Mastery-oriented motor competence intervention improves behavioral but not cognitive self-regulation in head start preschoolers: Randomized controlled trial results.

Motor competence and self-regulation develop rapidly in early childhood; emerging work suggests motor competence interventions as a promising way to promote self-regulation (e.g., behavioral inhibition; cognitive flexibility) in young children. We tested the impact of a mastery-focused motor competence intervention (Children's Health Activity Motor Program [CHAMP])1 on behavioral and cognitive aspects of self-regulation among children attending Head Start. Grounded in Achievement Goal Theory, CHAMP encourages children's autonomy to navigate a mastery-oriented motor skill learning environment. Children (M age = 53.4 months, SD = 3.2) were cluster-randomized by classroom (6 per condition) to an intervention (n = 67) or control condition (n = 45). Behavioral self-regulation skills were assessed using the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task (HTKS). Cognitive self-regulation skills were assessed using working memory and dimensional card-sorting executive function tasks. Random-effects hurdle models accounting for zero-inflated distributions indicated that children receiving CHAMP, versus not, were almost 3 times more likely to have non-zero HTKS scores at post-test; OR: 2.98 (CI 1.53, 5.81); however, there were no effects on any cognitive aspects of self-regulation (all p's > 0.05). Mastery climate motor competence interventions are an ecologically valid strategy that may have a greater impact on preschoolers' behavioral than cognitive aspects of self-regulation.

The development of uncertainty monitoring during kindergarten: Change and longitudinal relations with executive function and vocabulary in children from low-income backgrounds.

Children's ability to monitor subjective feelings of uncertainty (i.e., engage in uncertainty monitoring) is a central metacognitive skill. In the current study, we examined the development of uncertainty monitoring as well as its relations with vocabulary and executive function development in children (N = 137, 52% female) from predominately White and Latinx/Hispanic backgrounds when they were 4-6 years old and enrolled in a Head Start preschool and kindergarten between 2018 and 2019. We found that children's uncertainty monitoring improved during the kindergarten year. Children's executive function and vocabulary in preschool and vocabulary growth from preschool to kindergarten predicted uncertainty monitoring at the end of kindergarten, which sheds new light on potential mechanisms supporting children's metacognitive development.

Breastfeeding, Early Self-Regulation, and Academic Achievement in Kindergarten Among Disadvantaged Children.

OBJECTIVES: The importance of breastfeeding exposure and children's development of self-regulation, independently, are well established. Each of these domains also has been linked to better cognitive development and academic achievement in children. However, little is known about how breastfeeding affects development of early self-regulation skills or whether self-regulation mediates the relationship between breastfeeding and academic achievement, particularly for disadvantaged children. This study examined breastfeeding exposure, self-regulation, and academic achievement in kindergarten among a population of children who previously attended Head Start. METHODS: Children were recruited from Head Start classrooms in the Pacific Northwest. Breastfeeding exposure was assessed via parent report. Children's self-regulation (Day Night Stroop, Dimensional Change Card Sort, Head-Knees-Toes-Shoulders-Revised) and academic achievement [Letter-Word Identification and Applied Problems subtests of Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement (English) or the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz (Spanish)] were directly assessed in fall and spring of kindergarten. Regressions were performed using Stata v14.1 and included breastfeeding exposure as the primary independent variable, controlling for child age, sex, and language spoken. RESULTS: Of the 246 children, 56% were reported as White, 34% Latino/a, 4% African American, and 6% other; 83% were ever exposed to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding exposure was predictive of both fall kindergarten academic achievement (emergent math/literacy scores) and self-regulation (p < 0.05) and related to higher math performance in the spring of kindergarten, which was associated with stronger self-regulation in the fall (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: These findings extend our understanding of the positive effects of breastfeeding exposure on children's development and support breastfeeding promotion, particularly for children at risk of academic difficulty.

