The Relationship Between SocialEmotional Behaviors and Mathematics Skills in a National Sample of Pr

1
The Relationship Between Social-Emotional
Behaviors and Mathematics Skills in a National
Sample of Preschoolers
Chanele D. Robinson and Jennifer Dobbs,
PhD Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Introduction
Measures

• Relationships between social-emotional behaviors
  and mathematics skills Pearson Correlations
• Low ratings of externalizing behaviors and high
  ratings of prosocial behaviors by both early
  childcare providers and parents are related to
  higher math scores.
• High ratings of internalizing behaviors by
  parents are related to higher math scores.
• Observers low ratings of negativity and high
  ratings of engagement with parents are related to
  higher math scores

• Social-Emotional Behaviors
• Preschool-Kindergarten Behavior Scale
  (PKBS)-Teacher Form 20 items
• Preschool-Kindergarten Behavior Scale
  (PKBS)-Parent Form 24 items
• Two Bags Task 10 minute interaction between
  parent and child (book reading semi-structured
  play)
• Trained observers watched videotapes of
  interactions and produced 7-point Likert-type
  ratings of childs negativity and engagement with
  parent
• Mathematics Skills
• 28-items assessment derived from Test of Early
  Mathematics Ability (TEMA) (a .86)
• Math T-score was used in analysis
• Data Reduction
• Factor analyses (no rotation) were run on both
  sets of the PKBS items. Each set produced three
  factors measuring externalizing, internalizing,
  and prosocial behaviors.

• Researchers have found differences in
  preschoolers cognitive and social development
  among different childcare settings (Loeb et al.,
  2004).
• Preschoolers in center-based care settings had
  better cognitive development than preschoolers in
  home-based care settings.
• Among center-based care settings home-based
  care settings, preschoolers social development
  is mixed.
• A local Head Start study found evidence of a
  relationship between young childrens math skills
  and social-emotional behaviors (Dobbs et al.,
  2006).
• Stronger math skills were related to childrens
  strengths in initiative, self-control, and
  attachment.
• Poorer math skills were related to behavioral
  concerns as well as social and attention
  problems.
• Early mathematics skills hold great promise for
  predicting later achievement (Duncan et al.,
  2007).

• Relative
• Non-Relative
• Center-based
• Multiple Settings

Discussion

• Overall, both the context of preschoolers
  care and education setting and their
  social-emotional development relates to their
  mathematics abilities.
• Preschoolers in a structured classroom
  setting (i.e. center-based care) presumably have
  access to more math-related materials and a
  curriculum that stimulates math development, in
  comparison to a home-based setting that includes
  relative caregivers.
• Preschoolers with more socially competent
  behaviors may be more engaged in math-related
  tasks, thus improving their math abilities, in
  comparison to preschoolers with fewer prosocial
  or more externalizing behaviors.
• Preschoolers prosocial behaviors and
  mathematics skills relationship depends on the
  context of their care and education setting.
• When parents rated preschoolers prosocial
  behavior, the relationship between math skills
  and prosocial behaviors was weaker for children
  in multiple care settings.
• When care providers rated preschoolers
  prosocial behavior, the relationship between
  math skills and prosocial behaviors was negative
  for children in relative care settings.

Research Questions
Note Analyses are weighted by W33J0 and all N
are presented in rounded form, ECEP Early Care
and Education Provider p lt .01, p lt .001

• Are there differences in mathematics skills among
  children served by different childcare settings?
• What is the relationship between preschoolers
  social-emotional behaviors and mathematics
  skills?
• Do childcare settings moderate the relationship
  between social-emotional behaviors and
  mathematics skills?

Analysis Results

• 3. Relationships between social-emotional
  behaviors and mathematics skills moderated by
  early childcare settings Univariate ANOVAs with
  post hoc Bonferroni comparisons
• For each of the social-emotional variables listed
  in Table 1, an ANOVA was run including the
  social-emotional variable and the childcare
  setting as the independent variables and math
  score as the dependent variable.
• For caregiver-report prosocial behaviors, there
  were significant main effects of childcare
  setting (F (3, 573) 4.60, p lt.01) and
  ECEP-prosocial behaviors (F (22, 234) 1.73, p
  lt.05). There was also an interaction effect (F
  (50, 2700) 1.48, p lt .05).
• For parent-report prosocial behaviors, there were
  significant main effects of childcare setting (F
  (3, 478) 3.05, p lt .05), and parent-prosocial
  behaviors (F (82, 618) 1.94, p lt.01), as well
  as an interaction effect (F ( 98, 2599) 1.35, p
  lt.01).

• Differences among childcare settings and
  mathematics skills ANOVAs with post hoc
  Bonferroni comparisons
• There were significant differences among the
  mathematics skills of children in different
  primary childcare settings (F (3, 3050) 23.49,
  p lt .01).
• Children in relative care settings had
  significantly lower math scores compared to
  children in non-relative care and center-based
  care settings, with children in center-based care
  having the highest math scores among the four
  settings.

Participants

• Data Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Birth
  Cohort
• (N 10,700)
• A sub-sample of 3,200 preschoolers with
  caregiver-report data is used for this study.
• Mean age 52 months (SD 4)
• 52 Male (n 1700)
• 56 White, 22 Hispanic, 15 Black, 4 Biracial
• Primary childcare setting 16 Relative Care, 9
  Non-relative Care, 72 Center-based Care, 2
  Multiple Care Settings
• Parent Education 23 High School, 29 Some
  College, 18 Bachelors Degree, 11 Masters
  Degree
• Average household income is between 35,000 and
  40,000.
• Ns are presented in rounded form and analyses
  were weighted to correct for sampling and design
  effects.

References
Dobbs, J. E., Docotoroff, G. L., Fisher, P. H.,
Arnold, D. H. (2006). The association between
preschool childrens socio emotional functioning
and their mathematical skills. Applied
Developmental Psychology, 27, 97- 108. Duncan, G.
J., Dowsett, C. J., Brooks-Gunn, J., Claessens,
A., Duckworth, K., Engel, M., et al., (2007).
School readiness and later achievement.
Developmental Psychology, 43, 1428- 1446. Loeb,
S., Fuller, B., Kagan, S. L. (2004). Child care
in poor communities Early learning effects of
type, quality, and stability. Child
Development, 75, 47-65.

Note Analyses are weighted by W33J0 and all N
are presented in rounded form