(PS4-A25) The Role of Gender, Ethnicity, Parental Education, and Family Income on Children's Self-regulation

As noted by past research studies, the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) task has become a common, more objective way to measure behavioral self-regulation in children. The HTKS task is a game including four paired behavioral tasks where the child is commanded to touch their head, toes, knees, or shoulders but directed to do the opposite (e.g., touch their toes when instructed to “touch your head”). This task has been found to holistically measure self-regulation through attention to instruction, working memory by simultaneously remembering directions and performing the task, and inhibitory control by resisting the natural response. Above that, the HTKS task has been found to be a valid measure for children of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds such as Native Hawaiian communities. With self-regulation being a milestone in early child development, it is important to understand how disadvantaged individual and family backgrounds among minority children may be related to early markers of self-regulation. Knowing this would allow early detection and proper support for at-risk, underserved individuals and communities. This study aims to identify whether demographic variables of gender, ethnicity, parental education, and family income were associated with low or high self-regulation in Native Hawaiian children who tend to be overlooked in the research literature.

A total of 120 (48% girls, 52% boys) incoming kindergarteners between the ages of 52-77 months (M = 59.79 months; SD = 5.00) were administered the 20-item HTKS during the Fall and Spring semester of 2014. The sample consisted of Native Hawaiian (both mono- and multi-ethnic, n = 71) and non-Hawaiian (n =  49) children from an elementary school in a rural community in Hawai’i. Information regarding parents’ average educational status and family income was collected through the demographic background questionnaire completed by the parents. Due to the parent data only being collected for Fall semester, the Spring semester data will not be included in this study.

The multiple regression model with the demographic variables of gender, ethnicity, parental education, and family income as predictors produced R² = .402, F(4, 100) = 4.81, p < .001. Average parental education significantly predicted behavioral self-regulation ((β =.21, p < .05), indicating that children of parents with more years of education displayed higher behavioral self-regulation. Family income also significantly predicted behavioral self-regulation ((β = .25, p < .05), implying that children from higher family incomes showed higher behavioral self-regulation. Gender and ethnicity did not significantly predict behavioral self-regulation. Results from this study suggest that a child’s direct support system and how they are provided for may directly impact their ability to self-regulate and become at-risk for potential developmental problems, namely mental health disorders. Further research is necessary to understand how these relationships translate to the larger Native Hawaiian population where a majority of individuals reside in rural, underserved communities or experience urban poverty.