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 fourth grade. In addition to ratings of children’s impulsivity, the analyses included measures of motivation, cognitive skills, socio-emotional 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: first, a group with low impulsivity; second, a group with decreasing impulsivity; third, a group with moderate impulsivity; and, fourth, a small group with a contradictory trajectory showing an upward trend…

Friend Influence and Susceptibility to Influence: Changes in Mathematical Reasoning as a Function of Relative Peer Acceptance and Interest in Mathematics

This study investigated friend influence over mathematics achievement in 202 same-sex friendship dyads (106 girl dyads). Participants were in the third grade (around age 9) at the outset. Each friend completed a questionnaire describing interest in mathematics and a standardized mathematical reasoning assessment. Peer nominations provided a measure of peer acceptance. The results revealed evidence that interest in mathematics moderates both the degree to which the higher-accepted friend was influential and the degree to which the lower-accepted friend was susceptible to influence. Specifically, the third-grade mathematical reasoning of the higher-accepted friend predicted an increase in the…

The role of parenting styles and teacher interactional styles in children's reading and spelling development.

Abstract This study examined the associations between parenting styles, teacher interactional styles, and children's reading and spelling skills. The sample consisted of 864 Finnish-speaking children and their parents (864 mothers, 864 fathers) and teachers ( N  = 123). Children's risk for reading disabilities and reader status were assessed in kindergarten. Children were also tested on reading and spelling skills in Grades 1 and 2. Parenting styles and teacher interactional styles were measured using parents' and teachers' self-reports in Grade 1. First, the results indicated that both an authoritative parenting style and authoritative teacher interactional style positively predicted child…

Longitudinal Associations of First-grade Teaching with Reading in Early Primary School

The present study examined the longitudinal associations between first-grade teaching practices and children's reading skills development from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Using the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM), the teaching practices of 32 Finnish teachers were observed in Grade 1. Students' (N = 359) word recognition and sentence reading skills were assessed yearly from Grade 1 to Grade 3. The person-oriented analysis identified three profiles of teaching practices in Grade 1: child-centred teaching style, teacher-directed teaching style, and a mixed child-centred and teacher-directed teaching style. Furthermore, the results showed that children whose Grade 1 teachers used…

Teachers adapt their instruction in reading according to individual children’s literacy skills

Abstract This study examined the extent to which first grade teachers adapt their reading instruction to the literacy skills of particular children in their classroom, and investigated whether teacher and classroom characteristics influence such adaptation. Three hundred seven Finnish children were tested with regard to their literacy skills at the end of their kindergarten year. At the beginning of the first grade, the teachers of these children filled in a questionnaire on the reading support they had given each child. The results showed, first, that the poorer the literacy skills a child showed at the end of kindergarten, the more personal reading instruction the teacher gave the child i…

The Concordance between Teachers’ and Parents’ Perceptions of School Transition Practices: A Solid Base for the Future

This study focuses on parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of practices aimed at easing the transition to formal schooling (e.g., familiarization with the school, discussions about the school entrants). A total of 230 preschool teachers, 131 elementary school teachers, and 2,662 mothers and fathers filled in a questionnaire containing items on how important they considered different preschool-school transition practices. The participants considered the various transition practices to be at least somewhat important. On average, familiarization with the school was considered to be most important, whereas teacher co-operation and joint writing of curricula were considered to be least important. …

Goal Construction, Reconstruction and Depressive Symptoms in a Life-Span Context: The Transition From School to Work

This study focused on investigating the kinds of personal goals young adults have when they are faced with the transition from school to work; the extent to which they reconstruct these goals as a consequence of their success in dealing with this transition; and how their goals influence their depressive symptoms. In order to investigate these research questions, 250 young adults who were facing a transition from school to work were studied at three points of the transition process: while they were still at school; 8 months after their graduation; and 1.5 years after it. At each measurement point, they were asked to complete the Personal Project Analysis, a revised form of Beck's Depression…

Do Parents’ Causal Attributions Predict the Accuracy and Bias in their Children’s Self‐Concept of Maths Ability? A longitudinal study

The present study investigated the extent to which parents’ causal attributions predict the accuracy of, and bias in, their children’s self‐concept of maths ability. Participants were 207 children and their 182 mothers and 167 fathers, who were assessed during the children’s first and second primary school years. The results showed that the more parents thought that their children succeeded because of ability, the more accurate the children’s self‐concept of maths ability became. In contrast, the more the parents attributed their children’s success to effort, the less accurate and more optimistic the children’s self‐concept of ability became.

Friendship Moderates Prospective Associations Between Social Isolation and Adjustment Problems in Young Children

This longitudinal study investigated prospective links between social isolation and adjustment problems among 166 (77 girls, 89 boys) Finnish children ages 7 to 9. Peer nominations for social engagement and self‐reports of internalizing and externalizing problems were collected in the spring of the 1st and 2nd grade. Friendship moderated prospective associations between peer and adjustment variables. Among friended children, there were no prospective associations between social isolation and either internalizing or externalizing problems. Among unfriended children, initial social isolation was positively linked to subsequent increases in internalizing and externalizing problems, and initial…

How does academic achievement come about: cross-cultural and methodological notes

Abstract This chapter discusses the possible impact of cross-national diversity in academic institutions, in the selection of students, in the importance of national achievement tests, and cross-national differences in the variation of social background factors. It ends with the strengths and limitations of using path modeling in cross-sectional research. It is of particular interest to note whether study behaviors mediate the impact of students’ abilities on college success, or whether students’ abilities mediate the effect of study behaviors on achievement. A secondary concern is the extent to which the same causal model applies equally to different universities in different countries.

Teacher-student interaction and lower secondary school students’ situational engagement

BACKGROUND Prior research has shown that engagement plays a significant role in students' academic learning. AIMS The present study sought to expand the current understanding of students' engagement by examining how situational engagement during a particular lesson is associated with the observed teacher-student classroom interactions (i.e., emotional support, instructional support, and classroom organization) in the same lesson. SAMPLE The participants were 709 Grade 7 students (47.7% girls) from 59 classrooms in 26 lower secondary schools and 51 teachers. METHODS The data consisted of 155 video-recorded lessons (90 language arts and 65 mathematics lessons) coded using the Classroom Assess…

A new perspective on adolescent athletes’ transition into upper secondary school : A longitudinal mixed methods study protocol

The challenge of combining elite sport and education into a dual career pathway remains to be a source of concern for many high-performance athletes. Previous research findings suggest that committed participation in both domains is highly demanding and success in one pursuit often comes at the expense of the other. There are emergent studies, however, that argue for the beneficial and complementary nature of dual career pathways. Consequently, we emphasize the importance of understanding the processes underlying differences in the development of athletes’ life trajectories. This article presents a study protocol to explore new methodological and analytical approaches that may extend curren…

Developmental Dynamics of Math Performance From Preschool to Grade 2.

This study investigated the developmental dynamics of mathematical performance during children's transition from preschool to Grade 2 and the cognitive antecedents of this development. 194 Finnish children were examined 6 times according to their math performance, twice during each year across a 3-year period. Cognitive antecedents, that is, counting ability, visual attention, metacognitive knowledge, and listening comprehension, were tested at the first measurement point. The results indicated that math performance showed high stability and increasing variance over time. Moreover, the growth of math competence was faster among those who entered preschool with an already high level of mathe…

Transition to formal schooling: Do transition practices matter for academic performance?

Abstract This study examined whether the transition practices implemented in preschool–elementary school pairs contribute to children's academic development during the first year of elementary school. Participants were 398 children who moved from 36 preschools to 22 elementary schools in two Finnish towns. Children were tested in respect to their reading, writing, and math skills in the preschool spring and in the grade 1 spring. The most common practices reported by preschool teachers were discussions about the school entrants and familiarizing preschool children with the school environment and the new teacher. Multilevel latent growth modeling showed that the more the preschool teachers a…

Dynamics of goal pursuit and personality make-up among emerging adults: Typology, change over time, and adaptation

In recent years young people's lives have been characterized by postponement of developmental timetables, inconsistencies of transitions, and loss of direction in life. Data from a longitudinal study of Israeli young adults show that the capacity for setting realistic work and love goals reflects inner strengths and is associated with adaptive outcomes. Less-articulated love and work goals are associated with underlying personality difficulties and are predictive of less stable and less adaptive outcomes. The interplay of goal constellations and personality constructs, and its association with adaptive and less adaptive outcomes is presented and discussed. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prematurity and overlap between reading and arithmetic: The cognitive mechanisms behind the association

It is well-known that very preterm children perform at lower levels than full-term children in reading and arithmetic at school. Whether the lower performance levels of preterm children in these two separate domains have the same or different origins, however, is not clear. The present study examined the extent to which prematurity is associated with the overlap (i.e., common variance) of reading and arithmetic among Finnish school beginners. We also examined the extent to which the association of prematurity with the overlap between reading and arithmetic is due to different prereading skills, basic number skills, and general cognitive abilities. The participants (age 6-7) consisted of 193…

Verbal counting skill predicts later math performance and difficulties in middle school

This study examined the role of verbal counting skill as an early predictor of math performance and difficulties (at or below −1.5 standard deviation in basic math skills) in middle school. The role of fourth-grade level arithmetical skills (i.e., calculation fluency, multi-digit arithmetic i.e. procedural calculation, and word problem solving) as mediators was also investigated. The participants included 207 children in central Finland who were studied from kindergarten to the seventh grade. Path modeling showed that verbal counting in kindergarten is a strong predictor for basic math performance in seventh grade, explaining even 52% of the variance in these skills after controlling for th…

Primary school text comprehension predicts mathematical word problem-solving skills in secondary school

This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the extent to which primary school text comprehension predicts mathematical word problem-solving skills in secondary school among Finnish students. The participants were 224 fourth graders (9–10 years old at the baseline). The children’s text-reading fluency, text comprehension and basic calculation ability were tested in grade four. In grade seven and nine, their skills in solving mathematical word problems were assessed. Overall, the results showed that text comprehension in grade four of primary school predicts math word problem-solving skills in secondary school, after controlling for text-reading fluency and basic calculation ability. Among …

Age differences in adolescent identity exploration and commitment in urban and rural environments

Sociocultural context may play an important role in identity development by shaping the opportunities adolescents are facing. To examine this, adolescents living in urban and rural environments were compared in terms of age differences in identity exploration and commitment. Younger (13-14-year-olds) and older (16-17-year-olds) males and females from urban and rural areas in both Australia (n=367) and Finland (n=316) were investigated. The participants completed the Exploration and Commitment Questionnaire which includes items concerning future education, occupation and family. The results showed that the older youths living in Australian urban environments showed higher levels of explorati…

Developmental dynamics between children’s externalizing problems, task-avoidant behavior, and academic performance in early school years: A 4-year follow-up.

This longitudinal study investigated the associations among children’s externalizing problems, task-avoidant behavior, and academic performance in early school years. The participants were 586 children (43% girls, 57% boys). Data pertaining to externalizing problems (teacher ratings) and task-avoidant behaviors (mother and teacher ratings) were gathered, and the children were tested yearly on their academic performance in Grades 1–4. The results were similar for both genders. The analyses supported a mediation model: high externalizing problems in Grades 1 and 2 were linked with low academic performance in Grades 3 and 4 through increases in task-avoidant behavior in Grades 2 and 3. The res…

Beginning readers' reading performance and reading habits

This study investigated the prospective relationships between reading performance and reading habits among Finnish children during the first and second grades of primary school. One hundred and ninety-five children were examined twice during their first primary school year and once during the spring term of Grade 2. The results showed, first, that children's reading skills predicted their reading habits: the more competent in reading children were at the end of Grade 1, the more likely they were to engage in out-of-school reading one year later. Second, reading habits also predicted reading skills: the amount of out-of-school reading at the end of Grade 1 contributed to the development of w…

How Do Efforts to Enhance Career Preparation Affect Peer Groups?

The present study investigated how efforts to enhance career preparation affect peer groups. The participants were 710 9th graders who were randomized into control and intervention groups and assessed 3 times during 1 academic year: at baseline (T1, Fall), immediately after the career preparation intervention (T2, 3 months after baseline), and 5 months after the intervention (T3, Spring). The results showed, first, that maintenance of a stable clique was more likely when most clique members participated in the intervention. Second, it was found that the members of adolescents' cliques resembled each other in respect of the strength of the intervention effect. Finally, the results showed tha…

Optimistic, Approach‐oriented, and Avoidance Strategies in Social Situations: Three Studies on Loneliness and Peer Relationships

The aim of the three studies was to examine the extent to which the cognitive and behavioural strategies young adults apply in social situations are associated with their subsequent feelings of loneliness, their peer relationships, and social behaviour. In Study 1, 303 young adults first filled in the Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire (SAQ) and, 1 year later, the revised UCLA Loneliness scale. In Study 2, 71 young adults filled in first the SAQ and, 4 months later, the UCLA Loneliness scale and a sociometric questionnaire measuring popularity and unpopularity. In Study 3, 35 young adults who had participated in Study 1 were rated by student tutors according to their social behaviour in…

Children's Temperament and Academic Skill Development During First Grade: Teachers' Interaction Styles as Mediators.

The present study followed 156 Finnish children (Mage = 7.25 years) during the first grade of primary school to examine to what extent parent- and teacher-rated temperament impacts children's math and reading skill development during the first grade, and the extent to which this impact would be mediated by teachers' interaction styles with the children. The results showed that the impact of children's low task orientation and negative emotionality on their math skill development was mediated via teachers' behavioral control and, among girls, also by psychological control. The negative impact of children's inhibition on math skill development, in turn, was not mediated via teachers' interact…

Career goal-related social ties during two educational transitions: Antecedents and consequences

Abstract This study examined adolescents’ career goal-related social ties during the transition from compulsory to post-compulsory education and during transition from post-compulsory education to working-life or further studies. A total of 687 Finnish adolescents aged 15–16 were surveyed of whom 654 also participated at the second measurement point one year later, and 497 three years later. Differences in career goal-related social ties were found according to gender, GPA, family structure, and SES. Moreover, social ties were associated with educational track after compulsory school above and beyond SES, GPA, and family structure. Adolescents who named a teacher or a romantic partner were …

Family background and problems at school and in society: The role of family composition, emotional atmosphere and parental education

Three studies were carried out to examine the extent to which family composition, size and atmosphere, parental control, and the level of parental education and socioeconomic status, are associated with young people’s problems at school, and later on in society. In study 1, twenty-four 13- to 14-year-old underachievers, and 24 of their matched-pair controls, and 24 overachievers and 24 of their matchedpair controls, were compared according to their family background. In study 2, sixteen low achieving pupils, 20 vocational school pupils and 21 senior high school pupils, aged between 14 and 19, were examined. In study 3, twenty unemployed young adults, 14 students with health problems, and 23…

Social Reaction Styles, Interpersonal Behaviours and Person Perception: A Multi-Informant Approach

Social strategies and reaction styles have been suggested to play an important role in initiating social relationships and in satisfaction with them. In order to investigate whether they are directly associated with popularity, unpopularity, lone-liness and evaluations about the social climate, or whether their impact is mediated by interpersonal behaviours and person perception, 92 students were asked to complete questionnaires measuring their social reaction styles, their lone-liness, the social climate in the class and their sociometric status. They also rated the behaviour of seven of their classmates, and these ratings were used as indices of social behaviour and person perception. Th…

Changes in stress perception and coping during adolescence: the role of situational and personal factors.

