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Differential Impact of a Universal Prevention Program on Academic Self-Efficacy: the Moderating Role of Baseline Self-Control

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Abstract

Self-control (SC) plays a critical role in development across the life course; poor SC is a common antecedent of outcomes with high public health and societal burden including lower educational and occupational attainment, problem substance use, depression, obesity, and antisocial behavior. Further, SC is associated with academic self-efficacy and academic success; therefore, optimizing SC in early childhood could have long-term health and educational implications. However, it remains unknown whether the impact of early childhood prevention programs varies by baseline levels of SC, and whether better SC in early childhood leads to better self-efficacy in adolescence. This study leverages a sample of predominately low-/middle-income Black participants (n = 678) who were part of a randomized universal preventive trial in first grade (1993–1995). Teacher-reported SC was measured at baseline. Utilizing a three-step latent transition analysis, transitions between SC classes and academic self-efficacy trajectories were explored. Intervention status was explored as a predictor of the transition. Results suggest that teacher-rated SC in early childhood predicts academic self-efficacy up to 11 years later. Moderation analyses suggest that there are individual differences in prevention program effectiveness by baseline behavioral regulation skills. Implications for school-based universal prevention programming having an impact on low risk children and methods for exploring moderation within a prevention context are discussed.

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Funding

This study was supported by NIH HD093643 to SBJ and RJM and NIH MH57005 and DA11796 to NSI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Room 331, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Rashelle J. Musci, Nicholas S. Ialongo & Sara B. Johnson

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA

    Kristin Voegtline, Radhika Raghunathan & Sara B. Johnson

  3. Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA

    Kristin Voegtline & Sara B. Johnson

Authors
  1. Rashelle J. Musci
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  2. Kristin Voegtline
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  3. Radhika Raghunathan
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  4. Nicholas S. Ialongo
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  5. Sara B. Johnson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rashelle J. Musci.

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All procedures performed in the current study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual. participants included in the study. The study was approved by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health IRB.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Musci, R.J., Voegtline, K., Raghunathan, R. et al. Differential Impact of a Universal Prevention Program on Academic Self-Efficacy: the Moderating Role of Baseline Self-Control. Prev Sci 23, 513–522 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01315-7

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