Preschool Self-Regulation, Single-Family Status, and School Quality Predict Diverging Trajectories of Inattention in Elementary School

Introduction: Inattention at school entry has been linked with low grades, poor test scores, and a reduced likelihood of high school graduation (Breslau et al., 2009; Duncan et al., 2007; Pingault et al., 2011). Some researchers have argued that population-based, variable-oriented analyses mask discontinuities that characterize the teacher-rated inattention of some children, including subgroups who show reductions or increases in attention problems over the course of the early elementary grades (Pingault et al., 2011; Rabiner, Coie, & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group [CPPRG], 2000). This study adds to the very limited research on this topic by examining continuities and discontinuities in the developmental course of inattention during the early elementary years. Specifically, (1) developmental trajectories of inattention from kindergarten through third grade were estimated, (2) fifth-grade academic outcomes of children exhibiting different trajectories of inattention were examined, and (3) child self-regulation skills in preschool and context variables (family SES, single-parent status, elementary school quality) that might account for discontinuities in inattention were explored.

Methods: 356 children recruited from Head Start (58% European American, 25% African American, 17% Hispanic; 54% girls; M_age= 4.59 years) were followed longitudinally from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Teachers provided ratings of children's inattentive behavior.

Results:Latent profile analyses of teacher-rated inattention from kindergarten through third grade identified 4 developmental trajectories: 1) stable low (53% of the sample), 2) stable high (11.3%), 3) rising over time (16.4%), and 4) declining over time (19.3%). Children with stable low inattention had the best academic outcomes in fifth grade, children exhibiting stable high inattention had the worst, with the others in between. Self-regulation difficulties in preschool (poor executive function skills; elevated oppositional-aggression) differentiated children with rising versus stable low inattention. Elementary schools characterized by higher achievement differentiated children with declining versus stable high inattention. Boys and children from single parent families were more likely to remain high or rise in inattention, whereas girls and children from dual-parent families were more likely to remain low or decline in inattention.

Conclusions: The current study demonstrated that inattention is characterized by continuities and discontinuities that are meaningfully associated with academic outcomes, as well as with risk and protective factors. It was notable that environmental supports (e.g., schools characterized by high-achieving students, dual-parent families) emerged as the major factors differentiating children who started kindergarten with elevated inattention and improved over time from those who remained highly inattentive. Additionally, the primacy effects of child inattention at school entry on later academic achievement were notable in this study, suggesting the importance of intervening to improve attention problems in early childhood before kindergarten.