Philippe Guimard

Early Behavioral Self-Regulation, Academic Achievement, and Gender: Longitudinal Findings from France, Germany, and Iceland

Research suggests that behavioral self-regulation skills are critical for early school success, but few studies have explored such links among young children in Europe. This study examined the contribution of early self-regulation to academic achievement gains among children in France, Germany, and Iceland. Gender differences in behavioral self-regulation skills were also explored. A total of 260 children were followed longitudinally over one to two years (average age at Wave 1 was 74.5 months). Behavioral self-regulation was assessed using a structured direct observation (Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task) and assessment. Multilevel analyses revealed that higher levels on both ratings of self-regulation predicted higher academic skills after controlling for gender, age, maternal education, and previous achievement, but the relations depended on the cultural context. Teacher ratings were more consistently related to achievement gains than directly assessed behavioral self-regulation. Girls outperformed boys only in Iceland. We discuss universal and culture-specific findings and implications for educational practices.

The Global School Adaptation Score: A New Neurodevelopmental Assessment Tool for Very Preterm Children at Five Years of Age

OBJECTIVE To determine the usefulness of a neurodevelopmental assessment tool consisting of a questionnaire administered to teachers to measure the Global School Adaptation (GSA) scores of very preterm children at the age of 5 years. STUDY DESIGN A sample of 445 very preterm children (<35 weeks of gestation) was assessed at 5 years of age using GSA and IQ scores. According to the consistency between the scores, children were determined to be well classified, intermediately classified, or misclassified. The differences between groups were assessed through univariate and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS The GSA score was highly or intermediately consistent with the IQ score for 89.2% of the children, and 10.8% were considered misclassified. Children with a higher GSA than IQ score had more autonomy and self-confidence (P < .01), and those with a lower GSA than IQ score had more behavioral problems (P < .01). Analysis by logistic regression showed that sex and gestational age significantly affected the consistency between the 2 scores. Thus, girls were less likely to have a lower GSA than IQ score (aOR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.24-0.84; P = .01), and a lower gestational age significantly increased the likelihood of having a higher GSA than IQ score (for children born between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation: aOR = 2.70; 95% CI: 1.23-5.92; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS The GSA score is a simple, inexpensive, and reliable screening tool for assessing neurodevelopment in very preterm children at 5 years of age.

Quelle conception de la qualité de vie et du bien-être chez des enfants de 5 à 11 ans ?

L’objectif de cette etude est d’analyser comment les enfants âges de 5 a 11 ans concoivent leur qualite de vie a travers les dimensions contribuant a leur bien-etre et si cette conception varie en fonction de l’âge. Pour recueillir leur point de vue, des groupes thematiques focus groups ont ete organises aupres de 161 eleves âges de 5 a 11 ans scolarises dans 4 ecoles differentes, de la Grande Section de Maternelle (GSM) au Cours Moyen deuxieme annee (CM2). Les resultats montrent que les relations familiales et paritaires, les loisirs et l’environnement scolaire occupent une place importante dans la vie des enfants. On observe egalement que la conception qu’ils ont de leur bien-etre evolue avec l’âge, le developpement de leur autonomie, de leurs capacites cognitives et de leurs preoccupations societales.

Indirect and Direct Relationships Between Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement During the Nursery/ Elementary School Transition of French Students

Research Findings: Several recent studies carried out in the United States and abroad (i.e., Asia and Europe) have demonstrated that the ability of young children to regulate their behavior (including inhibitory control, working memory, attentional control) significantly predicts their academic achievement. The current study examined the contribution of self-regulation skills measured by the Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders task in predicting the literacy, word recognition, and mathematical performance of 138 French children followed from their last year in nursery school (5.7 years old) to their 1st year in elementary school (7.3 years old). The current study also examined whether self-regulation skills differ by gender. Results indicated that self-regulation performance was similar for boys and girls. Path analyses revealed different patterns of relationships between self-regulation and mathematics and between self-regulation and literacy/word recognition. Self-regulation was significantly associated with math skills both directly and indirectly. In addition, early literacy skills were strongly associated with both mathematics and word recognition performance. Practice or Policy: Results suggest that developing the strong self-regulation and early academic skills of young French children could be beneficial to their academic achievement.

