Jari-Erik Nurmi

Developmental Dynamics of Math Performance From Preschool to Grade 2

This study investigated the developmental dynamics of mathematical performance during childrens transition from preschool to Grade 2 and the cognitive antecedents of this development. 194 Finnish children were examined 6 times according to their math performance, twice during each year across a 3-year period. Cognitive antecedents, that is, counting ability, visual attention, metacognitive knowledge, and listening comprehension, were tested at the first measurement point. The results indicated that math performance showed high stability and increasing variance over time. Moreover, the growth of math competence was faster among those who entered preschool with an already high level of mathematical skills. The initial level of math performance, as well as its growth, was best predicted by counting ability.

Sense of coherence and health: evidence from two cross-lagged longitudinal samples

We explored the stability of sense of coherence (SOC) and the relationship between SOC and health in two cross-lagged longitudinal samples by using structural equation modeling. In Study 1, comprising 577 municipal male and female employees, SOC was found to be stable in both sexes. In women, SOC significantly predicted sickness absences in the 4-year follow-up period. A low SOC, but not a high SOC, was associated with health prospects. Surprisingly, SOC did not influence sickness absences among men. Study 2 further tested the relationship between SOC and health in 320 male technical designers. Although SOC was cross-sectionally associated with psychological and somatic health complaints, it did not predict later health complaints in a 5-year follow-up. Thus, the present study supports the dispositional character of SOC in both sexes and its predictive validity among women. No support was found to the salutogenic status of SOC and an unexpected gender difference was revealed.

Adolescent Development in an Age-graded Context: The Role of Personal Beliefs, Goals, and Strategies in the Tackling of Developmental Tasks and Standards

There is growing interest in how sociocultural context influences personality development, and in how people influence their own development as agents. This article represents an attempt to integrate recent models of social age systems and cognitive personality research with research on adolescence. The objective is to provide a framework for understanding adolescent development in an age-graded context. It is suggested that adolescents develop during the process of setting personal goals by comparing their individual motives with age-graded developmental tasks and role transitions. In order to realise their goals, they construct plans by considering different institutional opportunities in relevant domains, such as school, work, peer relationships, and society in a broader context. Developmental standards and beliefs concerning age-appropriate behaviour provide an eventual basis for the evalution of success along various developmental trajectories. This process also provides a basis for new self-definitions and identity. Related research is reviewed and, in conclusion, some future directions for research on adolescence are suggested.

School-Burnout Inventory (SBI) Reliability and Validity

This study introduces a measure for school burnout and examines its validity and reliability among students in upper secondary high schools and vocational schools by using confirmatory factor analysis. School-related burnout comprises three dimensions: (a) exhaustion at school, (b) cynicism toward the meaning of school, and (c) sense of inadequacy at school. A total of 1418 (709 girls, 709 boys) adolescents from 13 postcomprehensive schools (6 upper secondary high schools, 7 vocational schools) filled in a questionnaire concerning their school burnout and background variables. The results showed that the three-factor solution, compared to one- or two-factor solutions, fit the data best and also gave the best reliability indices. The three theoretically-derived dimensions of school burnout were closely related but separate constructs. Finally, concurrent validity for the School-Burnout Inventory (SBI) was found when the correlations of depressive symptoms, school engagement, and academic achievement with e...

Psychosocial characteristics of women and their partners fearing vaginal childbirth.

Objectives To examine the personal characteristics and socio‐economic background of women and their partners fearing vaginal childbirth.

