Self-Regulation and Academic Learning in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Links to School Engagement and Levels of Autism Characteristics.

Children with autism spectrum disorder often demonstrate self-regulation challenges and academic difficulties. Although self-regulation has been well documented as an important factor for academic achievement in neurotypical children, little is known about how it is related to academic learning in autistic children, especially during preschool, a critical developmental period for both emergent academic skills and self-regulatory abilities. It is also unclear whether school engagement or autism characteristics influence the relation between self-regulation and academic learning in autistic children during preschool. Thirty-two autistic preschoolers participated in this study. Direct measures and parent reports were used to measure three dimensions of self-regulation, including executive function, effortful control, and emotion regulation. Classroom-based data from multiple academic programs were used to reflect their average rates of achieving new literacy and mathematics learning goals. Teachers reported the participants' levels of school engagement, and their autism characteristics were measured directly. Emotion regulation was significantly linked to the rate of meeting literacy learning goals in autistic preschoolers, whereas multiple executive function skills, including inhibitory and attentional control and working memory, were associated with their mathematics learning rate. Emotion regulation demonstrated a stronger association with literacy learning when autistic children were more engaged in classroom activities. Levels of autism characteristics did not mediate or moderate the association between self-regulation and academic learning. Future interventions and teaching should consider fostering self-regulation and facilitating school engagement for autistic preschoolers besides targeting their learning performance on specific academic content to promote their current and future academic success.

Children's ethnic-racial identity and mothers' cultural socialization as protective in relations between sociocultural risk factors and children's internalizing behaviors.

OBJECTIVES: The present study examined whether sociocultural risk factors (i.e., mothers' risky behaviors, mothers' and grandmothers' ethnic discrimination, and family economic hardship) predicted children's internalizing behaviors. We also tested whether sociocultural protective factors, including children's positive ethnic-racial identity (ERI) attitudes and mothers' cultural socialization, moderated relations. METHOD: Participants were 182 5-year-old Mexican-origin children, their mothers, and grandmothers. RESULTS: Findings indicated that children's positive ERI attitudes were protective, such that grandmothers' discrimination predicted children's greater internalizing at low levels of children's positive ERI attitudes, but this relation was not significant at high levels of children's positive ERI attitudes. Mothers' cultural socialization was also protective, such that mothers' risky behaviors predicted children's greater internalizing at low levels of mothers' cultural socialization, but this relation was not significant at high levels of mothers' cultural socialization. Economic hardship predicted children's greater internalizing and no variables moderated this relation. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight that mothers' engagement in risky behaviors, grandmothers' ethnic discrimination experiences, and family economic hardship contribute to children's greater internalizing behaviors. However, in some of these relations, children's positive ERI attitudes and mothers' cultural socialization are protective. In future research and programming, a consideration of the role of individual, family, and cultural factors will be important for addressing and reducing children's internalizing behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A longitudinal test of Mexican-origin teen mothers' cultural characteristics and children's Spanish vocabulary via mothers' Spanish language use.

OBJECTIVES: The present study examined whether teen mothers' adaptive cultural characteristics (i.e., familism values, language competency pressures, and involvement in Mexican culture and U.S. mainstream culture) when children were 3 years old (i.e., Wave 4; W4) informed mothers' Spanish language use with their children when children were 4 years old (W5) and, in turn, children's subsequent Spanish receptive vocabulary when children were 5 years old (W6). METHOD: The present study included 204 Mexican-origin children (58% male) and their mothers who entered parenthood during adolescence (M = 16.24, SD = .99 at W1). RESULTS: Five mediational processes were significant, such that mothers' higher familism values (i.e., emphasizing family support and obligations), Spanish competency pressure (i.e., stress associated with Spanish language competency), and involvement in U.S. mainstream culture at W4 were associated with mothers' lower Spanish language use with children at W5 and, in turn, children's lower levels of Spanish receptive vocabulary at W6. Mothers' greater involvement in Mexican culture and English competency pressure (i.e., stress associated with English language competency) at W4 were associated with mothers' greater Spanish language use with children at W5 and, in turn, children's greater Spanish receptive vocabulary at W6. Additionally, mothers' greater involvement in U.S. mainstream culture at W4 was directly associated with children's lower Spanish language abilities at W6. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance of the family context in Mexican-origin children's Spanish language skills over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers' Beliefs and Practices Concerning Children's School Readiness.

