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Attachment Security and Developmental Patterns of Growth in Executive Functioning During Early Elementary School
Author(s) -
MatteGagné Célia,
Bernier Annie,
Sirois MarieSoleil,
Lalonde Gabrielle,
Hertz Sarah
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12807
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , longitudinal study , longitudinal sample , child development , executive functions , cognition , statistics , mathematics , neuroscience
Despite the extensive research demonstrating the importance of child executive functioning (EF) for school adjustment , little longitudinal work has formally examined developmental change in EF during the early school years. Based on a sample of 106 mother–child dyads, the current longitudinal study investigated patterns of growth in child performance on three executive tasks between kindergarten ( M age = 6 years) and Grade 3 ( M age = 9 years), and the predictive role of earlier mother–child attachment security in these patterns. The results suggest that early elementary school is a period of significant developmental improvement in child EF, although child performance on different EF tasks follows distinct trajectories across time. The study also provides evidence for a sustained relation between children's early attachment security and their ongoing acquisition of executive skills.