Observed Peer Competence Moderates Links between Children's Self-Regulation Skills and Academic Performance

The current study focuses on the relations between observed measures of children's self-regulation and academic achievement, as well as the extent to which observations of children's peer competence in preschool moderates these links. Data were drawn from 102 students (male = 48; M _age = 4.82 years, SD _age = 0.46 years) enrolled in pre-kindergarten classrooms. A series of linear path models was used to test study hypotheses, and the nature of significant interactions was elucidated by examining simple slopes and regions of significance. Children's self-regulation, but not peer competence, significantly predicted both reading and math performance assessed using the Woodcock Johnson III, β = .43, p < .001 and β = .39, p < .001, respectively. Tests of moderation effects revealed that the association between children's poor self-regulation and poor math performance, but not reading performance, β = -.28, p = .022 and β = -.11, p = .23, was negated for children with average to high peer competence. These results demonstrate the protective quality of peer competence for academic performance using observational methods collected in preschools.