Riikka Hirvonen

Children evoke similar affective and instructional responses from their teachers and mothers

In the present study, we examined the extent to which the responses of teachers and mothers toward a particular child are similar in respect to their instructional support and affect, and whether child characteristics predict these responses. The data of 373 Finnish child–teacher–mother triads (178 girls, 195 boys) were analysed. Teachers and mothers reported their instructional support and affective responses toward a child in the school/homework context in Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. At the beginning of Grade 1, the children’s performance in reading and math was tested, and teachers evaluated the children’s externalizing and internalizing problem behaviour. The results demonstrated that mothers and teachers showed similar instructional support and affective responses toward a particular child at the end of Grade 1. Moreover, children’s poor performance in reading and math at the beginning of Grade 1 was associated with high amounts of both teachers’ and mothers’ instructional support at the end of Grade 1, while children’s externalizing problem behaviour was strongly related particularly to teachers’ but also to mothers’ negative affective responses at the end of Grade 1. The results provide evidence for the evocative impact of child characteristics on the child’s interpersonal environment at the start of child’s school career.

Identifying Finnish Children’s Impulsivity Trajectories From Kindergarten to Grade 4: Associations With Academic and Socioemotional Development

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to identify the developmental trajectories of impulsive behavior among 378 Finnish children who were followed from kindergarten to 4th grade. In addition to ratings of children’s impulsivity, the analyses included measures of motivation, cognitive skills, socioemotional adjustment, and teacher–student relationship. Four latent groups were identified that differed in the level and change of the children’s impulsive behavior across time: (a) a group with low impulsivity, (b) a group with decreasing impulsivity, (c) a group with moderate impulsivity, and (d) a small group with a contradictory trajectory showing an upward trend in impulsivity. The decreasing group showed compromised behavioral regulation in kindergarten but not thereafter, and it was the poorest performing group in reading. Both the moderate and decreasing groups received negative ratings from their teachers with respect to socioemotional adjustment and relationships with the teacher. The moderate group predominantly included boys, whereas the low impulsivity group had a higher ratio of girls. Practice or Policy: By linking the different trajectories of impulse control development to children’s socioemotional adjustment and teacher–student relationships in a meaningful way, the findings highlight the importance of behavioral regulation skills in the classroom.