Leveraging Self-Determination Theory to Understand Which Preschool Teachers Benefit Most from a Professional Development Intervention.

Effective professional development (PD) interventions that promote high quality teacher-child interactions are important mechanisms to support social-emotional and cognitive development in early childhood. One PD intervention that has shown to be effective is MyTeachingPartner (MTP); however, previous research has suggested that both teacher and contextual factors may moderate the effectiveness of PD interventions like MTP. In the current study, we used a self-determination theoretical (SDT) framework to identify subgroups of teachers (N = 401) through latent class analysis based on the fulfillment of their three basic needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. We found three latent classes of teachers: 1) Unconfident and Unsupported; 2) Unconfident but Supported; 3) Confident and Supported. We tested the effect of MTP, latent class membership, and the MTP by latent class interaction on the quality of teacher emotional and instructional support to identify which teachers benefitted most from the MTP intervention. While MTP benefitted teachers on emotional support similarly across classes, MTP was most effective for instructional support for teachers from the Confident and Supported class. As these were the only teachers who had all their basic needs met our results suggest teacher and contextual factors in concert are important in optimizing the effectiveness of PD.

Predicting school readiness program implementation in community-based childcare centers.

Introduction: Targeted curricular interventions can increase preschool program quality and boost children's academic and social-emotional readiness skills, but variable funding and weak organizational infrastructure in many community-based childcare centers may reduce the effective implementation of these programs. Method: This study examined individual teacher and workplace predictors of the REDI program implementation, a targeted school readiness program that was adapted to support delivery in childcare centers. REDI was delivered by 63 teachers in 37 community-based childcare centers with center directors serving as local implementation coaches. Results: Results showed that individual teacher factors (e.g., teaching skills and receptivity to intervention consultation) predicted the quality with which REDI activities and teaching strategies were delivered, and workplace factors were important predictors across multiple implementation indicators. Discussion: Practice and policy implications for improving intervention implementation and corresponding program quality in childcare centers are highlighted.

Age-Varying Associations between Child Maltreatment, Depressive Symptoms, and Frequent Heavy Episodic Drinking.

Child maltreatment represents a prevalent public health issue that has been shown to predict both adolescent and young adult depressive symptoms and heavy episodic drinking; however, little is known regarding how associations between specific types of maltreatment (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, care neglect, supervisory neglect) and depressive symptoms and heavy episodic drinking change across adolescence and into young adulthood. Similarly, there is lack of research that has examined how an accumulation of child maltreatment types relates to depressive symptoms and heavy episodic drinking across ages. Time-varying effect models-a statistical approach that allows researchers to pinpoint specific ages where the association between two variables is strongest-were used in the current study to address these gaps. Nationally representative data came from the first four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; N = 16,053; 49.4% female; 51.0% European American/White, 21.0% African American, 10.2% Biracial, 9.1% Hispanic; MAGE W1 = 17.00). Results suggested that certain types of maltreatment are more predictive of negative outcomes than others and that different types of maltreatment confer greater risk in different developmental periods. In addition, while victims of between one and three types of maltreatment had comparable prevalence of depressive symptoms and heavy episodic drinking across adolescence and young adulthood, victims of four types of maltreatment had a much higher prevalence of these outcomes indicating the extreme risk that accompanies an accumulation of maltreatment.

Profiles of Dysregulation Moderate the Impact of Preschool Teacher-Student Relationships on Elementary School Functioning.

