RANA ŠKOLSKA PRILAGODBA KAO POKAZATELJ DJEČJE DOBROBITI: PREDIKTIVNA VAŽNOST INDIVIDUALNIH KARAKTERISTIKA DJETETA
EARLY SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT AS A CHILD WELLBEING INDICATOR: PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF INDIVIDUAL CHILD CHARACTERISTICS

Summary/Abstract: Transition to primary school is one of the major developmental milestones in the child’s life which requires complex adjustment to new social and academic demands. Successfully meeting this early demands is associated with future adjustment and educational progress, and also reflects the wellbeing of the child (his feelings and effective functioning - academic and social) in the school context. Given the importance of school adjustment as an indicator of child wellbeing, the long-term consequences of early adjustment, and the inconsistent results of previous studies, the aim of this study was to examine and compare the predictive validity of social-emotional competence and specific cognitive skills for early social and academic school adjustment, and to examine if these relationships are moderated by the child’s gender. Participants were 417 first grade students (202 girls and 215 boys) from 12 elementary schools, their parents (N = 372) and teachers (N = 34). Research design included two waves of data collection, at the beginning and at the end of a school year, using a number of instruments filled in by children, their parents and teachers. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling, and showed that specific cognitive skills are more important for early social and academic school adjustment than children’s social-emotional competence.

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