Linking preschool language and sustained attention with adolescent achievement through classroom self-reliance

•Classroom self-reliance was examined as a mediator of preschool language and sustained attention and adolescent achievement.•Preschool language and sustained attention abilities predicted later classroom self-reliance.•Classroom self-reliance predicted math, but not reading outcomes in adolescence.•Classroom self-reliance mediated between early sustained attention and adolescent achievement.

This study examined self-reliant classroom behaviors during middle childhood as a mechanism through which early language and sustained attention become associated with academic achievement in adolescence. Participants were enrolled in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1364). Path analyses revealed that preschool language and sustained attention predicted self-reliant classroom behaviors during middle childhood and that self-reliant classroom behaviors predicted changes in math achievement in adolescence. Self-reliant classroom behaviors mediated the relations of preschool sustained attention and linguistic ability with adolescent math achievement, but not reading achievement. These findings extend research highlighting the importance of self-reliant classroom behaviors for children's academic outcomes.