Self-Regulation and Academic Learning in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Links to School Engagement and Levels of Autism Characteristics

Yanru Chen & Laudan B. Jahromi

Children with autism spectrum disorder often demonstrate self-regulation challenges and academic difficulties. Although self-regulation has been well documented as an important factor for academic achievement in neurotypical children, little is known about how it is related to academic learning in autistic children, especially during preschool, a critical developmental period for both emergent academic skills and self-regulatory abilities. It is also unclear whether school engagement or autism characteristics influence the relation between self-regulation and academic learning in autistic children during preschool. Thirty-two autistic preschoolers participated in this study. Direct measures and parent reports were used to measure three dimensions of self-regulation, including executive function, effortful control, and emotion regulation. Classroom-based data from multiple academic programs were used to reflect their average rates of achieving new literacy and mathematics learning goals. Teachers reported the participants’ levels of school engagement, and their autism characteristics were measured directly. Emotion regulation was significantly linked to the rate of meeting literacy learning goals in autistic preschoolers, whereas multiple executive function skills, including inhibitory and attentional control and working memory, were associated with their mathematics learning rate. Emotion regulation demonstrated a stronger association with literacy learning when autistic children were more engaged in classroom activities. Levels of autism characteristics did not mediate or moderate the association between self-regulation and academic learning. Future interventions and teaching should consider fostering self-regulation and facilitating school engagement for autistic preschoolers besides targeting their learning performance on specific academic content to promote their current and future academic success.

患有自闭症谱系障碍的儿童常常表现出自我调节方面的挑战和学业困难。尽管自我调节作为神经畸形儿童学业成绩的重要因素已被充分证明，但人们对自闭症儿童的自我调节与学业学习之间的关系却知之甚少，尤其是在学龄前阶段，因为学龄前阶段是学习技能和自我调节能力发展的关键时期。学校参与或自闭症特征是否会影响学龄前自闭症儿童自我调节与学业学习之间的关系，目前也尚不清楚。32 名学龄前自闭症儿童参与了本研究。研究采用直接测量法和家长报告来测量自我调节的三个维度，包括执行功能、努力控制和情绪调节。来自多个学术项目的课堂数据被用来反映他们实现新的识字和数学学习目标的平均比率。教师报告了参与者的学校参与程度，并直接测量了他们的自闭症特征。情绪调节与自闭症学龄前儿童达到识字学习目标的比率有明显联系，而多种执行功能技能（包括抑制和注意力控制以及工作记忆）则与他们的数学学习比率有关。当自闭症儿童更多地参与课堂活动时，情绪调节与识字学习的关系更为密切。自闭症特征的水平并不能调节或缓和自我调节与学业学习之间的关系。未来的干预和教学除了针对自闭症学龄前儿童在特定学业内容上的学习表现外，还应考虑培养他们的自我调节能力和促进他们参与学校活动，以促进他们当前和未来的学业成功。