Cognitive self-regulation and social functioning among French children: A longitudinal study from kindergarten to first grade: Self-regulation and social functioning

This study adds to the body of research examining the links between two components of cognitive self-regulation (inhibitory control and verbal working memory) and social functioning (social integration, social problem solving, and prosocial skills) and focuses on childrens sex as a moderator of the association between cognitive self-regulation and social functioning. The participants (N = 131) were French schoolchildren followed from kindergarten (Mage = 68.36 months, SD = 3.33 months) through Grade 1. Using hierarchical regression analyses, three major findings were revealed: (1) inhibitory control was a better predictor than verbal working memory of prosocial skills assessed by peers using the sociometric technique as well as by teachers using questionnaires, after controlling for sex, mothers education, and verbal and non-verbal IQ; (2) the prosocial skills assessed by teachers in kindergarten contributed more to explaining the prosocial skills and peer acceptance assessed in Grade 1 than cognitive self-regulation; and (3) sex did not moderate the relationship between cognitive self-regulation and social functioning. These results suggest that developing strong cognitive self-regulation, especially inhibitory control and prosocial skills, in young children schooled in France could be beneficial for their social development.

The Association of Urbanicity with Cognitive Development at Five Years of Age in Preterm Children.

Objective To determine the association of urbanicity, defined as living in an urban area, with cognitive development at five years of age in preterm children who were free of any disabilities or neurodevelopmental delays. Design Prospective population-based cohort. Setting French regional Loire Infant Follow-up Team (LIFT) network. Participants Included in the study were 1738 surviving infants born between March 2003 and December 2008 before 35 weeks of gestational age. At two years of age, the children were free of any disabilities and neurodevelopmental delays and were living in the Pays de la Loire region from their birth to five years of age. Main Outcome Measures The cognitive development at five years of age was evaluated with the Global School Adaptation score (GSA). The urbanicity of the residence for each child was classified into three groups: urban, quasi-rural, and rural area. Results Quantile regression approaches were used to identify a significant association between urbanicity and the GSA score at five years of age (adjusting for child and family characteristics). We found that the negative impact of urbanicity on the GSA score was more important for the lower quantile of the GSA scores. Conclusions Urbanicity was significantly associated with cognitive neurodevelopment at five years of age in preterm children born before 35 weeks of gestation. Complementary results additionally suggest that this relation could be mediated at the residence level by a high socioeconomic deprivation level. If these results are confirmed, more personalized follow-ups could be developed for preterm children. Further studies are needed to finely identify the contextual characteristics of urbanicity that underlie this association.

Validation of a French adaptation of the Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale in its abbreviated form, for 5- to 11-year-old children with and without intellectual disability

ABSTRACT Background: The quality of life (QOL) of children with and without intellectual disability (ID) has become a growing concern in the literature but the QOL instruments are not adapted for use with young children and children with ID. The objective of this study was to validate a French adaptation of the abbreviated form of the Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS). Method: Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on the data collected from 411 children aged between 5 and 11 years old. Internal consistency, test–retest fidelity, and convergent validity were tested. Results: The preliminary results of this study show that the model fitted the data collected to assess the life satisfaction of children, χ2 (395) = 705.340; p < .001; CFI = 0.911; TLI = 0.902; RMSEA = 0.044. Very good levels of internal consistency were obtained for both children with and without ID, with coefficients ranging from 0.70 to 0.88. The test–retest coefficients calculated after a 2-week interval highlighted a moderate (coefficients lower than 0.70) to weak temporal stability, which seemed more pronounced in children with ID. Conclusion: Despite some limitations, this instrument could be very useful for childhood professionals. It will enable them to assess the perception that children have of their wellbeing in the perspective of promoting their QOL. This scale also provides researchers in psychology with the opportunity to enrich their knowledge on the QOL of children with ID.

Les effets de dispositifs de prévention des difficultés langagières dans des contextes monolingues et plurilingues

Many programs for young children were conceived with the aim to develop their language skills and prevent underlying difficulties, especially related to the social background of children. After presenting the intentions, the benefits and limitations of several devices implanted in monolingual contexts for children of 0-6 years, the first results of a program set up in nurseries of early childhood are presented. The results of studies on the effects of programs developed in multilingual contexts in kindergarten and elementary school are then proposed. The challenges of these programs are discussed as well as the precautions to be taken in generalizing the results from these different studies as regard to language developmental processes and their many pathways.