Delayed gratification predicts behavioral and academic outcomes

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Delay-of-Gratification (DoG) choice paradigm in Singapore, a multicultural Asian society. Data were collected over two waves from a nationally representative sample of 2,956 Singaporean young children, a subset of the participants from the Singapore Longitudinal Early Development Study (SG-LEADS). DoG, working memory, and parent-rated child self-control were measured during the preschool years (ages 3–6) in Wave 1. Academic achievement and parent-rated child behavior problems were measured approximately two years later in Wave 2. Results evidenced sound psychometric properties of the multi-trial actual choice task as a measure of DoG with Singaporean young children, indicated by (1) excellent internal reliability, (2) development of DoG as a function of age, gender, and parental education, (3) variations in children's choices by the quantity of the delayed reward, (4) convergent validity with concurrently measured working memory and self-control, and (5) predictive validity with more advanced reading and mathematical skills as well as fewer externalizing and internalizing problems, indirectly through working memory and self-control

Delay of gratification · Developmental psychology · Gratification · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues · Early Childhood Education and Development · Psychology · Social Psychology

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