Examining Familial Disruptions and Social-Emotional Development in Early Elementary School Children

NaKeysha Olson Author

04/02/2021 Added

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This presentation examines how family instability during the kindergarten year is linked to children's social-emotional development.

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[00:00:02.140]Hello, my name is NaKeysha Olson,
[00:00:04.020]and this is my presentation,
[00:00:05.490]Examining Familial Disruptions
[00:00:07.430]and Social-Emotional Development
[00:00:09.510]in Early Elementary School Children.
[00:00:12.080]The family context is a key
[00:00:13.470]developmental context for children.
[00:00:15.610]Over the last several decades,
[00:00:17.110]considerable changes
[00:00:18.320]to the average family contexts have occurred
[00:00:21.030]and children's living arrangements
[00:00:22.390]have become progressively more unstable.
[00:00:25.340]Most children are no longer in traditional nuclear families
[00:00:28.300]with those children rarely experiencing transitions,
[00:00:31.380]but instead are part of different family structures,
[00:00:33.690]such as living in a single parent household
[00:00:36.380]or with grandparents,
[00:00:37.480]and experiencing a transition in their family structures,
[00:00:40.840]such as divorce, remarriage, or cohabitation.
[00:00:44.300]These transitions from one to the next
[00:00:46.510]can upset children's daily routines
[00:00:48.510]and can have potentially negative consequences
[00:00:50.650]on their development.
[00:00:52.900]Although a considerable amount of research
[00:00:55.460]examines the associations between changes
[00:00:57.950]in family structure and early childhood development,
[00:01:00.820]few explore familial disruptions
[00:01:02.940]in social-emotional development in school-aged children.
[00:01:06.490]The social and emotional development of children
[00:01:09.460]refers to children's ability
[00:01:10.990]to experience, handle, and communicate,
[00:01:13.450]full ranges of both positive and negative emotions,
[00:01:16.720]develop healthy, positive,
[00:01:18.520]and rewarding relationships with others,
[00:01:20.370]and the willingness to explore and learn.
[00:01:22.840]Investigating these areas of development is important
[00:01:25.830]because they can influence children's self-esteem,
[00:01:28.420]empathy, and helps them create long lasting
[00:01:30.810]and meaningful relationships,
[00:01:32.650]as well as being able to predict and be associated
[00:01:35.970]with mental health, academic performances,
[00:01:39.000]delinquency, substance abuse, and workplace performance.
[00:01:42.840]Gaining an understanding of the ways
[00:01:44.640]in which the disruptions in family structure
[00:01:46.670]relate to social skills in children
[00:01:49.120]is more critical than ever during a time
[00:01:51.110]when changes to family structure happen more often.
[00:01:55.230]The purpose of this research study is to examine
[00:01:57.860]how family instability during the kindergarten year
[00:02:00.420]is linked to children's social-emotional development.
[00:02:03.700]While prior research has focused exclusively
[00:02:05.980]on the effects of disruptions to the family structure
[00:02:08.490]on physical and mental health in early childhood,
[00:02:11.680]as well as primarily focusing on divorce,
[00:02:14.490]whereas this study will explore a focus
[00:02:16.580]on social and emotional development,
[00:02:18.300]including interpersonal skills,
[00:02:20.410]externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and self-control,
[00:02:24.290]in children and their early elementary school years
[00:02:26.640]as it has longitudinal associations
[00:02:29.430]with mental health symptoms and wellbeing.
[00:02:32.480]This study will expand the definition of family instability
[00:02:36.320]to beyond just divorced to include cohabitation,
[00:02:39.380]ending of a relationship, and loss of a parent.
[00:02:43.180]Considering the limitations of previous studies,
[00:02:45.830]this study looks at a nationally representative,
[00:02:48.370]longitudinal sample of children
[00:02:50.970]which is significantly more diverse
[00:02:52.840]than samples used in prior studies.
[00:02:55.380]We leveraged the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study,
[00:02:58.250]Kindergarten Class of 2010 to '11,
[00:03:01.040]a nationally representative data set
[00:03:03.300]of approximately 18,170 children,
[00:03:08.080]followed longitudinally from kindergarten to fifth grade.
[00:03:13.570]Teachers rated children's social-emotional skills
[00:03:16.530]on the Social Skills Rating Scale
[00:03:18.600]across the following domains,
[00:03:20.700]interpersonal skills,
[00:03:22.040]externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and self-control.
[00:03:26.120]Parents reported on changes in family structure
[00:03:28.580]during the kindergarten year.
[00:03:30.420]A binary variable of family instability
[00:03:32.860]indicated if the children's mother, father, guardian,
[00:03:36.500]or partner of the children's parent or guardian,
[00:03:39.870]moved out of the home for the following reasons:
[00:03:42.540]separation or divorce, death,
[00:03:44.510]or they moved on, or moved elsewhere.
[00:03:47.350]To reduce error variants and increase the chance
