Social-Emotional Health Trajectories from School Entry to Adolescence: A Population-Level Analysis

Population health research has consistently shown that social and economic factors such as wealth, social status, and education play a significant role in determining life course health outcomes and that these factors have the greatest impact early in life. One existing method of altering these trajectories has been to monitor and identify gaps in children's readiness for school. Often measured as children's language/cognitive, physical, and social emotional preparedness at school entry, school readiness has been shown to predict academic achievement which subsequently affects children's opportunities for adult employment, income, living conditions, and gender equity. To date much of the investigation into school readiness has focused on skills such as reading and writing ability, yet there is a burgeoning area of research that suggests social-emotional health may be a better predictor of future academic success than even previous academic achievement. Identifying population differences in early social-emotional health may be fundamental to understanding how gaps in children's early development persist and even become exacerbated into adolescence and adulthood. The proposed study follows a cohort of children from school entry to early adolescence and poses the following questions: Does early social-emotional health (i.e., social competence and emotional maturity) predict children's later health and achievement outcomes differently depending on children's gender, socioeconomic status, or English-as-a-Second-Language status? And can specific developmental assets in children's early environments (e.g., supportive relationships with adults and peers, proper nutrition and sleep) mediate these trajectories? The findings have potential to inform policies and identify intervention opportunities to improve children's life chances across a population.