The present study investigated the interplay between developmental changes in stress and coping during early and late adolescence. Using a longitudinal design, stress perception and coping styles of 200 adolescents in 7 different stressful situations were investigated. Multilevel piecewise latent growth curve models showed that stress perception decreased during late adolescence, whereas active and internal coping increased continuously from ages 12 to 19. Adolescents’ high levels of perceived stress in a particular situation were associated with a high level of active coping but a low level of internal coping in that same situation. Withdrawal was associated with high levels of perceived s…

Couples share similar changes in depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction anticipating the birth of a child

The birth of a child is a demanding family life situation. This longitudinal study investigated to what extent spouses' depressive symptoms and marital dissatisfaction associated with pregnancy and childbirth (and their changes over time) were characteristic of the spousal relationship and/or the individual spouses. Pregnant women (N= 320) and their spouses (N = 259) were examined twice before and twice following childbirth. Results indicated that changes in depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction during pregnancy were characteristic of the spousal relationship, whereas changes after birth were characteristic of both the relationship and the individual spouses. Couples with initially …

Linguistic and spatial skills predict early arithmetic development via counting sequence knowledge

Utilizing a longitudinal sample of Finnish children (ages 6-10), two studies examined how early linguistic (spoken vs. written) and spatial skills predict later development of arithmetic, and whether counting sequence knowledge mediates these associations. In Study 1 (N = 1,880), letter knowledge and spatial visualization, measured in kindergarten, predicted the level of arithmetic in first grade, and later growth through third grade. Study 2 (n = 378) further showed that these associations were mediated by counting sequence knowledge measured in first grade. These studies add to the literature by demonstrating the importance of written language for arithmetic development. The findings are …

Identity Processing Orientation, Cognitive and Behavioural Strategies and Well-being

The aim of this study was to investigate interrelationships among the identity negotiation styles that people use, the cognitive and behavioural strategies they deploy, and their sense of subjective well-being. To examine this, 198 American and 109 Finnish college students completed the Identity Style Inventory, the Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire, Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Scale, and the revised Beck’s Depression Inventory. Results showed that people with an information-oriented identity style reported the highest level of self-esteem, those with a normative style had the most stable self-conceptions, and those with a diffuse/avoidant style displayed the highest level of depressive s…

Pressure to drink but not to smoke: Disentangling selection and socialization in adolescent peer networks and peer groups

Contains fulltext : 90699.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) This paper examined the relative influence of selection and socialization on alcohol and tobacco use in adolescent peer networks and peer groups. The sample included 1419 Finnish secondary education students (690 males and 729 females, mean age 16 years at the outset) from nine schools. Participants identified three school friends and described their alcohol and tobacco use on two occasions one year apart. Actor-based models simultaneously examined changes in peer network ties and changes in individual behaviors for all participants within each school. Multi-level analyses examined changes in individual behaviors for adole…

Longitudinal latent profiles of work–family balance: Examination of antecedents and outcomes.

Achievement strategies in peer groups and adolescents' school adjustment and norm-breaking behavior.

The present study examined the extent to which the achievement strategies deployed by adolescents, and those used by their peers would predict adolescents' school adjustment, academic achievement and problem behavior. The participants were 287 14-15-year-old comprehensive school students (121 boys and 165 girls) from a middle-sized town in central Sweden. The results showed that not only the maladaptive strategies used by adolescents, but also those reported by their peers predicted adolescents' norm-breaking behavior, low school adjustment and low level of achievement: high levels of failure expectations and task-avoidance among adolescents' peers were positively associated with adolescent…

Children's poor academic performance evokes parental homework assistance-but does it help?

This study investigated the longitudinal associations between type of parental homework assistance and children’s academic performance during grade 1 and grade 2. The reading and math skills of 2,261 children were measured three times during grade 1 and grade 2, and the children’s mothers and fathers filled in questionnaires on the type of homework assistance they engaged in. The results showed that the worse reading and math skills children showed at the beginning of grade 1 and grade 2, the more monitoring and helping with homework parents reported later on. The results suggest, overall, that children’s academic performance has an “evocative impact” on their parents’ behavior.

Cross‐lagged associations between kindergarten teachers' causal attributions and children's task motivation and performance in reading

The present study investigated whether kindergarten teachers' causal attributions would predict children's reading‐related task motivation and performance, or whether it is rather children's motivation and performance that contribute to teachers' causal attributions. To investigate this, 69 children (five to six years old at baseline) and their teachers were examined twice during the kindergarten year. Teachers filled in a questionnaire measuring their causal attributions twice during the kindergarten year. Information about the children's reading‐related task motivation and performance was gathered at the beginning of and at the end of the kindergarten year. The results showed that the hig…

Adolescents as “producers of their own development”: Correlates and consequences of the importance and attainment of developmental tasks

In a four-wave longitudinal study, 228 adolescents from seven age cohorts were investigated annually regarding the importance and subjective attainment of age-specific developmental tasks. Distal outcomes (educational trajectory and residential independence) were examined when the adolescents were 21 years old. The results of latent growth models (LGM) showed that there was no mean level change in the importance of developmental tasks, whereas perceived attainment of developmental tasks increased over time. In general, whereas the importance of developmental tasks was more impacted by family factors, the attainment of tasks was more influenced by individual factors. Adolescents with more pa…

The role of work-related personal projects during two burnout interventions: a longitudinal study

Burnout is nowadays a common problem among employees, and a new approach to reduce its extent is needed. This study looked at burnout interventions in terms of personal goals and/or projects. These represent what individuals are striving to achieve, and include work-related goals. Our aim was to examine the extent to which two kinds of burnout intervention, in the form of different types of psychotherapy, influence employees’ personal projects. The two types of therapy were psychoanalytic and experiential, both in the form of group therapy. To determine the extent, 62 employees who had contacted the Helsinki Occupational Health Services suffering from severe burnout participated, in the cou…

Validating the early childhood classroom observation measure in first and third grade classrooms

The present study reports on the psychometric properties of the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM) in Finnish and Estonian first and third grade classrooms. The observation data were collected from 91 first grade teachers and 70 third grade teachers. Teachers' curriculum goals, teaching experience and the classroom size were measured also. The results of confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence of the three-factor model (management, climate, and instruction) for each dimension—child-centred, teacher-directed, and child-dominated—in both grades. The reliability of the dimensions and sub-scales was good, and some evidence was also found for criterion validity. The fin…

Developmental dynamics between mathematical performance, task motivation, and teachers' goals during the transition to primary school.

Background. It has been suggested that children's learning motivation and interest in a particular subject play an important role in their school performance, particularly in mathematics. However, few cross-lagged longitudinal studies have been carried out to investigate the prospective relationships between academic achievement and task motivation. Moreover, the role that the classroom context plays in this development is largely unknown. Aims. The aim of the study was to investigate the developmental dynamics of maths-related motivation and mathematical performance during children's transition to primary school. The role of teachers' pedagogical goals and classroom characteristics on this…

Word Reading Skills and Externalizing and Internalizing Problems from Grade 1 to Grade 2 : Developmental Trajectories and Bullying Involvement in Grade 3

School bullying is associated with externalizing and internalizing problems, but little is known about whether reading difficulties also play a part. We asked how, in Grades 1 and 2, word reading skills and externalizing/internalizing problems predict the degree to which students are involved in bullying in Grade 3. Using a sample of 480 Finnish children (M age = 7 years 2 months at the beginning of the study), developmental profiles were identified using mixture modeling based on reading skills, as well as externalizing and internalizing problems. In Grade 3, one fifth of the students were involved in bullying as victims, bullies, or bully/victims. Poor readers with externalizing/internali…

Young adults' achievement and attributional strategies in the transition from school to work: antecedents and consequences

This study focused on investigating the extent to which the achievement and attributional strategies individuals deploy influence their success in dealing with the transition from school to work, and whether their success or failure in this particular would have consequences for the kinds of strategy they deployed later in life. Two hundred and fifty young adults filled in the Cartoon‐Attribution‐Strategy Inventory, a revised version of Beck's Depression Inventory, and a work status questionnaire at the beginning of the last spring term of their curriculum, four months after their graduation, and a year and a half after it. The results showed that the deployment of maladaptive strategies, …

Parenting styles and adolescents' achievement strategies.

The aim of the study was to investigate the extent to which adolescents' achievement strategies are associated with the parenting styles they experience in their families. Three hundred and fifty-four 14-year-old adolescents completed a Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire and a family parenting style inventory. Analogous questionnaires were also completed by the adolescents' parents. Based on adolescents' report of the parenting styles, four types of families were identified: those with Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, and Neglectful parenting styles. The results further showed that adolescents from authoritative families applied most adaptive achievement strategies characterize…

Assessment of students' situation-specific classroom engagement by an InSitu Instrument

The present study aims to expand the current understanding of engagement by examining variations in students' situation-specific engagement in lower secondary school. In addition, the validity and reliability of a new situation-specific InSitu Instrument were examined. The sample consisted of 1809 Finnish students attending Grade 7. The students filled in mobile ratings on their lesson-specific engagement after lessons. Furthermore, they answered questionnaires concerning their overall engagement, achievement beliefs, and task values in math and literacy. The results showed substantial variation within and between students in situational engagement. A five-factor structure was identified fo…

Goal Importance and Related Achievement Beliefs and Emotions during the Transition from Vocational School to Work: Antecedents and Consequences

Abstract This study investigated the extent to which the appraisal of work-related goals in terms of their importance, level of achievement, and positive emotions would predict young adults' subsequent success in finding a job after graduation from vocational school and the extent to which their success in dealing with this transition would predict how they reappraise their goals later on. Two hundred fifty young adults who were facing a transition from vocational school to work were studied at three points: while they were still at school, 8 months after their graduation, and 1 1 2 years after graduation. They completed the revised Personal Project Analysis inventory, focusing on work-rela…

Peer group homogeneity in adolescents' school adjustment varies according to peer group type and gender

This study investigated whether the members of adolescents' peer groups are similar in terms of their school adjustment and whether this homogeneity varies according to peer group type and gender. A total of 1262 peer group members who had recently moved to post-comprehensive education filled in questionnaires measuring their academic achievement, satisfaction with their educational track, school engagement, and school burnout. They also gave positive peer nominations on the basis of which 360 peer groups were identified and categorized as cliques, loose groups, and isolate dyads. The results showed that the members of adolescents' peer groups particularly resembled each other in terms of …

Development of reading skills among preschool and primary school pupils

This study investigated the trajectories of preschool and first-grade children's development of reading skills, as well as the cognitive and social antecedents of that development. One-hundred and ninety-six 5- to 6-year-old children were tested in October and April of their preschool year and again in the first grade. Data included measures of reading ability and its cognitive and social antecedents, which were analyzed using Simplex and Piecewise Growth Curve Modeling. The results showed that during the preschool year individual differences in reading grew larger and that this growth was faster among those who entered preschool with well-developed skills. However, during the first grade i…

Personal goals and personality traits among young adults: Genetic and environmental effects

To assess genetic and environmental contributions to personal goals, 1279 twins aged 20-26 filled in Personal Project Analysis and NEO-FFI inventories. Personal goals relating to education, the respondent's own family, friends, property, travel and self showed primarily genetic and unique environmental effects, whereas goals related to parents and relatives showed both shared and unique environmental effects. The variation in goals related to health, work, hobbies and life philosophy was attributable to non-shared environmental effects. Openness to experience and personal goals related to family, education and property shared a significant amount of genetic influence. The same was true for …

Mapping pathways to adulthood among Finnish university students: Sequences, patterns and variations of family- and work-related roles

Abstract The present follow-up study examined the sequences, patterns, and variations in family- and work-related roles during the transition to adulthood among university students. Our aim was to identify typologies of transitional pathways to adulthood across their education, employment, residence, partnership/parenthood histories. The subjects were 182 first-year Finnish university students (mean age = 21) who were followed for 18 years. The Life History Calendar was used to collect data on their education, employment, residence, and partnership/parenthood histories. We also investigated the participants’ background variables (gender, age, parents’ education, school grades) and their lif…

Predictors of mothers' and fathers' teaching of reading and mathematics during kindergarten and Grade 1

Abstract The aim of the present longitudinal study was to investigate factors contributing to mothers' and fathers' teaching of reading and mathematics to their children during kindergarten and Grade 1. It was assumed that mothers' and fathers' teaching during kindergarten would be influenced by their socioeconomic status and their own learning difficulties, whereas during Grade 1 by their children's academic performance. A total of 189 mothers and 165 fathers filled in questionnaires regarding their teaching of reading and mathematics twice, once in kindergarten and once in Grade 1. Children's reading and mathematics performance was also examined twice, once in kindergarten and once in Gra…

The cross-lagged associations between classroom interactions and children’s achievement behaviors

This study examined the cross-lagged associations between the quality of classroom interactions and children’s behaviors in achievement situations. The achievement behaviors in challenging test situations of 166 Finnish children from 70 classrooms were rated by trained testers in grades 1 and 2. The quality of classroom interactions in terms of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support were observed in 25 classrooms (out of 70) in grades 1 and 2. The results of multilevel modeling showed that classroom teachers’ low emotional support predicted children’s subsequent high passive avoidance, whereas high classroom organization and instructional support predicted chil…

Peer group influence and selection in adolescents' school burnout : A longitudinal study

The present study investigated the extent to which peer group similarity in school burnout is due to peer group influence and the extent to which it is due to peer group selection. Moreover, the roles of academic achievement and gender in school burnout were examined. A total of 611 ninth graders were examined at the beginning of the final term of comprehensive school, and 614 were examined at the end of the final term. The results of the Multilevel Latent Growth Modeling showed that peer group influence was responsible for peer group similarity, but no evidence was found for peer group selection. The results showed further that high academic achievement protected group members against an i…

Self-esteem during university studies predicts career characteristics 10 years later

Abstract To examine how self-esteem measured during university studies would impact on the characteristics of the work career 10 years later, 297 university students completed the Rosenberg’s self-esteem inventory four times while at university and various career-related questionnaires 10 years later. Latent Growth Curve Modeling showed that a high overall level of self-esteem predicted being in permanent employment 10 years later, having a high salary, and reporting a high level of work engagement, and job satisfaction, and a low level of burnout. By contrast, low self-esteem predicted unemployment, feelings of exhaustion, cynicism and reduced accomplishment at work, and low levels of work…

