Ren, Et Al (2021)

Journal of School Psychology 86 (2021) 100–119
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of School Psychology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jschpsyc
Distinct patterns of organized activity participation and their

associations with school readiness among Chinese preschoolers
Lixin Ren a, b, *, Xin Tong c, Weiman Xu a, Zhongling Wu d, **, Xinyu Zhou a,
Bi Ying Hu e
a
Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, China
b
ECNU Branch, Collaborative Innovation Center for Assessment towards Basic Education Quality, China
c
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, USA
d
Faculty of Education, Shandong Normal University, China
e
Faculty of Education, University of Macau, China
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Action Editor: Daniel Hajovsky Organized extracurricular activities (EAs) constitute an important part of many young children’s
lives. However, the role of EAs in children’s development during early childhood is poorly un
Keywords: derstood. The current study examined the associations between EA participation and a range of
Extracurricular activities school readiness outcomes in a sample of 345 urban Chinese preschoolers. Using three waves of
School readiness
data collected on EA participation and applying growth mixture modeling, we discovered two
Growth mixture modeling
distinct trajectory classes with respect to the breadth of EA participation as well as two classes for
Breadth of participation
Intensity of participation EA attendance intensity. With a series of covariates controlled for, children’s greater initial levels
Chinese children of or rates of increase in EA breadth were related to better early math skills. Greater probabilities
of belonging to the higher-intensity class were also associated with better early math skills in
children. However, EA participation did not predict other aspects of children’s school readiness,
including Chinese reading, receptive vocabulary, expressive language, social skills, and problem
behaviors. This study extends existing EA literature, which has primarily focused on school-aged
populations in Western contexts, by demonstrating substantial individual variations in Chinese
preschoolers’ trajectories of EA participation. Our findings suggest that EAs seem to have little
unique contribution to children’s school readiness except for early math skills.
1. Introduction
School readiness describes a set of skills and competencies (e.g., cognitive, language, and social-emotional skills) that young
children are expected to acquire upon entry into formal schooling (National Education Goals Panel, 1995). Children’s readiness for
school plays a critical role in their later achievement (Duncan et al., 2007). Much research has been done to investigate factors that
may contribute to children’s school readiness. In addition to family and school, organized extracurricular activities (EAs) have
emerged as another crucial setting that many young children regularly engage in (Vincent & Ball, 2007). In China, EA participation is
prevalent among preschool-aged children (Ren et al., 2020). Preparing children for the transition to primary school has been identified
* Correspondence to: L. Ren, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Tian Jia Bing Building Room 501, Shanghai 200062, China.
** Co-correspondence to: Z. Wu, 88 East Wenhua Road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong province 250014, China.
E-mail addresses: lixin.ren@huskers.unl.edu (L. Ren), zhonglingwu@126.com (Z. Wu).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2021.03.007
Received 4 March 2020; Received in revised form 22 January 2021; Accepted 26 March 2021
Available online 6 May 2021
0022-4405/© 2021 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
L. Ren et al. Journal of School Psychology 86 (2021) 100–119
as one of the major motives for Chinese parents to enroll preschoolers in EAs (Lau & Cheng, 2016). However, there is little research
attending to the role of EA participation in school readiness. Public opinion regarding the benefits of EA participation is divided in
China, with some people believing that EAs can promote both cognitive and noncognitive skills in children, whereas others are
concerned about the added pressure caused by EA participation and that children’s psychological wellbeing may be compromised as a
result (Ren et al., 2020). Amidst these conflicting views, there exists little empirical evidence that educators and parents can refer to
when grappling with issues related to EAs. In this study, we drew on longitudinal data to explore distinct trajectories of EA partici
pation and their associations with school readiness among Chinese preschoolers.
