the longitudinal, reciprocal relationships between neighborhood crime and school-level academic achievement within 500 urban schools. Results revealed that higher neighborhood crime (and particularly violent crime) predicted decreases in school academic achievement across time. School climate emerged as one possible mechanism within this relationship, with higher neighborhood crime predicting decreases in socioemotional learning and safety, but not academic rigor. All three dimensions of school climate were predictive of changes in academic achievement. Although this research supports a primarily unidirectional hypothesis of neighborhoods' impacts on embedded settings, additional work is needed to understand these relationships using additional conceptualizations of neighborhood climate.