Achievement strategies at school: types and correlates

In this study we made an effort to identify the kinds of strategies adolescents deploy in achievement context in an unselected sample of Swedish adolescents. The participants were 880 14-15-year-old comprehensive school students (399 boys and 481 girls) from a middle-sized town in central Sweden. Six groups of adolescents were identified according to the strategies they deployed. Four of them, i.e. optimistic, defensive pessimistic, self-handicapping and learned helplessness strategies, were similar to those described previously in the literature. The results showed that membership in the functional strategy groups, such as in mastery-oriented and defensive pessimist groups, was associated …

The Role of Task Values in Adolescents' Educational Tracks: A Person-Oriented Approach

The present study examined what kinds of patterns of task-values adolescents show, and whether these patterns predict their educational and occupational expectations and school track. Six hundred and fourteen adolescents were examined twice before their transition to secondary education and once thereafter. The clustering-by-cases analyses identified 6 groups: (1) those who placed a high value on all school subjects, (2) those who did not value any of the subjects, (3) those who valued Finnish and social sciences, (4) those who valued in particular practical and art subjects, (5) those who valued only practical and art subjects, and (6) those who especially valued mathematics and science. T…

A person-oriented approach to diary data. Children’s temperamental negative emotionality increases susceptibility to emotion transmission in father-child dyads

The notion that some individuals are more prone to emotion transmission than others has prompted the need for a person-oriented approach to emotion transmission in parent-child dyads. The present study applied a person-oriented analysis to examine the patterns of emotion transmission that can be identified in the diary data of father-child dyads, and the extent to which children with high levels of temperamental negative emotionality are particularly susceptible to emotion transmission within the family. Mothers of 149 first grade children (age 6 to 7) completed questionnaires concerning their child’s temperament. Mothers and fathers maintained diary questionnaires (for a total of 7 days) c…

Does early reading instruction promote the rate of acquisition? A comparison of two transparent orthographies

Abstract This study examines the development of children's reading skills in two transparent orthographies, Estonian and Finnish. Formal reading instruction begins one year earlier in Estonia than in Finland; thus, it was expected that Estonian children would outperform their Finnish peers in reading achievement during grade 1. In this study, 433 Estonian and 353 Finnish first graders were assessed for letter knowledge, phoneme awareness, and reading accuracy and fluency at the beginning of first grade while reading fluency and reading comprehension were assessed in the final semester of first grade. The results showed that, despite Estonian children's better reading skills at the beginning…

Mathematical performance predicts progress in reading comprehension among 7-year olds

The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate cross-lagged relationships between mathematical performance and reading comprehension during the first and second years of primary school. 114 Finnish-speaking children were examined six times on mathematics and reading comprehension during Years 1 and 2. At the beginning of Year 1, they were also tested on initial mathematics and reading skill, general concept ability and visual-motor skills. The results showed, firstly, that mathematics and reading comprehension were highly associated with each other across both years. Secondly, mathematical performance predicted subsequent reading comprehension during the first year rather than vice v…

Reading comprehension from grade 1 to 6 in two shallow orthographies: comparison of Estonian and Finnish students

The aim was to examine reading comprehension among elementary school students in two shallow orthographies, Estonian and Finnish. Participants were 619 Estonian children (50% boys) and 292 Finnish children (52% boys) whose reading comprehension was assessed in first, second, third, and sixth grades. The results showed that reading comprehension among Estonian and Finnish children was at a similar level by the end of first grade but Finnish children started to have better performance from second grade onward. These findings suggest that the roots of Finnish students’ strong reading skills are nurtured from the very beginning of elementary school. The potential cross-country differences in re…

Positive Teacher Affect and Maternal Support Facilitate Adjustment After the Transition to First Grade

This longitudinal study, conducted among a sample of Finnish primary-school children, examined the proposition that a single high-quality relationship (either with a teacher or a parent) can buffer against adjustment problems. Teachers rated the externalizing problems and prosocial behaviors of 378 children in Grade 1 and again in Grade 2. Relationship measures gathered in Grade 1 included teacher reports of positive affect for the child and mother reports of support for the child. The results supported our proposition by showing that for child adjustment after the transition to primary school it was critical to have at least one high-quality relationship either with a teacher or a parent. …

Parents' Causal Attributions Concerning Children's School Achievement: A Longitudinal Study

The present study investigated the causes to which parents attribute their children's academic successes and failures during children's transition from preschool to primary school. It followed 182 mothers and 167 fathers of 207 children. The parents completed a questionnaire concerning their causal attributions, level of education, and parenting styles in the middle of the preschool year and during Grades 1 and 2. The children's performance in reading and mathematics was tested at the beginning of the preschool year. The results showed that, while the children were in preschool, parents attributed their children's success to ability and teaching. When the children moved to primary school, p…

Goal pursuit in young adulthood: The role of personality and motivation for goal appraisal trajectories across 6 years.

The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine changes in the appraisals of personal goals during young adulthood, and to investigate personality and motivation as predictors of goal appraisals. Israeli young adults (N = 284, 46% female) were assessed four times during ages 23�29 and reported on their goal appraisals (goal investment, goal momentum and goal stress), personality (efficacy and self-criticism) and motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, amotivation). The results showed mean stability for goal investment and momentum, whereas goal stress declined. Efficacy predicted higher goal investment and momentum 6 years later, while self-criticism accounted for indivi…

The roles of achievement-related behaviours and parental beliefs in children´s mathematical performance

This study aimed to investigate the developmental dynamics between children's mathematical performance, the task-focused versus task-avoidant behaviours they show in the classroom, and their parents' beliefs concerning their school competence. The mathematical performance of 111 six- to seven-year-old children was tested, and their task-focused versus task-avoidant behaviours were rated by their teachers four times during their first school year. Parents filled in questionnaires measuring their skill-specific and general beliefs about their children's school competencies at the beginning and at the end of the school year. The results showed that parents' beliefs in their children's general …

Social strategies during university studies predict early career work burnout and engagement: 18-year longitudinal study

Abstract This longitudinal study spanning 18 years examined the role of social strategies in early career adaptation. The aim was to find out whether individuals' social strategies measured during their university studies had an impact on work burnout and work engagement measured 10–18 years later. A sample of 292 university students completed the SAQ questionnaire three times while at university and the work burnout inventory three times and the work engagement inventory twice during their early career. According to the results, the higher the initial level of social optimism and the more it increased during university studies, and the lower the initial levels of social withdrawal and soci…

Is Depression Contagious? A Test of Alternative Peer Socialization Mechanisms of Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Peer Networks

Item does not contain fulltext Purpose: This study examined the role of two different types of peer socialization (convergence, contagion) in adolescents' depression, adjusting for the effects of peer selection and deselection. Methods: The sample used in this study comprised 949 Finnish adolescents (56% females; mean age: 16 years at the outset) attending classrooms in eight secondary schools. Participants identified three school peers and reported depressive symptoms twice, 1 year apart. Sociometric and behavioral data were analyzed using dynamic social network analysis. Results: Adolescents initiated relationships with peers who reported similar levels of depression before initiation of …

Introduction to the special section on student effects on teachers’ behaviors and attitudes

A special section of the International Journal of Behavioral Development (IJBD) devoted to the topic “Student effects on teacher behaviours and attitudes.”

Students’ characteristics and teacher–child relationships in instruction: A meta-analysis

Abstract This article suggests that students’ characteristics play a more important role in classrooms than has previously been thought. To investigate this, a computerized literacy search was conducted, finding 19 studies that focused on the topic. On the basis of these studies a meta-analysis was carried out in which 23 effect size estimates were computed. The results showed that teachers reported more conflict and child dependency, and less closeness in teacher–child relationships when interacting with students who exhibited either a high level of external or a high level of internal problem behavior. In contrast, teachers reported less conflict and more closeness in teacher–child relati…

The Role of Reading Disability Risk and Environmental Protective Factors in Students' Reading Fluency in Grade 4

This study examined the role of reading disability (RD) risk and environmental protective factors in reading fluency in grade 4. The sample consisted of 538 Finnish-speaking students. Kindergarten measures included the students' risk for RD based on poor achievement in phonological awareness and letter knowledge as well as information on the three control variables: nonverbal ability, level of parental education, and gender. Measures in grades 1–3 included environmental protective factors: classmate reports of peer acceptance; teacher reports of positive affect for the student; and mother, father, and teacher reports of partnership between the home and the school. The students were also tes…

Confidence in work-related goals and feelings of exhaustion during a therapeutic intervention for burnout: A time-series approach

This study investigated recursive relations between confidence in achieving work-related goals and work exhaustion among employees who participated in an intervention to reduce their burnout. Thirty-six employees of age 33-59 years suffering from severe burnout (28 females and 8 males) filled in burnout and well-being measures before and after a 10-month therapeutic intervention. They also filled in weekly measures of confidence in work-related goals (progress and capability) and work exhaustion throughout the intervention, as well as 4 weeks before and 4 weeks afterwards. Intra-individual variation was modelled using dynamic factor analyses. The results showed that, for most participants, …

Modeling Developmental Processes in Psychology

In the present article I suggest first that modeling in psychology can be described as an interactive process between a phenomenon under study (reality) and different levels of theoretical conceptualizations that vary in respect to how directly they can be related to empirical observations and at what level of generalization they operate. Then, I give three examples of my own work concerning building theories and testing models. Next, I discuss some caveats scientists face when building theories and models on the basis of their observations. Finally, I make a few conclusions on the basis of the article. peerReviewed

Personal Goals of Older Female Twins

This study examined genetic and environmental influences on older women’s personal goals by using data from the Finnish Twin Study on Aging. The interview for the personal goals was completed by 67 monozygotic (MZ) pairs and 75 dizygotic (DZ) pairs. The tetrachoric correlations for personal goals related to health and functioning, close relationships, and independent living were higher in MZ than DZ twins, indicating possible genetic influence. The pattern of tetrachoric correlations for personal goals related to cultural activities, care of others, and physical exercise indicated environmental influence. For goals concerning health and functioning, independent living, and close relationsh…

Parents' role in adolescents' decision on a college major: A weekly diary study

Abstract This study examined 39 adolescents during their transition to university. In standardized weekly diaries over several weeks (M = 8.13) adolescents reported on engagement in career exploration (in-breadth and in-depth self and environmental exploration), their parents' transition-related involvement (frequency of conversations, support, and interference), and their satisfaction with how the transition progressed. The results showed that exploration largely fluctuated across weeks, whereas parent involvement was more stable. Family members' engagement varied according to the phase of the application process the adolescent was involved in. The more adolescents explored during a given …

Parental ability attributions regarding children's academic performance: Person-oriented approach on longitudinal data

The aim of this study was to identify subgroups of mothers and fathers who differ according to the patterns of causal attribution to ability for their children's academic success and failure across early school years. Moreover, the extent to which the mother and father of the same child share the same attribution pattern, and how the attribution patterns are associated with the parents' level of education, children's sex and children's academic performance was investigated. A total of 1721 mothers and 1198 fathers filled out a questionnaire concerning their child-related ability attributions when the children were in Grades 1–3. Five different attribution patterns were identified with laten…

Within-students variability in learning experiences, and teachers' perceptions of students' task-focus

In order to advance our understanding of educational processes, we present a tutorial of intraindividual variability. An adaptive educational process is characterised by stable (less variability), and a maladaptive process is characterised by instable (more variability) learning experiences from one learning situation to the next. We outline step by step how we specify a multilevel structural equation model of state, trait and individual differences in intraindividual variability constructs, which can be appropriately fitted to intraindividual data (e.g., time-points nested in persons, intensive longitudinal data). In total 285 primary school students’ (Years 5 and 6) completed the Learning…

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-jbd-10.1177_0165025421992866 - A comparison of dyadic and social network assessments of peer influence

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-jbd-10.1177_0165025421992866 for A comparison of dyadic and social network assessments of peer influence by Dawn DeLay, Brett Laursen, Noona Kiuru, Adam Rogers, Thomas Kindermann and Jari-Erik Nurmi in International Journal of Behavioral Development

Effects of Multidomain Risk Accumulation on Cognitive, Academic, and Behavioural Outcomes

This longitudinal study examined the predictive associations between cumulative multidomain risk factors and cognitive (IQ), academic (reading fluency), and social adaptive outcomes at 8 to 9 years among 190 children with or without familial risk for dyslexia. Other risk factors included parental and neurocognitive risks assessed when the children were 1 to 6 years of age. Risks accumulated more among children with familial risk for dyslexia than among children without familial risk. A higher number of risks was associated with poorer performance in all outcome measures as postulated by the cumulative risk model. However, when the effects of individual risk variables were controlled for at …

Employees' motivational orientation and well‐being at work

This study utilises a person‐oriented view to examine what kind of motivational orientations employees have, and how they contribute to their well‐being. Two separate studies were carried out. A total of 286 white‐collar workers employed in a public sector educational institution in a middle‐sized town in Central Finland participated in the first study (116 men and 170 women). All the participants filled in Little's Personal Project Analysis and burnout inventory, a work ability index, Beck's Depression and Diener's Satisfaction with life scales. Analysis of the results found four motivational orientations, work‐, self‐, hobby‐ and health‐orientations among the employees. The work‐orientati…

Achievement Orientations, School Adjustment, and Well-being: A Longitudinal Study

This study set out to identify the kinds of achievement orientations that adolescents show, and to examine the kinds of antecedents and consequences the use of a particular orientation has. The participants were 734 Swedish adolescents (335 boys and 399 girls) who filled in questionnaires measuring their achievement beliefs and behaviors, depressive symptoms, engagement with school, and norm-breaking behavior. By using clustering-by-cases analysis, five achievement orientation groups were identified: optimism, defensive-pessimism, self-handicapping, and learned helplessness, and a group showing average levels of criteria variables. The results showed further that a decrease in depressive sy…

Best friends in adolescence show similar educational careers in early adulthood

The present study investigated the role of best friends in educational career development from adolescence to adulthood. Participants' (N = 476) reciprocal best friendships were identified at age 15, while their educational attainment was investigated in early adulthood (age 26), their intelligence (IQ) at age 13, and parental education, educational expectations and academic achievement at age 16. The results revealed that adolescent best friends ended up pursuing similar educational careers in adulthood. Furthermore, three kinds of partner-effects were found when adolescents' prior career behaviors were controlled for: (1) best friends' intelligence predicted adolescents' later academic pe…

Parent contributions to friendship stability during the primary school years.

