Poor attention in kindergarten predicts lower high school test scores, UC Davis resear...( (SACRAMENTO Calif.) As thousands of...),Health
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) As thousands of students nationwide prepare to leave high school, a UC Davis study appearing online today in the June issue of the medical journal Pediatrics shows a clear link between attention problems early in school as early as kindergarten and lower high school test scores.
"In our study, a child's inability to pay attention when they start school had the strongest negative effect on how they performed at the end of high school regardless of their IQ (intelligence quotient)," said lead study author Joshua Breslau, an assistant professor of internal medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine and a researcher with the UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities.
He said that addressing attention problems early in life could keep some children from entering "a downward spiral of failure."
The study, "The Impact of Childhood Behavior Problems on Academic Achievement in High School," analyzes data on approximately 700 children who were followed from kindergarten (ages 5 through 6) through the end of high school (ages 17 through 18). It examines the relationship between aggressive, inattentive and depressive behaviors and children's later performance on standardized high school achievement tests.
The researchers found that inattentiveness in kindergarten was the only behavior that consistently predicted lower scores on reading and math achievement tests administered more than a decade later.
"Our study shows that early attention problems predict poor performance later in math and reading," Breslau said.
The study was possible because of the availability of data collected more than 20 years ago in Detroit by the lead study author's mother, Naomi Breslau, who was then researching the long-term effects of low birth weight .
For her 1983 research, Naomi Breslau conducted a random sample of 1,095 diverse children, with 823 participating in an initial assessment of IQ
'/>"/>
| Contact: Phyllis Brown phyllis.brown@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu 916-734-9023 University of California - Davis - Health System Source:Eurekalert |
Related medicine news :
1. Excessive TV Spurs Attention Trouble in Kids
2. Selective attention increases both gain and feature selectivity of the human auditory cortex
3. CDC Study Links Thimerosal in Vaccines to Motor/Phonic Tics and Deficits in Attention, Behavior Control, Verbal IQ
4. October is Liver Awareness Month: The American Liver Foundation Urges All Americans to Pay Attention to Their Liver Every Day of the Year
5. Adult-Care.Org, After Its Initial Launch on August 28, 2007, in October 2007 Captures Attention of One of the Fastest Growing NASDAQ Companies, McCormick & Schmicks Seafood Restaurants in Marketing Partnership
6. Major U.S. Healthcare Providers Use MindFit Software to Help Boomers and Seniors Build Memory, Attention Focus and More
7. Attention Last-Minute Shoppers: Flu Shots Still Available
8. Chronic Coughs Need a Doctors Attention
9. San Francisco City Hall Turns Pink, Draws Attention to Disparities in Breast Cancer Screening, Treatment
10. A New Book on Sexual Medicine Calls Attention to The Couple and Presents State-of-the Art Treatments for Sexual Dysfunction
11. Attention: Extra-hepatic manifestation of hepatitis C virus infection
| Copyright © 2003-2009 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |