Sluggish Cognitive Tempo Predicts Academic Fluency, Beyond Contributions of Core Academic Skills, Attention, and Motor Speed

Objective: Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) is a distinct behavioral phenotype characterized by such symptoms as being slow to complete tasks, appearing drowsy or sleepy, and lacking initiative. Subcomponents of SCT appear differentially associated with inattention symptoms and child outcomes. Much of the work in this area has examined associations between SCT symptoms and ratings of behavior; few studies have examined associations with child performance. Method: We examined associations between SCT and timed reading and math skills in 247 referred youth ( M age = 11.55, range = 6-20; 67.6% male), controlling for the untimed academic skills, inattention, and graphomotor speed. Results: SCT consistently predicted timed academic fluency, after controlling for other component skills, for both reading (SCT Δ R2 = .039, p = .001) and math (Δ R2 = .049, p = .001). Conclusion: Results provide initial evidence for the unique association of SCT with timed academic performance. Understanding associations of SCT with actual child performance may allow for greater specificity in targeting interventions to address speed of performance.

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The Association Between Parents’ Growth Mindset and Children’s Persistence and Academic Skills

Frontiers in Education ◽

10.3389/feduc.2021.791652 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Author(s):

Yuchen Song ◽

Michael M Barger ◽

Kristen L. Bub

Keyword(s):

Reading Skills ◽

Positive Association ◽

Academic Skills ◽

Growth Mindset ◽

Early Age ◽

Coherent System ◽

Educational Beliefs ◽

Motivational Beliefs ◽

Math Skills ◽

Reading And Math

Parents’ educational beliefs are thought to guide children’s early development in school. The present study explored the association between parent’s growth mindset and elementary school-aged children’s self-reported persistence, as well as teacher-reported reading and math skills in 102 dyads. Findings showed that children self-reported greater persistence when their parents held more growth mindset. Teachers also rated students as more capable readers when their parents endorsed a growth, rather than fixed, mindset. Additional analysis indicated that although the effect of parents’ growth mindset on children’s reading skills became non-significant once SES was controlled, the positive association between parents’ mindset and children’s persistence was unaffected by SES. Our study provides evidence about the intergenerational association of motivational tendencies at an early age, even when children may not be able to develop a coherent system of motivational beliefs of their own.

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Elementary school teachers adapt their instructional support according to students’ academic skills

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025415575764 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 391-401 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Noona Kiuru ◽

Jari-Erik Nurmi ◽

Esko Leskinen ◽

Minna Torppa ◽

Anna-Maija Poikkeus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Elementary School Teachers ◽

Instructional Support ◽

Subsequent Development ◽

First Grade ◽

Academic Skills ◽

Second Grade ◽

Math Skills ◽

Reading And Math ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Reading And Mathematics

This study examined the longitudinal associations between children’s academic skills and the instructional support teachers gave individual students. A total of 253 Finnish children were tested on reading and math skills twice in the first grade and once in the second grade. The teachers of these children rated the instructional support that they gave each child in reading and mathematics. The results showed that the poorer the student’s reading and math skills were, the more support and attention the student received from his or her teacher later on. However, instructional support did not contribute positively to the subsequent development of the students’ academic skills. The person-oriented analyses showed that a relatively small group of children, that is, those showing the poorest academic skills, received the largest dose of teacher support, both with respect to reading and mathematics.

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Sluggish cognitive tempo

10.1093/med/9780198739258.003.0015 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Stephen P. Becker ◽

Russell A. Barkley

Keyword(s):

Emotion Dysregulation ◽

Performance Outcomes ◽

Sluggish Cognitive Tempo ◽

Lower Grade ◽

Motor Speed ◽

Major Life ◽

Academic Difficulties ◽

Grade Point ◽

History Of ◽

Cognitive Tempo

Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is characterized by excessive daydreaming, mental confusing and fogginess, and slowed behaviour/thinking. A brief history of the SCT construct is provided, followed by a review of the current research supporting SCT as distinct from ADHD and other psychopathologies. SCT is positively associated with ADHD inattentive symptoms, depression, anxiety, and daytime sleepiness, but is unassociated or negatively associated with externalizing behaviours such as hyperactivity-impulsivity, oppositionality, and aggression. A growing body of research also demonstrates that SCT is uniquely associated with poorer functioning in various domains of major life activities, including academic difficulties (including poor organization, homework problems, and lower grade point average), social problems (especially peer withdrawal and isolation), and emotion dysregulation. SCT is less clearly associated with most neuropsychological performance outcomes with the possible exceptions of sustained attention, processing speed, and motor speed.

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