Trajectories of Anxious Withdrawal in Early Childhood

The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental trajectory of anxious withdrawal in a group of 3-year old children in transition to kindergarten. This study also examined the role of high quality classroom environments for children, and the role of multiple risk factors for parents on development of children's anxious withdrawal. The current sample consisted of 1938 3-year old children (49% female) followed across four analyses with multilevel modelling (MLM) were employed to explore the developmental trajectory of anxious withdrawal, and associations between classroom quality and socioeconomic risk factors for parents on anxious withdrawn behavior in children. Findings indicated that anxious withdrawn behavior decreased over time when children were in Head Start, and then increased after children transitioned to kindergarten. The effects of either classroom quality or socioeconomic risk factors for parents were not significant. Examination of potential gender effects indicated that teachers' ratings of boys' anxious withdrawal were higher at the beginning of Head Start compared to levels reported for girls. Results highlighted the need for assessments of the possible mediating mechanisms between socioeconomic risk factors for parents, quality of child care classrooms, and children's anxious withdrawn behavior. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS So, one day back in 2013, after attending yet another SRCD conference, I had this idea about a topic for my Dissertation – which was beginning of a long journey of hard work that is documented here. First, I would like to thank Dr. Eric Buhs, my advisor, and Dr. Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, my co-adviser for their continued support, encouragement, and inspiration. I also want to thank Dr. Lesa Hoffman for constantly challenging me in her advanced classes on multilevel modeling, and for being such a great teacher! Even though it hurt really bad doing all the assignments for Lesa's classes, at the end it paid back when I had the confidence for undertaking my dissertation project. In addition, I want to thank Dr. Jim Bovaird for taking time and mentoring me through the dissertation analyses, and for encouraging my curiosity and critical thinking during our discussions. Also, to Dr. Maria de Guzman, thank you for giving your time and serving on my dissertation committee. At last, I want to thank Dr. Amnon Rapoport, my Fulbright mentor, for revealing the research potential in me long before I saw it, and for supporting me in my decision to apply for a PhD program in the U.S. Special thanks to …