Relations between self-regulation and early writing: Domain specific or task dependent?

Abstract Research has established that self-regulation plays an important role in early academic skills such as math and reading, but has focused less on relations with other early skill domains such as writing. The purpose of the present study was to extend that line of research by assessing the relation between self-regulation and early writing. Participants for Study 1 included 161 preschool and 139 kindergarten children. Participants for Study 2 included 274 kindergarten children. Participants in both studies were assessed using a direct measure of self-regulation (Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task; Cameron Ponitz et al., 2009 ) and a variety of writing measures. Results indicated that self-regulation was significantly and positively related to aspects of early writing; however, there are grade differences in the aspects of writing to which it relates. Most importantly, the pattern of results indicated that the relation between self-regulation and early writing is dependent on the specific type of task and the nature of the task used to measure a given skill. This finding has important implications not only for examining the role of self-regulation and writing, but also for other academic skills.