Kindergarteneres' Peer Relationships and Early School Absenteeism.

This study used a short-term longitudinal design to examine the extent to which kindergartners': (a) peer relationships are associated with their school absenteeism; and (b) development of positive peer relationships vary as a function of their time spent in school. To address these aims, data were drawn from 801 kindergartners across 64 classrooms and 15 schools in a Midwest city in the United States. Results from covariate-adjusted regression models revealed that kindergartners' relational bonds were not predictive of their time away from school, and that their relationships with classmates were generally unaffected by absenteeism. There was, however, some indication that children's relationships with their classmates were more strongly predicted by their absenteeism for children from less educated households relative to children from more educated households.

Maternal Labor Force Participation During the Child's First Year and Later Separation Anxiety Symptoms.

Separation anxiety symptoms are frequent among preschool-aged children, but it is also a possible gateway for diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder. Early maternal employment after childbirth can increase the risk for the development of separation anxiety symptoms. From an economic perspective, however, securing employment is one effective strategy to ensure child well-being. This study investigated how mothers' participation in the labor force (vs. maternal leave) and the financial state of families when the child was 5 months old was prospectively associated with separation anxiety symptoms. This study is based on 1,295 Canadian families with children assessed longitudinally from 17 months to age 6 on their levels of separation anxiety. Separation anxiety was measured during face-to-face interviews with the mothers. Maternal labor force participation, financial status, and risk factors were measured at 5 months. Results adjusted for propensity scores and for sample weight revealed that children of working mothers, despite having sufficient income (n = 245, 18.9%), were at higher risk of separation anxiety during early childhood. In contrast, maternity leave was most beneficial for children's separation anxiety, whether they were in a family with sufficient income (n = 950, 73.4%) or temporary low income (n = 100, 7.7%). Children of mothers in maternity leave were at risk of heightened separation anxiety only if they experienced chronic economic hardship. Therefore, maternity leave uptake could help prevent the development of separation anxiety. Providing families with opportunity to care for the baby as their main occupation during this sensitive developmental period could help improve children's mental health.

Classrooms with high rates of absenteeism and individual success: Exploring students' achievement, executive function, and socio-behavioral outcomes.

Research and policy dialogue surrounding absenteeism has predominately focused on the school when it comes to reducing student absences, with little focus on the classroom. Further, there has also been minimal attention paid to effects of absenteeism beyond achievement outcomes. To address both, we focused on the classroom and asked whether classrooms with typically higher rates of absenteeism were linked to students' individual achievement, executive function, and social skills. We used a nationally representative dataset of children who started in kindergarten in 2010-2011 (N = 18,170) - when absenteeism is at its highest point not seen again until adolescence. Using school and student fixed effects, our findings revealed that as the percent of absent classmates increases, individual student performance worsens consistently across achievement and executive function domains. Evidence for links between classmate absenteeism and student performance in socio-behavioral domains was less conclusive. Finally, the findings were unique to different student groups.

SCHOOL UNIFORMS AND STUDENT BEHAVIOR: IS THERE A LINK?

Whether or not schoolchildren exhibit better behavior in the context of wearing uniforms has been a long-standing area of debate in education. Nonetheless, there has been little empirical inquiry into the benefits or drawbacks of school uniform policies. To contribute new insights to the dialogue, the present investigation used nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 (n = 6,320) to examine students' social-behavioral and engagement outcomes across the elementary school years as a function of school uniform policies. In general, students in schools that required school uniforms did not demonstrate better social skills, internalizing and externalizing behavior, or school attendance as compared with students in schools without school uniforms. These associations were true across both public and private schools. There was, however, some indication that low-income students in schools that required uniforms demonstrated better school attendance than low-income students in schools that did not.

Mothers' Depressive Symptoms and Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: Examining Reciprocal Trait-State Effects from Age 2 to 15.

