Getting to the root of the problem: Understanding how preschool language, self-regulation, and pragmatics are related to externalizing problem behaviors in kindergarten

This study examined the unique contributions of preschool language and self-regulation in predicting kindergarten externalizing problem behaviors and investigated the extent to which preschool pragmatics mediated these relationships. Participants included a random selection of 506 children (53 months) from 104 preschool classrooms that targeted enrollment towards serving low-income children living in rural areas. Direct assessments of language and self-regulation were collected in the fall of the preschool year. Children's preschool pragmatics and kindergarten externalizing problem behaviors were obtained via teacher-report. Path analyses were used to obtain standardized coefficients for the direct and indirect pathways. The results revealed that preschool language and self-regulation uniquely contributed to kindergarten externalizing problem behaviors. The relationship between language and externalizing problem behaviors was fully mediated by pragmatics. The findings suggest that self-regulation and pragmatics may be important skills to target for the purposes of preventing and reducing externalizing problem behaviors. Implications for research and practice are discussed.