Combining a Kindergarten Readiness Summer Program with a Self-Regulation Intervention Improves School Readiness.

Self-regulation and academic skills in kindergarten are strong predictors of later achievement. However, many children enter kindergarten without adequate levels of these skills, often because of limited participation in early childhood education. The current study examined a kindergarten readiness summer program (Bridge to Kindergarten; B2K) that served children with no prior preschool experience. The first study goal was to examine the effects of adding a self-regulation intervention to the B2K program on children's self-regulation, math, and literacy. The second study goal was to compare changes in self-regulation, math, and literacy during the kindergarten transition period for children attending the B2K program with the intervention to expected development. Results from a randomized trial indicated that children who participated in the B2K program that included the self-regulation intervention experienced more gains in self-regulation relative to children who participated in the B2K program alone. There were no significant effects on math or literacy at the end of the program. However, when examining change during the kindergarten transition period, participation in the B2K program with the self-regulation intervention was associated with improved growth in self-regulation, math, and literacy into the fall of kindergarten compared to expected development. Collectively, the findings suggest a kindergarten readiness summer program that incorporates a self-regulation intervention leads to improved school readiness in children at higher risk for later school difficulties.

Cross-sectional study of social behaviors in preschool children and exposure to flame retardants.

BACKGROUND: Children are exposed to flame retardants from the built environment. Brominated diphenyl ethers (BDE) and organophosphate-based flame retardants (OPFRs) are associated with poorer neurocognitive functioning in children. Less is known, however, about the association between these classes of compounds and children's emotional and social behaviors. The objective of this study was to determine if flame retardant exposure was associated with measurable differences in social behaviors among children ages 3-5 years. METHODS: We examined teacher-rated social behaviors measured using the Social Skills Improvement Rating Scale (SSIS) and personal exposure to flame retardants in children aged 3-5 years who attended preschool (n = 72). Silicone passive samplers worn for 7 days were used to assess personal exposure to 41 compounds using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometer. These concentrations were then summed into total BDE and total OPFR exposure prior to natural log transformation. Separate generalized additive models were used to evaluate the relationship between seven subscales of the SSIS and lnΣBDE or lnΣOPFR adjusting for other age, sex, adverse social experiences, and family context. RESULTS: All children were exposed to a mixture of flame retardant compounds. We observed a dose dependent relationship between lnΣOPFR and two subscales where children with higher exposures were rated by their preschool teachers as having less responsible behavior (p = 0.07) and more externalizing behavior problems (p = 0.03). Additionally, children with higher lnΣBDE exposure were rated by teachers as less assertive (p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: We observed a cross-sectional association between children's exposure to flame retardant compounds and teacher-rated social behaviors among preschool-aged children. Children with higher flame retardant exposures exhibited poorer social skills in three domains that play an important role in a child's ability to succeed academically and socially.

Corrigendum: Nurturing resilience in American Indian/Alaska Native preschool children: the role of cultural socialization, executive function, and neighborhood risk.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279336.].

Relations between Preschool Attention Span-Persistence and Age 25 Educational Outcomes.

This study examined relations between children's attention span-persistence in preschool and later school achievement and college completion. Children were drawn from the Colorado Adoption Project using adopted and non-adopted children (N = 430). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that children's age 4 attention span-persistence significantly predicted math and reading achievement at age 21 after controlling for achievement levels at age 7, adopted status, child vocabulary skills, gender, and maternal education level. Relations between attention span-persistence and later achievement were not fully mediated by age 7 achievement levels. Logistic regressions also revealed that age 4 attention span-persistence skills significantly predicted the odds of completing college by age 25. The majority of this relationship was direct and was not significantly mediated by math or reading skills at age 7 or age 21. Specifically, children who were rated one standard deviation higher on attention span-persistence at age 4 had 48.7% greater odds of completing college by age 25. Discussion focuses on the importance of children's early attention span-persistence for later school achievement and educational attainment.

Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task and EF in two samples of adolescents in Brazil and United States.

Executive function (EF) is a foundational cognitive construct, which is linked to better cognitive and physical health throughout development. The present study examines the construct validity of an EF task, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task (HTKS) that was initially developed for young children, in a sample of adolescents. We investigate the initial validity and range in scores between 54 adolescents from Brazil (mean age 12.58) and 56 US adolescents (mean age 12.48) from different socioeconomic contexts. Results indicated that the HTKS showed sufficient variability in both samples, especially for a measure of HTKS efficiency (completion time divided by the total score). The US sample performed better on all cognitive measures. For the Brazilian sample, regression models controlling for age and sex showed a significant relationship between the digit span working memory task, the HTKS total score, and the HTKS efficiency score. The Heart and Flowers cognitive flexibility measure was also included as an independent variable only for the Brazil sample, showing a significant relationship with both HTKS scores. For the US sample, results showed that only the HTKS efficiency score was significantly related to the digit span working memory task. This study highlights the importance of cognitive efficiency measures to achieve greater validity, as they can assess a broader range of performance with different populations. The HTKS showed good ecological validity with two adolescent samples, as it differentiated between populations with high and low socioeconomic status from different cultural contexts.

Nurturing resilience in American Indian/Alaska Native preschool children: the role of cultural socialization, executive function, and neighborhood risk.

Introduction: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children possess numerous cultural assets, yet higher exposures to neighborhood risks (e.g., lack of housing, crime) may present barriers to healthy cognitive development, including executive function (EF). Cultural socialization may promote resilience and support children's early cognition, but this has not been adequately studied. The present study examined the effects of neighborhood risk and cultural socialization on EF for AI/AN preschool children. Method: Parents/caregivers of 768 AI/AN preschoolers from the 2015 AI/AN Head Start Family and Community Experiences (FACES) Study rated neighborhood risk via two scales: "Neighborhood Problems" and "Environmental Conditions," and cultural socialization practices via two scales: cultural activities and tribal language activities. Children's EF was measured directly using the Pencil Tap Task and the Leiter-R attention subscale. Results: Families perceived neighborhood risks as relatively low, and overall risk did not predict children's EF. However, higher average language socialization was significantly related to higher EF, as were two specific language activities (encouraging children to learn their tribal language, making sure children heard their tribal language) and two cultural activities (playing AI/AN games, participating in tribal ceremonies), controlling for neighborhood risk. Discussion: Findings suggest some aspects of cultural socialization may promote resilience among AI/AN preschoolers by supporting early EF. Mechanisms may include increased spiritual, social, and cultural connections, and practice with EF skills during cultural games. Future research should partner with AI/AN communities to investigate culturally grounded EF interventions and reevaluate measures of neighborhood risk to promote resilience and connectedness for AI/AN children.

Association between motor skills and executive function of children with autism spectrum disorder in Taiwan and the United States.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parent ratings of motor skills and executive function (EF) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States and Taiwan. Materials and method: One hundred and seventy-two parents/legal guardians of children (4-6 years and 11 months old) with ASD were recruited from two countries, Taiwan (n = 100) and the United States (n = 72). The parents or guardians of the child with ASD completed a questionnaire including demographic information, child's motor skills (using Children Activity Scale - Parents, ChAS-P), and child's EF (using Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory, CHEXI). A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to determine whether ChAS-P (total motor score, fine motor skills, and gross motor skill) was associated with CHEXI (total EF score, working memory, and inhibition), after controlling for covariates (i.e., age, gender, race, body mass index, whether children received physical activity or cognitive training, parental education level). Results: Total motor skills, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills were significantly associated with EF in both working memory and inhibition as rated by parents in both countries (ß = 0.21-0.57, p < 0.01), with the exception of a non-significant association between parent-rated total motor skills, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills, and inhibition among Taiwanese children with ASD. In addition, the associations between parent ratings of motor skills (i.e., fine motor and gross motor skills) and EF (i.e., working memory and inhibition) were similar between the two countries. Conclusion: Positive associations with specific aspects of parent ratings of fine motor and gross motor skills and working memory and inhibition were found in children with ASD from both countries. These findings have implications for future interventions and programs focused on improving early motor skills and EF development for young children with ASD from Taiwan and the United States.

