The association among literacy proficiency, effortful control, and frustration

ABSTRACT

The authors investigated the relationships among effortful control and frustration and literacy proficiency of preadolescence to determine which subcomponent of effortful control and/or emotion might be critical in achieving academic success. The participants included 72 children recruited from a larger longitudinal study. Children's frustration, effortful control, and literacy skills were assessed at Grade 5, and their nonverbal IQ levels were assessed at Grade 1. Effortful control and frustration were measured by a self-report questionnaire. Literacy proficiency was measured with tests of reading comprehension, written language, and the semestral grades in the subject of Chinese literacy. Results showed that children with higher effortful control perception had better literacy abilities, particularly writing and language academic achievement. The dispositional frustration moderated the predictive effect of attention control on children's reading comprehension. The findings support the importance of self-regulation and emotions on literacy proficiency.

KEYWORDS:

• Effortful control
• frustration
• literacy proficiency
• self-regulation
• temperament

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all children, parents, and teachers who took part in the study for their participation and support.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a grant from Mackay Medical College (no. 1021A02).