Parents' academic socialization of their young children is a critical yet understudied area, especially in the context of vulnerable parent-child dyads. The current longitudinal study examined factors that informed mothers' beliefs and practices concerning children's kindergarten readiness in a sample of 204 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers (M age = 19.94). Adolescent mothers' individual characteristics and assets (i.e., parental self-efficacy, educational attainment, educational utility beliefs, knowledge of child development) and sources of stress (i.e., economic hardship, coparenting conflict) were related to the importance they placed on children's social-emotional and academic readiness for kindergarten, their provision of cognitive stimulation and emotional support to their children in the home, and their enjoyment of literacy activities with their child. Moreover, adolescents' perception of parenting daily hassles emerged as a mediator in this process. Findings underscore the importance of considering Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' strengths and assets along with their unique contextual stressors as they relate to beliefs and practices that could have implications for their children's school success.

A Rapid Assessment of Sensitivity to Reward Delays and Classwide Token Economy Savings for School-Aged Children.

Delay discounting tasks measure the relation between reinforcer delay and efficacy. The present study established the association between delay discounting and classroom behavior and introduced a brief measure quantifying sensitivity to reward delays for school-aged children. Study 1 reanalyzed data collected by Reed and Martens (J Appl Behav Anal 44(1):1-18, https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2011.44-1, 2011) and found that 1-month delay choices predicted student classroom behavior. Study 2 examined the utility of the 1-month delay indifference point in predicting saving and spending behavior of second-grade students using token economies with two different token production schedules. Collectively, results showed (a) the 1-month delay indifference point predicted classroom behavior, (b) children who discounted less and had greater self-regulation, accrued and saved more tokens, and (c) a variable token production schedule better correlated with discounting than a fixed schedule. Implications are discussed regarding utility of a rapid discounting assessment for applied use.

Mexican-origin 5-year-old children's ethnic-racial identity centrality and attitudes predicting social functioning.

OBJECTIVE: Early childhood is an important developmental period to focus on the outcomes associated with ethnic-racial identity (ERI) given that children notice racial differences, are processing information about ethnicity and race, and have race-related experiences. The present study tested whether three components of ERI (i.e., positive attitudes, negative attitudes, and centrality) predicted children's social functioning (i.e., interactive, disruptive, and disconnected play with peers; externalizing behaviors; and observed frustration and cooperation with an adult). Child sex was also tested as a moderator. METHOD: The present study included 182 5-year-old Mexican-origin children (57% male) of mothers who entered parenthood during adolescence (M = 21.95, SD = 1.00). RESULTS: Children's positive ethnic-racial attitudes were associated with greater social functioning (i.e., greater interactive play and less externalizing behaviors) among boys and girls, and less frustration among boys. Negative ethnic-racial attitudes predicted maladaptive social functioning (i.e., greater disruptive play) among boys and girls and more disconnected play among girls. Contrary to expectations, ethnic-racial centrality predicted boys' and girls' maladaptive social functioning (i.e., greater disruptive and disconnected play). CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance of fostering children's positive ethnic-racial attitudes and helping them discuss and cope with negative ethnic-racial attitudes to promote more adaptive social functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Measuring 5-year-old Mexican-heritage Children's Ethnic-Racial Identity Attitudes, Centrality, and Knowledge.

Young children are aware of ethnicity-race, yet the field lacks measures to assess ethnic-racial identity (ERI) in early childhood. Thus, the goals of the current study were: (a) to describe three adapted measures that can be used to assess aspects of Mexican-heritage children's ERI (i.e., attitudes, centrality, and knowledge), and (b) to test the psychometric properties of each measure among 182 five-year-old Mexican-heritage children. Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported a 2-factor solution characterizing positive and negative ERI attitudes; the subscales demonstrated adequate reliability and findings provided preliminary support for construct validity. Findings for ERI centrality revealed significant variability among children and initial support for convergent and divergent validity. Support for ERI knowledge was more limited and suggests further development of this measure is needed. Overall, the current study calls attention to the importance of assessing ERI in early childhood, and provides developmentally appropriate assessments to stimulate growth in this area.

Latina/o Youths' Discrimination Experiences in the U.S. Southwest: Estimates from Three Studies.

