In order to understand the causes and consequences of educational achievement and associated psychological and economic factors, social scientists often point to the quality of early experiences in school. Unfortunately, as early as kindergarten many children form negative attitudes toward school and these attitudes lead to school disengagement and low academic achievement. Research indicates that social factors, such as relationships with peers and teachers, play an important role in children's early school attitudes and school success. Moreover, there is a burgeoning amount of evidence suggesting that children's emotion regulation is associated with social competence among peers, low levels of behavior problems, and academic achievement. Despite these findings, more research is needed on the ways in which emotion regulation and social relationships work in concert to predict school adjustment. Moreover, although research suggests that self-regulation is associated with academic achievement, emotion regulation specifically has received less attention, particularly among low-income children in early educational settings. In response, this proposal seeks funds to examine associations between emotion regulation and school adjustment in a pilot sample of 120 children. Pre-kindergarten children (4 year-olds) will be recruited from a Head Start program that has a close working relationship with the Pl's research lab. Data will be collected from children, parents, and teachers in pre-Kindergarten (Head Start) and in Kindergarten in order to meet the following specific aims: (1) to assess various indicators of emotion regulation and their relation to one another and to school adjustment; (2) to examine social relationships (teacher and peer relations) and socioemotional adjustment (internalizing, externalizing, and social competence) as mechanisms through which emotion regulation affects children's adjustment to school. In order to help meet these aims, this study will use a longitudinal design and a multi-method, multi-informant approach to data collection. The broader impact of this study includes the facilitation of the development of teaching strategies, curricula, and policies that can be used to promote early and later school success for all children based on the results of the study. In addition, this study will provide needed research on the role of emotion regulation in children's social and academic functioning. Findings from this pilot study will also be used as the basis for a more comprehensive research project that will include a larger sample of children.
| Morris, Amanda Sheffield; John, Aesha; Halliburton, Amy L et al. (2013) Effortful Control, Behavior Problems and Peer Relations: What Predicts Academic Adjustment in Kindergarteners from Low-income Families? Early Educ Dev 24:813-828 |
| Myers, Sonya S; Morris, Amanda Sheffield (2009) Examining Associations Between Effortful Control and Teacher-Child Relationships in Relation to Head Start Children's Socioemotional Adjustment. Early Educ Dev 20:756-774 |
| Morris, Amanda Sheffield; Silk, Jennifer S; Steinberg, Laurence et al. (2007) The Role of the Family Context in the Development of Emotion Regulation. Soc Dev 16:361-388 |
