Previously Institutionalized Toddlers’ Social and Emotional Competence and Kindergarten Adjustment: Indirect Effects Through Executive Function

Longitudinal multimethod data across three time points were examined to explore the associations between previously institutionalized toddlers’ (N=71; 59% female) socioemotional skills (Time Point 1: 18 months to 3-years-old), executive functioning (i.e., attention, working memory, inhibitory control) in the preschool years (Time Point 2: 2–4-years-old), and adjustment in kindergarten (5–6-years-old). Children were from multiple regions (35%Eastern European, 31% Southeast Asian, 25% African, and 9% LatinAmerican), and 90% of adoptive parents were White from the Midwestern United States. Socioemotional competency at Time Point 1 was associated with fewer attention problems and greater inhibitory control at Time Point 2, which were subsequently associated with more observed social competence, greater observed classroom competence, and less teacher-reported teacher–child conflict in kindergarten. Indirect effects from socioemotional competencies in toddlerhood to kindergarten adjustment via executive functioning during the preschool period emerged.