Socioeconomic Status and the Adjustment to School: The Role of Self-Regulation During Early Childhood

Competing theoretical interpretations posit children's capacity for self-regulation as playing a spurious role, a mediating role, and a moderating role in the relationship between children's socioeconomic status (SES) and the adjustment to school. This study empirically examined these interpretations by investigating the role of children's self-regulation in the relationship between children's SES and three school adjustment outcomes: (1) overall problems in children's interpersonal relationships in school, (2) teachers' assessment of hyperactivity-attention deficiency, and (3) teachers' expectations of children's present and future scholastic ability. The results indicated that associations between self-regulation outcomes and the adjustment to school were not spurious; they persisted after children's SES background was controlled. Self-regulation served as a mediator of the association between children's SES and both interpersonal problems at school and teachers' expectations, and self-regulation served as a moderator of the relationship between children's SES and teachers' assessment of hyperactivity-attention deficiency.

[1]  G. Ladd,et al.  Children's interpersonal behaviors and the teacher-child relationship. , 1998, Developmental psychology.

[2]  M. Rothbart,et al.  Temperament and social behavior in childhood , 1994 .

[3]  D. Lortie.  Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study , 1976 .

[4]  R. Pianta,et al.  The first two years of school: Teacher-child relationships and deflections in children's classroom adjustment , 1995, Development and Psychopathology.

[5]  Michael Hout,et al.  More Universalism, Less Structural Mobility: The American Occupational Structure in the 1980s , 1988, American Journal of Sociology.

[6]  Doris R. Entwisle,et al.  Children, Schools, And Inequality , 1997 .

[7]  Phil A. Silva,et al.  Low Socioeconomic Status and Mental Disorders: A Longitudinal Study of Selection and Causation during Young Adulthood1 , 1999, American Journal of Sociology.

[8]  Greg J. Duncan,et al.  Do Neighborhoods Influence Child and Adolescent Development? , 1993, American Journal of Sociology.

[9]  P. Szatmari,et al.  Ontario Child Health Study. II. Six-month prevalence of disorder and rates of service utilization. , 1987, Archives of general psychiatry.

[10]  R. Hauser,et al.  Sex, Schooling, and Occupational Status , 1980, American Journal of Sociology.

[11]  P. Lachenbruch,et al.  Social structure, stress, and mental health: Competing conceptual and analytic models. , 1991 .

[12]  D. Entwisle,et al.  School Performance, Status Relations, and the Structure of Sentiment: Bringing the Teacher Back In. , 1987 .

[13]  M. Kohn,et al.  Work and personality : an inquiry into the impact of social stratification , 1984 .

[14]  M. Ensminger,et al.  Paths to High School Graduation or Dropout: A Longitudinal Study of a First-Grade Cohort. , 1992 .

[15]  Jay P. Heubert,et al.  High stakes : testing for tracking, promotion, and graduation , 1999 .

[16]  S. Chess,et al.  Origins and Evolution of Behavior Disorders: From Infancy to Early Adult Life , 1987 .

[17]  G. Ladd.  Having friends, keeping friends, making friends, and being liked by peers in the classroom: predictors of children's early school adjustment? , 1990, Child development.

[18]  Eigil Pedersen,et al.  A New Perspective on the Effects of First-Grade Teachers on Children's Subsequent Adult Status , 1978 .

[19]  J. Bates,et al.  Temperament in childhood. , 1989 .

[20]  D. Entwisle,et al.  CHILDREN WHO DO EXCEPTIONALLY WELL IN FIRST GRADE , 1987 .

[21]  D. Entwisle,et al.  First-grade classroom behavior: its short- and long-term consequences for school performance. , 1993, Child development.

[22]  A. Caspi,et al.  Moving Against the World: Life-Course Patterns of Explosive Children , 1987 .

[23]  S. Folkman,et al.  Socioeconomic Status and Health , 1994 .

[24]  Ray C. Rist,et al.  Student Social Class and Teacher Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Ghetto Education , 1970 .

[25]  Jere Brophy,et al.  Teacher-student relationships: causes and consequences , 1974 .

[26]  Arleen Leibowitz,et al.  Home Investments in Children , 1974, Journal of Political Economy.

[27]  W. Gove.  Societal reaction as an explanation of mental illness: an evaluation. , 1970, American sociological review.

[28]  Edward J. O'Brien,et al.  The person-situation debate in historical and current perspective. , 1985 .

[29]  Doris R. Entwisle,et al.  Entry Into School: The Beginning School Transition and Educational Stratification in the United States , 1993 .

[30]  L. Schofield,et al.  Social-Class Bias in Clinical Judgment and Recommendation for Treatment Using the Biographical Vignette Technique , 1975, Psychological reports.

[31]  T. Scheff,et al.  Being Mentally Ill: A Sociological Theory. , 1967 .

[32]  D. Entwisle,et al.  From First Grade Forward: Early Foundations of High School Dropout. , 1997 .

[33]  H. Goldsmith,et al.  Toddler and childhood temperament: expanded content, stronger genetic evidence, new evidence for the importance of environment. , 1997, Developmental psychology.

[34]  P. Szatmari,et al.  Ontario Child Health Study. I. Methodology. , 1987, Archives of general psychiatry.

[35]  W. Gove,et al.  The stigma of mental hospitalization. An attempt to evaluate its consequences. , 1973, Archives of general psychiatry.

[36]  R. Cairns,et al.  Lifelines and Risks: Pathways of Youth in our Time , 1994 .

[37]  O. D. Duncan,et al.  The American Occupational Structure , 1967 .

[38]  Who Gets Ahead? The Determinants of Economic Success in America. , 1981 .

[39]  D. Derryberry,et al.  Development of individual differences in temperament , 1981 .

[40]  Richard J. Murnane,et al.  Home Resources and Children's Achievement. , 1981 .

[41]  Avshalom Caspi,et al.  Personality development across the life course. , 1998 .

[42]  J. Bates.  Concepts and measures of temperament. , 1989 .

[43]  Michael Chapman,et al.  Child effects in studies using experimental or brief longitudinal approaches to socialization , 1986 .

[44]  P. Szatmari,et al.  Evaluation of the revised Ontario Child Health Study scales. , 1993, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[45]  D. Entwisle,et al.  Facilitating the Transition to First Grade: The Nature of Transition and Research on Factors Affecting It , 1998, The Elementary School Journal.

[46]  M. Cuccaro,et al.  Brief report: Professional perceptions of children with developmental difficulties: The influence of race and socioeconomic status , 1996 .