Externalizing behavior and low academic performance present key developmental challenges for school-age children, with the potential for these domains to predict each other over time, leading to worsened outcomes. Yet, previous studies have yielded inconsistent conclusions about the directional pathways between externalizing behaviors and academic…

We tested whether adoptive parenting played a role in the association between pre-adoption experiences and children's adaptive (responsiveness) and maladaptive (internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems, attention and sleep problems) behavioral adjustment over time. Ten-year-old girls, adopted at 13 months from institutional care (n =…

Children's problem behaviour in the preschool period is a severe obstacle to social-emotional development and a precondition for maladjustment in social relationships during school life. Professionals in the field have been improving existing practices to prevent and intervene in young children's challenging behaviour. To this end, many…

There is a consensus that the crises children encounter during the transition period might impact negatively on children's learning and development. However, from cultural-historical perspective, qualitative leap in development can hardly be achieved without crises. This paper, drawing upon cultural-historical theory as the framework and by using…

There is strong evidence that self-regulatory processes are linked to early academic skills, both concurrently and longitudinally. The majority of extant longitudinal studies, however, have been conducted using autoregressive techniques that may not accurately model change across time. The purpose of this study was to examine the unique…

A preschooler's ability to delay gratification in the waiting task is predictive of several developmental outcomes, despite this task's relatively low reliability level. Success in this task depends on the use of distraction strategies. The new Watch-and-Wait Task (WWT) has been developed to enhance reliability and to investigate whether the…

In this study, we examined the developmental pathways from children's family environment to school readiness within a low-income sample (N = 1,046), with a specific focus on the role of sustained attention. Six distinct factors of the family environment representing maternal parenting behaviors, the physical home environment, and maternal mental…

This study investigated gender differences in kindergarteners' literacy skills, specifically, whether differences in children's classroom behaviors explained females' early learning advantage. Data included information on 16,883 kindergartners (8,701 boys and 8,182 girls) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort of…

This study explored the inter-relationships and developmental stability of inhibitory motor control, attentional control, delay of gratification, and resistance to temptation with 32 preschool children, and related these components of self-regulation to children's behavior at home and in the classroom. The children completed the T.O.V.A.…

This longitudinal study used repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) and latent growth curve modeling to examine behavior change in 228 elementary school students over grades 1, 2, and 3 who varied in risk status. Of particular interest were the developmental trajectories for behaviors along four dimensions as rated yearly by teachers on…