Department of Counseling and Special Education, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA.
Department of Library Science and Technology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 4;19(15):9583. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159583.
This study aimed to further the understanding of transactional relationships that exist between problem behaviors and academic performance in early childhood. Early academic and behavior difficulties increase the risk of school disengagement, academic failure, and dropout. Although children's academic and behavioral difficulties have been shown to be intercorrelated, little research has focused on how the relationship reciprocates and progresses in early childhood. This study investigated how problem behaviors (i.e., externalizing and internalizing) influence and are influenced by academic performance (i.e., poor reading and math) from kindergarten to third grade. Participants included 18,135 students (51.22% boys) derived from a nationally representative sample in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2011 (ECLS-K: 2011). Teacher ratings of children's internalizing (low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness, or sadness) and externalizing (fighting, arguing, showing anger, impulsively acting, and disruptive behaviors) problem behaviors, as well as direct assessments of children's academic performance (reading and math), were collected yearly. Cross-lagged panel modeling (CLPM) was employed to examine reciprocal relationships between problem behaviors and academic performance over time from kindergarten to third grade. The results supported the transactional relationships in early childhood, with higher externalizing as well as internalizing problem behaviors predicting lower academic performance and lower academic performance predicting higher externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. The implications for research, prevention, and early intervention regarding the progression of academic and behavioral problems are discussed.
本研究旨在进一步了解幼儿期存在的行为问题与学业成绩之间的交互关系。早期的学业和行为困难会增加学生辍学、学业失败和退学的风险。尽管儿童的学业和行为困难已经被证明是相互关联的，但很少有研究关注这种关系在幼儿期是如何相互影响和发展的。本研究调查了从幼儿园到三年级期间，问题行为（即外化和内化）如何影响和受学业成绩（即阅读和数学成绩差）的影响。参与者包括来自全国代表性样本的 18135 名学生（51.22%为男生），他们来自于早期儿童纵向研究，幼儿园 2011 级（ECLS-K：2011）。教师对儿童内化（低自尊、焦虑、孤独或悲伤）和外化（打架、争吵、表现愤怒、冲动行为和破坏行为）问题行为的评分，以及对儿童学业成绩（阅读和数学）的直接评估，每年收集一次。交叉滞后面板模型（CLPM）被用于从幼儿园到三年级的时间跨度内，检验问题行为和学业成绩之间的交互关系。研究结果支持了幼儿期的交互关系，较高的外化和内化问题行为预测较低的学业成绩，较低的学业成绩预测较高的外化和内化问题行为。讨论了关于学业和行为问题发展的研究、预防和早期干预的意义。