1.1. Framing EAs within the Chinese context
Organized EAs refer to a range of activities characterized by regular participation schedules, adult guidance or supervision, rule-
guided engagement, and an emphasis on skill building (Mahoney et al., 2005). In Western contexts, EA research has included both
school-based EAs and organized activities offered by community organizations, religious bodies, or commercial providers. In the
United States, a number of EAs accessible to children and adolescents are free of charge or require low fees (Mahoney et al., 2005).
However, in China, EAs are predominantly provided by commercial institutions outside of school, and individual families bear the high
cost of EAs.
EA participation rates are notably high among urban Chinese preschoolers (e.g., 77.2% in Lau & Cheng, 2016; 84% in Ren et al.,
2020; 90.4% in Ren & Zhang, 2020; 65.6% in Yi, 2013), suggesting a significant role of EAs in young Chinese children’s daily lives.
Similar to Western societies, EA participation is particularly common among children from middle-class families (Karsten, 2015;
Lareau, 2011). However, EAs participated in by young Western children seem to be primarily focused on art and sports (Vincent & Ball,
2007), whereas China’s EA market offers a wider range of activities. Common EAs for preschool-aged children include various types of
art activities (e.g., drawing, dancing, music lessons), language programs (e.g., English), physical and athletic activities (e.g., roller
skating, soccer, taekwondo), and academic-oriented classes (e.g., math, storytelling, STEM; Lau & Cheng, 2016; Ren et al., 2020).
Unlike the Chinese preschool curriculum, which is integrative across multiple developmental domains, EAs often address certain
subject areas and cultivate specific knowledge and skills. In addition, current Chinese preschool reforms promote a curriculum that is
flexible and responsive to children’s interests and individual differences (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China,
2012). In contrast, Chinese EAs often use a standard curriculum with predetermined specific learning objectives, leaving limited space
for constructive adaptation of the EA curriculum. EAs in China are often conducted in small groups of 5–15 children of similar ages,
and some are carried out one-on-one. An EA typically takes place in one or two weekly sessions, with each lasting 1–2 h.
1.2. EA participation: a multidimensional concept
As research on EAs is relatively recent worldwide, the field faces many challenges including the conceptualization and oper
ationalization of EA participation (Bohnert et al., 2010). EA participation was often treated as a dichotomous variable in earlier
studies, yet this approach overlooked the varying degrees of involvement in EAs. Bohnert et al. (2010) proposed four dimensions —
breadth, intensity, duration, and engagement — each of which captures a unique aspect of overall EA participation. Breadth describes
the diversity of a child’s EA participation profile and is commonly assessed using the total number of different activity contexts in
which the child is involved (i.e., EAs are grouped by predetermined categories and the number of categories is summed). Intensity
refers to the extent of participation; it is often indexed using the mean frequency or number of hours of EA participation per week.
Duration, defined as the length of involvement over time, is typically measured as the number of years or months that a child has been
involved in EAs. Engagement captures one’s behavioral, emotional, and cognitive investments in EAs, such as attention, interest,
enjoyment, and effort.
Among the four dimensions, breadth and intensity are the most well-studied in EA literature, and they appear to be the facets of EA
participation that are most closely linked to individual development (Bohnert et al., 2010). For instance, in studies with school-aged
children and youth, greater breadth of EA participation was associated with better math and reading achievement (Covay & Carbo
naro, 2010; Dumais, 2006), grades, sense of school belonging (Fredricks & Eccles, 2006), academic orientation (Denault & Poulin,
2009; Rose-Krasnor et al., 2006), and psychological adjustment (e.g., self-concept, self-esteem, reduced problem behaviors; Blomfield
& Barber, 2009; Fredricks & Eccles, 2006, 2010; Rose-Krasnor et al., 2006). Attendance intensity was also positively related to various
outcomes, such as academic achievement and aspiration (Cooper et al., 1999; Darling, 2005), educational attainment (Gardner et al.,
2008,), school engagement (Piché et al., 2015), and psychosocial functioning (Denault & Déry, 2015; Fauth et al., 2007; Rose-Krasnor
et al., 2006).
Compared to breadth and intensity, the duration and engagement dimensions have been less studied. Some researchers provided
initial evidence for the benefits of continuous participation and high engagement among school-aged populations (e.g., Bohnert et al.,
2010; Darling et al., 2005; Gardner et al., 2008), whereas others failed to establish a link between the duration of participation or
engagement in EAs and developmental outcomes among younger children (e.g., Chen, 2015; Ren et al., 2020). Ren et al. (2020) even
found a negative effect of long duration coupled with high attendance intensity in EAs on preschoolers’ language development. Mixed
findings arise partly due to the lack of consensus on how to best measure duration and engagement (Bohnert et al., 2010). In studies of
young children, assessing engagement can be particularly challenging, because young children cannot provide valid self-reports and
adult reports may not accurately and adequately capture children’s personal experiences in EAs.
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1.3. The relationship between EA participation and school readiness
Although preparing young children for transitioning to primary school is an important reason for Chinese parents to enroll young
children in EAs (Lau & Cheng, 2016; Xie & Li, 2018), the relationship between EA participation and school readiness is understudied.
EAs share many similarities to classroom settings, such as the emphasis on skill mastery and achievement, the critical role of adult
guidance, and the value of social relationships (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010). Children’s access as well as dosage of exposure to early
education programs matter in their school readiness development (Magnuson et al., 2004). For instance, children attending full-day
preschool were found to outperform those who attended half-day preschool or did not attend preschool with regard to school readiness
(Reynolds et al., 2014; Valenti & Tracey, 2009). Therefore, we suspect that additional learning opportunities offered by EAs may
promote children’s school readiness skills to some extent.
Several studies have demonstrated a positive linkage between EA participation during the early childhood years and later academic
and social-emotional outcomes in elementary school (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010; Dumais, 2006; Piché et al., 2015). Specific to
preschool-aged children, EA participation among this age group has received relatively little scholarly attention. The few existing
studies all took place in the Chinese context, reflecting researchers’ growing interest in China’s burgeoning EA market and its im
plications for young children’s development. Chiu and Lau (2018) examined Hong Kong preschoolers (typically aged five to six years
old) and found that participation in a larger number of EAs was related to better teacher-reported school readiness and lower levels of
anxiety and withdrawal. Ren and Zhang (2020) showed that the breadth and intensity of EA participation in the first preschool year
predicted Hong Kong preschoolers’ later reading skills, and greater intensity was also associated with more rapid growth in reading
skills between the first and third preschool year. Ren et al. (2020) investigated a group of preschoolers aged three to five years from
mainland China and found that greater EA breadth was related to better cognitive performance after controlling for prior development.
These recent studies have provided support for the potential benefits of EA involvement for preschoolers’ school readiness.
However, nonsignificant relationships between EA involvement and multiple social-emotional outcomes have also been observed
in Chinese preschoolers (e.g., classroom engagement in Chen, 2015; social competence, anger-aggression, and peer acceptance in Chiu
& Lau, 2018; and social skills in Ren & Zhang, 2020). Ren et al. (2020) also found overscheduling effects of EA participation on
preschoolers’ social-emotional wellbeing and language development, both of which are important aspects of school readiness. These
findings caution us regarding the possible negative impact of early EA participation on some aspects of school readiness. Many ed
ucators emphasize the importance of reserving time for young children to engage in unstructured activities (e.g., free play) as they
provide opportunities to acquire and practice physical, cognitive, and social-emotional skills (Gray, 2016). Almost without exception,
urban Chinese children attend full-day preschool between 8:00 am and 4:00 or 5:00 pm. Adding EAs, which are essentially structured
activities, to a preschooler’s daily schedule may further reduce time for free play and jeopardize cognitive and social-emotional
functioning. Given the mixed findings, more research is needed to address the controversy surrounding the role of EAs in child
school readiness development. Furthermore, as development is a process that unfolds over time (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), it is critical to
examine how children’s longitudinal patterns of EA involvement, which capture their cumulative experiences with EAs, are related to
school readiness. Yet, to our knowledge, existing EA research has only focused on preschoolers by examining EA participation cross-
sectionally.
