The Best Start Study (Kia Tīmata Pai): Parent- and Teacher-Reported Oral Language and Self-Regulation in a Large Diverse Sample of New Zealand Toddlers

Toddlerhood is an important period in the development of oral language and self-regulationskills, with bidirectional influences theorized. Informant-report measures are often used toassess children’s development in the early years. Yet research examining similarities anddifferences in parent and teacher reports of developing oral language and self-regulationskills in toddlers is limited. The present study compared parent and teacher ratings ofchildren’s oral language (gesture, vocabulary, syntax) and self-regulation (effortful control)with a large and ethnically diverse sample of New Zealand toddlers (N = 1481; 688 girls and737 boys). Children ranged in age from 13 to 30 months (M = 20.60, SD = 3.38) and thesample included primarily New Zealand European, Māori, Pacific, and Asian ethnicities,predominantly from middle and high socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds. Parent and teacherratings of oral language were moderately correlated whereas ratings of self-regulation wereweakly correlated (both p < .05). Parents and teachers reported higher oral language skills forgirls and older children, with SES differences present for syntax and for vocabulary (the latterin teacher reports only). Few differences by ethnicity were found for oral language inmultivariable models except for a Māori advantage for gestures (parent report only). Effortfulcontrol skills were higher for girls (parent and teacher reports), for older children and non-European children (parent report only), and for high-SES children (teacher report only). Bothparent and teacher reports of oral language and self-regulation are important forunderstanding children’s development.