Using a large sample from the National Institute of Child Health and Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,178, 51% were male and 80% were White), the random intercept cross-lagged panel model was employed to unpack the trait and state aspects in the relations between mothers' depressive symptoms and children's behavioral problems from age 2 to 15. The transactional predictions among mothers' depressive symptoms and children's behavioral problems were largely attributed to their correlations at the underlying trait level (rs = .458-.528). At the state level, the mutual influences among mothers' depressive symptoms and children's behavior problems occurred more often during periods of transition. With that said, the child effects hypothesis was not supported.

Does the timing of kindergarten absences matter for children's early school success?

Although we know that children who are more frequently absent from school do less well academically, we know little about whether absences matter for other domains of development and whether the timing of their absences matter. In order to address these gaps in knowledge, we examined the experiences of 1,131 kindergartners (64% Hispanic, 7% Black, 17% Asian/other, 12% White) from a mid-Atlantic state. Covariate-adjusted regression analyses showed that children who missed school more frequently did less well in terms of their academic achievement and executive function skills both in kindergarten and through the end of first grade. Importantly, however, there were no consistent differences in children's social behavior nor did outcomes vary as a function of whether their absences occurred in the fall as compared with spring. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The Role of Preschool Peers in Children's Language Development.

Almost 5 million children attend preschool in the United States each year. Recent attention has been paid to the ways in which preschool classrooms shape children's early language development. In this article, we discuss the importance of peers and classroom composition through the lens of age and socioeconomic status and the implications for children's early learning and development. We also discuss the direct and indirect mechanisms through which classroom peers may shape each other's language development. As part of this discussion, we focus on exposure to peer language and engagement with peers, along with teachers' classroom practices. We conclude by discussing the ways in which teachers can ensure that children in classrooms of different compositions reap the maximum benefit, along with implications for research, policy, and practice.

The Grade-Level and Cumulative Outcomes of Absenteeism.

Nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2011 (n = 14,370) were used to examine the grade-level and cumulative outcomes of school absenteeism between kindergarten and fifth grade for students' school performance in the United States. Students who were more frequently absent in any year of elementary school demonstrated lower academic, executive function, and socioemotional outcomes. Although there was little variation in the magnitude of associations across grade levels, there was evidence of cumulative associations. Specifically, students who were consistently absent throughout elementary school tended to have lower outcomes across developmental domains in the long-term. The negative links between absenteeism and outcomes were larger for Black than White students, but few other subgroup differences emerged.

Detailing New Dangers: Linking Kindergarten Chronic Absenteeism to Long-Term Declines in Executive Functioning.

Of all elementary school years, absenteeism is at its peak during kindergarten. Although much has been established about the effects of missing kindergarten school days on achievement, nothing has yet been established on absenteeism and executive function (EF) skills. Yet developing EF skills early in school is critical, and missed in-school time might have long-term implications. To explore this link, we asked whether absenteeism in kindergarten was linked to both short- and long-term EF skill development. Using nationally representative data (N = 14,370) and employing fixed-effects modeling, we found that kindergarten absenteeism was linked to lower working memory and cognitive flexibility outcomes. The patterns varied based on definition of absenteeism, though our evidence does suggest long-term declines on EF skills seen through at least third grade.

Reconsidering the relation between parental functioning and child externalizing behaviors: A meta-analysis on child-driven effects.

Guided by multiple theories illustrating the transactional nature of the relation between parents' and children's behaviors, the present meta-analysis provides synthesized evidence on the strength of child-driven effects in eliciting changes in parents' psychological stress and parenting practices. A meta-analysis of 45 independent samples with 640 effect sizes found significant positive associations between children's externalizing behaviors and parents' subsequent functioning (r = .087, 95% CI [.07, .10]). These associations were net of parents' functioning at baseline, and the strength of these associations was statistically comparable with the effects of parents on children's externalizing behaviors (r = .075, 95% CI [.06, .09]). In addition, the strength of the child-driven effects did not vary as a function of child gender, age, or the time interval between assessments. The implications of these findings with respect to research on the dynamic relation between parenting functioning and children's adjustment are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Influences of Teacher-Child Relationships and Classroom Social Management on Child-Perceived Peer Social Experiences During Early School Years.

