Amanda P. Williford

Biological, behavioral, and relational levels of resilience in the context of risk for early childhood behavior problems.

Longitudinal growth patterns of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were examined in a community sample of 441 children across the ages of 2 to 5 using hierarchical linear modeling. Contextual risk was measured using five indicators (socioeconomic status, marital status, number of siblings, parent stress, parent psychopathology), and three levels of child resilience (biological, behavioral, and relational) were also assessed. Results indicate that a general pattern of decline in both types of behavior problems was observed for the entire sample across time, although considerable individual variability in this pattern was observed. Childrens externalizing and internalizing behavior at age 5 was predicted by the level of risk at age 2. All three child resilience factors were also predictive of externalizing and internalizing behaviors at age 5. In the prediction of the slope of problem behavior over time, risk status interacted with both temperamental fearlessness and a mutually responsive orientation with the mother to predict the decline in externalizing and internalizing problem behavior. Results underscore the complex interactions of risk and multiple levels of resilience that are implicated in the maintenance of problem behavior over time. They highlight the importance of considering whether expected resilience factors operate similarly across different levels of risk.

The Role of Executive Function in Children’s Competent Adjustment to Middle School

Executive function (EF) skills play an important role in childrens cognitive and social functioning. These skills develop throughout childhood, concurrently with a number of developmental transitions and challenges. One of these challenges is the transition from elementary into middle-level schools, which has the potential to significantly disrupt childrens academic and social trajectories. However, little is known about the role of EF in childrens adjustment during this transition. This study investigated the relation between childrens EF skills, assessed both before and during elementary school, and sixth grade academic and social competence. In addition, the influences of the type of school setting attended in sixth grade on childrens academic and behavioral outcomes were examined. EF assessed prior to and during elementary school significantly predicted sixth grade competence, as rated by teachers and parents, in both academic and social domains, after controlling for background characteristics. The interactions between type of school setting and EF skills were significant: Parents tended to report more behavioral problems and less regulatory control in children with weaker EF skills who were attending middle school. In contrast, teachers reported greater academic and behavioral difficulty in students with poorer EF attending elementary school settings. In conclusion, childrens performance-based EF skills significantly affect adjustment to the academic and behavioral demands of sixth grade, with parent report suggesting greater difficulty for children with poorer EF in settings where children are provided with less external supports (e.g., middle school).

Children's Engagement Within the Preschool Classroom and Their Development of Self-Regulation

This study used an observational measure to examine how individual childrens engagement with teachers, peers, and tasks was associated with gains in self-regulation. A sample of 341 preschoolers was observed, and direct assessments and teacher reports of self-regulation were obtained in the fall and spring of the preschool year. Research Findings: Childrens positive engagement with teachers was related to gains in compliance/executive function, and childrens active engagement with tasks was associated with gains in emotion regulation across the year. Engaging positively with teachers or peers was especially supportive of childrens gains in task orientation and reductions in dysregulation. Practice or Policy: Results are discussed in relation to Vygotskys developmental theory, emphasizing that psychological processes are developed in the context of socially embedded interactions. Systematically observing how a child interacts with peers, teachers, and learning tasks in the preschool classroom has the potential to inform the creation of professional development aimed at supporting teachers in fostering individual childrens development within the early education environment.

Using Mental Health Consultation to Decrease Disruptive Behaviors in Preschoolers: Adapting an Empirically-Supported Intervention

BACKGROUND This study examined the effectiveness of an adaptation of an empirically-supported intervention delivered using mental health consultation to preschoolers who displayed elevated disruptive behaviors. METHOD Ninety-six preschoolers, their teachers, and their primary caregivers participated. Children in the intervention group received individualized mental health consultation focused on providing teachers with behaviorally-based, empirically-supported strategies for decreasing disruptive behaviors within the classroom. Caregivers were invited to participate in parent training (35% attendance). Effectiveness was assessed in contrast to an assessment/attention comparison group where typical treatment was available. RESULTS This treatment approach was more effective than the comparison condition in decreasing child disruptive behavior, increasing the use of appropriate teacher strategies, and increasing the use of appropriate parenting practices. CONCLUSION Adapting empirically-supported treatments for use in mental health consultation may be a way to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice and increase effectiveness of mental health consultation in treating disruptive disorders in young children.

Program and Teacher Characteristics Predicting the Implementation of Banking Time with Preschoolers Who Display Disruptive Behaviors

This study examined the relationship among baseline program and teacher characteristics and subsequent implementation of Banking Time. Banking Time is a dyadic intervention intended to improve a teacher’s interaction quality with a specific child. Banking Time implementation was examined in the current study using a sample of 59 teachers and preschool children displaying disruptive behaviors in the classroom (~three children per classroom). Predictors included preschool program type, teacher demographic characteristics (personal and professional), and teacher beliefs (self-efficacy, authoritarian beliefs, and negative attributions about child disruptive behavior). Multiple measures and methods (i.e., teacher report, consultant report, independent observations) were used to assess implementation. We created three implementation composite measures (dosage, quality, and generalized practice) that had high internal consistencies within each composite but were only modestly associated with one another, suggesting unique constructs of implementation. We found that type of preschool program was associated with dosage and quality. Aspects of teacher demographics related to all three implementation composites. Teacher beliefs predicted dosage and generalized practice. Results suggest that the factors that predict the implementation of Banking Time vary as a function of the type of implementation being assessed.