Children's readiness to handle the expectations of elementary school depends heavily on their self-regulation skills. Self-regulation includes both cognitive and behavioral elements; however, past studies have typically looked at cognitive and behavioral self-regulation in isolation or as a composite score rather than examining self-regulation profiles. Conceptually, a profile characterized by pervasive cognitive and behavioral self-regulation difficulties may have different developmental roots than a profile limited to behavioral regulation difficulties and children displaying these different profiles likely require different intervention supports. In the current study, latent profile analysis (LPA) with cognitive and behavioral self-regulation indicators revealed four unique self-regulation profiles for preschool children (N=566): Pervasive Dysregulation (cognitively and behaviorally dysregulated), Behavioral Dysregulation (behaviorally dysregulated only), Average Self-Regulation, and High Self-Regulation. Latent moderational analyses testing the interaction between latent profile membership and preschool teacher-student relationship indicated that while both the Pervasive and Behavioral Dysregulation group were at increased risk for less desirable kindergarten and 2nd grade outcomes, this risk was offset to a greater extant for children from the Behavioral Dysregulation profile when they experienced a close, non-conflictual teacher-student relationship in preschool.

Puerto Ricans and Mexican immigrants differ in their psychological responses to patterns of lifetime adversity.

BACKGROUND: Puerto Ricans and Mexican immigrants are often exposed to multiple types of adversity across their lifetime (e.g., maltreatment, household dysfunction, discrimination) and this exposure can increase the risk for adult mental health problems. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to (a) identify subgroups of individuals exposed to unique combinations of childhood adversity and lifetime discrimination among Puerto Ricans and Mexican immigrants, and (b) compare the prevalence of mental health problems across different risk profiles. METHOD: We used existing data from the HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study. Participants included Puerto Rican (N = 402) and Mexican adults (N = 1351) born outside but living in the continental U.S. FINDINGS: Through latent profile analysis, we selected a three-profile solution for Puerto Ricans: (a) Low Exposure (low on all adversity items; 58% of sample), (b) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Only (high on ACEs items, average or lower than average on discrimination items; 32%), and (c) Dual Exposure (high on all adversity items; 10%). For Mexicans, we selected a four-profile solution: (a) Low Exposure (52%), (b) ACEs Only (24%), (c) Maltreatment and Discrimination (15%), and (d) Dual Exposure (9%). For Mexicans, we found that the Dual Exposure and the Maltreatment and Discrimination profiles had the highest levels of mental health problems. For Puerto Ricans, the Dual Exposure and ACEs Only profiles had the highest levels of mental health problems, suggesting that Puerto Ricans may be more vulnerable to the effects of childhood adversities as compared to Mexican immigrants. Results from our study indicate that different patterns of adversity exposure are linked to different levels of mental health outcomes, and therefore, may require different intervention dosage. Understanding which groups of individuals are at highest and lowest risk for mental health problems is critical for developing effective, tailored interventions to prevent the negative effects of childhood adversity and discrimination for Latinxs.

An Ecological Latent Class Model of Adolescent Risk and Protective Factors: Implications for Substance Use and Depression Prevention.

To provide a comprehensive view of the unique contexts shaping adolescent development in the United States we utilized latent class analysis (LCA) with indicators of risk and protection across multiple domains (family, peers, school, neighborhood) and examined how latent class membership predicted heavy episodic drinking, illicit substance use, and depression in adolescence and six years later when participants were young adults. Data came from wave 1 and wave 3 of the nationally-representative United States-based Add Health study (N = 6,649; M age W1= 14.06; M age W3 = 20.38; 53.8% female; 56.1% White/European American; 22.8% Black/African American, 9.5% Hispanic, 6.7% Biracial, Asian or Pacific Islander 4.2%, American Indian/Native American 0.7%;). A 6-class solution was selected with classes named: Two-Parent: Low Risk, Two-Parent: Relationship Risks, Two-Parent: Neighborhood Risks, Single Parent: Low Risk, Single Parent: Relationship Risks, and Single Parent: Multidimensional Risk. Subsequent analyses suggested that adolescent social relationships are particularly important for prevention interventions as the classes marked by substance using peers and a lack of closeness to parents and teachers in adolescence (Two-Parent: Relationship Risks and Single Parent: Relationship Risks) had consistently poorer outcomes in adolescence and young adulthood.

Teacher, Center, and Neighborhood Characteristics Associated with Variations in Preschool Quality in Childcare Centers.