1.4. Longitudinal patterns of EA participation
The developmental course of EA involvement can be assumed to be either homogeneous or heterogeneous (Denault & Poulin,
2019). In the former case, children are hypothesized to follow similar EA participation trajectories, although individual variability may
exist. Using a growth curve modeling approach, several studies found that activity participation tended to decrease across the middle
and high school years, following either a linear trend or a quadratic trajectory with a slight increase followed by a decline (Dawes et al.,
2015; Denault & Poulin, 2009; Pedersen, 2005).
In the latter scenario, children are expected to follow distinct developmental courses of EA participation. Advanced statistical
approaches, such as growth mixture modeling (GMM), have been used to explore possible patterns of participation trajectories. For
example, Eisman et al. (2016) followed a group of at-risk adolescents between Grades 9–12 in the United States and found three unique
trajectories using GMM: low decreasing, moderate consistent, and moderate increasing. In a sample of Canadian adolescents, using
latent class growth analysis (LCGA), a special type of GMM, Denault and Poulin (2019) identified four subgroups, each of which
followed a different trajectory of EA intensity, including high and increasing, high and decreasing, mean and stable, and low and
decreasing. Adolescents with moderate and high levels of EA involvement had fewer externalizing problems, more years of education,
and more positive perceptions of physical health at age 21 years relative to those following the low involvement trajectory, but the
subgroups did not differ in internalizing behaviors or civic engagement.
We located two studies that explored distinct trajectories of EA participation among younger children. Using 14 waves of data
collected between kindergarten and Grade 5 in the United States, Mata and van Dulmen (2012) conducted LCGA and discovered five
trajectories of EA intensity (i.e., increasing high, increasing moderate, decreasing low, decreasing moderate, stable low). In addition,
Aumètre and Poulin (2016) reported four profiles of EA breadth from kindergarten to Grade 4 among a group of Canadian children (i.
e., high, increasing, decreasing, no participation). After controlling for multiple covariates, the high participation subgroup showed
fewer internalizing problems than the no participation and decreasing participation subgroups, but no differences in externalizing
problems or academic skills were observed (Aumètre & Poulin, 2018).
The above-mentioned findings indicated the existence of heterogeneous trajectories of EA participation. From a theoretical
perspective, a number of personal (e.g., sex), familial (e.g., family socioeconomic background), and societal (e.g., local educational
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systems) factors are likely to influence one’s EA involvement, which could affect EA participation in various ways and lead to diverse
trends of EA participation (Denault & Poulin, 2019). The different numbers of trajectory patterns and inconsistency in their associ
ations with child outcomes in the literature could have occurred because of differences in age groups, sample diversity, and the in
struments used to measure EA participation and child outcomes. Early childhood is a time of exploration during which young children
encounter and actively engage in interactions with new settings outside school and family (Shaffer & Kipp, 2013). Substantial indi
vidual variations in EA involvement may occur among preschool-aged children because similar to other issues focused on children’s
development, parents may constantly negotiate among diverse child, family, and societal factors to form practices regarding issues
such as how much EA involvement is appropriate for their children. In this sense, EA involvement can be variable and dynamic for
individual families. Better understanding the developmental trend of EA participation is important given that proximal processes
within the EA context, such as the changing profile of participation, can alter the developmental benefits of activity participation
(Denault & Poulin, 2019; Eisman et al., 2016). Hence, investigating distinct trajectories of EA participation during preschool years
could enhance current understanding as to whether and how young children’s involvement in this socialization arena over time may
translate into school readiness gains.