Contextual Risk and Parental Attributions of Children’s Behavior as Factors that Influence the Acceptability of Empirically Supported Treatments

This study examined the acceptability of several empirically supported treatments (child social skills training, parent training and medication) within a sample of low-income African American mothers of a preschooler exhibiting significant disruptive behavior. Contextual risk and causal and responsibility attributions were predicted to be associated with treatment acceptability. Eighty-seven participants completed an attributional-style measure of child misbehavior and considered hypothetically the acceptability of several empirically supported treatments. Social skills and parent training were highly accepted, while medication was not. Greater causal attributions (childs behavior viewed as global, stable and due to something within the child) were associated with higher acceptability of social skills training. The relationship between attributions and medication was moderated by risk. In the context of high risk, lower causal attributions were associated with higher acceptability of medication whereas in the context of low risk, lower causal attributions were associated with lower acceptability of medication. In contrast, in the context of high risk, higher responsibility attributions (childs behavior viewed as purposeful, selfish and deserving of blame) were associated with greater acceptability of medication, while in the context of low risk, higher responsibility attributions were associated with lower acceptability of medication. Implications for future research and the implementation of empirically supported treatments within communities of color and those with economic disadvantage are discussed.

Individual and Contextual Factors Associated with Pre-Kindergarten Teachers’ Responsiveness to the MyTeachingPartner Coaching Intervention

With research findings indicating positive associations between teacher–child interaction quality and children’s development and learning, many professional development efforts now focus on improving the ways in which teachers interact with children. Previous work found that MyTeachingPartner (MTP), a web-mediated coaching intervention, improved teachers’ classroom interactions with children, and further analysis found that improvement in teachers’ interactions was mediated by their responsiveness to the MTP intervention. The current study assessed how teacher characteristics, including demographics, beliefs, and psychological factors, as well as contextual characteristics related to multiple measures of teachers’ responsiveness to MTP. Findings show that related factors vary across the different indicators of responsiveness. Specifically, the psychological factors of anxiety and readiness to change related to multiple indicators of responsiveness. Further, readiness to change and self-efficacious beliefs moderated the associations between classroom poverty and responsiveness. Study findings provide new insights into key teacher characteristics that might identify teachers in need of intervention adaptation or support to ultimately increase overall responsiveness.

Behavior Management for Preschool-Aged Children

This article summarizes behavior management strategies for preschool children who are at high risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder that have found to be effective in improving child behavior. Both parent and teacher training programs are reviewed, as these have been backed by substantial research evidence. In addition, multimodal treatments that include some combination of parent training, teacher training, and social skills training are also reviewed. Interventions emphasize the need for a strong adult-child relationship combined with proactive behavior management strategies to improve child behavior.

Cortisol Patterns for Young Children Displaying Disruptive Behavior: Links to a Teacher-Child, Relationship-Focused Intervention

Supportive and close relationships that young children have with teachers have lasting effects on children’s behavior and academic success, and this is particularly true for children with challenging behaviors. These relationships are also important for children’s developing stress response system, and children in child care may be more likely to display atypical cortisol patterns at child care. However, warm, supportive relationships with teachers may buffer these negative effects of child care. While many relationship-focused early childhood interventions demonstrate changes in child behavior, associations with children’s stress response system are unknown. This study assessed children’s activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis via salivary cortisol as a function of their participation in a dyadic intervention intended to improve a teacher’s interaction quality with a particular child. Seventy teachers and 113 preschool children participated who were part of a larger study of teachers and children were randomly assigned at the classroom level across three intervention conditions: Banking Time, Time-Control Comparison (Child Time), and Business-as-Usual. At the end of the school year, children in the Banking Time condition displayed a significantly greater decline in cortisol across the morning during preschool compared to children in Business-as-Usual condition. These pilot results are among the first to provide preliminary evidence that school-based interventions that promote sensitive and responsive interactions may improve young children’s activity in the stress response system within the child care/early education context.

Early Childhood Professional Development: Coaching and Coursework Effects on Indicators of Children’s School Readiness

ABSTRACT Research Findings Effects on children’s school readiness were evaluated for 2 interventions focused on improving teacher–student interactions (coursework, coaching) implemented sequentially across 2 years. Teachers from public prekindergarten programs in 10 locations were assigned randomly to treatment or control conditions in each year. Children’s language behavior was observed during the coaching year: Coaching and the course each had positive impacts on children’s multiword language behavior. Treatment impacts on directly assessed literacy, language, and self-regulation skills were evaluated within an intent-to-treat framework for children taught by the participating teachers in the coaching and postcoaching years. Children demonstrated higher levels of inhibitory control in direct assessments when their teacher had received coaching the prior year. Teachers who received both coursework and coaching reported in the postcoaching year that children in their classrooms demonstrated greater levels of behavioral control. Treatment effects did not differ as a consequence of child, classroom, or program characteristics, and there were no significant effects on directly assessed literacy or language skills. Practice or Policy: Results suggest modest benefits for children’s language behavior and self-regulation for intervention(s) that improve the quality of teacher–child interaction.