The present study examines whether characteristics of parents predict the stability of a child’s best friendships across the primary school years. Participants included 1,523 Finnish children (766 boys) who reported involvement in a total of 1,326 reciprocated friendship dyads in the 1st grade (M = 7.16 years old). At the onset of the study, mothers and fathers completed questionnaires describing their own parenting (i.e., behavioral control, psychological control, and affection toward the child) and depressive symptoms. Child scores for peer status (i.e., acceptance and rejection) were derived from 1st grade peer nomination data. Discrete-time survival analyses predicted the occurrence and…

Mothers’ trust toward teachers in relation to teaching practices

Abstract This study examined the extent to which mothers’ trust toward the classroom teacher of their child in first grade is related to observed teaching practices in Finland and Estonia. Sixty-six teachers (32 in Finland, 34 in Estonia) were observed using the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM; Stipek & Byler, 2004 ). Mothers in Finland (n = 266) and in Estonia (n = 348) filled in questionnaires measuring their trust in their child's first grade teacher. The connection between mothers’ education, child gender, and classroom size in relation to mothers’ trust was also investigated. The results of multilevel modeling showed that mothers in both countries trusted more in t…

A randomized controlled trial of intervention in fear of childbirth*1

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To compare intensive and conventional therapy for severe fear of childbirth. METHODS: In Finland, 176 women who had fear of childbirth were randomly assigned at the 26th gestational week to have either intensive therapy (mean 3.8 ± 1.0 sessions with obstetrician and one with midwife) or conventional therapy (mean 2.0 ± 0.6 sessions), with follow-up 3 months postpartum. Pregnancy-related anxiety and concerns, satisfaction with childbirth, and puerperal depression were assessed with specific questionnaires. Power analysis, based on previous studies, showed that 74 women per group were necessary to show a 50% reduction in cesarean rates. RESULTS: Birth-related concerns decr…

Sense of coherence as a mediator between hostility and health

Abstract Objective: We proposed and tested a model in which low sense of coherence (SOC) was hypothesized to underlie the association between hostility and health problems. Methods: Structural equation modeling was based on cross-lagged 7-year follow-up data, relating to five measurement points in 433 female municipal employees. Results: The mediated model fitted well with the data. After adjustment for baseline characteristics, hostility was associated with increased risk of health problems, as indicated by records of sickness absences and poor self-rated health. Incorporating SOC into the model attenuated this association by 33–50%, depending on the indicator of health. The mediated effec…

Task-motivation during the first school years: A person-oriented approach to longitudinal data

Abstract The present study investigated the kinds of motivational patterns primary school students show in terms of the value they place on math, reading and writing, respectively, and the extent to which these patterns are prospectively associated with academic performance, and related to self-concept of ability. Two-hundred and eleven 6- to 7-year-old children were examined twice during Grade 1, and twice during Grade 2. On each measurement occasion, they were assessed on their performance in reading and math, and on their self-concept of ability and task-motivation in those skills. The clustering-by-states analysis for longitudinal data identified four groups of children: those who place…

Teacher–child relationships and social competence: A two-year longitudinal study of Chinese preschoolers

Abstract Based on a two-year and three-wave longitudinal sample of 118 Chinese preschoolers, the present study examined the cross-lagged associations between teacher–child relationships and social competence, and the cross-system generalization of social competence between home and school. At each of the three waves, teachers rated the children's teacher–child relationships and social competence in school, and mothers rated the children's social competence at home. The results showed that high closeness and low conflict in teacher–child relationships at three months after preschool entry (T1) predicted children's social competence in school at the end of the first preschool year (T2). T1 te…

Developmental dynamics of achievement strategies, reading performance, and parental beliefs

This study investigates the developmental dynamics between children's achievement strategies, reading performance, and parental beliefs, by using longitudinal data. The reading performances of 111 six- to seven-year-old children were tested four times during their first year of primary school. In the same time, the children's use of a task-avoidant versus a task-focused achievement strategy in the classroom context was rated by their teachers. Parents filled in questionnaires measuring their general beliefs about their children's school performance and their reading-specific beliefs at the beginning and at the end of the school year. The results showed thatparents' beliefs in their children…

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 mothe…

Early Cognitive Precursors of Children's Mathematics Learning Disability and Persistent Low Achievement: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study.

Mathematical difficulties have been distinguished as mathematics learning disability (MLD) and persistent low achievement (LA). Based on 1,880 Finnish children who were followed from kindergarten (age 6) to fourth grade, this study examined the early risk factors for MLD and LA. Distinct groups of MLD (6.0% of the sample) and LA (25.7%) children were identified on the basis of their mathematics performance between first and fourth grades with latent class growth modeling. Impairment in the same set of cognitive skills, including language, spatial, and counting skills, was found to underlie MLD and LA. The finding highlights the importance of monitoring mathematical development across the ea…

A validation of the early childhood classroom observation measure in Finnish and Estonian kindergarten

Research Findings: The aim of the study was to examine the applicability and psychometric properties of the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM; D. J. Stipek & P. Byler, 2005) outside the United States. The ECCOM was used to observe 83 kindergarten teachers (49 in Finland and 34 in Estonia) in classroom situations. Self-ratings were obtained of teachers’ teaching practices, curriculum goals, efficacy beliefs, instructional activities, work experience, and group size. The analyses indicated 1-factor solutions for each of the ECCOM dimensions (i.e., Child-Centered, Teacher-Directed, and Child-Dominated) and high reliabilities for all dimensions, subscales (i.e., Management, C…

Comorbid Fluency Difficulties in Reading and Math: Longitudinal Stability Across Early Grades

We examined the prevalence of comorbidity of dysfluent reading and math skills longitudinally in a representative sample ( N = 1,928) and the stability of comorbid and single difficulties from first to fourth grades. The findings indicated that half the children who showed very low performance in one skill also evidenced low or very low performance in the other. Comorbid difficulties had somewhat higher prevalence in third and fourth graders than in first and second graders. The stability of comorbid difficulties was found to be established from Grade 2 onward, but the stability of single difficulties increased steadily across grades. Overall, the findings emphasize the relatively strong s…

Variation in situation-specific engagement among lower secondary school students

The majority of previous research has examined school engagement as an overall student characteristic. The present study contributes to the field by examining variation in students' situation-specific engagement from one lesson to another and by investigating situational determinants of such variation. An intensive one-week lesson-to-lesson data collection was conducted in four lower secondary school classrooms. Students rated their situation-specific engagement at the end of each lesson with a mobile-based InSitu instrument. Data comprising a total of 57 students and 1328 ratings were analyzed with two-level hierarchical multivariate model (between students, and within students between les…

Associations Among Teacher–Child Interactions, Teacher Curriculum Emphases, and Reading Skills in Grade 1

Research Findings: The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent to which the quality of teacher–child interactions and teachers’ self-reported curriculum emphases are related to children’s reading skill development during their 1st school year. To accomplish this, we assessed the reading skills of 1,029 Finnish children (M age = 85.77 months) twice during Grade 1, and the children’s teachers (n = 91) completed questionnaires concerning their literacy-related curriculum emphases. In addition, teacher–child interactions in terms of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support were observed in 29 classrooms. The results of multilevel modeling showed that a…

Within-student variability in learning experiences, and teachers’ perceptions of students’ task-focus

In order to advance models of educational processes (intraindividual, intensive longitudinal), we propose a model in which we specify state and trait constructs, and an intraindividual variability construct. In our ecological momentary assessment study, we investigated how trait-level and intraindividual variability of students’ learning experiences (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, task difficulty, effort exertion, help-seeking and competence evaluations) converged with teacher-reported student task-focus. 285 primary school students’ (Years 5 and 6) completed the Learning Experience Questionnaire using handheld computers, on average 13.6 learning episodes during one week (SD = 4.6; Ran…

Teacher ability evaluation and changes in elementary student profiles of motivation and performance in mathematics

Abstract The aim of this person-centered study is to identify the profiles of interest value, self-concept, and performance in the domain of mathematics among elementary school students and to examine the stability and changes in these profiles from grade 1 to grade 2. Teacher-reported evaluations of students' mathematical ability and gender were examined as predictors of changes in the student profiles. The sample consisted of 237 students (46.8% girls). The latent profile analysis identified four profiles: 1) low levels of interest value, medium levels of self-concept and performance; 2) low levels of interest value, self-concept and performance; 3) high levels of interest value, self-con…

Developmental Dynamics of Phonemic Awareness and Reading Performance During the First Year of Primary School

This study investigates prospective relationships between phonemic awareness and reading performance during the first year of Finnish primary school. Pedagogical interest lay in finding out whether systematic use of phonics in reading instruction supported children’s reading performance even if children can already decode. A total of 85 children were examined three times on phonemic awareness and four times on reading performance during the first school year. At the beginning of the school year, they were also tested on initial reading skills. The results showed that the development of phonemic awareness and reading performance was reciprocal. Reading performance predicted phonemic awarene…

A teacher-report measure of children's task-avoidant behavior: A validation study of the Behavioral Strategy Rating Scale

Abstract This study aims to validate a teacher-report measure of children's task-avoidant behavior, namely the Behavioral Strategy Rating Scale (BSRS), in a sample of 352 Finnish children. In each of the four waves from Kindergarten to Grade 2, teachers rated children's task-avoidant behavior using the BSRS, children completed reading and mathematics tests, and trained testers rated children's task-avoidant and social-dependent behavior after the test situation. Mothers also rated children's task-avoidant behavior in the last two waves. The results showed that a two-factor model including one factor representing task avoidance and one method factor accounting for wording effects among the n…

Changes in goal-related affects: Decrease burnout during a group psychotherapy intervention.

The study examined the role played by changes in employees' goal-related affects in decreasing burnout during a group intervention. 62 white-collar employees, suffering from severe burnout, were randomized into 10-month group intervention programmes consisting of 16 intensive 1-day sessions every second week. The participants appraised their work and interpersonal goals according to their positive and negative affects weekly for 54 weeks. During the pre- and postintervention and follow-up (6 months later) measurements, the participants filled out a burnout measurement. The results, analysed by multilevel modelling, showed that a decrease in the negative affects and an increase in the positi…

Cognitive predictors of single-digit and procedural calculation skills and their covariation with reading skill.

Abstract This study examined the extent to which children’s cognitive abilities in kindergarten and their mothers’ education predict their single-digit and procedural calculation skills and the covariance of these with reading skill in Grade 4. In kindergarten, we assessed children’s (N = 178) basic number skills, linguistic skills, and visual attention. In Grade 4, we assessed their calculation and reading skills. Data on children’s cognitive ability at 5 years of age and their mothers’ level of education were also collected. The results showed that both of the core components of calculation, single-digit and procedural calculation, as well as their covariance with reading, were predicted …

Supportive Parenting Buffers the Effects of Low Peer Acceptance on Children’s Internalizing Problem Behaviors

Background Children who are not accepted in their peer group are at risk of developing internalizing problem behaviors. It is possible, however, that supportive parenting can provide a buffer against the detrimental effects of low peer acceptance. Objective This study examined maternal and paternal affection and psychological control as moderators of the association between children’s peer acceptance during the critical transition to primary school and level and subsequent development of internalizing problem behaviors from first to sixth grade. Method A total of 608 children (264 girls, 344 boys) were rated by their teachers on their internalizing problems in grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6. Child…

Depressive symptoms during adolescence: Do learning difficulties matter?

To examine whether learning difficulties play a role in depressive symptoms, 658 Finnish adolescents were asked to complete scales for depression three times during the transition to post-comprehensive education. They also reported on their learning difficulties and feelings of inadequacy as a student. The results showed that learning difficulties prospectively predicted depressive symptoms. Moreover, the impact of learning difficulties was mediated via inadequacy as a student: learning difficulties predicted feelings of inadequacy as a student which, in turn, contributed to greater increases in depressive symptoms. Finally, gender moderated the association between learning difficulties an…

Children's school performance and their parents' causal attributions to ability and effort: A longitudinal study

Abstract The present study investigated the cross-lagged associations between parents' attributions of ability and effort concerning their children's success and failure, and children's academic performance in kindergarten and primary school. Two hundred seven children and their parents were followed over three years. The parents completed a questionnaire concerning their causal attributions for their children's performance three times. Children's performance in mathematics and reading was tested twice a year. The results showed that children's high academic performance predicted parents' attributions of their children's success to ability, whereas low performance predicted parental attribu…

Kindergarten teachers adjust their teaching practices in accordance with children's academic pre-skills

This study examined the extent to which kindergarten children’s academic pre‐skills are associated with their teachers’ subsequent teaching practices. The pre‐skills in reading and math of 1268 children (655 boys, 613 girls) were measured in kindergarten in the fall. A pair of trained observers used the Classroom Assessment Scoring System instrument to observe 49 kindergarten teachers on their emotional support, classroom organisation and instructional support in kindergarten in the spring. The results of the multilevel modelling showed that low levels of academic pre‐skills in kindergarten classrooms in the fall predicted high classroom quality in the classrooms later on. The results sugge…

Change in Newcomers' Supervisor Support and Socialization Outcomes After Organizational Entry

Using a four-wave longitudinal research design and a latent growth modeling approach, we modeled change in newcomers' perceived supervisor support and socialization outcomes (role clarity, work mas...

Career pursuit pathways among emerging adult men and women : Psychosocial correlates and precursors

The present study examined career pursuit pathways in 100 Israeli emerging adults (54 men) who were followed from age 22 to 29. Employing a semi-structured interview at the age of 29, participants were asked about current work and educational status, work and educational goals and status changes in recent years, and to reflect on the meaning of the processes they followed. Analyses of interviews yielded four distinctive career pursuit pathways that were associated with different levels of concurrent well-being: Consistent Pursuit, Adapted Pursuit, Survivors, and Confused/Vague. Self-criticism, efficacy, and level of motivation measured seven years earlier predicted pathway affiliation at 2…

The role of peer groups in adolescents' educational trajectories

The present study investigated whether the members of adolescents' peer groups show similar educational trajectories from comprehensive school to either senior secondary or vocational education, and to what extent their educational expectations, academic achievement, family structure, and parents' SES predict these trajectories. Five hundred thirty adolescents filled in a questionnaire focusing on their educational expectations, academic achievement and family background variables before the transition to post-comprehensive education. They were also asked to nominate three peers with whom they most liked to spend their time. After the transition, they reported the school form they were in. …

The role of maternal support of competence, autonomy and relatedness in children's interests and mastery orientation

Abstract The present study investigated the extent to which mothers' support for their children's sense of competence, autonomy and relatedness predicts their children's interest in math and reading, and also their mastery orientation, during the transition to primary school. One hundred fifty-two children were examined twice during their first grade year regarding their interests and mastery orientation (Time 1 and Time 2). Mothers filled in a diary and questionnaire measuring maternal support, also on two occasions (Time 1 and Time 2). Children's school performance in reading and math was tested at the beginning of the first grade (Time 1). The results showed that, after controlling for t…

Examining the Simple View of Reading in a Transparent Orthography: A Longitudinal Study From Kindergarten to Grade 3

This study examined the dynamic relationships among the components of the Simple View of Reading (SVR) in a transparent orthography (Finnish) and the predictive value of cognitive skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid naming, and vocabulary) on the SVR components. Altogether, 1,815 Finnish children were followed from kindergarten to Grade 3. Their cognitive skills were assessed in kindergarten, listening comprehension and reading fluency in Grades 1 and 2, and reading comprehension in Grades 1–3. Reading fluency and listening comprehension accounted for 37% of the variance in reading comprehension in Grade 2 and 28% in Grade 3. The direct effect of reading fluency on readi…