BACKGROUND: Childcare programs serving preschool children are generally of poorer quality than publicly-funded preschools both in terms of their classroom processes and structural features. Research on childcare programs has typically collapsed them into a single group, yet these programs vary greatly in neighborhood disadvantage and organization as they are managed by for-profit chains, non-profit community organizations, faith-based organizations, or individual owners. Little is known about variations in childcare program quality and what factors are associated with quality. OBJECTIVE: The current study utilized latent profile analysis (LPA) with classroom process, structural features, and neighborhood disadvantage indicators to identify patterns of quality and neighborhood disadvantage within a diverse sample of childcare programs serving preschool children. METHODS: Classroom processes (instructional support, emotional support, classroom management, positive discipline) and structural features (teacher age, experience, education, and satisfaction) data was collected from preschool teachers (N = 127) from 76 childcare programs. Neighborhood disadvantage (median income; rates of unemployment, single parents, and education) was measured using census tract data. RESULTS: LPA indicated two profiles of childcare programs with high-quality classroom processes and two with poorer processes. Both of the high-quality profiles were in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods and the two low-quality profiles were in more affluent neighborhoods. Subsequent analyses suggested quality covaried with management type with the lowest quality centers often run by for-profit chains. CONCLUSIONS: Connections between classroom processes, structural features, and neighborhood disadvantage are complex making it extremely challenging for parents to identify high-quality care for their children.

Patterns and Implications of Values Similarity, Accuracy, and Relationship Closeness between Emerging Adults and Mothers.

This study evaluated associations between similarity in personal values, accuracy of values perceptions, and relationship closeness among emerging adults and their mothers (dyads = 99). Contrary to previous studies, values similarity and accuracy were largely unrelated to relationship closeness. This was reinforced by Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), which revealed three unique patterns of values similarity, values accuracy, and closeness between emerging adults and mothers: 1) high relationship closeness, similar values and accurate perceptions; 2) moderate relationship closeness, dissimilar values and inaccurate perceptions; and 3) low relationship closeness but similar values and accurate perceptions. Subsequent analyses revealed different implications for emerging adults' wellbeing from different profiles. Emerging adults from the subgroup with low relationship closeness but high values similarity and values accuracy had more problematic drinking behaviors than the other profiles and lower positive affect.

Investigating the Relationship between University Students' Psychological Flexibility and College Self-Efficacy.

For many, college is a period of transition, marked with acute stress, threats to success, and decreases in self-efficacy. For certain groups of students, the risk of these poor outcomes is elevated. In this study, 348 students from a large residential university in the western United States were surveyed to understand the role of psychological flexibility and inflexibility on self-efficacy and the potential moderating impact of year in college and underrepresented racial minority (URM) status. Results indicated that students who are psychologically flexible reported greater college self-efficacy, whereas students who are psychologically inflexible reported lower college self-efficacy. The impact of psychological inflexibility on self-efficacy was moderated by URM status and year in school; psychological inflexibility had a stronger impact on URM students' self-efficacy than non-minority students, and psychological inflexibility had a greater effect on college students starting college as opposed to students who had been enrolled for multiple years.

An exploration of engagement and effectiveness of an online values affirmation.

Brief social-psychological interventions, like the values affirmation (VA), that target individual feelings of competency and buffer against social threats, have been shown to effectively reduce achievement gaps in randomised controlled trials. In the current study, underrepresented minority and first-generation college students in their first university semester (N = 496) were randomly assigned to receive the VA electronically or complete an online survey (control). Results revealed: (a) VA participants did not engage with the intervention in a manner typical of past VA studies that delivered the intervention as a class activity; (b) VA students had lower semester grade point averages (GPAs) than control students; and (c) contrary to previous studies, neither stereotype threat nor social belonging moderated the effectiveness of the VA. These findings further emphasise the importance of the context within which the VA is delivered and highlight the challenges that accompany increasing the reach of the VA through a widespread, online delivery.