1.5. The current study
The overall aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between the trajectory patterns of EA participation and school
readiness among Chinese preschoolers. Chinese preschools are typically three-year programs for children aged 3 to 6 years. In this
study, we focused on the second half of children’s preschool life, beginning from the fall semester of the second academic year to near
the end of the third academic year. Based on anecdotal observations, many Chinese parents begin to enroll children in EAs during the
second preschool year, possibly partly driven by the pressure of preparing children for the upcoming school transition. We expected an
overall increase in EA participation, but we hypothesized that distinct trajectories might emerge. We focused on the breadth and
intensity of EA participation because these two dimensions are clearly defined and frequently linked to developmental outcomes, and
moreover, existing investigations of EA participation trajectories have been mainly centered on these two dimensions.
Our first objective was to identify heterogeneous trajectories of EA breadth and intensity using GMM, a statistical method that
combines the person-centered and variable-centered approaches. Compared to person-centered approaches, such as latent class and
latent profile analyses that are widely used to identify underlying subgroups within a larger population, GMM has the added advantage
of allowing for individual variations within each identified subgroup. Unlike conventional growth curve modeling approaches that
often estimate a single growth trajectory to approximate an entire population, GMM allows for variations in growth parameters across
unobserved subgroups (Jung & Wickrama, 2008). Therefore, GMM not only helps identify meaningful subgroups but also examines the
mean growth trajectories and individual variations around these mean growth trajectories for each subgroup. Our second objective
was to examine the associations between distinct EA participation trajectories followed by children and their school readiness skills,
including receptive and expressive language, early reading and math skills, and social-emotional functioning. We did not hypothesize a
specific number of distinct trajectories that would emerge given the exploratory nature of the study. However, we expected that there
would be at least two subgroups of EA trajectories and that individual variations would also emerge within each subgroup. We further
hypothesized that these subgroups and individual variations would meaningfully predict children’s school readiness outcomes.
Table 1
Demographic characteristics of the sample (N = 345).
Variables M (SD) %
Child characteristics:
Age (months) at T1 44.37 (3.71)
Sex
Male 47.5%
Female 52.5%
Family characteristics:
Monthly family income (scored from 1 to 6)
1. ≤8000 RMB 5.6%
2. 8001–15,000 RMB 18.4%
3. 15,001–20,000 RMB 17.0%
4. 20,001–50,000 RMB 42.4%
5. 50,001–80,000 RMB 9.6%
6. ≥80,000 RMB 7.0%
Parental education (scored from 1 to 4) Mother Father
1. High school or below 7.9% 6.7%
2. Associate college degree 19.9% 18.4%
3. Bachelor’s degree 58.2% 53.2%
4. Master’s degree or above 14.0% 21.6%
Parental occupation (scored below from 1 to 4) Mother Father
1. Unemployed, non-technical workers, farmers, semi-technical workers, or self-employed small business owners (e.g., construction worker) 19.4% 10.5%
2. Technical workers, semi-professionals, or general clerks (e.g., driver) 38.8% 26.3%
3. Professionals, mid-level management staff, or mid-sized business owners (e.g., doctor, teacher, and professional technician) 39.4% 52.9%
4. High-level management staff or administrators (e.g., general manager) 2.4% 10.2%
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2. Method
2.1. Participants
This study involved three waves of data collected in November 2017 (T1), November 2018 (T2), and May 2019 (T3). In total, 355
parents and their children were recruited from 12 public preschools (i.e., a total of 21 classrooms) in urban Shanghai. The number of
children ranged from 18 to 45 in each school, and from 8 to 30 in each classroom, with an average of 16.43 children per classroom.
Overall, 345 families provided two or three waves of data on EA participation and were included in the analyses. MANOVA showed
that the families excluded from the study did not statistically differ from those who remained in the analyses with regard to child age,
family socioeconomic status (SES), and EA breadth and intensity at T1, F (4, 339) = 0.38, p = .82. Child sex (χ 2 = 0.23, p = .63) and
singleton status (χ 2 = 0.49, p = .48) also did not differ between these two groups. In the final sample (N = 345), children’s ages at T1
ranged from 36 to 54 months (M = 44.37, SD = 3.71). Approximately 52.5% of the children were girls. About 72.2% of the mothers and
74.8% of the fathers received a bachelor’s degree or higher; 80.6% of the mothers and 89.5% of the fathers had a technical, semi-
professional, or professional job; and in 76% of the families, household monthly income exceeded 15,000 RMB (see Table 1).