Mothers' Causal Attributions Concerning the Reading Achievement of Their Children With and Without Familial Risk for Dyslexia

The present study analyzed data from the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia to investigate the factors to which mothers of children with and without familial risk for dyslexia attribute the causes of their first-grade children's reading achievement. Mothers' causal attributions were assessed three times during their children's first school year. Children's verbal intelligence was assessed at 5 years and their word and nonword reading skills at 6.5 years. The results showed that the higher the word reading skills the children had, the more their mothers attributed their success to ability than to effort. However, if children had familial risk for dyslexia, their mothers' attribution o…

Social Competence Among 6-year-old Children and Classroom Instructional Support and Teacher Stress

Research Findings: This study examined the extent to which observed classroom quality and teacher stress are associated with children's social competence in classrooms of 6-year-old children (kindergartners in Finland). Assessments of academic pre-skills were available for a total of 1,268 children, and kindergarten teacher ratings of social competence were available for a total of 1,222 children. The kindergarten teachers (N = 137) also provided ratings of their work-related stress. Observations of classroom quality (i.e., emotional and instructional support and classroom organization) were conducted in 49 kindergarten classrooms using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System. The results o…

Students’ evocative impact on teacher instruction and teacher–child relationships

Classroom research has typically focused on the role of teaching practices and the quality of instruction in children’s academic performance, motivation and adjustment—in other words, classroom interactions initiated by the teacher. The present article presents a model of classroom interactions initiated by the child, that is, the notion that a child’s characteristics and active efforts may evoke different instructional patterns and responses among teachers. Then follows a review of previous research on the role of children’s academic performance, their motivation and their socio-emotional characteristics in their teachers’ instruction methods and teacher–child relationships. Some of the m…

Task-focused behaviour and literacy development: a reciprocal relationship

University of Jyva¨skyla¨The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine the effect of task-focusedbehaviour on reading fluency, spelling and comprehension; and (b) to examine therole of the different literacy skills in subsequent task-focused behaviour. Twohundred and seven Finnish-speaking children were followed from preschool untiltheir fourth year at school and were tested for reading fluency, spelling and readingcomprehension. The teachers also rated the children’s task-focused behaviour. Theresults showed that task-focused behaviour was a significant predictor of laterreading comprehension and spelling skills. However, all three literacy skillspredicted subsequent task-focused beha…

Cross-lagged relations between task motivation and performance in arithmetic and literacy in kindergarten

Abstract To examine the cross-lagged relationships between children's task motivation in mathematics and literacy, and their related performance, 139 children aged 5–6 years were examined twice during their kindergarten year. The results showed that only math-related task motivation and arithmetic performance showed cross-lagged relationship: the higher the math-related task motivation children reported in the beginning of the kindergarten year the higher the level of their arithmetic performance at the end of the kindergarten year. Moreover, the higher the level of children's arithmetic performance the more the interest in mathematics children reported later on. Literacy-related task motiv…

Getting the Right Connections? The Consequences and Antecedents of Social Networks in Newcomer Socialization

I-states-as-objects-analysis (ISOA): Extensions of an approach to studying short-term developmental processes by analyzing typical patterns

I-states-as-objects-analysis (ISOA) is a person-oriented methodology for studying short-term developmental stability and change in patterns of variable values. ISOA is based on longitudinal data with the same set of variables measured at all measurement occasions. A key concept is the i-state, defined as a person’s pattern of variable values at a specific time point. All i-states are first subjected to a classification analysis that results in a time-invariant classification characterized by a number of typical i-states. Each person is then characterized at each time point by the typical i-state he/she belongs to. Then the person’s sequences of typical i-states are analyzed with regard to …

The role of teaching practices in the development of children’s interest in reading and mathematics in kindergarten

Abstract This study examined the extent to which teaching practices observed in kindergarten classrooms predict children’s interest in reading and mathematics. The pre-skills in reading and mathematics of 515 children were measured at the beginning of their kindergarten year, and their interest in reading and mathematics were assessed in the following spring. A pair of trained observers used the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM; Stipek & Byler, 2004 ) to observe the teaching practices used by 49 kindergarten teachers. The results revealed that in classrooms in which the teachers placed greater emphasis on child-centered teaching practices than on teacher-directed practic…

Achievement strategies during university studies predict early career burnout and engagement

To examine whether individuals’ achievement strategies measured during university studies would have an impact on work burnout and work engagement measured 10, 14 and 17 years later, 292 university students completed the SAQ strategy questionnaire three times while at university, and the work burnout inventory three times and work engagement inventory twice during their early career. The results showed that optimism increased during university, while task-avoidance did not change. Moreover, high and increasing optimism during university predicted a high level of work engagement and low level of burnout 10, 14 and 17 years later. By contrast, a high level of task-avoidance during university …

Teachers adapt their instruction according to students’ academic performance

This study examined the extent to which a student’s academic performance in first grade contributes to the active instruction given by a teacher to a particular student. To investigate this, 105 first graders were tested in mathematics and reading in the fall and spring of their first school year. At the same time points, their teachers filled in a questionnaire on five successive days on the active instruction they have given a particular student. The results showed that the poorer the performance in reading a student showed in fall, the more active instruction teachers reported giving a student in spring. Moreover, the poorer the performance in mathematics a student showed in fall, the mo…

The role of educational track in adolescents' school burnout: a longitudinal study.

Background Transition from comprehensive school to later educational tracks is challenging for many adolescents. The present three-wave longitudinal study conducted in Finland considers this issue from the perspective of school burnout. Aims The study investigated the extent to which school-related burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inadequacy) changes during the transition from comprehensive school to an academic or vocational track. Sample The participants of the present study were 658 ninth graders, who filled in questionnaires twice during their final term of comprehensive school and once after the transition to post-comprehensive schooling. Methods The participants filled i…

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADOLESCENTS’ SELF-CONCEPT OF ABILITY THROUGH GRADES 7-9 AND THE ROLE OF PARENTAL BELIEFS

This study examined the development of adolescents’ self-concept of ability in mathematics and literacy during secondary school, and the role that mothers’ and fathers’ beliefs concerning their child’s abilities play in this development. Also examined was whether the role of mothers’ and fathers’ beliefs about their adolescent child’s ability in mathematics and literacy differs according to the adolescent’s gender and level of performance. A total of 231 adolescents and their mothers and fathers were followed up across secondary school. The results showed, first, that adolescents’ self-concept of ability declined slightly from grade 7 to grade 9 in both mathematics and literacy. Second, mot…

Profiles of teaching practices and reading skills at the first and third grade in Finland and Estonia

The Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure was used to observe 91 first-grade and 70 third-grade teachers in Estonia and Finland. Using a person-oriented approach, four profiles of teaching practices were identified in grade 1: the child-centred style, teacher-directed style, child-dominated style and a mixture of the child-centred and teacher-directed styles. An additional profile, the extreme-child-centred style, was found in grade 3. Children taught by child-centred teachers showed the highest reading skills, whereas children taught by child-dominated teachers showed the lowest skills. More Estonian than Finnish teachers applied the child-dominated style in grade 1 and the extreme…

Stable same-sex friendships with higher achieving partners promote mathematical reasoning in lower achieving primary school children

This study is designed to investigate friend influence over mathematical reasoning in a sample of 374 children in 187 same-sex friend dyads (184 girls in 92 friendships; 190 boys in 95 friendships). Participants completed surveys that measured mathematical reasoning in the 3rd grade (approximately 9 years old) and one year later in the 4th grade (approximately 10 years old). Analyses designed for dyadic data (i.e., longitudinal Actor-Partner Interdependence Models) indicated that higher achieving friends influenced the mathematical reasoning of lower achieving friends, but not the reverse. Specifically, greater initial levels of mathematical reasoning among higher achieving partners in the …

The role of learning to read in the development of problem behaviour: A cross-lagged longitudinal study

Background. This study investigates the posited relationship between learning to read, and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviours, during the transition from preschool to primary school. Methods. A total of 196 (104 boys, 92 girls) children participating in the Jyvaskyla Entrance into Primary School (JEPS) study were followed up six times during their transition from preschool to primary school. At each measurement, the children's reading performance was tested. Moreover, their internalizing and externalizing problem behaviour was examined by means of structured interviews. Results. The results showed that problems in reading acquisition predicted an increase in internalizing pr…

Early language and behavioral regulation skills as predictors of social outcomes.

Purpose In the present study, the authors examined the prospective associations among early language skills, behavioral regulation skills, and 2 aspects of school-age social functioning (adaptability and social skills). Method The study sample consisted of children with and without a familial risk for dyslexia. The authors analyzed the relations among children’s language (at age 2;6 [years;months] and age 5;0), behavioral regulation skills (at age 5;0), and social functioning (at age 8;0) using structural equation modeling. Subgroups of children with respect to language and behavioral regulation skills (at age 5;0) were identified through the use of mixture modeling. Results Among at-risk …

Task-Focused Behavior Mediates the Associations Between Supportive Interpersonal Environments and Students’ Academic Performance

In the longitudinal study presented here, we tested the theoretical assumption that children’s task-focused behavior in learning situations mediates the associations between supportive interpersonal environments and academic performance. The sample consisted of 2,137 Finnish-speaking children. Data on supportive interpersonal environments (characterized by authoritative parenting, positive teacher affect toward the child, and peer acceptance) were gathered in Grade 1. The children’s task-focused behavior was measured in Grades 2 and 3, and academic performance was measured in Grades 1 and 4. The results supported our assumption by showing that all three supportive environments were positiv…

Task avoidance, number skills and parental learning difficulties as predictors of poor response to instruction.

Altogether 1,285 Finnish children were followed up from the end of kindergarten through Grade 1. All were nonreaders at school entrance. The aim was to delineate predictors of resistance to treatment that are evidenced as little or no reading progress during Grade 1. On the basis of reading achievement in Grade 1 spring, four subgroups were formed. These were fast, average, and slow reading acquisition and slow progress in both reading and math. Kindergarten spring scores in phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid naming, and number skills differentiated well among the groups, the latter two being more robust predictors. Task avoidance added to the prediction over and above cogniti…

Three methods for studying developmental change: a case of reading skills and self-concept.

Aims: First, to introduce and compare three statistical methods for investigating development as a cumulative process: a simplex model, latent growth curve analysis, and clustering by cases. Second, to investigate the developmental dynamics of reading skills, and self-concept of reading ability, across the first year of primary school. Sample: One hundred and five (61 boys, 44 girls) 6-to 7-year-old children from four first-grade classes in two primary schools participated in the study. Method: Children were studied three times during their first school year using an identical set of measurements: a Reading Skills Test and the Self-Concept of Ability scale. Results: A uni-construct ‘Matthew…

Social withdrawal in children moderates the association between parenting styles and the children's own socioemotional development.

Background: Social withdrawal in early childhood is a risk factor for later socioemotional difficulties. This study examined the joint effects of children’s social withdrawal and mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles on children’s socioemotional development. Based on diatheses-stress, vantage sensitivity, and differential susceptibility models, socially withdrawn children were assumed to be more prone to parental influences than others. Methods: Teachers rated 314 children on prosocial skills, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors at three points in time between grades 1–3. Mothers (n = 279) and fathers (n = 182) filled in questionnaires measuring their affection, and their behavio…

The association between mathematical word problems and reading comprehension

This study aimed to investigate the interplay between mathematical word problem skills and reading comprehension. The participants were 225 children aged 9–10 (Grade 4). The children’s text comprehension and mathematical word problem‐solving performance was tested. Technical reading skills were investigated in order to categorise participants as good or poor readers. The results showed that performance on maths word problems was strongly related to performance in reading comprehension. Fluent technical reading abilities increased the aforementioned skills. However, even after controlling for the level of technical reading involved, performance in maths word problems was still related to rea…

Life events, predisposing cognitive strategies and well-being

The effect of physical education students' beliefs and values on their physical activity: A growth mixture modelling approach

This study examined the change in adolescents' expectancy-related beliefs and task values towards physical education (PE). In addition, the physical activity (PA) growth trajectories of the identified adolescent subpopulations were examined. This study comprised 812 students (age M = 12.31, range: 11–13), who answered questionnaires four times during Grades 6–9. This study found that expectancy-related beliefs declined, while task values increased across the middle school transition. Adolescents who valued PE highly and experienced an increase in their expectancy-related beliefs became physically more active across time, while adolescents with the lowest levels and the most negative change …

The effectiveness of increased support in reading and its relationship to teachers' affect and children's motivation

Abstract The aims of this study were, firstly, to identify different groups of teacher–child dyads on the basis of the longitudinal associations between teachers' individual support in reading and children's reading skills, and, secondly, to examine whether the groups thus identified differ with respect to various teacher- and child-related factors. A total of 372 teacher–child dyads were examined. The reading skills of 6- to 7-year-old Finnish-speaking children were measured at the beginning and end of Grade 1. The amount of teachers' support in reading for a particular child was gathered from teachers by questionnaires. Regression Mixture Modeling identified three latent groups of teacher…

“Sport has always been first for me” but “all my free time is spent doing homework”: Dual career styles in late adolescence

Abstract Objectives In adolescence, personally meaningful autobiographical memories begin to integrate into cultural narrative structures to form a life story. We examined how and to what extent adolescent Finnish athletes narrate and integrate significant life events in sport and education into their identities and future narratives in order to delineate the different styles of athletes’ career construction. Design Longitudinal qualitative study. Method Ten female and eight male, elite junior athletes, aged 15–16 at baseline, participated in individual conversational interviews. The resulting interview data were analyzed using narrative analysis. Results Thirteen of 18 adolescent athletes …

Social strategies and loneliness.

