SELF-REGULATION, EMOTION EXPRESSION & CLASSROOM ...

environments, which may be further explained by mechanisms such as self-regulation
(McLoyd, 1998; Miller et al., 2006; Raver, 2004). Although there is some consensus that
these findings are a problem that needs to be addressed, researchers still know little
about how self-regulation predicts school readiness and low achievement in these
children (Howse, Lange, Farran, & Boyles, 2003).
For these low income children, whose home, neighborhood, and school
environments may expose them to higher levels of stress (McLoyd, 1998; Raver, 2004);
self-regulation skills may play a significant role in their social and classroom success. For
example, self-regulatory ability has been found to be a key factor in distinguishing
resilient from non-resilient children from low income families (Buckner, Mezzacappa, &
Beardslee, 2003). Additionally, Kupersmidt, Bryant and Willoughby (2000), among
others, have found that exposure to the risks associated with poverty are directly
associated with increased risk for emotion dysregulation and diminished social skills.
Blair and Razza (2007) also found a strong link that suggests tasks requiring inhibitory
control of attention significantly predict preschool children’s numeracy skills after
controlling for IQ for children from low income families.
In addition to relations with self-regulation, previous research has found that
poverty is predictive of a variety of cognitive, social and emotional outcomes that need
to be considered. For example, poverty has shown to be predictive of lower cognitive
assessment scores, higher rates of externalizing and internalizing problems, as well as
increased incidence of physical aggression (Raver, 2004). Howse and colleagues (2003)
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