Sonya S. Myers

Developmental commentary: individual and contextual influences on student-teacher relationships and children's early problem behaviors.

Understanding factors associated with childrens early behavioral difficulties is of vital importance to childrens school success, and to the prevention of future behavior problems. Although biological factors can influence the expression of certain behaviors, the probability of children exhibiting classroom behavior problems is intensified when they are exposed to multiple risk factors, particularly negative student–teacher interactions. Children who exhibit behavior problems during early childhood and the transition to kindergarten, without intervention, can be placed on a developmental trajectory for serious behavior problems in later grades. Using a developmental systems model, this commentary provides a conceptual framework for understanding the contributions of individual and contextual factors to the development of early student–teacher relationships. Parent, teacher, and student characteristics are discussed as they are related to shaping student–teacher interactions and childrens adjustment to school.

The Kenyan Political Conflict and Children’s Adjustment

This study examined pre- and postconflict data from 84 children, ages 3-7 years, living in Kibera, Kenya, during the December 2007 political conflict. Results indicate that childrens disaster experiences (home destruction, death of a parent, parent and child harm) are associated with adjustment difficulties and that emotion regulation is an important protective factor postdisaster. Specifically, severity of the disaster experience was associated with increased aggression and decreased prosocial behavior. Emotion regulation was associated with less aggression and more prosocial behavior postconflict. Findings are discussed in the context of a developmental, systems-oriented perspective of the impact of disasters on child adjustment.

Effortful Control, Behavior Problems, and Peer Relations: What Predicts Academic Adjustment in Kindergartners from Low-Income Families?

This study used a short-term longitudinal design to examine the role of effortful control, behavior problems, and peer relations in the academic adjustment of 74 kindergarten children from primarily low-income families. Teachers completed standardized measures of childrens effortful control, internalizing and externalizing problems, school readiness, and academic skills. Children participated in a sociometric interview to assess peer relations. Research Findings: Correlational analyses indicate that childrens effortful control, behavior problems in school, and peer relations are associated with academic adjustment variables at the end of the school year, including school readiness, reading skills, and math skills. Results of regression analyses indicate that household income and childrens effortful control primarily account for variation in childrens academic adjustment. The associations between childrens effortful control and academic adjustment do not vary across the sex of the child or ethnicity. Mediational analyses indicate an indirect effect of effortful control on school readiness through childrens internalizing problems. Practice or Policy: Effortful control emerged as a strong predictor of academic adjustment among kindergarten children from low-income families. Strategies for enhancing effortful control and school readiness among low-income children are discussed.

Preschool Children's Adjustment Following a Hurricane: Risk and Resilience in the Face of Adversity.

Research Findings: It is clear that disasters negatively affect both adults and children. Yet there is little research examining the mechanisms whereby some people are negatively affected by disasters whereas others are resilient to these negative effects. Family functioning and child characteristics might be factors that influence the impact of disasters on young children. We tested this premise in a sample of 118 children living in an area affected by a Category 3 hurricane, with 47 of these children participating before and after the hurricane. Results indicated that disaster experiences and emotion regulation are predictors of adjustment following natural disasters. Findings also suggested that the effects of disaster experiences on children’s adjustment are sometimes indirect through their impact on parental depression and parent hostility. Practice or Policy: These findings indicate that working to minimize the likelihood of parent–child separations during disasters could reduce the negative effects of disasters on children. In addition, promoting better emotional regulatory abilities in young children may help them to be more resilient when experiencing natural disasters, and providing parents with the support they need to more effectively parent may also decrease the likelihood that children will experience adjustment difficulties following disasters.