Understanding preschool precursors to early school adjustment

• Positive early school adjustment has been suggested to provide an important base for future school performance. In fact, positive adjustment to school has emerged as one of the key factors for educational performance and lower rates of psychosocial and conduct problems. Thus, it is essential that we come to a better understanding of why some children exhibit positive early school adjustment while others do not. School adjustment is a comprehensive term, describing how children adapt both socially, behaviorally and academically, including aspects such as (i) children’s connectedness to school, i.e., liking school, (ii) children’s school involvement, i.e., school avoidance and task engagement and, (iii) children’s school performance, i.e., academic achievement. This presentation will give the outline for, and some preliminary descriptive results from a research project aimed at advancing knowledge and identifying the various developmental pathways of potential influential factors on school adjustment; early childhood risk and protective factors that are related to early positive and negative school adjustment. Potential risk and protective factors that will be studied include various preschool/school factors, family and parent-child factors, peer factors, and specific individual factors of the child. The study uses data from four waves of the SOFIA-study, an ongoing prospective longitudinal research program including all children born between 2005 and 2007 attending preschools during the spring of 2010 (>2,000 children) in a midsized Swedish municipality. The knowledge produced in this project can be used to develop strategies and interventions to promote early positive school adjustment, and to prevent early negative school adjustment.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Kriminologi

Criminology

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

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