Child Self-Regulation, Parental Secure Base Scripts, and At-Risk Kindergartners’ Academic Achievement

Research Findings: Early reading and mathematics skills predict later academic success, and child self-regulation and secure parent–child relationships are both predictors of early academic skills. Self-regulatory and family relationship factors have rarely been studied together as predictors of early academic success in populations of young children at risk for academic difficulties. This study examined child self-regulation and parents’ representations of parent–child relationships as predictors of young children’s academic achievement. Participants were 106 kindergartners attending charter schools that served impoverished neighborhoods in a large city. In a path analysis, child self-regulation and parental secure base script scores each uniquely predicted kindergartners’ academic achievement at the end of the school year when several key covariates were accounted for. Practice or Policy: Children’s self-regulation skills should be assessed at school entry to help identify the children at greatest risk for academic difficulties. The findings also provide further support for programs that promote healthy parent–child relationships and self-regulation prior to school entry.