Biomedical subjects

Kaisa Aunola

Publications and source records attributed to Kaisa Aunola.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

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 Jyväskylä 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 problem behaviour during the preschool year and first grade, whereas during the second grade they were associated with an increase in subsequent externalizing problem behaviour. Moreover, from preschool to the beginning of the primary school internalizing problem behaviour predicted subsequent externalizing problem behaviour. Later on during the first and the second primary school years, it was externalizing problem behaviour that predicted an increase in internalizing problem behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggested that difficulties in learning to read, and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviours are developmentally linked in a cumulative manner.

Child↗

PubMed2006

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 development was also investigated. SAMPLE: A total of 196 Finnish children were examined four times: (0) in October during their preschool year; (1) in October and (2) April during their first grade of primary school; and (3) in October during their second grade. METHOD: Children's mathematical performance was tested at each measurement point. Task motivation was examined at measurement points 2, 3, and 4 using the Task-value scale for children. First-grade teachers were interviewed in November about their pedagogical goals and classroom characteristics. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that children's mathematical performance and related task motivation formed a cumulative developmental cycle: a high level of maths performance at the beginning of the first grade increased subsequent task motivation towards mathematics, which further predicted a high level of maths performance at the beginning of the second grade. The level of maths-related task motivation increased in those classrooms where the teachers emphasized motivation or self-concept development as their most important pedagogical goal.

Child↗

PubMed2004

Maternal affection moderates the impact of psychological control on a child's mathematical performance.

This study investigated the extent to which mothers' psychological control predicts their children's mathematical performance during the children's transition from preschool to primary school over and above the impact of maternal affection and behavioral control. Also investigated was the extent to which maternal affection and behavioral control moderate the impact of mothers' psychological control. Children 5-6 years old at baseline (N=196) were followed up 6 times to measure their performance in mathematics over a 3-year period from preschool to 2nd grade. Mothers were asked to fill in a questionnaire measuring their parenting styles once every year over the 3-year period. A high level of psychological control exercised by mothers predicted their children's slow progress in mathematics. However, this impact was particularly evident among those children whose mothers reported a high level of affection. No evidence was found that children's mathematical performance had any effect on their mothers' parenting styles.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

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' effect was found for the development of self-concept, but not for the reading skills. However, the results showed that there was a multi-construct cumulative cycle between children's reading skills and their self-concept. CONCLUSIONS: Simultaneous use of variable- and person-oriented methods in developmental research seems to be a valuable approach, which not only provides a proper way to investigate the cumulative developmental cycles but also an option to examine how large a proportion of the sample follows the positive and negative pattern found in variable-oriented analyses.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Anxious solitude across contexts: girls' interactions with familiar and unfamiliar peers.

Cross-situational continuity and change in anxious solitary girls' behavior and peer relations were examined in interactions with familiar versus unfamiliar playmates. Fourth-grade girls (N=209, M age=9.77 years, half African American, half European American) were identified as anxious solitary or behaviorally normative using observed and teacher-reported behavior among classmates. Subsequently, girls participated in 1-hr play groups containing 5 same-race familiar or unfamiliar girls for 5 consecutive days. Results support both cross-situational continuity and change in anxious solitary girls' behavior and peer relations. Although anxious solitary girls exhibited difficulty interacting with both familiar and unfamiliar playmates relative to behaviorally normative girls, elements of their behavior improved in unfamiliar play groups, a context in which they received less peer mistreatment.

Anxiety↗