HTKS-Kids: A tablet-based self-regulation measure to equitably assess young children's school readiness.

Background: Technology advances make it increasingly possible to adapt direct behavioral assessments for classroom use. This study examined children's scores on HTKS-Kids, a new, largely child-led version of the established individual research assessment of self-regulation, Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders-Revised task (HTKS-R). For the HTKS-Kids tablet-based assessment, which was facilitated by children's preschool teachers, we examined (1) preliminary reliability and validity; (2) variation in scores predicted by child age and background characteristics; and (3) indication that HTKS-Kids provides different information from teacher ratings of children. Method: Participants included n = 79 4-year-old children from two urban areas in upstate New York, USA. Average parent education was 12.5 years, ranging 3-20. A researcher administered the HTKS-R to individual children, and teachers (eight white, two Latino) were trained to use the HTKS-Kids tablet-based assessment and asked to play once with each study child. Teachers also rated each child on 10 Child Behavior Rating Scale (CBRS) items about classroom self-regulation. Results: We found evidence that (1) the HTKS-Kids captures variation in children's self-regulation and correlates positively with established measures, (2) parent education was the best predictor of HTKS-Kids scores, and (3) teachers rated Black children significantly worse and white children better on the CBRS, with the magnitude of group differences similar to the contribution of parent education. In contrast, Black and white children showed no score differences on HTKS-Kids. Implications: The HTKS-Kids is a promising new tablet-based assessment of self-regulation that could replace or supplement traditional teacher ratings, which are often subject to implicit bias.

A meta-analysis of the validity of the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task in predicting young children's academic performance.

The present study represents the first meta-analytic synthesis of the utility of a widely used early-childhood self-regulation measure, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task, in predicting children's academic achievement. A systematic review of the literature yielded 69 studies accessed from peer reviewed journals representing 413 effect sizes and 19,917 children meeting the complete set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Robust variance analysis demonstrated that the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task was a consistent predictor of children's academic achievement across literacy, oral language, and mathematical outcomes. A moderator analysis indicated that in accordance with prior research, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task was more strongly associated with children's mathematics performance relative to their performance on language and literacy measures. The results of this meta-analysis suggest that the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task demonstrated statistically significant, positive associations with children's overall academic performance. These associations remained stable across different participant and measurement factors and are comparable to meta-analyses examining the self-regulation and academic association with multiple measures of self-regulation and executive function.

Revisiting age- and schooling-related growth in school readiness skills: A multimethod validation study.

In the present study, we investigated the relative impact of age- versus schooling-related growth in school readiness skills using four modeling approaches that leverage natural variation in longitudinal data collected within the preschool year. Our goal was to demonstrate the applicability of different analytic techniques that do not rely on assumptions inherent in commonly applied methods (e.g., the school entrance cutoff method, regression discontinuity design) that selection into subsequent grades is based on birthdate alone and that the quality of experiences between grades are not responsible for differences in outcomes. Notably, these alternative methods also do not require data collected across multiple grades. Participants included 316 children (Mage = 54.77 months; 47.15% male) who mostly identified as White (64%) or Latinx (20%). A little over half of the sample attended Head Start preschools (54.75%). Four modeling techniques that leverage data collected at two timepoints in preschool were used to examine schooling effects on children's preliteracy, emergent math, and executive function (EF) skills. Results replicate evidence from previous research using traditional methods. Specifically, findings across all models demonstrate a schooling effect on preliteracy skills during the preschool year, above and beyond maturation, but not on emergent math or EF. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each analytical tool for researchers who are interested in answering questions about the effects of schooling with diverse data collection strategies, as well as broader implications for the integrity of educational and developmental science. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-regulation and academic achievement in elementary school children.