Despite growing awareness of the negative effects of ethnic-racial discrimination, we know little about the frequency of these experiences among Latina/o youth. Utilizing three independent studies, we examined estimates of general discrimination and police discrimination among Latino/a youth living in the U.S. Southwest (total N = 1,066; ages 12 to 21 years old). Ethnic-racial discrimination experiences differed by adolescent gender; for girls, 47% reported discrimination at age 12; highest estimates were at age 17 (70%) and 18 years old (68%). Boys reported greater general discrimination than girls during early and late adolescence; the highest estimates were observed at ages 19, 20, and 21 years (94%, 86%, and 87% respectively). Gender differences also emerged with police discrimination; boys reported being hassled by a police officer more often than girls at every age. Findings suggest that most Latino/a adolescents experience discrimination, and Latino/a boys are particularly vulnerable.

Associations Between Emotional Competence and Prosocial Behaviors With Peers Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk for disrupted peer interactions. This study contributes to our understanding of how multiple foundational elements of emotional competence are related to children's prosocial behaviors with peers. Children with ASD demonstrated significantly lower non-stereotypical affective perspective taking, had lower ratings of emotion regulation, and showed differences from their typical peers in the use of discrete coping strategies during peer interactions. Children's emotion regulation and use of discrete coping strategies in the context of peers were associated with their prosocial behaviors one year later. The findings add to our understanding of how emotional development contributes to individual differences in the social-emotional behaviors of children with ASD. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers' Economic Contexts, Educational Re-Engagement, and Their Children's School Readiness.

Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of 204 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers, their mother figures, and their children, the current investigation examined (a) adolescent mothers' educational re-engagement and attainment beginning during their pregnancy and ending when their child was 5 years old; and (b) the influence of the family economic context on adolescent mothers' educational re-engagement and attainment and their children's academic and social-emotional outcomes. Findings detailed adolescent mothers' re-engagement in school after the birth of their child and revealed that family income during adolescents' pregnancies was directly associated with re-engagement and attainment, and also initiated cascade effects that shaped adolescents' economic contexts, their subsequent re-engagement and attainment, and ultimately their children's academic and social-emotional outcomes at age 5.

Depressive symptoms and developmental change in mothers' emotion scaffolding: Links to children's self-regulation and academic readiness.

This study examined whether the mechanism linking changes in Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' depressive symptoms to children's subsequent self-regulation and academic readiness was via their emotion scaffolding when their children were 2, 3, 4, and 5 years of age. Data included home interviews with adolescent mothers (N = 204), observations of mother-child interactions during a task that challenged children's abilities to manage their emotional arousal, and assessments of children's performance on measures of self-regulation and academic readiness. Adolescent mothers' higher depressive symptoms at child age 2 years were associated with a greater decline in mothers' emotion scaffolding from child age 2 to 5 years, which was subsequently linked to children's lower self-regulation and academic readiness at age 5. Possible implications from this line of work for adolescent mothers and their children are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Intergenerational transmission of cultural socialization and effects on young children's developmental competencies among Mexican-origin families.

The current 3-generation (N = 204 families), 3-year longitudinal study examined the intergenerational transmission of cultural socialization among Mexican-origin young mothers and their own mothers (i.e., children's grandmothers) and, in turn, whether young mothers' cultural socialization informed their children's developmental competencies (i.e., interactive play with peers, receptive language, and internalizing and externalizing problem behavior) one year later. Results indicated that mediation was significant, such that grandmother-mother cultural socialization, when children were 3 years old, informed greater mother-child cultural socialization when children were 4 years old, which, in turn, informed children's greater receptive language and interactive play with peers when children were 5 years old. Findings highlight the importance of intergenerational cultural socialization on young children's developmental competencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

A Prospective Test of the Family Stress Model with Mexican-origin Adolescent Mothers.

