The impact of begin to ECSEL on children’s self-regulation, executive functions and learning

ABSTRACT

Research has shown that the first few years of a child’s life are critical for developing executive functioning and emotional regulatory skills. This study aimed to evaluate how begin to ECSEL (Emotional, Cognitive and Social Early Learning), an intervention designed to promote young children’s emotional competence, influenced children’s self-regulation and executive functions. The study collected data from 94 children, aged 2–6 years old, through behavioral testing and compared them to a matched group of children who had not been exposed to the begin to ECSEL programme. Children’s self-regulation and executive functioning skills were assessed using four specific tasks from the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment: balance beam, pencil tap, snack delay and toy wrap. Results demonstrated that children who were enrolled in the begin to ECSEL programme performed significantly better than the comparison group, suggesting significantly better self-regulation and executive function skills as a result of the begin to ECSEL intervention.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-regulation
• executive functioning
• early childhood education
• begin to ECSEL
• emotional cognitive and social early learning

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Dr. Marc Diener for their comments on a draft of this manuscript. And the authors would like to thank Jingyi Ke, Kathy Wong and Lindsey Sagasta for their support and assistance. Ethics approval/IRB statement: The entire study was conducted and approved by an IRB with Sterling Institutional Review Board (IRB ID: 6400). All participants gave informed consent before taking part.

Disclosure statement

The first author is the founder and past CEO of Beginnings School, whose begin to ECSEL programme is the focus of this manuscript. She has no non-financial competing interest to declare in relation to this manuscript. The present research study and collection of data was conducted at Beginnings School and Child Development Center, a for-profit educational organization. The manuscript preparation was conducted while the first author was working at Housman Institute, a for-profit training, research and advocacy organization.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no funding for the research reported in this manuscript.

Notes on contributors

Donna K. Housman

Donna K. Housman, EdD is a clinical psychologist and founder of Housman Institute, Director of research and training. She was a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at BUSM for over two decades, and a professor at the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Graduate Medical Sciences, BUSM. Her research interests include the development of emotional intelligence/competence, self-regulation, empathy, and executive functioning in children 0-8. She is a founding executive board member of the Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health.

Howard Cabral

Howard Cabral, PhD, MPH, is a Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health. He is the Director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design Program of the Boston University Clinical and Translational Science Institute (BU CTSI). His methodologic research interests are in the analysis of correlated and longitudinal data, the effects of missing data on parameter estimation, and statistical computing. He has published extensively in the area of maternal health and child health and development, health services research in HIV, mental health, and substance use.

Katsiaryna Aniskovich

Katsiaryna Aniskovich, PhD is a school psychologist and a researcher in Housman Institute. She also works in Nashua School district providing individual and group counseling, consultation, and psychological evaluations for children with psychological, developmental, social-emotional, and behavioral concerns. Her research interests include the development of the social emotional curriculum and implementation of the positive-behavioral support practices available to diverse students in schools.

Susanne A. Denham

Susanne A. Denham, PhD is an applied developmental psychologist focusing on emotional competence influencing children's social and academic functioning, its assessment, and how parents and teachers foster it. As a University Professor at George Mason University, she used her experience as a school psychologist in her research, which was funded by Institute for Education Sciences, NIH, W.T. Grant Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. She is past co-editor of the journal Social Development, and current editor of Early Education and Development.