Although substantial research has been done on loneliness, in only a few studies has the extent of its association with the cognitive and attributional strategies people apply in social situations been investigated. Two studies were carried out among Finnish students to examine this association. In Study 1, 70 men and 202 women filled in the Cartoon-Attribution-Strategy Test (CAST) and Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), then 1 year later, the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. In Study 2, 25 men and 35 women filled in the CAST and the RSE, then 4 months later, the UCLA Loneliness Scale. In both studies, a pessimistic avoidance strategy was associated with subsequent feelings of loneliness, ev…

Parental Affection and Psychological Control as Mediators Between Parents’ Depressive Symptoms and Child Distress

The present study investigated the extent to which parental behavior in daily interaction with one’s child mediates the associations between parental depressive symptoms and children’s daily distress. The participants were 152 Finnish families with a 6- to 7-year-old child. Parents’ depressive symptoms were assessed using the revised Beck Depression Inventory. Children’s distress was operationalized as negative daily emotions assessed by using mother-, father-, and teacher-reported diary questionnaires. Parental affection and psychological control in daily interaction were measured using parent self-reported diary questionnaires. The results of structural equation modeling showed that both…

A Validation Study of Classroom Assessment Scoring System-Secondary in the Finnish School Context

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary (CLASS-S) in Finnish classrooms. Trained observers coded classroom interactions based on video recordings of 46 Grade 6 classrooms (450 cycles). Concurrent associations were investigated with respect to teacher self-ratings (e.g., efficacy beliefs and teaching-related stress). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the hypothesized three-factor structure of the original CLASS-S (Emotional Support, Organizational Support, and Instructional Support), with some modifications, provided a better fit for the data compared with one- and two-factor structures. Structural validity was demonstrated…

Trajectories of depressive symptoms during emerging adulthood: Antecedents and consequences

In order to examine what kinds of trajectories of depressive symptoms young adults show during emerging adulthood, and their antecedents and consequences, 297 university students completed the revised Beck's depression inventory seven times over a 10-year period, and other measures at the beginning and the end of the study. The growth mixture modelling for depressive symptoms ended up in a 3-group solution: 23% of the participants were typified by a low level of symptoms, 61% showed a moderate level, and 16% fell into the third group with high and increasing levels of depressive symptoms during emerging adulthood. Those on the high-depressive trajectory had a poorer quality of relationships…

Parents' role in adolescents' educational expectations

The present study examined the extent to which mothers' and fathers' expectations for their offspring's future education, their level of education, and adolescents' academic achievement predict adolescents' educational expectations. To investigate this, 230 adolescents were examined twice while they were in comprehensive school (in the 7th and 9th grades). Their parents also filled in questionnaires at the same time points. The results showed that high parental expectations concerning their offspring's future education predicted high educational expectations among adolescents and they became more similar in the 9th grade compared to 7th grade. Parents' high level of education predicted both…

Elementary school teachers adapt their instructional support according to students' academic skills – A variable and person-oriented approach

This study examined the longitudinal associations between children’s academic skills and the instructional support teachers gave individual students. A total of 253 Finnish children were tested on reading and math skills twice in the first grade and once in the second grade. The teachers of these children rated the instructional support that they gave each child in reading and mathematics. The results showed that the poorer the student’s reading and math skills were, the more support and attention the student received from his or her teacher later on. However, instructional support did not contribute positively to the subsequent development of the students’ academic skills. The person-orie…

Education-related goal appraisals and self-esteem during the transition to secondary education: A longitudinal study

This study investigated whether adolescents’ appraisals of their education-related goals change during the transition from comprehensive school to postcomprehensive secondary education (academic vs. vocational track) and how such appraisals contribute to their self-esteem. Six hundred and seven 16-year-old adolescents were surveyed three times: (1) at the beginning, (2) at the end of the final spring term of comprehensive school, and (3) one year after the transition to postcomprehensive secondary education. They were asked to appraise their education-related goal in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for goal striving, goal progress, effort, and stress. The results showed that, when …

Covariation between reading and arithmetic skills from grade 1 to grade 7

This study examined the extent to which reading and arithmetic skills show covariation at Grade 1 and at Grade 7, to what extent this covariation is time-invariant or time-specific, and to what extent different antecedents will predict these time-invariant and time-specific portions of the covariation. The reading and arithmetic skills of a total of 1335 Finnish children were assessed at the end of Grade 1 and then again at the end of Grade 7. Phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automatized naming (RAN), counting, and parental education levels were measured in kindergarten; working memory at Grade 1 and nonverbal reasoning at Grade 3. The results showed that reading and arithmet…

The frequency of parents’ reading-related activities at home and children's reading skills during kindergarten and Grade 1

Abstract This longitudinal study investigated the associations between the frequency of parents’ reading-related activities at home and their children's reading-related skills during the transition from kindergarten to Grade 1. Longitudinal data were obtained for 1436 Finnish children (5- to 6-year-olds at baseline) and their mothers and fathers. 684 girls and 752 boys participating in the study represented four Finnish municipalities. The reading skills of the children were measured four times: at the beginning and at the end of their kindergarten year, and at the beginning and at the end of Grade 1. In kindergarten, decoding tests were administered individually. In Grade 1, group tests in…

Maternal teaching of reading and children's reading skills in Grade 1: Patterns and predictors of positive and negative associations

Abstract The main aim of the study was to identify subgroups of children based on the associations between the reported frequency of maternal teaching of reading and children's reading skills, and whether these subgroups differ with respect to mother-related (i.e., education, controlling behavior, and emotions in homework situations) and child-related (i.e., reading habits and gender) background factors. Data were gathered from 1460 mother–child dyads. The reading skills of 6- to 7-year-old Finnish-speaking children were measured at the beginning and at the end of Grade 1. Information from mothers was gathered by questionnaires. Regression Mixture Modeling identified four latent subgroups o…

How University Students With Reading Difficulties Are Supported in Achieving Their Goals

We examine (a) what social ties university students with a history of reading difficulty (RD) report assisting them to achieve their goals, (b) outlets available for developing social ties, (c) resources mobilized within these relationships, and (d) the impact of social ties’ status on academic achievement. Participants were 107 university students with RD who were currently completing or had recently completed a university degree. Results showed that university students with RD named friends, parents, and significant others (e.g., boy/girlfriend, spouse) as social ties most often. Personal social ties were developed through social media networking sites and within close relationships, and…

The role of parental expectations and students' motivational profiles for educational aspirations

Abstract The present study examined the stability and change of students' motivational profiles from Grade 7 (Time 1) to Grade 9 (Time 2), using task values and self-concepts of ability in mathematics, Finnish language, and arts as indicator variables. The study also examined the effects of students' (Grade 7: N  = 231; Grade 9: N  = 237) motivational profiles and of their parents' educational expectations at Grade 7 on their short- and long-term educational plans at Grade 9, controlling for gender and academic achievement. The latent profile analysis identified four motivational profiles: (1) low motivation group; (2) high motivation group; (3) math-motivated group; (4) practical group, wh…

Does task-focused versus task-avoidance behavior matter for literacy development in an orthographically consistent language?

Abstract We examined the importance of children’s classroom activity, defined as task-focused versus task-avoidance behavior, on different literacy outcomes in an orthographically consistent language. Greek children ( n  = 95) were tested in kindergarten, grade 1, and grade 2 on measures of general cognitive ability, phonological awareness, RAN, and short-term memory. The teachers of the children also assessed their task-focused behavior. Nonword decoding, reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension measures were administered in grades 2 and 3. The results indicated that task-focused behavior accounted for unique variance in spelling and reading comprehension, even after controllin…

The home literacy model in a highly transparent orthography

We investigated the extent to which home literacy activities during the preschool year would predict the development of children’s language and literacy skills in primary school, in a highly transparent Finnish language. Also, the correlates of maternal literacy activities during preschool were examined. Literacy and language skills of 1,880 children (6-year-olds at the baseline) were tested at 5 time points from the beginning of preschool to the end of Year 2; mothers filled in questionnaires at the end of preschool. The results showed that home teaching of reading at preschool age predicted children’s emergent literacy (letter knowledge, word reading fluency) in primary school, while shar…

Optimistic, defensive-pessimistic, impulsive and self-handicapping strategies in university environments

Abstract A person-oriented approach was used to investigate what types of achievement strategy people apply in university environments, and how these are associated with their academic achievement, related satisfaction and personal well-being. Two hundred and fifty-four undergraduates filled in first the Cartoon-Attribution-Strategy Test, the Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and the revised Beck's Depression Inventory at the beginning of their studies, and one year later an academic satisfaction scale. Two years later, they again filled in the same measures. Their academic achievement was coded yearly from university archives. Four types of achievement s…

Mothers’ and fathers’ well-being, parenting styles, and their children’s cognitive and behavioural strategies at primary school

One-hundred and five 6- to 7-year-old children were given a test measuring their helplessness, failure expectations, task-irrelevant behaviour, lack of persistence and search for social support in a classroom setting in order to examine the impact of parental well-being and parenting styles on the children’s cognitive and behavioural strategies at school. Both parents were also asked to fill in scales measuring their depression, parenting stress and parenting styles. The results revealed that maternal depressive symptomatology was associated with their children’s use of maladaptive strategies, whereas paternal depression was not. Moreover, maternal authoritative parenting styles and authori…

Typologies and precursors of career adaptability patterns among emerging adults: a seven-year longitudinal study.

The present study examined career adaptability in 100 Israeli emerging adults who were followed from ages 22 to 29. Participants were given an in depth interview and were asked to talk about their current work, difficulties they might have had in the past and how they coped with them. In addition they were asked to elaborate on the extent to which their job fits their interests and is meaningful to them. Analyses of interviews yielded three distinctive career adaptability patterns that were associated with different levels of concurrent wellbeing: Integrated, Compromised, and Vague. A lower level of identified motivation measured seven years earlier predicted membership in the Compromised p…

Maternal homework assistance and children's task-persistent behavior in elementary school

The present study used a sample of 365 children to investigate the longitudinal associations between maternal homework assistance (i.e., help, monitoring, and autonomy granting) and children's task-persistent behavior in learning situations from grade 2 to grade 4 of elementary school. Also, the extent to which task-persistent behavior plays a role in the links between parental homework assistance and children's academic performance was examined. The results showed that the more autonomy granting mothers reported, the more task-persistent behavior children exhibited; and more task-persistent behavior children exhibited, the more autonomy their mothers granted. In contrast, the more mothers …

Yksinkertainen lukemisen malli Suomen kielessä: pitkittäistutkimus esikoulusta 3. luokalle

Reading performance and its developmental trajectories during the first and the second grade

Abstract This study examined children’s reading performance and its developmental trajectories during the first and the second grade. Ninety children were tested five times on word reading and reading comprehension. Qualitatively different groups were identified through cluster analysis: Competent, Technical, and Poor Readers. The results showed that the group membership in the Competent and Technical Reader groups was relatively stable across time but less so for the Poor Reader group. Moreover, seven reading paths were identified of which three were comparatively regressive paths. The results emphasize the importance of taking into account individual variation in reading trajectories duri…

The cross-lagged relations between children’s academic skill development, task-avoidance, and parental beliefs about success.

Abstract This longitudinal study investigated the cross-lagged associations between children’s academic skill development, task-avoidant behaviour in the context of homework, and parental beliefs about their child’s success from kindergarten to Grade 2. The participants were 1267 children. The children’s pre-skills were assessed at the end of the kindergarten year, and math and reading skills at the end of Grade 1 and Grade 2. Parents provided ratings of their beliefs about their children’s school success and task-avoidant behaviour with regard to homework at the end of Grades 1 and 2. The results showed that children’s math and reading skills predicted children’s task-avoidant behaviour re…

Maternal literacy teaching, causal attributions and children’s literacy skills in Finnish-speaking and language minority families

Abstract This study investigated the effect of mothers’ (language minority group mothers, LM, n = 49, and Finnish speaking mothers, MP, n = 368) literacy teaching at home, and mothers’ causal attributions of their children’s (mean age 11.48 years) literacy skills at fourth grade in Finland. For Finnish speaking mothers, results showed a negative correlation between the amount of literacy taught at home and children’s performance on reading tests i.e., more teaching was associated with poorer performance and vice versa. Also, the more MP mothers measured their children’s success by their ability, the better their children performed in reading comprehension tests. In the LM group, maternal li…

Maternal homework assistance and children's task-persistent behavior in elementary school

Abstract The present study used a sample of 365 children to investigate the longitudinal associations between maternal homework assistance (i.e., help, monitoring, and autonomy granting) and children's task-persistent behavior in learning situations from grade 2 to grade 4 of elementary school. Also, the extent to which task-persistent behavior plays a role in the links between parental homework assistance and children's academic performance was examined. The results showed that the more autonomy granting mothers reported, the more task-persistent behavior children exhibited; and more task-persistent behavior children exhibited, the more autonomy their mothers granted. In contrast, the more…

Social strategies and loneliness: A prospective study

Abstract The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine whether the feeling of loneliness is rather an antecedent or a consequence of the strategies young adults apply in social situations. To investigate this, university students were asked to fill in the Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire at the beginning of their first and third years at university, and the revised UCLA Loneliness scale at the beginning of their second and fourth years. The results showed that the more the young adults reported the use of a pessimistic-avoidance strategy, the less lonely they were later on. In turn, the more lonely the students were, the less they used an approach-oriented strategy later on. Final…

Work–Family Boundary Management Profiles in Two Finnish Samples : A Person-oriented Approach

Background: The present study aims to identify different work-family boundary management profiles among Finnish employees, and examine how these relate to conflict between work and family or their mutual enrichment. Method: Participants from two samples, one consisting of university staff (n1 = 1,139) and another of nurses (n2 = 271), were asked to respond to an online survey concerning work-family boundary management, work-to-family enrichment, and work-to-family conflict scales. Results: A cluster analysis identified three profiles in both samples: segmentors, integrators and favoring family over work in the university sample, and segmentors, integrators and favoring work over family in t…

Cognitive skills among Nepalese child labourers

The cognitive skills of 61 Nepalese 10-14-year-old working children with at least 2 years working experience (WE) were compared to two groups of children, beginners (N = 29) with less than 1 year of WE and a school group (N = 104) matched for age and ethnic background. All the children (N = 194) were tested by the Bender test, WISC-R for Arithmetic, Digit Span, and the Word Fluency test. The main results showed that the school group was better in all the cognitive tests, except for Digit Span Backwards, where the working group had the highest average score. The second main finding shows no major differences in cognitive skills between the beginner and working groups. However, the work exper…

Identity processing style and cognitive attributional strategies: similarities and difference across different contexts

Identity processing style refers to the manner in which individuals approach or manage to avoid identity relevant problems and decisions. Two studies were designed to investigate the relationship between identity style and the specific cognitive and attributional strategies youth deploy in achievement and affiliative contexts. In Study 1, 198 American late adolescents filled in the revised Identity Style Inventory and a Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire. In Study 2, 109 Finnish late adolescents filled in the same measures. Study 1 revealed that diffuse/avoidant-oriented American youth relied on maladaptive strategies in both contexts. Information-oriented youth engaged in more strategi…

Understanding emerging adulthood from a goal-setting perspective

The chapter fi rst introduces the concept of emerging adulthood as a period of life that is characterized by instabilities and fl uctuations. Then, the role of goal setting and aspirations in individual development during this stage of life is discussed. Following this, seven chapters of the present special issue are introduced, and the ways in which goal processes affect individual trajectories and outcomes are discussed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of future perspectives in the fi eld, such as the need to investigate the relationships between goals and goal adjustment, the need to carry out cross-cultural comparisons, as well as the need to develop intervention based on goal a…

Selecting and Retaining Friends on the Basis of Cigarette Smoking Similarity

This study examines whether friend selection, deselection, and socialization differ as a function of the level of cigarette smoking in the friendship group. A total of 1419 students (median age = 16) from upper secondary and vocational schools in Finland were included as targets in the peer network. Targets in the peer network were asked to nominate friends and describe their own cigarette smoking at two time points one year apart. Network analyses revealed similarity arising from selection and deselection on the basis of smoking. Selection effects (i.e., selecting new friends based on similarity) were stronger for adolescents in low-smoking groups. Deselection effects (i.e., dropping frien…

Cross-lagged associations between problem behaviors and teacher-student relationships in early adolescence

