Toddler-age externalizing behaviors and school-age academic achievement: Independent associations and the impact of parental involvement
Year: 2015
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The aim of this project was to examine independent associations between multiple dimensions of externalizing behaviors (i.e., aggression, oppositionality, inattention, and hyperactivity/impulsivity) during the toddler-age period and academic achievement at school-age in a sample of 495 high-risk children and families followed longitudinally from age 2 through 7.5. The study also investigated potential mediating effects of specific components of externalizing behavior assessed at ages 4 and 5, as well as potential moderating effects of parental involvement on the toddler-age-externalizing to school-age- achievement association. The results demonstrated that toddler-age aggression was the externalizing dimension most consistently associated with academic achievement at age 7.5, albeit modestly. In multivariate analyses, age 2-3 levels of inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and oppositionality were unrelated to school-age academic achievement scores. Moreover, findings showed that relationships between externalizing behaviors in toddlerhood and age 7.5 academic achievement were not moderated by level of parental involvement. The results suggest that in toddler-aged children, aggression is a more reliable predictor of school-age academic achievement than inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, or oppositionality.
Author: Lauretta M. Brennan
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W111381870