Teacher-Evaluated Self-Regulation Is Related to School Achievement and Influenced by Parental Education in Schoolchildren Aged 8-12: A Case-Control Study

Executive functioning, behavior, and white matter microstructure in the chronic phase after pediatric mild traumatic brain injury: results from the adolescent brain cognitive development study

BACKGROUND

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is common in children. Long-term cognitive and behavioral outcomes as well as underlying structural brain alterations following pediatric mTBI have yet to be determined. In addition, the effect of age-at-injury on long-term outcomes is largely unknown.

METHODS

Children with a history of mTBI (n = 406; Mage = 10 years, SDage = 0.63 years) who participated in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were matched (1:2 ratio) with typically developing children (TDC; n = 812) and orthopedic injury (OI) controls (n = 812). Task-based executive functioning, parent-rated executive functioning and emotion-regulation, and self-reported impulsivity were assessed cross-sectionally. Regression models were used to examine the effect of mTBI on these domains. The effect of age-at-injury was assessed by comparing children with their first mTBI at either 0-3, 4-7, or 8-10 years to the respective matched TDC controls. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD), both MRI-based measures of white matter microstructure, were compared between children with mTBI and controls.

RESULTS

Children with a history of mTBI displayed higher parent-rated executive dysfunction, higher impulsivity, and poorer self-regulation compared to both control groups. At closer investigation, these differences to TDC were only present in one respective age-at-injury group. No alterations were found in task-based executive functioning or white matter microstructure.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that everyday executive function, impulsivity, and emotion-regulation are affected years after pediatric mTBI. Outcomes were specific to the age at which the injury occurred, suggesting that functioning is differently affected by pediatric mTBI during vulnerable periods. Groups did not differ in white matter microstructure.

Relationship between learning flow and academic performance among students: a systematic evaluation and meta-analysis

Introduction

The concept of "flow experience," characterized by a state of immersive enjoyment and profound engagement, pertains to individuals' deep involvement in intriguing and pleasant tasks. In the field of study, individuals are in a state of flow when encountering challenging tasks, which matters considerably in completing the tasks. Therefore, learning flow is considered a hotspot in education that may be related to improving academic performance. Nonetheless, there remains contention regarding the extent of learning flow's impact on academic performance. To this end, meta-learning was hereby used to provide evidenced on the relationship between them.

Methods

A systematic review was conducted under the guidance of PRISMA to examine the evidence of learning flow and academic performance, check the potential mechanism and evaluate the current evidence. Clinical research or empirical research on the influence of learning flow on academic achievement was collected by searching four databases. The literature retrieval spanned from each database's inception until June 2023, specifically covering the PubMed (2000-2023.6), Embase (1974-2023.6), Cochrane Library (1993-2023.6), and the Web of Science (1807-2023.6), with particular attention to the period between 2000 and 2023.

Results

Thirteen RCTs were included, the total sample size used in the study was 3,253. Using the NOS evaluation tool of queue study, the average evaluation score of the included literatures was 7.46, indicating that the overall literature was above average. Besides, the data software StataSE was used to test the heterogeneity of the data, and the correlation coefficient and 95% confidence interval effect were found to be 0.43 (0.28, 0.57).

Discussion

Our research indicates a link between learning flow and academic performance, that is, students with high learning flow levels tend to have better academic performance. At the same time, this conclusion needs to be verified by more high-quality literature and larger sample data.

Systematic review registration

https://inplasy.com, identifier INPLASY202360079.

School Achievement in Early Adolescence Is Associated With Students' Self-Perceived Executive Functions

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relation between self-perceived executive functions (EFs) and the school achievement of young adolescents (aged 10-12 years), while controlling for parental education and sex. We specifically focused on executive aspects of daily life behavior and the higher-order EFs, as measured with self-report, rather than on the more basic EFs which have been the primary focus of prior investigations. In two independent samples of sixth graders (N > 200 each), students evaluated their EFs on a self-report questionnaire, the Amsterdam Executive Functioning Inventory. School achievement in the domains of mathematics and reading comprehension were evaluated with nationally used, norm-based achievement tests. Results revealed that the self-perceived EFs of young adolescents were significantly correlated with their school achievement in both study samples. School achievement was also correlated with the level of parental education, but the factor sex did not have such influence. In study 1, self-perceived EFs explained additional variance in school achievement, while controlling for parental education and sex. In study 2, this was only the case for the most robust measure of school achievement, i.e., the end-of-primary-school final achievement test. Furthermore, besides the relation with achievement tests, we also found a relation between self-perceived EFs and teacher ratings behavioral problems in the classroom. Together, our findings imply that young students can properly reflect on the effectiveness and appropriateness of their EFs in a way that is relevant to their academic achievement and classroom behavior. The findings underscore the importance of considering the development of EFs and parental education in the evaluation of academic achievements in early adolescence.

Parents' Perceptions of Student Academic Motivation During the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Cross-Country Comparison

The COVID-19 outbreak has ravaged all societal domains, including education. Home confinement, school closures, and distance learning impacted students, teachers, and parents’ lives worldwide. In this study, we aimed to examine the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on Italian and Portuguese students’ academic motivation as well as investigate the possible buffering role of extracurricular activities. Following a retrospective pretest–posttest design, 567 parents (n_Italy = 173, n_Portugal = 394) reported on their children’s academic motivation and participation in extracurricular activities (grades 1 to 9). We used a multi-group latent change score model to compare Italian and Portuguese students’: (1) pre-COVID mean motivation scores; (2) rate of change in motivation; (3) individual variation in the rate of change in motivation; and (4) dependence of the rate of change on initial motivation scores. Estimates of latent change score models showed a decrease in students’ motivation both in Italy and in Portugal, although more pronounced in Italian students. Results also indicated that the decrease in students’ participation in extracurricular activities was associated with changes in academic motivation (i.e., students with a lower decrease in participation in extracurricular activities had also a lower decrease in motivation). Furthermore, students’ age was significantly associated with changes in motivation (i.e., older students had lower decrease). No significant associations were found for students’ gender nor for parents’ education. This study provides an important contribution to the study of students’ academic motivation during home confinement, school closures, and distance learning as restrictive measures adopted to contain a worldwide health emergency. We contend that teachers need to adopt motivation-enhancing practices as means to prevent the decline in academic motivation during exceptional situations.

One Roof, Three Generations: Grandparental Co-residence and Child Outcomes in China

This study examined the association between grandparental co-residence and child academic and behavioral outcomes using a sample from Shanghai, China (n = 1,763), and was built on two theoretical perspectives: intergenerational solidarity theory and the contextual model of family stress. These models integrate the impact of residential and relational proximity to grandparents on child well-being and underscore the importance of family context. This study also explored the moderating effects of family resources using proxies that prior theoretical and empirical studies have found to be important to such associations: family income, parental education, hukou status, and subjective social status. Results indicated that among families without co-residing grandparents, rural and low-income parents reported their children to have more externalizing behavioral issues than their respective urban and non-low-income counterparts. In addition, children who resided in poorly resourced families (i.e., low family income, low parental education, low subjective social status, or rural hukou status) tended to benefit from living with grandparents compared to their well-resourced counterparts in terms of lower externalizing and internalizing behaviors reported by teachers. These results do not negate the potential beneficial effects of living with grandparents for children in well-resourced environments. Implications for practice and policy, as well as future research directions, are discussed.

Sex differences in self-regulation in early, middle and late adolescence: A large-scale cross-sectional study

This large-scale cross-sectional study had the aim to investigate whether adolescent males and females differ in self-perceived self-regulation. The large sample size allowed us to investigate sex differences in three age-groups of young (n = 161), middle (n = 133) and late (n = 159) adolescents. Self-regulation was evaluated with a self-report questionnaire, the Amsterdam Executive Functioning Inventory (AEFI). This questionnaire gives a proxi for three executive functions that are important for proper self-regulation: (1) self-control & self-monitoring, (2) attention, and (3) planning & initiative taking. Results revealed clear sex differences in the self-regulation as perceived by mid-adolescents (i.e., 13-16 years). In this age period, females evaluated their attention higher than males, and they reported higher levels of self-control & self-monitoring. Our findings offer important new insights with respect to the decision making, academic achievements and behaviour of 13-16-year olds. Self-regulation is known to have a central role in academic achievement and in behavioural organisation. The sex differences in self-regulation in mid-adolescence may therefore explain part of the difference which males and females in this age-group exhibit in academic achievements and behavioural organisations. The results imply that self-regulation may be a relevant intervention target: rather than focussing on changing behaviour, interventions may focus more on self-insights and thereby changing the adolescent's perceptions about their behaviour. Increased self-insight may have the potency to actually change behaviour, which might be an interesting target for future investigation.