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Original Article

A Multidimensional View of Children’s School Readiness

Longitudinal Evidence Concerning Cognitive and Social Aspects

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1026/0049-8637/a000154

Abstract. The present longitudinal study explores, on the one hand, the nature and strengths of the relation between cognitive and behavioral self-regulation, and, on the other hand, the impact of early social, cognitive, and self-regulatory skills on later school achievement and social school adjustment. Findings indicate that working memory is the most important predictor of academic achievement in the longitudinal perspective; individual differences in social school adjustment, in contrast, were mainly explained by earlier behavioral self-regulatory skills. Executive functions, however, may additionally help us to understand the developmental mechanisms responsible for the successes and failures of school adaptation, while behavioral self-regulation, based on its adaptive role, may be quintessential in supporting a child’s successful transition into formal schooling, including its social demands.


Multi-dimensionale Perspektiven auf die Schulbereitschaft. Längsschnittliche Befunde zu kognitiven und sozialen Aspekten

Zusammenfassung. Die vorliegende Längsschnittstudie untersucht einerseits die Natur und die Stärke der Beziehung zwischen der kognitiven und verhaltensmäßigen Selbstregulation und andererseits die Auswirkungen der frühen sozialen Fähigkeiten sowie der kognitiven und verhaltensmäßigen selbstregulativen Kompetenzen auf die Schulleistung und die soziale Anpassung. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Arbeitsgedächtnis der stärkste Prädiktor für akademische Leistung in einer Längsschnittperspektive ist; hingegen werden individuelle Unterschiede in der sozialen schulischen Anpassung hauptsächlich durch die frühe verhaltensmäßige Selbstregulation erklärt. Exekutive Funktionen können jedoch zusätzlich die zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen für einen erfolgreichen Übergang in das formale Lernen erklären, während die verhaltensmäßige Selbstregulation, basierend auf ihrer adaptiven Rolle, die Quintessenz für den erfolgreichen Übergang eines Kindes in die formale Schulbildung, einschließlich seiner sozialen Forderungen, sein kann.

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