Children's effortful control and academic competence: Mediation through school liking

We examined the relations among children's effortful control, school liking, and academic competence with a sample of 240 7- to 12-year-old children. Parents and children reported on effortful control, and teachers and children assessed school liking. Children, parents, and teachers reported on children's academic competence. Significant positive correlations existed between children's effortful control, school liking, and academic competence. Consistent with predictions, and while controlling for the effects of parents' education and family income, school liking mediated the relation between effortful control and academic competence. Implications include a focus on proximal processes such as enhancing school liking and encouraging social relationships when designing interventions to promote academic competence.