Published In
Journal of Educational Psychology
Document Type
Post-Print
Publication Date
7-2018
Subjects
Student adjustment, Academic achievement, Emotions in children -- Effect on educational attainment, Early childhood education -- Psychological aspects
Abstract
The goal of the study was to examine whether target children’s temperamental negative emotional expressivity (NEE) and effortful control in the fall of kindergarten predicted academic adjustment in the spring and whether a classmate’s NEE and effortful control moderated these relations. Target children’s NEE and effortful control were measured in the fall via multiple methods, academic adjustment was measured via reading and math standardized tests in the spring, and observations of engagement in the classroom were conducted throughout the year. In the fall, teachers nominated a peer with whom each target child spent the most time and rated that peer’s temperament. Target children with high effortful control had high reading and math achievement (ps = .04 and < .001, respectively), and children with low NEE increased in engagement during the year (p < .001). Peers’ temperament did not have a direct relation to target children’s academic adjustment. Peers’ NEE, however, moderated the relation between target children’s effortful control, as well as NEE, and changes in engagement (ps = .03 and .05, respectively). Further, peers’ effortful control moderated the relations between target children’s NEE and reading and changes in engagement (ps = .02 and .04, respectively). In each case, target children’s temperament predicted the outcome in expected directions more strongly when peers had low NEE or high effortful control. Results are discussed in terms of how children’s temperamental qualities relate to academic adjustment, and how the relation between NEE and changes in engagement, in particular, depends on peers’ temperament.
DOI
10.1037/edu0000288
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/26166
Citation Details
Johns, S. K., Valiente, C., Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., Hernández, M. M., Southworth, J., . . . Pina, A. A. (2018). Prediction of children’s early academic adjustment from their temperament: The moderating role of peer temperament. Journal of Educational Psychology.
Description
Copyright American Psychological Association, 2018. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/edu0000288.
At the time of writing, Maciel Hernández was employed at Arizona State University.