Low Withdrawal-High Approach in Toddlers Predicts Maladjustment in Kindergarten When Parents Are Low in Comfort and Control

Transitioning to kindergarten is a formative time for children and sets them on trajectories for later academic achievement (Duncan et al., 2007).  Socio-emotional skills are crucial for school readiness (Sanson et al., 2004) and these skills, readiness, and adaptation to school are influenced by temperament - a child’s predisposed emotional reactivity to the environment and regulation of this reactivity (Rothbart & Jones, 1998).  Exuberant children low in fearfulness and withdrawal during toddlerhood are at risk for externalizing behaviors in early and middle childhood (Stifter et al., 2008).  Externalizing behaviors place children at risk for adjustment problems during school transition (Silver et al., 2005). Parenting also influences risk for externalizing (Leerkes et al., 2009). Sensitive and structured parenting has been shown to improve adjustment for children at risk (Leve et al., 2009).  The current study extends this work to examine the interaction between temperament and parenting in toddlers and kindergarten adjustment.

Sixty-three children and families (54% female, 92% Caucasian, 57% total annual income above $60,000) from a longitudinal study of 124 participants from central Pennsylvania had complete data at the 24-month visit and teacher reports during the fall of kindergarten. During the 24-month visit, families completed tasks in the lab that ranged in threat levels (Buss & Goldsmith, 2000).  Coders rated amount of child withdrawal and how often parents displayed comfort and control in each task.  During the fall of kindergarten, teachers completed the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Revised Questionnaire.

Examining toddler withdrawal as a predictor of school maladjustment, we found that low levels of withdrawal across tasks predicted higher levels of classroom maladjustment, β=-0.002, t(63)=-2.28, p=0.03.  We then included parental comfort and control separately as moderators using bootstrapped linear regressions.  We found a marginal moderation of comfort, β=0.004, t(63)=1.92, p=0.06, where the relation between low withdrawal and maladjustment was only significant when parents were low in comfort, β=-0.004, t(63)=-2.16, p=0.035.  Parental control did not moderate the model, but instead predicted maladjustment over low withdrawal β=-0.25, t(63)=-2.04, p=0.05. 

These results suggest that children low in withdrawal, or high in approach, are at risk for externalizing behaviors in kindergarten.  This effect is particularly strong when parents are low in comfort and control suggesting that these children benefit from structured parenting that is also sensitive to their needs.  Interventions addressing school readiness should consider child characteristics and target parenting as a mechanism for better adjustment outcomes.