The current six-wave longitudinal study tested the Family Stress Model among 204 Mexican-origin families in which an adolescent pregnancy had occurred. Wave 1 (W1) occurred when adolescents (M age = 16.80 years; SD = 1.00) were pregnant, and the last wave (W6) occurred when children were 5 years of age. In the current study, the Family Stress Model was expanded to include parenting relations among adolescent mothers and fathers, and among adolescent mothers and grandmothers. In support of the Family Stress Model, findings indicated that W1 family income was negatively associated with W6 child internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors via increased W2 economic pressure, increased W3 maternal depressive symptoms, increased W4 mother-grandmother coparenting conflict, and increased W5 maternal parenting hassles. Additionally, W4 mother-father coparenting conflict was positively associated with W6 child internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors via W5 maternal parenting hassles. Findings are discussed with attention to the processes by which family income informs child problem behaviors over time. El presente estudio longitudinal de seis años analizó el Family Stress Model con una muestra de 204 familias de origen mexicano en las cuales había ocurrido un embarazo durante la adolescencia. La primera fase (W1) del estudio se llevó a cabo cuando las adolescentes (M edad= 16.80 años; DE= 1.00) estaban embarazadas, y la última fase (W6) ocurrió cuando sus niños tenían cinco años. En el presente estudio, el Family Stress Model se amplió para incluir variables sobre la co-paternidad entre las madres adolescentes y los padres, y entre las madres adolescentes y las abuelas. Los resultados apoyaron las ideas del Family Stress Model; ingreso familiar en W1 mostró un efecto negativo con problemas de comportamiento y problemas de internalización de los niños en W6 a través del aumento de la presión económica en W2, el aumento de síntomas de depresión maternos en W3, el aumento del conflicto de la co-paternidad entre madre y abuela en W4, y el aumento de problemas de crianza maternas en W5. Adicionalmente, conflicto de la co-paternidad entre la madre y el padre mostró un efecto positivo con problemas de comportamiento y problemas de internalización de los niños en W6 a través de problemas de crianza maternas en W5. Varias ideas se presentan en la Discusión sobre como el ingreso familiar informa el comportamiento problemático en niños a largo plazo.

Delay of gratification in preschoolers with and without autism spectrum disorder: Individual differences and links to executive function, emotion regulation, and joint attention.

This study examined delay of gratification behaviors in preschool-aged children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Recent research has found that elementary-aged children with autism spectrum disorder showed challenges with delay of gratification and that there were individual differences in terms of children's behaviors during the wait. We extend this work to a younger sample of children with autism spectrum disorder to understand whether these difficulties emerge by the preschool years. Moreover, we assessed whether individual differences in other key self-regulatory capacities (i.e. effortful control, emotion regulation, executive function, and joint attention) were related to delay of gratification wait durations or behavioral strategies. Findings revealed that preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder waited for a shorter duration, demonstrated more temptation-focused behaviors, and expressed less positive affect than their typical peers during the delay of gratification task. At the full-sample level, individual differences in children's temptation-focused behaviors (i.e. visual attention and verbalizations focused on the temptation) were related to children's executive function, joint attention, and parents' ratings of emotion regulation. When we examined associations within groups, the associations were not significant for the autism spectrum disorder group, but for typically developing children, there was a positive association between temptation-focused behaviors and emotion regulation.

Discrimination and Ethnic-Racial Identity: Understanding Direction of Effects Using Within- and Between-Person Analyses.

Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) development and ethnic-racial discrimination are two salient experiences among adolescents in the United States. Despite growing awareness of the costs and benefits of these experiences individually, we know little about how they may influence one another. The current study examined competing hypotheses relating discrimination and components of ERI (i.e., exploration, resolution, affirmation) among a sample of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers (N = 181; Mage at Wave 1 = 16.83, SD = 1.01) across six waves of data. Findings revealed that within-person changes in discrimination predicted subsequent ERI resolution and affirmation; however, ERI did not predict subsequent discrimination. Between-person effects of discrimination on affirmation were significant. Our findings underscore the importance of discrimination experiences in shaping Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' normative developmental competencies.

Familism values across the transition to adolescent motherhood: Links to family functioning and Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' adjustment.

Familism values are conceptualized as a key source of resilience for Latino adolescents' psychosocial adjustment. The current study addressed the developmental progression and correlates of familism within the context of the transition to adolescent motherhood. Participants were 191 Mexican-origin pregnant adolescents (15 to 18 years of age at first pregnancy; Mage = 16.76 years; SD = 0.98) who were having their first child. Adolescents completed interviews during their third trimester of pregnancy and annually for 5 years after (Waves 1 through 6). We examined changes in familism values across the transition to adolescent motherhood and the moderating role of age at pregnancy. Moderation analyses revealed differences in familism trajectories for younger versus older adolescents. We also examined whether familism values were related to family relationship dynamics (i.e., adolescents' relationships with their own mother figures) and adolescents' psychosocial adjustment, respectively, using multilevel models to test both between-person and within-person associations. Adolescents' stronger familism values were related to adolescent-mother figure warmth and conflict, coparenting communication, and three dimensions of social support from mother figures, but no associations emerged for coparental conflict, adolescents' depressive symptoms, or self-esteem. Discussion addresses these findings in the context of culturally grounded models of ethnic-racial minority youth development and psychopathology.

