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Potentially Traumatic Events, Socioemotional and Adaptive Functioning: Associations with Self-Regulatory Skills in a Community Sample of Primarily Black and Latinx 3-5-year-olds

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Abstract

Early childhood is a heightened risk period for exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and a critical period for the development of foundational self-regulatory competencies that have potential cascading effects on future socioemotional functioning. This cross-sectional study examined associations between PTE exposure and socioemotional and adaptive functioning, and self-regulatory skills, in a community-based sample of 280 primarily Black and Latinx 3–5-year-olds. Results supported direct relations between PTE exposure and socioemotional and adaptive functioning. Attentional regulation was associated with PTEs and internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and adaptive behaviors. There was also a significant association of emotional regulation on the relationship between PTEs and internalizing and externalizing behaviors, but not adaptive functioning. Findings have implications for early intervention and educational and public policy, including the importance of scaffolding the development of self-regulatory skills among preschoolers with high PTE exposure.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all our partners at Chicago Public Schools, as well as the teachers, caregivers, and children of the Child Parent Centers.

Funding

This manuscript was based on work supported in part by grants awarded from Northwestern University, the Paul Angell Foundation, and an anonymous donor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Hayley J. Goldenthal

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Hayley J. Goldenthal

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

    Karen Gouze, Tali Raviv & Colleen Cicchetti

  4. Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Karen Gouze, Tali Raviv, Carmen Holley & Colleen Cicchetti

  5. School of Education and Human Development, Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Jaclyn Russo

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  1. Hayley J. Goldenthal
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  4. Tali Raviv
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Hayley Goldenthal, Karen Gouze, and Carmen Holley. Data analysis was performed by Hayley Goldenthal and Jaclyn Russo. Initial draft of manuscript was prepared by Hayley Goldenthal with the support of all authors. All authors reviewed, edited, and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hayley J. Goldenthal.

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This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the authors’ institutions and by the Research Review Board of the school district.

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Goldenthal, H.J., Gouze, K., Russo, J. et al. Potentially Traumatic Events, Socioemotional and Adaptive Functioning: Associations with Self-Regulatory Skills in a Community Sample of Primarily Black and Latinx 3-5-year-olds. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-023-01595-w

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