Context influences on task orientation among preschoolers who display disruptive behavior problems

Publication date: 2nd Quarter 2020Source: Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Volume 51Author(s): Virginia E. Vitiello, Amanda P. WillifordAbstractVariable elements of the classroom context affect children’s behavior and may enhance or inhibit task orientation among children who display disruptive behaviors. The current study examined within- and across-child variation in children’s task orientation, as well as classroom and child predictors of that variation. The sample included 453 preschool children, ages 30–66 months (mean = 48.8, SD = 6.8), identified by teachers as displaying elevated disruptive behavior problems. Children’s task orientation was observed during multiple, 15-min cycles four times throughout the school year using the inCLASS observation system (Downer, Booren, Hamre, Pianta, & Williford, 2010). Results indicated that task orientation varied substantially from cycle to cycle within a school day. The level of teacher involvement as well as the activity setting (e.g., whole group, free play) significantly predicted child task orientation, with greater teacher involvement and teacher-managed activity settings associated with lower task orientation. Children with higher receptive vocabulary and effortful control showed higher average task orientation. The effects of the situational context factors on task orientation varied from child to child, but there was only limited evidence that child characteristics (disruptiveness, receptive vocabulary,...
Source: Early Childhood Research Quarterly - Category: Child Development Source Type: research