Development of reading skills among preschool and primary school pupils

This study investigated the trajectories of preschool and first-grade childrens development of reading skills, as well as the cognitive and social antecedents of that development. One-hundred and ninety-six 5- to 6-year-old children were tested in October and April of their preschool year and again in the first grade. Data included measures of reading ability and its cognitive and social antecedents, which were analyzed using Simplex and Piecewise Growth Curve Modeling. The results showed that during the preschool year individual differences in reading grew larger and that this growth was faster among those who entered preschool with well-developed skills. However, during the first grade individual differences in reading diminished. The results suggest that systematic reading instruction in primary school education is more beneficial for children with less developed literacy skills, whereas children with more developed reading skills gain relatively less from reading instruction in the first grade. ESTE ESTUDIO investigo el curso evolutivo de las habilidades de lectura en ninos de pre-escolar y escuela primaria, asi como los antecedentes cognitivos y sociales de dicho desarrollo. Ciento noventa y seis ninos de 5 a 6 anos fueron evaluados en octubre y abril en pre-escolar y nuevamente en primer grado. Los datos incluyeron medidas de habilidad de lectura y sus antecedentes cognitivos y sociales y fueron analizados usando el metodo “Simplex and Piecewise Growth Curve Modeling.” Los resultados mostraron que, durante el ano de pre-escolar las diferencias individuales en lectura aumentaron y que este crecimiento fue mas rapido entre aquellos que entraron a preescolar con habilidades bien desarrolladas. Sin embargo, durante el primer grado, las diferencias individuales en lectura disminuyeron. Los resultados sugieren que la ensenanza sistematica de la lectura en la educacion primaria es mas beneficiosa para los ninos con habilidades de lectoescritura menos desarrolladas; en tanto que los ninos con habilidades de lectura mas desarrolladas obtienen relativamente menos beneficios de la ensenanza de la lectura en primer grado. DIESE STUDIE untersuchte die Gedankenbahnen bei der Entwicklung von Leseleistungen von Kindern in der Vorschule und der ersten Klasse, sowie die kognitiven und sozialen Antezedentien dieser Entwicklung. Einhundertsechsundneunzig funf bis sechs Jahre alte Kinder wurden im Oktober und im April wahrend ihres Vorschuljahres und dann nochmals in der ersten Klasse gepruft. Die Daten umfassten das Ermessen der Lesefahigkeit und deren kognitiven und sozialen Antezedentien, die mittels Nutzung der “Simplex- und Piecewise” Wachstumsmodellkurven analysiert wurden. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, das sich wahrend des Vorschuljahres individuelle Differenzen im Lesen verbesserten und das dieser Zuwachs bei jenen, die mit bereits gut entwickelten Leistungen in der Vorschule begannen, schneller vonstatten ging. Jedoch verringerten sich individuelle Differenzen wahrend der ersten Klasse. Die Ergebnisse empfehlen, das systematische Leseanweisungen in der Grundschulerziehung fur Kinder mit geringer entwickelten Leseleistungen vorteilhafter sind, wohingegen Kinder mit besser entwickelten Leseleistungen relativ geringfugig von den Leseanweisungen in der ersten Klasse profitieren.

Goal Contents, Well-being, and Life Context During Transition to University: A Longitudinal Study

To examine the relationships between young adults’ goal contents, their life situation, experienced life events, and subjective well-being, 256 university students filled in the Little’s Personal Project Analysis (PPA), the revised Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI), Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Scale (RSE), and a background questionnaire at the beginning of their studies. One year later, they also completed a life event scale (LES). Two years later, they again filled in the PPA, BDI, RSE, LES, and a background questionnaire. The results showed that an earlier life situation such as being married and having children was associated with interest in family-related goals, which again predicted subsequent transitions in this life domain. Moreover, goals that concern major age-graded developmental tasks, such as a future family, were found to predict high subjective well-being. In turn, high subjective well-being also predicted interest in these types of goals. By way of contrast, low self-esteem predicted interest in self-related goals, which again were associated with low well-being later on.

Identity Processing Orientation, Cognitive and Behavioural Strategies and Well-being

The aim of this study was to investigate interrelationships among the identity negotiation styles that people use, the cognitive and behavioural strategies they deploy, and their sense of subjective well-being. To examine this, 198 American and 109 Finnish college students completed the Identity Style Inventory, the Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire, Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Scale, and the revised Beck’s Depression Inventory. Results showed that people with an information-oriented identity style reported the highest level of self-esteem, those with a normative style had the most stable self-conceptions, and those with a diffuse/avoidant style displayed the highest level of depressive symptomatology. Moreover, dysfunctional cognitive and attributional strategies, such as expecting to fail and engaging in task-irrelevant behaviour, were associated with low self-esteem, unstable self-conceptions, and depressive symptomatology. Finally, the associations between identity processing styles and well-being were found to be mediated by the cognitive strategies that people deploy.

Psychosocial predictors of disappointment with delivery and puerperal depression. A longitudinal study.

Background. To examine the extent to which personality characteristics, depression, fear and anxiety about pregnancy and delivery, and socio‐economic background, predict disappointment with delivery and the risk of puerperal depression.

Development of individual differences in reading : Results from longitudinal studies in english and finnish

The authors examined individual differences in reading development in English and Finnish. English-speaking Canadian children were assessed once per year in Grades 1-5, and Finnish children were assessed twice per year in Grades 1-2. Results from latent growth curve and simplex analyses showed that initial status was generally negatively associated with subsequent growth and that, although stable, individual differences were more likely to significantly decrease than to increase across the measurement points. Growth mixture models identified multiple groups of children whose reading development followed distinct patterns. The results indicate that it is possible for educational systems to significantly reduce individual differences in basic reading skills during early reading development.