An Investigation of the Roles of Temperament and Approaches to Learning on Head Start Children's School Readiness

by Munis, Pelin

The current study examined the relation between temperament and school readiness in preschool children. Two research questions were of interest: 1) Do approaches to learning behaviors mediate the relation between temperament and school readiness and 2) Does temperament moderate the relation between approaches to learning and school readiness? Data were collected on 195 Head Start children. Teachers assessed childrens temperament styles as undercontrolled, resilient, or overcontrolled, as well as their approaches to learning behaviors. Trained research assistants directly assessed childrens school readiness. The results showed a gender by temperament interaction effect for overcontrolled children with boys performing the worst on all outcomes and girls performing either the best or as well as resilient girls and boys. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted separately for girls and boys. For girls, temperament did not predict school readiness and therefore, there was no effect to mediate. For boys, competence motivation and attention/persistence partially mediated the relation between temperament and school readiness for overcontrolled versus resilient boys. For both girls and boys, temperament did not moderate the relation between approaches to learning and school readiness. These results and the implications of this research will be discussed.