This study investigated the cross-lagged associations between teacher-student relationships and problem behaviors in a sample of 440 Finnish students (half of them identified as being at risk of reading difficulties). The degree to which these associations were moderated by a child’s gender, academic performance, risk for reading difficulties, parental education, and having the same teacher over 2 years was examined. The teachers evaluated the students’ problem behaviors and reported closeness and conflict with a particular student. The results showed that the higher the students scored on externalizing problems in Grade 4, the more conflict teachers reported 2 years later. Moderator analy…

Changes in Students' Psychological Well-Being during Transition from Primary School to Lower Secondary School : A Person-Centered Approach

This person-centered study examined the patterns and the dynamics of pattern change based on 1666 Finnish students' self-reported psychological well-being during the transition from primary school to lower secondary school. Moreover, we examined the stability in the profile memberships and the influence of changes in perceived support from teachers, families, and peers on changes in students' psychological well-being. Six student profiles were identified using the I-states-as-objects-analysis (ISOA) procedure: (a) High well-being profile; (b) Average well-being but low educational aspirations profile; (c) Low well-being profile; (d) Low well-being but high educational aspirations profile; (…

Work-related goal appraisals and stress during the transition from education to work

Abstract People's personal goals interact with their life situations in many ways. This study examined the appraisals of personal goals during a transition from education to work and their interplay with stress in different domains of life. Finnish young adults (N = 265, 60% female) reported on their goals in the work domain, and related appraisals of importance, attainability, and progress, and the amount of stress they experienced with regard to economic situation, time, and work. The results showed that those individuals who appraised their work goals as important, attainable and progressing well, benefited from their goal striving as evidenced in less stress in all three domains. Moreov…

The role of success expectation and task-avoidance in academic performance and satisfaction: Three studies on antecedents, consequences and correlates

Abstract To investigate the prospective relationships between individuals’ success expectation and task-avoidance, and their academic achievement and satisfaction, 231 students were examined yearly throughout their university careers in Study 1. It was found that students’ success expectation predicted academic achievement and satisfaction; which, in turn, increased their subsequent success expectation. Moreover, task-avoidance predicted low academic achievement and dissatisfaction, which again was predictive of subsequent task-avoidance. In Study 2, the task-avoidant behavior, and pre-examination anxiety, of 198 students who had participated in Study 1 were examined, and compared with thei…

Longitudinal associations between teacher-child interactions and academic skills in elementary school

This study examined the extent to which the quality of teacher-child interactions assessed in kindergarten (6-year-olds) is associated with children's reading and math development across the elementary school years. The sample consisted of 515 Finnish children (271 boys, 244 girls). Teacher-child interactions were observed in 49 kindergarten classrooms. The findings from the latent growth curve models showed that high-quality teacher–child interactions in kindergarten were positively associated with the initial levels of reading and math skills. Furthermore, the results indicated that high-quality teacher-child interactions in kindergarten were positively associated with children's academic…

Letter knowledge predicts Grade 4 reading fluency and reading comprehension

Abstract The present study examined the predictors of fourth graders' reading skills (reading comprehension, text reading and word chain reading). Reading skill antecedents of 158 children of 5–6 years of age were measured at the beginning of kindergarten; students' reading skills were measured in kindergarten and in Grades 1 and 4. The results showed that children's letter knowledge at the beginning of kindergarten was the most powerful predictor of their reading skills at the end of Grade 4. Other predictors were metacognitive awareness, gender, mother's level of education, and visual attention. Phonological awareness at kindergarten affected reading skills at Grade 4 through reading skil…

Counting and rapid naming predict the fluency of arithmetic and reading skills

Understanding of the factors that underlie the development of fluency in reading and arithmetic is limited. This longitudinal study examined whether verbal counting and rapid automatized naming (RAN) were predictors of arithmetic and reading fluency in a population-based sample and to what extent related early emerging cognitive abilities and socioeconomic background accounted for the predictive power of counting and RAN. In addition, in order to examine the uniqueness of counting as a numerical predictor of reading fluency, the influence of another early number skill—number concept—was controlled. Three hundred and seventy-eight Finnish children were followed from kindergarten to Grade 3 (…

Examining the developmental dynamics between achievement strategies and different literacy skills

We examined the developmental dynamics between task-avoidant behavior and different literacy outcomes, and possible precursors of task-avoidant behavior. Seventy Greek children were followed from Grade 4 until Grade 6 and were assessed every year on reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension. The teachers assessed the children’s achievement strategies at all testing times. In addition, in Grade 4, the children responded to a task value questionnaire and the parents reported their beliefs and expectations about their children’s academic performance. The results revealed that task avoidance was reciprocally related only to reading comprehension. In addition, only parental beliefs p…

Company matters: Goal-related social capital in the transition to working life

Abstract Using longitudinal data on 343 young adults, the present study investigated the social ties involved in young adults’ work-related goals, how these ties change during transition to working life, and whether social ties contribute to success in dealing with the transition. The results showed that goal-relevant social ties reflected changes in the young adults’ developmental context. Furthermore, social ties that included a person with high socioeconomic status and weaker social ties contributed to employment success, whereas social ties containing one’s supervisor were associated with quality of employment. The results also showed that goal-related social hindrance increased young a…

The development of achievement strategies and academic skills during the first year of primary school

Abstract The aim of the study was to investigate whether children's achievement strategies would predict the development of their reading and mathematical skills during the first school year, or whether it is rather these skills that predict the changes in their achievement strategies. One-hundred and five 6- to 7-year-old children were examined three times during their first year of primary school: in each measurement, their self-reported achievement strategies were assessed, and their reading and mathematical skills were rated by their classroom teacher. Their overall cognitive competence was also measured before entry into school. The results showed that the use of maladaptive achievemen…

Instructional support predicts children’s task avoidance in kindergarten

Abstract This study examined the role of observed classroom quality in children's task-avoidant behavior and math skills in kindergarten. To investigate this, 1268 children were tested twice on their math skills during their kindergarten year. Kindergarten teachers ( N  = 137) filled in questionnaires measuring their professional experience and also rated the children on their task-avoidant versus task-focused behaviors. Trained observers used the CLASS instrument ( Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008 ) to observe 49 kindergarten teachers (out of 137) on their emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. The results of multilevel modeling showed that kindergarten classro…

Teacher-student interaction and lower secondary school students’ situational engagement

Background: Prior research has shown that engagement plays a significant role in students’ academic learning. Aims: The present study sought to expand the current understanding of students’ engagement by examining how situational engagement during a particular lesson is associated with the observed teacher–student classroom interactions (i.e., emotional support, instructional support, and classroom organization) in the same lesson. Sample: The participants were 709 Grade 7 students (47.7% girls) from 59 classrooms in 26 lower secondary schools and 51 teachers. Methods: The data consisted of 155 video‐recorded lessons (90 language arts and 65 mathematics lessons) coded using the Classroom As…

The role of achievement strategies on literacy acquisition across languages

Abstract We examined the importance of children’s achievement strategies in different literacy outcomes in three languages varying in orthographic consistency: Chinese, English, and Greek. Eighty Chinese-speaking Taiwanese children, 51 English-speaking Canadian children and 70 Greek children were assessed on measures of phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, reading fluency, and spelling. The children’s use of a task-focused versus task-avoidant achievement strategy in the classroom context was rated by their teachers. The results indicated that the teacher-rated task-focused behavior was a significant predictor of spelling and to a lesser extent of reading fluency and that its e…

Sociometric status of young adults: Behavioural correlates, and cognitive-motivational antecedents and consequences

A cross-lagged longitudinal study was carried out to investigate whether social reaction styles and loneliness serve as antecedents and consequences of sociometric status among young adults. Behavioural correlates of sociometric status were also studied. Questionnaires measuring sociometric ratings, social reaction styles, loneliness, and group atmosphere were ”lled in by 154 students one week after starting at a new school, then half a year later, and ”nally, one year later. In Measurement 2, the participants’ social behaviour was rated by their classmates. The results indicated that social reaction styles, feelings of loneliness, and satisfaction with the group atmosphere prospectively p…

Students' school performance, task-focus, and situation-specific motivation

Going beyond studies of individual differences in and profiles of students' motivation, we investigated situation-specific (intra-personal) experiences of autonomous (enjoyment, interest, and task choice) and controlled (having to do, and the teacher wanting them to do a task) motivation across learning situations during one week, and how these were related to student characteristics (teacher rated academic performance and task-focus). Three-hundred and fourteen primary school students (Years 5 and 6) completed electronic questionnaires on Personal Digital Assistants, on an average of 11.2 learning episodes during a week. Multilevel Structural Equation Models provided support for a model ba…

Hopes and Fears for the Future Among Chinese Adolescents

This study examined the contents of adolescents' hopes and fears for the future in a sample of 1,975 urban and rural 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in China. Chinese adolescents' hopes and fears were most often related to future education, occupation, parental well-being, marriage and family, academics, leisure activities, wealth, interpersonal relationships, collective issues, and self-related issues. Urban adolescents compared to rural ones reported more hopes for education and leisure activities and held fewer hopes and fears for parental well-being and interpersonal relationships. Males reported more hopes and fears for marriage, whereas females reported more hopes and fears for parental w…

Sense of coherence and health: evidence from two cross-lagged longitudinal samples

We explored the stability of sense of coherence (SOC) and the relationship between SOC and health in two cross-lagged longitudinal samples by using structural equation modeling. In Study 1, comprising 577 municipal male and female employees, SOC was found to be stable in both sexes. In women, SOC significantly predicted sickness absences in the 4-year follow-up period. A low SOC, but not a high SOC, was associated with health prospects. Surprisingly, SOC did not influence sickness absences among men. Study 2 further tested the relationship between SOC and health in 320 male technical designers. Although SOC was cross-sectionally associated with psychological and somatic health complaints, i…

Early temperament and age at school entry predict task avoidance in elementary school

This study examined the role of temperament, prereading skills, and age at school entry in the development of Finnish children's task avoidance. Teachers rated the task-avoidant behavior of 198 participants in kindergarten and twice in Grades 2 and 3. Parents rated the children's temperament at age 3 and children's prereading skills were measured at age 5. The results showed that, on average, the level of children's task avoidance remained the same from kindergarten to Grade 2 fall, but decreased from Grade 2 fall to Grade 3 spring. A low task avoidance level was predicted by good prereading skills, high effortful control, and high negative affectivity. Low surgency predicted a decrease in …

Externalizing behavior problems and interest in reading as predictors of later reading skills and educational aspirations

This study examined the developments in children’s externalizing problems and interest in reading during their first four years of school (Grades 1–4) and investigated whether this development predicted the children’s Grade 6 reading skills and educational aspirations. Data comprised (1) teachers’ ratings of externalizing problems and children’s (N = 642; 43% girls) self-ratings of their interest in reading, collected between Grades 1 and 4, and (2) measures of reading fluency and comprehension, and children’s self-reports of educational aspirations, collected at Grade 6. First, latent growth modeling showed that a higher level of externalizing problems in Grade 1 was associated with a lowe…

Maternal Affection Moderates the Associations Between Parenting Stress and Early Adolescents’ Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior

The present study investigated the role of parenting stress in early adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing behavior and, particularly, the moderating effect of maternal affection on these associations. The data of 992 early adolescents ([Formula: see text]; 454 girls) and their mothers during the transition from primary school to lower secondary school were analyzed. The results showed that when maternal affection was low, parenting stress was not related to the changes in early adolescents’ externalizing or internalizing behavior. In contrast, when maternal affection was high, low parenting stress related to a decrease and high parenting stress to an increase in such behavior. The …

A Comparison of Dyadic and Social Network Assessments of Peer Influence.

The present study compares two methods for assessing peer influence: the longitudinal actor–partner interdependence model (L-APIM) and the longitudinal social network analysis (L-SNA) Model. The data were drawn from 1,995 (49% girls and 51% boys) third grade students ( Mage= 9.68 years). From this sample, L-APIM ( n = 206 indistinguishable dyads and n = 187 distinguishable dyads) and L-SNA ( n = 1,024 total network members) subsamples were created. Students completed peer nominations and objective assessments of mathematical reasoning in the spring of the third and fourth grades. Patterns of statistical significance differed across analyses. Stable distinguishable and indistinguishable L-AP…

The Developmental Dynamics between Interest, Self-concept of Ability, and Academic Performance

Abstract. Only a few studies have examined the direction of associations between academic achievement, interest, and sel f-concept of ability simultaneously by using longitudinal data over several school years. To exam ine the cross-lagged relationships between students’ interest, self-concept of ability, and performance in mathematics and reading, longitudinal data from Grade 1 to Grade 7 of comprehensive school was gathered from 216 students. The results showed that, in both reading and math, performance predicted students’ subsequent self-concept of ability. Some evidence was also found that math performance predicts subsequent interest in mathematics, and that self- concept of math abil…

Spousal support for personal goals and relationship satisfaction among women during the transition to parenthood

The aim of this three-wave cross-lagged longitudinal study was to examine the prospective relationships between women’s goal-related spousal support and their relationship satisfaction during the transition to parenthood. Two-hundred and forty-six Finnish women who were either married or cohabited (45% primiparous; 55% multiparous) filled in questionnaires on personal projects (Little, 1983) and related spousal support, relationship satisfaction (Spanier, 1976), and background data three times: in their early pregnancy; one month before childbirth; and three months after childbirth. Among the primiparous women the results showed a cumulative cycle of goal-related spousal support and relati…

Developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills in Grades 1 and 2

Abstract A latent profile analysis approach was used to examine the developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills in Grades 1 and 2, as well as their antecedents in kindergarten. The participants in this study were 448 children. Four different developmental profiles of task-avoidant behaviour and reading skills were identified. Our results showed that task-avoidant behaviour and reading problems do not coincide for all children. Parents' educational level differentiated between the profile groups. Comparisons of kindergarten skills between the groups showed that social competence skills in kindergarten helped to differentiate between the profile groups with varying le…

Changes in achievement values from primary to lower secondary school among students with and without externalizing problems

This study examined the effect of students' externalizing problems on changes in values that they attach to math across the transition from primary to lower secondary school. Data pertaining to externalizing problems and to intrinsic, attainment, and utility values in math were gathered using the self-ratings of students in Grades 6 and 7. The analysis involved a comparison between students who reported persistent high externalizing problems before and after the transition (n = 63; 59% boys) and those who had low or non-existent externalizing problems before and after the transition (n = 1352; 50% boys). The results of a mixed-design analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed uniformly that stu…

Maternal parenting styles, homework help, and children’s literacy development in language minority and Finnish-speaking families

The aim of this study was to examine the role of mothers’ (language minority mothers, LM, n = 49, and Finnish-speaking mothers, MP, n = 368) parenting styles and maternal help with their children’s homework in the children’s (mean age 11.43 years) literacy skills at fourth grade in Finland. In addition, the moderating effect of a child’s gender on this relationship was investigated. The results showed that the LM mothers used psychological control more than MP mothers. Furthermore, the more LM mothers used warmth and psychological styles of parenting, the more they helped their daughters, not sons, with homework. MP mothers’ parenting styles did not relate to their children’s reading and sp…