Although there are no agreed-upon standards to characterize middle-class families in China, having a vocational secondary school
degree or higher and holding a technical or (semi-)professional job have been used as markers to define the middle class (Li & Zhang,
2008; Wu, 2013). Therefore, our sample could be broadly considered as middle- and upper-middle-class in China.
2.2. Procedures
Parental consent, including consent for their children’s participation, was obtained at the beginning of the project. Appendix A
presents all the instruments utilized in this study. Parents reported their children’s EA participation from T1 to T3 and completed
questionnaires on demographic information and parental involvement at T1. An online questionnaire was used at T1; however,
because many parents preferred the paper-and-pencil format, we switched to paper questionnaires at T2 and T3. Printed question
naires were delivered with the help of preschool teachers to participants’ homes in envelopes. Parents were instructed to seal the
envelopes and return them to the teachers upon completion. The researchers then collected the questionnaires. At T1, a one-on-one
child assessment was used to assess children’s baseline cognitive, social-emotional, language, and emergent literacy development.
At T3, several tasks were administered individually to assess children’s school readiness skills, including receptive vocabulary,
expressive language, Chinese reading, and early math skills. Parents reported their children’s social-emotional development. Child
assessments were conducted on two separate days to avoid fatigue. All child assessments were administered by undergraduate and
graduate research assistants majoring in early childhood education or psychology. They learned about and practiced each assessment
thoroughly during a one-day training. Practice assessments were also required before actual data collection. During assessments,
children’s verbal assent was obtained and they were allowed to take breaks or quit at any time. Children received a small token (i.e.,
sticker or eraser) for their participation. We offered parents a small gift (i.e., picture book or notebook) to compensate them for their
time.
2.3. Measures
2.3.1. Children’s participation in EAs (T1, T2, and T3)

At T1, T2, and T3, parents were asked to list each EA in which their children were participating at the time of the study. They also
reported the content of each EA and the number of hours children spent on each EA per week. We classified the content of EAs into the
following seven categories using a coding scheme developed based on previous studies on Chinese preschoolers (Chen, 2015; Ren &
Zhang, 2020): art, English, academic-oriented activities, sports, chess, integrated educational programs, and other EAs (see Appendix
B). Based on Bohnert et al.’s (2010) recommendation, we defined EA breadth as the number of EA contexts that a child was involved in
out of the seven coded categories. Attendance intensity was measured as the total number of hours that a child spent on EAs per week.
For example, if a child participated in four EAs consisting of craft classes (2 h per week), violin lessons (1 h per week), basketball (3 h
per week), and English classes (4 h per week), the breadth score would be three (i.e., art, sports, English) and the intensity score would
be 10, calculated as the sum of hours across all four EAs. Nonparticipating children received a score of zero for both breadth and
intensity.
2.3.2. School readiness (T3): Chinese reading

We used the Chinese Character Recognition Task (Shu et al., 2008) to assess Chinese reading skills. This task includes 150 Chinese
characters and children are instructed to read each character out loud. Previous research on Chinese children showed that this task had
high Cronbach’s α (0.96) and test-retest reliability (0.80), as well as good convergent validity (correlations with Chinese character
dictation and reading fluency were 0.76 and 0.66, respectively) and discriminant validity (correlations with phonological and
morphological skills were comparatively lower; Lei et al., 2011; Pan et al., 2011). The task has been used successfully among Chinese
preschoolers (e.g., Zhang et al., 2019). We counted the total number of characters that each child could read correctly and used the
total raw score in the analyses. Cronbach’s α was 0.98 in the current study.
