self-regulation in preschoolers is related to social school readiness: an analysis of performance-based measures of effortful control and executive functioning

This study quantitatively explored a causal model of the association between two focal self-regulation constructs (executive functioning and effortful control) and social school readiness in preschoolers. the population comprised all preschool children and their mothers who resided in tehran (2018-2019). with the help of their mothers, 342 children with a mean age of five years completed the cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery (cantab; 1994), the children’s behavior questionnaire (very short form) – (cbq-vsf; 2006), the child behavior checklist (cbcl; 2001), and the social school readiness scale (1982). the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (sem) in amos 22. effortful control and socio-emotional competence significantly affected social school readiness (p<0.01). moreover, executive functioning affected social school readiness, mediated by effortful control in the alternative model (p<0.01). these findings expand the existing early childhood research by specifying the link between two major aspects of self-regulation and social-emotional school readiness. an integrative approach considering the behavioral and neuropsychological measurements of self-regulation would help elucidate the predictors of social school readiness in early childhood.