School Burnout Inventory (SBI)

This study introduces a measure for school burnout and examines its validity and reliability among students in upper secondary high schools and vocational schools by using confirmatory factor analysis. School-related burnout comprises three dimensions: (a) exhaustion at school, (b) cynicism toward the meaning of school, and (c) sense of inadequacy at school. A total of 1418 (709 girls, 709 boys) adolescents from 13 postcomprehensive schools (6 upper secondary high schools, 7 vocational schools) filled in a questionnaire concerning their school burnout and background variables. The results showed that the three-factor solution, compared to one- or two-factor solutions, fit the data best and…

The Role of Parenting Styles in Children's Problem Behavior

This study investigated the combination of mothers' and fathers' parenting styles (affection, behavioral control, and psychological control) that would be most influential in predicting their children's internal and external problem behaviors. A total of 196 children (aged 5-6 years) were followed up six times from kindergarten to the second grade to measure their problem behaviors. Mothers and fathers filled in a questionnaire measuring their parenting styles once every year. The results showed that a high level of psychological control exercised by mothers combined with high affection predicted increases in the levels of both internal and external problem behaviors among children. Behavio…

Personal goal appraisals vary across both individuals and goal contents

Abstract This study examined personal goals as a multilevel construct. After investigating to what extent goal appraisals were characteristics of an individual as compared to the extent to which they vary across different goals, both individual-level and goal-level predictors of goal appraisals were examined. To examine these research questions 477 undergraduates filled in the Personal Project Analysis and Beck’s Depression inventory. Multilevel modeling showed that, although goal appraisals varied between individuals, they differed to greater extent across the different goals a particular person reported. At the individual level, a high amount of depressive symptoms was associated with a l…

Child-centered versus teacher-directed teaching practices: Associations with the development of academic skills in the first grade at school

This study examined the extent to which child-centered versus teacher-directed teaching practices predicted the development of children's reading and math skills in the first year of elementary school. In addition, we investigated whether associations between teaching practices and children's academic skills development in Grade 1 differed among children who had low, average, or high initial academic skills at the beginning of school. The reading and math skills of 1,132 Finnish children from 93 classrooms were assessed at the beginning and end of Grade 1, and the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM) was used to observe teaching practices in 29 classrooms. The results of mu…

Reading and math abilities of Finnish school beginners born very preterm or with very low birth weight

Reading and math skills of preterm born (birth weight 1500 g or gestational age:532 weeks) children and full term (FT) children were compared during the first weeks of grade 1. The participants were 194 preterm born and 175 FT children born between 2001 and 2006. There were more precocious readers among FT than among preterm students, but even the latter performed close to the national norm. FT and preterm group differences among non-readers were minor with only rapid naming showing a robust difference. Math performance showed a stable difference in favor of FT students and the difference was sustained in the full-scale IQcontrol. Major brain pathology increased the likelihood of poor schol…

Stability in Parents' Causal Attributions for Their Children's Academic Performance: A Nine-Year Follow-up

This study investigated the interindividual stability and mean-level changes in parents’ causal attributions for their children’s academic performance across a 9-year period from the first year in primary school (Grade 1, age 7) to the end of lower secondary school (Grade 9, age 16). In all, 212 children participated in the study. The results showed that, after we controlled for the children’s level of academic performance, the parents made fairly similar causal attributions when their children were in the ninth grade as they did in the first grade. Changes in the mean-level happened in only external attributions. Further, the differences between mothers and fathers in the stability of thei…

Classroom interaction and literacy activities in kindergarten : Longitudinal links to grade 1 readers at risk and not at risk of reading difficulties

The purpose of the present study is to establish how the quality of kindergarten classroom interactions and the frequency of literacy activities affect reading development among Grade 1 children—both those who are at risk and not at risk of developing reading difficulties. Interaction was assessed in terms of classroom organization, and the level of emotional and instructional support offered in 49 kindergarten classrooms in Finland using the CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System). Kindergarten teachers also recorded the frequency of literacy activities in their classrooms. The phonological awareness and letter knowledge of 515 children (i.e., their pre-reading skills) were assessed at…

Cross-lagged relations between task-avoidant behavior and literacy skills in Chinese

Abstract We examined the cross-lagged relations between children's task-avoidant behavior and their performance in reading and spelling in Chinese. Eighty Grade 2 and 103 Grade 4 Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese children were assessed on measures of nonverbal IQ, task value, reading accuracy, fluency, and spelling. A year later, the children were reassessed on the literacy tasks. The teachers also assessed the children's task-avoidant behavior at both testing times. The results indicated that task-avoidant behavior was a significant predictor of spelling and to a lesser extent of reading accuracy, even after controlling for the effects of the previous level of literacy skill, nonverbal IQ, and t…

Cross-lagged relations between teacher and parent ratings of children's task avoidance and different literacy skills.

Background Task avoidance is a significant predictor of literacy skills. However, it remains unclear whether the relation between the two is reciprocal and whether it is affected by the type of literacy outcome, who is rating children's task avoidance, and the children's gender. Aim The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the cross-lagged relations between teacher and parent ratings of children's task avoidance and different literacy skills. Sample One hundred and seventy-two Greek children (91 girls, 81 boys) were followed from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Methods Children were assessed on reading accuracy, reading fluency, and spelling to dictation. Parents and teachers rated the chi…

Personal Goals During Emerging Adulthood

To examine (a) how young adults' personal goals change as they progress from emerging to young adulthood in their university studies and immediately after and (b) the extent to which such changes are associated with the normative transitions and the life events they experience and their age, 297 university students completed the revised Personal Project Analysis and a life-event questionnaire five times over 10 years. The changes in young adults' personal goals reflected changing developmental tasks, role transitions, and life situations: They disengaged from goals related to education, friends, and traveling and engaged in goals related to work, family, and health. The older the participa…

Parents and their children's school lives--commentary on the special issue, 'Parents' role in children's school lives'.

Although it is teachers who play the key role in supporting children’s learning and theiracademicdevelopmentatschool,parentstoocanbeinvolvedintheirchildren’sacademiclives in many different ways. As the vast majority of parents consider academicachievement and adjustment to be important for their children’s future, parents oftenmake an effort to support their children’s learning, such as helping them with theirhomework. Many kinds of parental involvement have been described in the literature,although not all of them have been shown to be effective in promoting children’sacademic development (Chen & Stevenson, 1989; Cooper, Lindsay, & Nye, 2000; Fan CLevinet al.,1997;Patall,Cooper,RPomerantz,…

Students with reading and spelling disabilities: peer groups and educational attainment in secondary education.

The present study investigated whether the members of adolescents’ peer groups are similar in reading and spelling disabilities and whether this similarity contributes to subsequent school achievement and educational attainment. The sample consisted of 375 Finnish adolescents whose reading and spelling disabilities were assessed at age 16 with the Finnish dyslexia screening test. The students also completed a sociometric nomination measure that was used to identify their peer groups. Register information on participants’ school grades also was available, and educational attainment in secondary education was recorded 5 years after completion of the 9 years of basic education. The results re…

The role of parents' self‐esteem, mastery‐orientation and social background in their parenting styles

In order to examine the extent to which parents' levels of education, financial resources, self-esteem, and their mastery-orientation versus task-avoidance are associated with their parenting styles and parental stress, data from two studies were analyzed. In Study I, parents of 105 6 to 7-year old children were asked to fill in scales measuring their parenting styles and parental stress, mastery-orientation, financial resources, and their level of education. In Study II, 235 parents were asked to fill in the same scales. An identical pattern of results was found in the two studies. Parents' self-esteem and their use of mastery-oriented strategy were found to be associated with authoritativ…

Teacher-perceived supportive classroom climate protects against detrimental impact of reading disability risk on peer rejection

Abstract This study examined the role of a supportive classroom climate, class size, and length of teaching experience as protective factors against children's peer rejection. A total of 376 children were assessed in kindergarten for risk for reading disabilities (RD) and rated by their teachers on socially withdrawn and disruptive behaviors. The grade 1 measures included sociometric peer assessment and teachers' self-ratings of their supportiveness in the classroom, together with information on class size and teaching experience. The results showed, first, that the studied social and learning risk factors positively predicted peer rejection in grade 1. Moreover, teacher-reported supportive…

The developmental dynamics of task-avoidant behavior and math performance in kindergarten and elementary school

Besides cognitive factors, children's learning at school may be influenced by more dynamic phenomena, such as motivation and achievement-related task-avoidant behavior. The present study examined the developmental dynamics of task-avoidant behavior and math performance from kindergarten to Grade 4. A total of 225 children were tested for their arithmetic skills in kindergarten and in Grades 1, 2, and 4 of elementary school. Children's task-avoidant behavior in learning situations was rated by their teachers. The results of latent growth curve analyses showed that math performance and task-avoidant behavior develop in tandem: an increase in task-avoidant behavior was related to less improvem…

Patterns of word reading skill, interest and self-concept of ability

AbstractThe majority of previous research on academic skills, self-concept of ability and interest has deployed the variable-oriented approach and focused on self-concept, or ability, or interest only. This study examined the patterns and dynamics of pattern change in Finnish children’s word reading skill, self-concept of ability and interest from kindergarten to Grade 2. Six groups of children were identified by using the I-states as objects analysis (ISOA) procedure: (a) low skills, negative self-concept but high interest; (b) high skills but low interest; (c) average; (d) high skills, positive self-concept and high interest; (e) low skills, negative self-concept and low interest; and (f)…

A Validation of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System in Finnish Kindergartens

Research Findings: This study examined the validity and reliability of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; R. C. Pianta, K. M. La Paro, & B. K. Hamre, 2008) in Finnish kindergartens. A pair of trained observers used the CLASS to observe 49 kindergarten teachers (47 female, 2 male) on two different days. Questionnaires measuring teachers' efficacy beliefs, exhaustion at work, and classroom interactional style (i.e., affection, behavioral control, and psychological control) were completed by the teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that when the item measuring Negative Climate was excluded, the 3-factor solution assuming three positively correlated latent factors (i.e.…

A Validation Study of Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary in the Finnish School Context

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary (CLASS-S) in Finnish classrooms. Trained observers coded classroom interactions based on video recordings of 46 Grade 6 classrooms (450 cycles). Concurrent associations were investigated with respect to teacher self-ratings (e.g., efficacy beliefs and teaching-related stress). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the hypothesized three-factor structure of the original CLASS-S (Emotional Support, Organizational Support, and Instructional Support), with some modifications, provided a better fit for the data compared with one- and two-factor structures. Structural validity was demonstrate…

The role of temperament in children's affective and behavioral responses in achievement situations

Abstract Although students' affects and behaviors in achievement situations have been shown to be influenced by their previous learning experiences, less is known about how they relate to students' dispositional characteristics, such as temperament. This study examined to what extent children's temperament is related to their affective and behavioral responses in achievement situations. Teachers rated first-graders' ( n  = 153) temperamental characteristics in the Fall semester. Children's active task avoidance, anxiety, and helplessness were rated in test situations in the Fall and Spring semesters. The results showed that the more easily distracted the children were, the more task avoidan…

Socialization and Self‐Development: Channeling, Selection, Adjustment, and Reflection

Matemaattisten taitojen kehitys kouluiässä

Matemaattisten taitojen kehitys on luonteeltaan kasaantuvaa: aikaisempi osaaminen helpottaa uuden oppimista ja tasoerot matematiikan taidoissa lasten välillä kasvavat koulunkäynnin edetessä. Matematiikan osalta alkuopetus näyttäisikin hyödyttävän eniten taidoiltaan edistyneimpiä lapsia – taitotasoltaan heikommat lapset jäävät samalla jälkeen. Kehityskulkuun vaikuttavat monet erilaiset tekijät, joista yksi keskeisimmistä on lukujen luettelun sujuvuus ennen kouluikää. Myös motivaatiolla on oma merkityksensä matemaattisten taitojen oppimisessa. Tässä luvussa käsitellään matemaattisten taitojen kehitystä esiopetus- ja kouluvuosien aikana sekä kognitiivisia ja motivaatioon liittyviä asioita, jot…

Interrelationships Among Identity Process, Content, and Structure: A Cross-Cultural Investigation

This study was designed to investigate hypothesized relationships among identity process, content, and structure with youth living in three different cultural contexts: the United States, Finland, and the Czech Republic. Results indicated that youth who used an informational identity processing style had well-structured identities that were rooted in personal self-elements. Youth who used a normative processing style also had well-consolidated identities but ones anchored in collective self-elements. Youth who relied on a diffuse/avoidant identity processing style lacked firm identity commitments and emphasized social self-components in defining their sense of identity. This pattern of rel…

Adolescents’ Self-Concordance, School Engagement, and Burnout Predict Their Educational Trajectories 1This paper is part of a series on “Youth Development in Europe: Transitions and Identities” that will appear in the European Psychologist throughout 2008 and 2009. Taken together, the papers aim to make a conceptual contribution to the increasingly important area of youth development, especially within the context of an expanding Europe, by focusing on variations and changes in the transition to adulthood and emerging identities. The series will conclude with a summary by the organizers of the series, Katariina Salmela-Aro (University of Jyväskylä, Finland) and Ingrid Schoon (University of London, UK).

This study investigated whether self-concordance of adolescents’ achievement-related goal predicts their school engagement and lack of burnout during upper secondary school as well as their subsequent educational trajectories. We also examined whether goal effort and progress mediate these associations. The sample consisted of 614 17-year-old upper secondary school students, who were surveyed three times: (1) in the second grade of upper secondary, (2) in the third grade of upper secondary school, and (3) one year later. The results showed that when adolescents pursued their achievement-related goal for internal reasons, they also invested effort in their goal, which was reflected in a hig…

The role of achievement beliefs and behaviours in spontaneous reading acquisition

Abstract This study examined the role of motivational or attitudinal factors, such as achievement beliefs and behaviours, in learning to read before receiving formal instruction. A total of 200 Finnish children were examined at ages 5 and 6½. Half of them ( n  = 107) had a familial risk for dyslexia. The results showed that those children who were verbally skilful at age 5 showed a higher level of task-focused behaviour at age 6½. This task-focused behaviour then contributed to spontaneous reading acquisition. The impact of previous verbal skills on spontaneous reading acquisition was mediated in part by achievement behaviour.

Temperamentally inhibited children are at risk for poorer maths performance : self-concept as mediator

AbstractIt has repeatedly been found that temperamental inhibition and low academic achievement are associated with each other: children with cautious and wary or shy behaviour are at risk for low academic achievement. Several suggestions about the mechanism behind this association have been made, these highlighting for example, the fewer learning opportunities of cautious and wary children and more negative interaction between teachers and inhibited children. However, the empirical studies about these mechanisms are rare and, thus, they have remained unclear. This study examined whether children’s maths-related self-concept of ability acts as a mediator between their temperamental inhibiti…