[00:03:49.630]of identifying significant clear results,
[00:03:51.890]we adjusted for socioeconomic status
[00:03:54.730]which included parent education level,
[00:03:57.080]employment status, income and assets,
[00:04:00.270]as well as the race and gender of the child,
[00:04:02.320]and the parent's age.
[00:04:04.740]Regression analyses were conducted
[00:04:06.700]such that model one showed the effect of family instability
[00:04:10.110]during the kindergarten year
[00:04:11.270]on social-emotional skills and the first grade.
[00:04:14.120]Model two as a lagged outcome measure
[00:04:16.240]from the kindergarten year to assess
[00:04:18.230]how family instability during the kindergarten year
[00:04:20.670]was associated with changes in social-emotional skills
[00:04:24.420]during the first grade year.
[00:04:27.020]Results indicated that family instability
[00:04:29.500]during kindergarten was significantly associated
[00:04:32.050]with higher internalizing behaviors
[00:04:34.330]and lower interpersonal skills in the first grade.
[00:04:37.670]Further, that family instability during kindergarten
[00:04:40.570]was associated with increases
[00:04:42.620]in internalizing behaviors during the first grade year
[00:04:45.510]and decreases in interpersonal skills
[00:04:49.400]during the first grade year at a trend level.
[00:04:52.470]Family instability was not associated
[00:04:54.460]with externalizing behaviors or self-control.
[00:04:59.440]Specifically, the results show
[00:05:01.400]that the relationship between internalizing behaviors
[00:05:04.210]in children and changes to the family structure
[00:05:06.670]was highly statistically significant.
[00:05:11.200]Overall, these results highlight important links
[00:05:13.820]between family instability
[00:05:15.110]during the transition to formal schooling
[00:05:17.280]in both children's internalizing behaviors
[00:05:20.177]and interpersonal interactions
[00:05:22.230]after controlling for a robust set of covariates.
[00:05:25.810]Internalizing behaviors are important to understand
[00:05:28.270]as they are not readily visible
[00:05:29.980]and can be the most difficult to recognize and address.
[00:05:33.150]They can reflect a child's emotional
[00:05:34.960]and/or psychological state.
[00:05:36.980]And there can be negative effects of these behaviors
[00:05:39.230]that include being detrimental to academic performance,
[00:05:42.570]future employment opportunities,
[00:05:44.710]physical health, and psychological adjustment.
[00:05:47.580]Interpersonal interactions
[00:05:49.040]in school-aged children is relevant
[00:05:50.770]as schools can be one of the most influential places
[00:05:53.160]for these skills to develop.
[00:05:55.230]Children who do not or struggle to form
[00:05:57.230]interpersonal relationships and skills,
[00:05:59.520]like verbal and nonverbal communication,
[00:06:02.010]problem solving, and decision-making skills,
[00:06:04.520]are at a greater risk for poor academic,
[00:06:06.940]social, mental, and behavioral, and physical health.
[00:06:12.250]Next steps include expanding this research
[00:06:14.980]by delving into why family instability
[00:06:17.100]has an association with internalizing behaviors
[00:06:19.477]and interpersonal skills,
[00:06:21.370]but not externalizing behaviors and self-control.
[00:06:24.470]Also, this study could be continued
[00:06:26.240]by looking at familial disruptions
[00:06:28.080]compared in different grade levels,
[00:06:30.200]and over the course of one's formal education,
[00:06:32.670]and at which age is affected the most.
[00:06:35.480]Another step introduces the idea of examining parents
[00:06:38.450]or partners moving into the home
[00:06:40.360]for reasons such as new relationships and remarriage.
[00:06:43.830]The results also suggests that interventions
[00:06:46.660]are needed to support kindergartners
[00:06:48.340]who are simultaneously undergoing the transition
[00:06:51.170]to formal schooling and instability in family structure.
[00:06:54.530]Making sure teachers,
[00:06:55.650]other school professionals, and parents,
[00:06:57.290]are aware, can recognize, and understand children
[00:06:59.990]who are going through these transitions is also important.
[00:07:06.040]These are my references.
[00:07:09.980]Finally, I would like to thank and acknowledge
[00:07:12.180]the following people,
[00:07:13.360]Dr. Jenna Finch for her continuous support,
[00:07:15.780]encouragement, and help throughout this research.
[00:07:18.830]Also, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study,
[00:07:21.240]Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 data set,
[00:07:24.080]specifically the teachers and parents
[00:07:25.850]who filled out the surveys and provided the information.
[00:07:29.040]Also, to the Learning and Development Research Group,
[00:07:31.800]and to my fellow lab members
[00:07:33.900]for their support and help throughout this as well.
[00:07:36.700]Finally, a thank you to UNL and UCARE
[00:07:38.740]for giving me the opportunity to research this.
[00:07:41.330]And to you, the audience, for watching and listening.

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Examining Familial Disruptions and Social-Emotional Development in Early Elementary School Children

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