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Effects of Household and Environmental Adversity on Indices of Self-Regulation for Latino and African American Preschool Children: Closing the School Readiness Gap

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Addressing factors that influence children’s self-regulation is a critical step toward closing achievement gaps that have consistently been found for African American and Latino children as well as children living in poverty. Cumulative sociodemographic risk in childhood is now widely understood to be a developmental risk factor for children. However, the relationship between cumulative risk and multi-method indicators of self-regulation has not been widely explored, particularly with diverse preschool populations. This study examines the relationship between cumulative household and environmental risk indicators, bottom-up indicators of self-regulation (fear, attention bias to threat), and top-down indicators of self-regulation (inhibitory and emotional control) in a sample of 126 predominantly Latino and African American preschoolers. Findings from indirect effects path analyses suggest a pathway from cumulative environmental risk to inhibitory self-regulation through bias to threat and fear, as reported by both parents and teachers. Practice or Policy: Bottom-up self-regulation may be an important and under-researched area of focus for interventions that seek to support the inhibitory and emotional control of young, adversity-exposed children. Additionally, these findings support the value of existing sociodemographic cumulative risk models that environmental adversities, such as community violence exposure and food insecurity, into conceptualizations of household adversity. An expanded conceptualization of cumulative risk may support the development of systemic interventions that address factors disproportionately experienced by ethnic minority children in low-income urban areas and reduce disparities in early school readiness.