The goal of this multimethod, multireporter, prospective study is to determine if, when, and why students' positive and negative emotions are concurrently and prospectively related to their relationship with their teacher, social competence, problem behaviors, classroom engagement, and subsequent learning and achievement. A fuller understanding of these relations is critical because the knowledge can be used in prevention and intervention programs to precisely target aspects of socioemotional competence that likely positively impact learning and achievement.
The first aim i s to document the concurrent and prospective relations between children's positive and negative emotions and their achievement.
The second aim i s to investigate the potential moderating influences of students' own self-regulatory skills and their peers' emotionality and self-regulation on the relations between students' emotion and academic achievement.
Aim three is designed to identify processes that might mediate the relations between children's emotions and their achievement, including students' relationships with their teachers and their adjustment and their motivation versus avoidance towards, and engagement in, classroom activities. Observations of various emotions in two contexts (classroom and peer) will allow for the consideration of varying mediating pathways based on the type of emotion and where it is expressed.
The aims will be examined in the context of a three-year longitudinal study. Three hundred children will be followed from Kindergarten to 2nd grade. Each year, parents and teachers will report on students' positive and negative emotions, self-regulation, relationships with teachers, social competence, problem behaviors, and engagement. Teachers will report on peers' emotionality, self-regulation, and students' achievement. Children will participate in tasks that assess their positive and negative emotions, their regulation, and their academic achievement. Students' emotions will be observed while they interact with peers during recesses and during class time, while their engagement will be observed throughout the school day. Multivariate, longitudinal analyses will be used to examine prospective direct, mediated, and moderated relations.

Public Health Relevance

Many students are unable to perform basic reading and mathematics tasks and nearly 15% of young adults do not have a high school degree. Academic difficulties are linked to negative outcomes such as poor health, job instability, and low lifetime earning. A better understanding of students' positive and negative emotions will aid in the dissemination of programs that can bolster academic success and ameliorate negative outcomes.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
4R01HD068522-05
Application #
9025799
Study Section
Psychosocial Development, Risk and Prevention Study Section (PDRP)
Program Officer
Esposito, Layla E
Project Start
2012-03-01
Project End
2018-02-28
Budget Start
2016-03-01
Budget End
2018-02-28
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Arizona State University-Tempe Campus
Department
Social Sciences
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
943360412
City
Tempe
State
AZ
Country
United States
Zip Code
85287
Hernández, Maciel M; Eisenberg, Nancy; Valiente, Carlos et al. (2018) Trajectories of the Expression of Negative Emotion from Kindergarten to First Grade: Associations with Academic Outcomes. J Educ Psychol 110:324-337
Hernández, Maciel M; Eisenberg, Nancy; Valiente, Carlos et al. (2018) Bidirectional associations between emotions and school adjustment. J Pers 86:853-867
Hernández, Maciel M; Eisenberg, Nancy; Valiente, Carlos et al. (2018) Balance in Positive Emotional Expressivity Across School Contexts Relates to Kindergarteners' Adjustment. Early Educ Dev 29:1-13
Nozadi, Sara S; Spinrad, Tracy L; Johnson, Scott P et al. (2018) Relations of emotion-related temperamental characteristics to attentional biases and social functioning. Emotion 18:481-492
Berger, Rebecca H; Diaz, Anjolii; Valiente, Carlos et al. (2018) Sleep duration moderates the association between children's temperament and academic achievement. Early Educ Dev 29:624-640
Hernández, Maciel M; Eisenberg, Nancy; Valiente, Carlos et al. (2017) Observed Emotions as Predictors of Quality of Kindergartners' Social Relationships. Soc Dev 26:21-39
Sette, Stefania; Spinrad, Tracy L; Baumgartner, Emma (2017) The Relations of Preschool Children's Emotion Knowledge and Socially Appropriate Behaviors to Peer Likability. Int J Behav Dev 41:532-541
Hernández, Maciel M; Valiente, Carlos; Eisenberg, Nancy et al. (2017) Elementary Students' Effortful Control and Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Teacher-Student Relationship Quality. Early Child Res Q 40:98-109
Hernández, Maciel M; Eisenberg, Nancy; Valiente, Carlos et al. (2017) Concurrent and longitudinal associations of peers' acceptance with emotion and effortful control in kindergarten. Int J Behav Dev 41:30-40
Berger, Rebecca H; Valiente, Carlos; Eisenberg, Nancy et al. (2017) Effortful control and school adjustment: The moderating role of classroom chaos. J Appl Dev Psychol 53:108-119

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