title: Does Preschool Self-Regulation Predict Later Behavior Problems in General or Specific Problem Behaviors?
abstract: Findings from prior research have consistently indicated significant associations between self-regulation and externalizing behaviors. Significant associations have also been reported between children's language skills and both externalizing behaviors and self-regulation. Few studies to date, however, have examined these relations longitudinally, simultaneously, or with respect to unique clusters of externalizing problems. The current study examined the influence of preschool self-regulation on general and specific externalizing behavior problems in early elementary school and whether these relations were independent of associations between language, self-regulation, and externalizing behaviors in a sample of 815 children (44% female). Additionally, given a general pattern of sex differences in the presentations of externalizing behavior problems, self-regulation, and language skills, sex differences for these associations were examined. Results indicated unique relations of preschool self-regulation and language with both general externalizing behavior problems and specific problems of inattention. In general, self-regulation was a stronger longitudinal correlate of externalizing behavior for boys than it was for girls, and language was a stronger longitudinal predictor of hyperactive/impulsive behavior for girls than it was for boys.
authors.affiliation: Department Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4301, USA. lonigan@psy.fsu.edu.|Florida Center for Reading Research, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA. lonigan@psy.fsu.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lonigan
authors.affiliation: Department Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4301, USA.
authors.forename: Jamie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Spiegel
authors.affiliation: Department Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4301, USA.|Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
authors.forename: J Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Goodrich
authors.affiliation: Department Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4301, USA.
authors.forename: Brittany M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: Department Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4301, USA.
authors.forename: Colleen M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Osborne
authors.affiliation: Department Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4301, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.affiliation: Florida Center for Reading Research, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.|Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Beth M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Phillips
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D000066553:Problem Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000068356:Self-Control; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Executive function; Externalizing behavior; Inattention; Preschool; Self-regulation