TY - JOUR A1 - Warner, Greta J. A1 - Lensing, Johanna Nele A1 - Fay, Doris T1 - Personal initiative BT - Developmental predictors and positive outcomes from childhood to early adolescence JF - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology N2 - Although the effects of personal initiative (PI) on adults' performance and other favorable outcomes are well documented, research has only recently begun to study PI in childhood. This study aimed at examining the development of PI, its predictors, and its developmental effects from childhood to early adolescence. A total of 1,593 German children participated in a longitudinal study starting at Grades 2 to 4, with a second measurement wave two years later. Latent change score analyses revealed that 1) children differed significantly in their change scores of PI, that 2) executive functions and positive parenting predicted change scores in PI, and that 3) high initial levels and change scores in PI reduced the development of internalizing and externalizing problems and supported the development of prosocial behavior and academic competencies. These findings endorse the plasticity of PI and shed light on the active part of children in promoting their own development. KW - Personal initiative KW - Executive functions KW - Positive parenting KW - Positive development KW - Adjustment KW - Self-regulation Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2017.06.004 SN - 0193-3973 SN - 1873-7900 VL - 52 SP - 114 EP - 125 PB - Elsevier CY - New York ER - TY - THES A1 - Warner, Greta J. T1 - Personal initiative in childhood and early adolescence BT - development, predictors, and implications for reading development and other academic and socio-emotional outcomes Y1 - 2018 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meixner, Johannes M. A1 - Warner, Greta J. A1 - Lensing, Johanna Nele A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich A1 - Elsner, Birgit T1 - The relation between executive functions and reading comprehension in primary-school students BT - a cross-lagged-panel analysis JF - Early Childhood Research Quarterly N2 - Higher-order cognitive skills are necessary prerequisites for reading and understanding words, sentences and texts. In particular, research on executive functions in the cognitive domain has shown that good executive functioning in children is positively related to reading comprehension skills and that deficits in executive functioning are related to difficulties with reading comprehension. However, developmental research on literacy and self-regulation in the early school years suggests that the relation between higher-order cognitive skills and reading might not be unidirectional, but mutually interdependent in nature. Therefore, the present longitudinal study explored the bidirectional relations between executive functions and reading comprehension during primary school across a 1-year period. At two time points (T1, T2), we assessed reading comprehension at the word, sentence, and text levels as well as three components of executive functioning, that is, updating, inhibition, and attention shifting. The sample consisted of three sequential cohorts of German primary school students (N = 1657) starting in first, second, and third grade respectively (aged 6-11 years at T1). Using a latent cross-lagged-panel design, we found bidirectional longitudinal relations between executive functions and reading comprehension for second and third graders. However, for first graders, only the path from executive functioning at T1 to reading comprehension at T2 attained significance. Succeeding analyses revealed updating as the crucial component of the effect from executive functioning on later reading comprehension, whereas text reading comprehension was most predictive of later executive functioning. The potential processes underlying the observed bidirectional relations are discussed with respect to developmental changes in reading comprehension across the primary years. KW - Reading Comprehension KW - Executive Functions KW - Longitudinal Study KW - Latent Variable Analysis KW - Cross-Lagged-Panel Design KW - Bidirectional Relations Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.04.010 SN - 0885-2006 SN - 1873-7706 VL - 46 SP - 62 EP - 74 PB - Elsevier CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Warner, Greta J. A1 - Fay, Doris A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich A1 - Stutz, Franziska A1 - Wollny, Anna T1 - Being proactive when reading: Academic personal initiative as a predictor of word comprehension development JF - Learning and individual differences N2 - Academic personal initiative (API) has rarely been studied with regard to literacy development. The purpose of this longitudinal study was therefore to examine the unique effects of API on the development of word comprehension as an indicator of word reading. To this end, the effects of previous word comprehension, intrinsic reading motivation, and basic cognitive ability (i.e., processing speed) were controlled for. A total of 1,515 German students participated in a longitudinal assessment starting in Grades 1 to 3, with a second point of measurement nine months later. Latent change score analyses revealed positive associations between API and gains in word comprehension, both in the total sample and at all grade levels. These relations were robust against the effects of previous word comprehension and intrinsic reading motivation. The findings suggest that children play an active role in their own reading development. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Personal initiative KW - Reading motivation KW - Processing speed KW - Word reading KW - Reading development Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2017.03.012 SN - 1041-6080 SN - 1873-3425 VL - 55 SP - 130 EP - 140 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -