Predicting early emotion knowledge development among children of colour living in historically disinvested neighbourhoods: consideration of child pre-academic abilities, self-regulation, peer relations and parental education

ABSTRACT

Emotion knowledge, the ability to accurately perceive and label emotions, predicts higher quality peer relations, higher social competence, higher academic achievement, and fewer behaviour problems. Less is known, however, about predictors of early development of emotion knowledge. This study examines emotion knowledge development among children attending pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten programmes in high-poverty urban schools. The study considers child pre-academic abilities, self-regulation, peer relations and parental education as predictors of emotion knowledge development over two years. The sample (n = 1034) of children living in historically disinvested neighbourhoods was primarily Black (85%) and low-income (∼61%). The sample was part of a longitudinal follow-up study of a cluster (school) randomised controlled trial in ten public elementary schools. Children’s emotion knowledge was assessed with a series of tasks three times over a two-year period. At baseline, parents and teachers reported on peer relations, children completed a test of pre-academic abilities, independent observers rated child self-regulation, and parents reported on their educational attainment. Results demonstrate that emotion knowledge increases over time, and pre-academic abilities, self-regulation, peer relations, and parent education independently predict children’s emotion knowledge. This study highlights multiple factors that predict emotion knowledge among primarily Black children living in historically disinvested neighbourhoods.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotion knowledge
• early childhood
• self-regulation
• pre-academic abilities
• peer relations

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our deep gratitude to the schools and families who participated in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Alexandra Ursache http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9621-6919

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by US Department of Education, Institue of Education Sciences [grant number R305F050245], by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health [grant number K01HL138114], and by the National Institute of Mental Health [grant number R01 MH077331-04]. Funding sources had no involvement in the study design or in the decision to submit the article for publication. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the Institute of Education Sciences.