ABSTRACT

Research Findings: The goal of this longitudinal study was to examine persistence development during the transition to school. The sample consisted of N = 88 children from Caucasian, middle-class families (51% female). Participants were recruited through advertisement in public kindergartens and were tested twice, in kindergarten (mean age = 73.4 months) and second grade (mean age = 94.6 months). We computed latent profile analyses to examine different behavioral approaches during a persistence task. Furthermore, we analyzed change and stability in these task approaches during the transition from kindergarten to elementary school. Analyses revealed three different latent profiles for both measurement points: a persistent profile, a mixed profile, and an engaged-disengaged profile. Most children were best described by the persistent profile, which was also the most stable profile over time (stability rate: .74). A less persistent task approach characterized children in the mixed profile and engaged-disengaged profile. Covariate analyses revealed differences between the latent profiles in terms of cognitive flexibility (η² = .102) and in terms of learning-related behavior (η² = .085). Practice or Policy: The results indicate that persistence difficulties can be found in two different task approaches. Consequently, we argue that these children need different types of assistance to address their persistence difficulties. Overall, the findings offer new possibilities to develop suitable intervention programs to support the ability to persist in the face of a challenge.

摘要

研究结果：这项纵向研究的目的是检查在向学校过渡期间的持久性发展。样品由N= 88 名来自白人中产阶级家庭的儿童（51% 为女性）。参与者是通过公立幼儿园的广告招募的，并在幼儿园（平均年龄 = 73.4 个月）和二年级（平均年龄 = 94.6 个月）接受了两次测试。我们计算了潜在的配置文件分析，以检查持久性任务期间的不同行为方法。此外，我们分析了从幼儿园到小学过渡期间这些任务方法的变化和稳定性。分析揭示了两个测量点的三种不同的潜在配置文件：持久配置文件、混合配置文件和参与-脱离配置文件。大多数儿童最好用持久性特征来描述，这也是随着时间的推移最稳定的特征（稳定率：0.74）。一种不太持久的任务方法将儿童描述为混合型和参与-脱离型。协变量分析揭示了潜在概况在认知灵活性方面的差异 (η²  = .102) 和学习相关行为 (η ²  = .085)。实践或政策：结果表明，在两种不同的任务方法中都存在持久性困难。因此，我们认为这些孩子需要不同类型的帮助来解决他们的坚持困难。总的来说，这些发现为开发合适的干预计划以支持面对挑战时坚持的能力提供了新的可能性。