Indirect Effects of Cognitive Self-Regulation in the Association between Social

Skills and Internalizing Behavior Problems

David E. Ferrier, Ph.D., Caitlin A. Johnson, Beth Rachlin, Caitlin A. Jayne, Corey N. Johnson, Amanda Miller, & Alexandra Zelin, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN, 37403

Introduction Method (cont’d) Figure 1: Indirect effects model with parallel mediators
 Teachers are increasingly viewing social, emotional, and self- Procedure
regulatory skills in children as indicators of school readiness  Children were assessed biannually with the Dimensional Change Card Cognitive Self-
Regulation:
and adjustment (Denham, 2006; Jones & Bouffard, 2012). Sort (DCCS; Zelazo, 2006) and the Numbers Reversed subtest of the (DCCS) at T2
 Self-regulatory abilities, encompassing cognitive, emotional, Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Ability (NR; Woodcock,
and behavioral competencies, in early child development have McGrew, and Mather, 2001) to measure the cognitive flexibility and
a1 = .07*** (.01) b1 = -.01 (.01)
increasingly been linked to learning and academic success, as working memory aspects of cognitive self-regulation, respectively, and
well as both concurrent and later well-being and mental health parents and teachers completed the Social Skills Rating System (NCS Cognitive Self-
Pearson, 1990) to measure internalizing behavior problems (teacher- Regulation:
(Blair, 2002; Raver & Knitzer, 2002). (NR) at T2
 Moreover, children’s self-regulation can either act as a support report) and social interaction (parent-report).
or impediment for the development of social skills (Rose- a2 = 2.98*** (.31) b2 = -.004*** (.0004)
Krasnor & Denham, 2008). Data Analytic Plan
 Within a classroom, social, emotional, and self-regulatory  Using the PROCESS macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2013), proposed cognitive c’ = -.05*** (.01) Internalizing
Social
behaviors are, in part, socialized through the transactions self-regulation mediators (DCCS & NR) were estimated simultaneously Interaction
Behavior
Problems (IBP)
children have with teachers and peers. in a parallel mediation model. (SI) at T1
c = -.06*** (.01) at T4
 In the absence of positive relationships, social, emotional, and  Additionally, bootstrapped confidence intervals were provided, which
Note: Standard errors for estimates are reported in parentheses. ***: p <.001
self-regulatory development can be negatively impacted circumvent power issues in traditional mediation analysis (Hayes, 2009).
(Denham, Bassett, & Zinsser, 2012).  To address issues of causality, SI, CSR, and IBP constructs were selected
from T1 (Kindergarten Fall), T2 (Kindergarten Spring), and T4 (First Discussion
Study Aims Grade Spring), respectively.  The findings from the present study suggest that increased social
 Age (in months at T1) and Gender were entered as covariates. interaction may better equip children to handle increasingly
 In the present study, we sought to evaluate the relation between complex social information in the moment and that this may, in
children’s socially competent behavior (SI) and later Results turn, allow children to mitigate negative feelings and experiences in
internalizing behavior problems (IBP).
 All coefficients can be found in Table 1 and the parallel mediation model the classroom.
 Furthermore, we questioned if this association between SI and
(PROCESS Model 4) is depicted in Figure 1.
later IBP was influenced by a child’s cognitive self-regulatory  Furthermore, it was found that while increased social interaction
 Results indicate that higher SI scores at T1 were positively associated
abilities (CSR). does negatively predict future internalizing behavior problems, its
with both CSR variables at T2, however, only a significant indirect effect
was found only between SI and IBP through NR (a2b2 = -.013, C.I. = effect is diminished when accounting for cognitive self-regulation,
Hypothesis -.017 to -.010). particularly working memory, suggesting that children’s cognitive
 Given that research has supported that a weak self-regulatory abilities play an important role in decreasing maladjustment.
foundation can contribute to considerable behavioral problems Table 1: Model coefficients for the indirect effect of parent-rated social interaction on
(i.e., socially incompetent behavior) and an increased risk of teacher-rated internalizing behavior problems, through two aspects of self-regulation, Implications and Future Directions
psychopathology and later internalizing behavior problems, it modeled as parallel mediators.
 It was interesting, yet unexpected, that the CSR aspect of cognitive
was hypothesized that children with positive social behavior Y (Internalizing Behavior
M1 (CSR: DCCS) M2 (CSR: NR) flexibility did not significantly predict fewer IBP, unlike working
Problems)
would tend to have fewer reported internalizing behavior memory, however, this provides support that perhaps the measure
Variable Coeff SE p Coeff SE p Coeff SE p
problems and that greater cognitive self-regulatory (CSR) of IBP best reflects the result of an in vivo process, where the
X (Social
abilities would partially account for this association. Interaction)
a1 .07 .01 <.001 a2 2.98 .31 <.001 c' -.05 .01 <.001 choice to be more socially engaged allows for a child to learn to
M1 (CSR: DCCS) --- --- --- --- --- --- b1 -.01 .01 .17 increasingly manipulate both interpersonal (e.g., social behaviors)
Method M2 (CSR: NR) --- --- --- --- --- --- b2 -.004 .0004 <.001 and intrapersonal (e.g., thoughts, feelings) information, which
Participants Age (constant) i1M1 .006 .002 <.01 i1M2 .45 .07 <.001 i1Y .007 .002 <.01 aligns with established conceptualizations of working memory.
 9,654 children from the kindergarten and first grade waves of Gender (constant) i2M1 .08 .02 <.001 i2M2 2.52 .60 <.001 i2Y -.07 .02 <.001
the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten Class of  Given the social nature of a classroom and the important role that
Intercept -.49 .16 <.01 417.89 4.82 <.001 1.56 .22 <.001
2011 (ECLS-K:2011). teachers have as socializers of social, emotional, and self-regulatory
 Mean age at T1 (Kindergarten Fall) was 5 years, 7 months; 49% R2 = .008 R2 = .016 R2 = .025 behavior, assessing the specific mechanisms of socialization would
female. F(3, 9650) = 28.57, p < .001 F(3, 9650) = 52.49, p < .001 F(5, 9648) = 48.59, p < .001 provide valuable information to both researchers and practitioners.
Note: CSR = Cognitive self-regulation (at T2); DCCS = Dimensional Change Card Sort; NR= WJ-III
Cog Numbers Reversed subtest; i1 = constant (child age in months at T1); i2 = constant (child gender). Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
For further information, contact the first author at: david-ferrier@utc.edu Reported coefficients are standardized. Psychological Association, August 2017, Washington, D.C.