Mother-Grandmother and Mother-Father Coparenting Across Time among Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers and Their Families.

The current study examined mothers' reports of coparenting relationship dynamics (i.e., conflict, communication) within and between mother-father and mother-grandmother subsystems from 10 months post-partum to 5 years post-partum among 178 Mexican-origin teen mothers (M age = 16.78 years; SD = 1.00). Specifically, within subsystems, more frequent mother-father coparenting conflict was associated with less frequent mother-father coparenting communication from 10 months to 5 years post-partum, and more frequent mother-father coparenting communication was associated with less frequent mother-father conflict from 3 to 4 years post-partum. Further, more frequent mother-grandmother coparenting communication was associated with less frequent mother-grandmother conflict from 10 months to 2 years post-partum. Regarding relations across subsystems, more frequent mother-father coparenting conflict was associated with more frequent mother-grandmother conflict from 10 to 24 months post-partum, as well as from 3 to 4 years post-partum. Findings have implications for future interventions focused on coparenting relationships within the context of adolescent parenthood.

Selected Factors in Reading Comprehension for Deaf and Hearing Adults: Phonological Skills and Metacognition.

The purpose of the study was to identify factors related to reading comprehension, and to compare similarities and differences in the reading processes of deaf and hearing adults. The sample included four groups, each consisting of 15 adults. The groups were identified as (a) deaf high-achieving readers, (b) deaf low-achieving readers, (c) hearing high-achieving readers, and (d) hearing low-achieving readers. Measurement instruments included a demographic form along with assessments of reading comprehension, phonological skills, and metacognition, the latter of which contained both a making-inferences measure and a think-aloud discussion with a reading strategies checklist. Results indicated that deaf high-achieving readers performed similarly to hearing high-achieving readers, except for phonological skills, and that for all participants, phonological skills and metacognition were related to reading comprehension skills.

Coparenting Conflict and Academic Readiness in Children of Teen Mothers: Effortful Control as a Mediator.

Children's exposure to coparenting conflict has important implications for their developmental functioning, yet limited work has focused on such processes in families with diverse structures or ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds. This longitudinal study examined the processes by which Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' coparenting conflict with their 3-year-old children's grandmothers and biological fathers (N = 133 families) were linked to children's academic and social skills at 5 years of age, and whether children's effortful control at 4 years of age mediated the link between coparenting conflict and indices of children's academic readiness. Findings revealed that adolescent mothers' coparenting conflict with their child's biological father was linked to indices of children's academic and social school readiness through children's effortful control among girls, but not boys, whereas conflict with grandmothers was directly linked to boys' and girls' social functioning 2 years later. Findings offer information about different mechanisms by which multiple coparenting units in families of adolescent mothers are related to their children's outcomes, and this work has important implications for practitioners working with families of adolescent mothers.

Processes underlying Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' BMI.

OBJECTIVE: To examine potential mediating and moderating factors in the longitudinal association between contextual stressors (economic hardship, ethnic discrimination) and subsequent engagement in risky behaviors and body mass index (BMI) of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers. METHOD: Participants were Mexican-origin adolescent mothers (N = 204) who were recruited from community agencies and high schools in a Southwestern metropolitan area. Contextual stressors and risky behaviors were assessed 3 and 4 years postpartum. Adolescent mothers' BMI was assessed 5-years postpartum. Path analyses assessed moderated mediation with risky behaviors as a mediator of associations between contextual stressors and BMI, and family and friend support as moderators of the mediated pathways. RESULTS: At low levels of family support, economic hardship at 3-years postpartum positively predicted engagement in risky behaviors at 4-years postpartum, which in turn positively predicted BMI at 5-years postpartum. At high levels of family support, all relations were not significant. At low levels of friend support, ethnic discrimination at 3-years postpartum positively predicted engagement in risky behaviors at 4-years postpartum, which in turn positively predicted BMI at 5-years postpartum. At high levels of friend support, all relations were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Among adolescent mothers who receive low levels of family and friend support, engagement in risky behaviors may function as a mechanism through which contextual stressors are linked to adolescent mothers' BMI. Findings have implications for prevention efforts aimed at attenuating unhealthy weight status among Mexican-origin adolescent mothers by reducing engagement in risky behaviors and bolstering family and friend support. (PsycINFO Database Record