Self-regulation is a key construct in children's healthy and adaptive development. In this chapter, the authors situate self-regulation in a theoretical context that describes its underlying components that are most important for early school success: flexible attention, working memory, and inhibitory control. The authors review evidence that supports substantive links between these aspects of self-regulation and academic achievement in young children. They also discuss methodological challenges in reliably and validly assessing these skills (involving measures that are biased, are not applicable across broad age ranges, or triangulated) and describe some recent advances in measures of self-regulation (involving the NIH Toolbox or the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders assessment) that are reliable, ecologically valid, and predictive of children's school achievement.

Childhood Cognitive Flexibility and Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior Problems: Examination of Prospective Bidirectional Associations.

The goal of this study was to examine reciprocal associations between cognitive flexibility and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems longitudinally using data on four occasions from kindergarten through first grade and test for potential gender differences in these associations. The Dimensional Change Card Sort task was used to assess children's cognitive flexibility as a measure of executive function. Participants were 12,462 kindergarteners (49% female) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K: 2011). Results from multivariate latent curve models with structured residuals revealed that children's cognitive flexibility at the beginning of kindergarten was not associated with their growth in either externalizing (r = -0.01, p = .174), or internalizing (r = -0.03, p = .403) problems between kindergarten and the end of first grade. However, after controlling for individual differences in growth, cognitive flexibility at each assessment directly contributed to subsequent lower levels of internalizing (but not externalizing) behavior problems at the next assessment (b = -0.004, p = 0.013; ß = -0.03), suggesting that children who are more flexible in switching from one activity to another may be less prone to developing internalizing problems. At kindergarten entry boys had lower levels of cognitive flexibility (b = -0.31, p < .001, ß = -.12) and higher levels of externalizing (b = 0.25, p < .001, ß = .23), and internalizing problems(b = 0.04, p = 001, ß = .05) compared to girls, but did not differ from girls in their rates of change in cognitive flexibility and externalizing or internalizing behavior problems.

Cost-Effectiveness Analyses on Various Models of The Red Light, Purple Light Self-Regulation Intervention for Young Children.

Early childhood interventions can improve self-regulation, but there are few economic evaluations of such interventions. This study analyzed the cost-effectiveness of an early childhood self-regulation intervention (Red Light Purple Light!; RLPL), comparing three different models of implementation across stages of intervention development: (Model 1) trained research assistants (RAs; graduate students) directly delivered the RLPL intervention to children; (Model 2) RAs trained trainers (e.g., program coaches), who then trained teachers to implement RLPL with children (e.g., train-the-trainer); and (Model 3) program faculty trained teachers to deliver the RLPL intervention to children. We implemented a cost-effectiveness analysis by calculating the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. We also conducted a series of sensitivity analyses to adjust for parameter uncertainty. Our base-case analysis suggests that Model 2 was the most cost-effective strategy, in that a cost of $23 per child was associated with a one-unit increase of effect size on self-regulation scores. The "train-the-trainer" model remained the optimal strategy across scenarios in our sensitivity analysis. This study fills an important gap in cost-effectiveness analyses on early childhood self-regulation interventions. Our process and results can serve as a model for future cost-effectiveness analyses of early childhood intervention programs and may ultimately inform decisions related to intervention adoption that optimize resource allocation and improve program design.

The Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders Revised: Links to Academic Outcomes and Measures of EF in Young Children.