Interactions with teachers and peers are critical for children's social, behavioral, and academic development in the classroom context. However, these two types of interpersonal interactions in the classroom are usually pursued via separate lines of inquiries. The current study bridges these two areas of research to examine the way in which teachers influence child-perceived peer social support and peer victimization for 2,678 children within 183 classrooms in preschool through grade three. Two levels of teacher influence are considered, namely teacher-child closeness and conflict relationships at the child-level, and teacher management of interpersonal interactions at the classroom-level. Results of multilevel regression models showed that teacher-child closeness was associated with the growth of child-perceived peer social support from fall to spring, whereas teacher-child conflict and teachers' behavior management practices were associated with the change in child-perceived peer victimization across the academic year. These associations were unique and above and beyond the influence of children's actual peer social interactions, including reciprocal friendships and the collective classroom reputation of peer victimization. Collectively, findings highlight the multi-faceted teacher roles in shaping children's perceptions of their peer social experiences during the earliest years of schooling.

Persistence and convergence: The end of kindergarten outcomes of pre-K graduates and their nonattending peers.

The present investigation examined the benefits of pre-K through the end of kindergarten for children from low-income homes who lived in a large and diverse county (n = 2,581) as well as factors associated with a reduction in benefits during the kindergarten year. Results revealed that pre-K graduates outperformed nonattenders in the areas of achievement and executive functioning skills at the end of kindergarten, and also that the benefits of pre-K at the start of the year diminished by a little more than half. This convergence between groups' performance was largest for more constrained skills, such as letter-word identification, and was attributed to the fact that nonattenders made greater gains in kindergarten as compared with graduates of pre-K. Importantly, convergence in the groups' performance in kindergarten was not attributed to pre-K children's classroom experiences in kindergarten. Convergence was, however, attributable to preexisting individual differences, and there was support for the notion that even though children's skills are susceptible to improvement as a result of pre-K, their longer-term outcomes are likely to be impacted by factors that are outside the scope of early schooling. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Community Contexts and Utilization of Early Childhood Care and Education among Mexican-Origin Children.

Children of Mexican origin are under-enrolled in early childhood education programs relative to Black and White children, which is problematic given the potential benefits of early childhood education. o better understand this under-enrollment in ways that can inform efforts to change it in the future, this study examined how utilization of early care and education programs varied among Mexican-origin families according to the community contexts where they lived. Integrating data on Mexican-origin children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Birth Cohort (n = 1,100) with community data from the U.S. Census Bureau, logistic regressions revealed that the odds of enrollment in early care and education programs among Mexican-origin children increased as the supply of childcare centers in their counties increased. Holding childcare center supply constant, their enrollment also increased as the percent of co-ethnic Latinos/as in the county increased, especially for children from the least acculturated Mexican-origin families. Overall, these results suggest that ethnic enclaves might link Mexican-origin families to early childhood care and education programs for their children and that this role might be most important for families least likely to be connected to U.S. institutions.

What Do Parents Want From Preschool? Perspectives of Low-Income Latino/a Immigrant Families.

With a qualitative approach drawing from four focus groups, this study explored what aspects of preschool are valued most by 30 low-income Latino/a immigrant parents with children enrolled in a state-funded preschool program in Texas. Beyond the push and pull factors of necessity, convenience, and supply, parents reported valuing the responsiveness of schools to families' needs and concerns, the provision of a safe and developmentally appropriate environment, the role of preschool in both care and education, the incorporation of parents within the school, and the school's capacity for developing parents' human and navigational capital. Even though parents saw great value in preschool preparing their children for school and helping themselves as parents, there was also fear and mistrust in neighborhood schools that was rooted in discrimination and long-term educational inequality.

Absenteeism in the First Decade of Education Forecasts Civic Engagement and Educational and Socioeconomic Prospects in Young Adulthood.

Much has been established about the short-term consequences of missing school, yet little is known about the longer-term outcomes of absenteeism. To address this gap in knowledge, the current study considered the consequences of school absenteeism between kindergarten and eighth grade for the behavioral, economic, and educational outcomes of young adults. Participants were drawn from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (age 22-23; 54% female and 86% White, n = 648). The findings indicated that individuals who were more regularly absent from school were not more frequently engaged in risky, deviant, or criminal behaviors in young adulthood. However, those who were more regularly absent described being less likely to be politically engaged, reported themselves as experiencing greater economic difficulties, with less optimal educational outcomes, and as marginally more likely to have a child. The outcomes of absenteeism were largely cumulative and there was little evidence to suggest that the outcomes of absenteeism varied across urban and rural communities or as a function of socioeconomic status. Taken together, this study provides new insight into the long-term consequences of missing school and points to the importance of addressing absenteeism in the first ten years of students' educational careers.

Transactional effects between parental sensitivity and child social adjustment: Specifying trait-state aspects of parenting.

This study examined the reciprocal relations among maternal sensitivity, paternal sensitivity, and children's social adjustment from 54 months of age to 5th grade. Using a subsample from the National Institute of Child Health and Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 829), we employed an autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals (ALT-SR) to unpack the trait and state aspects in the relations between parental sensitivity and children's social adjustment. After taking into account trait factors, among all the significant autoregressive and cross-lagged paths originally found in the autoregressive cross-lagged panel models, less than one third of them remained significant in the ALT-SR model. More specifically, in the ALT-SR model, more parent-driven effects were observed for fathers and child-driven effects were detected between children's social skills and fathers' sensitivity. Taken together, it appears that parents' central tendency to be sensitive in the long term is a stable trait, and experiences less state-level fluctuations, and these appear to matter more for children's general tendency to show well adjustment as opposed to change over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Race/ethnicity, human capital, and the selection of young children into early childhood education.

Mexican-origin families face complex ethnic and immigration-based barriers to enrollment in early childhood education programs. As such, reducing barriers to enrollment for this population requires a better understanding of how Mexican-origin families work with, against, or around both general and group-specific constraints on educational opportunities. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, this study tailored broad social theory to the experience of Mexican-origin families to examine associations between human capital considerations and early childhood education enrollment within this population. Results supported the hypothesis that human capital considerations would be associated with early childhood care and education and provide limited evidence for the expectation that this link would be stronger for Mexican-origin families.

School absenteeism in the first decade of education and outcomes in adolescence.

This study used a prospective longitudinal sample of American children from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1326) to consider the educational, social, and behavioral correlates of absenteeism. More specifically, this study examined: (a) the extent to which absenteeism in the early elementary school years is associated with absenteeism in the later school years; (b) the degree to which absenteeism in the first decade of children's education is associated with their academic achievement and social-behavioral outcomes at age 15; (c) whether the timing of absenteeism matters for outcomes at age 15; and (d) whether early absenteeism has indirect effects on outcomes at age 15 via later absenteeism. Results indicated that school absenteeism was fairly stable throughout children's educational careers and although few children were chronically absent, children who had a weaker attendance record in the early years, in turn, had weaker attendance later on. Ultimately, absenteeism during the earliest years of school was linked with less optimal academic and social-behavioral outcomes at age 15 because children were more likely to be absent later on in their educational careers.

Intrusive parenting and child externalizing behaviors across childhood: The antecedents and consequences of child-driven effects.

Many developmental theorists have studied the mutual influences in parent-child dyads. However, absent from this area of work are longitudinal studies that examine how child elicited changes in the home environment in turn shape children's own long-term development and adjustment. The current study addresses this limitation by operationalizing child-driven effects in a multilevel model to predict children's adjustment through age 15 (n = 1,364). From 24-months to 7 years of age, children's externalizing behaviors predicted increases in mothers' intrusive parenting behaviors. These child-driven effects were particularly salient for non-White children and mothers who were at risk socioeconomically. More important, these elicited changes in mothers' intrusive parenting as a result of children's externalizing behaviors during early childhood, in turn, predicted children's externalizing behaviors through age 15. When taken together, these findings suggest that children have the potential to shape their own development in the long-term by initiating changes in their home environment. Accordingly, interventions designed to mitigate children's externalizing behaviors may need to address, not only general parenting practices, but also specific and efficient parenting strategies in response to children's behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).