The measurement of self-regulation in young children has been a topic of great interest as researchers and practitioners work to help ensure that children have the skills they need to succeed as they start school. The present study examined how a revised version of a commonly used measure of behavioral self-regulation, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task (HTKS) called the HTKS-R, and measures of executive function (EF) was related to academic outcomes between preschool and kindergarten (ages 4-6years) in a diverse sample of children from families with low income participating in Head Start in the United States. Participants included 318 children (53% female; 76% White; and 20% Latino/Hispanic) from 64 classrooms in 18 Head Start preschools who were followed over four time points between the fall of preschool and the spring of kindergarten. Results indicated that children with higher HTKS-R scores had significantly higher math and literacy scores at all-time points between preschool and kindergarten. The HTKS-R was also a more consistent predictor of math and literacy than individual EF measures assessing inhibitory control, working memory, and task shifting. Parallel process growth models indicated that children who had high initial scores on the HTKS-R also had relatively higher initial scores on math and literacy. In addition, growth in children's scores on the HTKS-R across the preschool and kindergarten years was related to growth in both children's math and literacy scores over the same period independent of their starting points on either measure. For the HTKS-R and math, children's initial scores were negatively associated with growth over the preschool and kindergarten years indicating that lower skilled children at the start of preschool started to catch up to their more skilled peers by the end of kindergarten.

Parent Provision of Choice Is a Key Component of Autonomy Support in Predicting Child Executive Function Skills.

Although previous work has linked parent autonomy support to the development of children's executive function (EF) skills, the role of specific autonomy-supportive behaviors has not been thoroughly investigated. We compiled data from four preschool-age samples in the Midwestern United States (N = 366; M age = 44.26 months; 72% non-Hispanic White, 19% Black/African American, 5% Multiracial) to examine three relevant autonomy-supportive behaviors (supporting competence, positive verbalizations, and offering choice) and their associations with child EF. We coded parent autonomy-supportive behaviors from a 10-min interaction between parent and child dyads working on challenging jigsaw puzzles together. Children completed a battery of EF. Overall, child EF was most consistently correlated with the offering choice subscale. Additionally, only the offering choice subscale predicted child EF while controlling for the other autonomy support subscales and child age. These results suggest that parent provision of choice is an especially relevant aspect of autonomy-supportive parenting and may be important to the development of EF in early childhood. Future research should directly measure children's experience with choice and how it relates to emerging EF.

Relations between early family risk, children's behavioral regulation, and academic achievement.

This study examined relations among early family risk, children's behavioral regulation at 54 months and kindergarten, and academic achievement in first grade using data on 1,298 children from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Family risk was indexed by ethnic minority status, low maternal education, low average family income from 1 - 54 months, and high maternal depressive symptoms from 1 - 54 months. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that minority status, low maternal education, and low family income had significant negative effects on reading, math, and vocabulary achievement in first grade. Modest indirect effects were also found from ethnicity, maternal education, and maternal depressive symptoms, through 54-month and kindergarten behavioral regulation to first-grade achievement. Discussion focuses on the importance of behavioral regulation for school success especially for children facing early risk.

Children's Self-Regulation in Norway and the United States: The Role of Mother's Education and Child Gender Across Cultural Contexts.

Self-regulation develops rapidly during the years before formal schooling, and it helps lay the foundation for children's later social, academic, and educational outcomes. However, children's self-regulation may be influenced by cultural contexts, sociodemographic factors, and characteristics of the child. The present study investigates whether children's levels of self-regulation, as measured by the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) task, are the same in samples from Norway (M age = 5.79; N = 243, 49.4% girls) and the United States (U.S.) (M age = 5.65; N = 264, 50.8% girls) and whether the role of mother's education level and child gender on children's self-regulation differ across the two samples. Results showed that Norwegian and U.S. children had similar levels of self-regulation. Mother's education level significantly predicted children's self-regulation in the U.S. sample but not in the Norwegian sample, and this difference across samples was significant. Girls had a significantly higher level of self-regulation than boys in the Norwegian sample, but there were no gender differences in the U.S. sample. However, the effect of child gender on self-regulation did not differ significantly across the two samples. Results highlight the importance of cross-cultural studies of self-regulation.