2.3.3. School readiness (T3): receptive vocabulary

We used the Chinese version of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-R (PPVT-R, Dunn & Dunn, 1981) to assess children’s receptive
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language. The Chinese PPVT-R was adapted and validated by Lu and Liu (1994) for use in Chinese culture. They reported that the test
had good split-half reliability (0.90–0.97), test-retest reliability (0.90), and criterion-related validity (correlations with scores on the
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised [WISC-R]; Wechsler, 1974) was 0.60 for the verbal subtest, 0.44 for the performance
subtest, and 0.61 for the full test, indicating strong psychometric properties. This test includes 125 items. For each item, a child is
presented with a page containing four pictures and asked to point to the picture that corresponds to the word uttered by the tester.
Correct responses receive a score of one, and the raw scores for total correct responses were used in the analyses. In the current study,
Cronbach’s α was 0.95.
2.3.4. Child school readiness (T3): expressive language

We used the Expressive Vocabulary subset of the Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test developed for Chinese culture (REVT;
Huang et al., 2010) to assess children’s expressive language. Huang et al. (2010) reported decent Cronbach’s α’s (0.80–96), test-retest
reliabilities (0.80–0.97), and construct and criterion-related validity for the REVT. The Expressive Vocabulary subset includes 71
items. Four aspects of expressive language were assessed: nomination (e.g., naming an object), classification (e.g., listing things that
are dangerous to do), definition (e.g., describing a word), and reasoning (e.g., answering questions such as, “What do sparrows and
eagles have in common?”). The raw sum scores were used. Cronbach’s α was 0.87 in the current study.
2.3.5. School readiness (T3): early math skills

Three math-related subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement (WJ-IV; Schrank et al., 2014) were used to measure
children’s early math skills: the Applied Problems scale (56 items), Calculation scale (30 items), and Math Facts Fluency scale (160
items). The WJ-IV was translated into Chinese using a translation-back-translation procedure by a bilingual research team in the field
of early childhood education (Li, 2020). Several rounds of pilot testing were conducted to improve the translation quality. Li (2020)
reported high Cronbach’s α for the math-related subtests among Chinese preschoolers (0.92–0.93). The Applied Problems scale and the
Calculation scale have no time limit, whereas the Math Facts Fluency scale requires children to solve as many math fact problems as
possible within 3 min. Each correct response received a score of one, and the total number of correct responses was recorded for each
scale. Because there are no Chinese norms and the three scales contain different numbers of items, we standardized the raw score for
each scale (M = 0, SD = 1) and then averaged the standardized scores of the three scales as an index of child early math skills. In this
study, Cronbach’s α was 0.85 for Applied Problems, 0.88 for Calculation, and 0.97 for Math Facts Fluency.
2.3.6. School readiness (T3): social-emotional development

We used the Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scale (SSIS-RS; Gresham & Elliott, 2008) to measure children’s social-
emotional development. The SSIS-RS includes two subscales that address social skills and behavioral problems. The Social Skills
subscale (46 items) captures a range of positive behaviors (e.g., assertion, cooperation, empathy, and self-control). The Problem
Behavior subscale (33 items) examines negative social behaviors such as bullying, hyperactivity, depression, and social withdrawal.
Parents reported the frequency with which children displayed each described behavior (0 = never; 3 = almost always). The SSIS-RS
was translated into Chinese by bilingual researchers in the fields of early childhood education and developmental psychology, and the
translation and back-translation procedures were utilized (Cheung et al., 2017; Wu et al., 2018). Cheung et al. (2017) organized an
expert panel to examine the content validity of the Chinese-version SSIS-RS. In previous research with Chinese populations, the
Cronbach’s α’s all exceeded 0.88, indicating a good reliability (Cheung et al., 2017; Wu et al., 2018). In this study, Cronbach’s α was
0.95 and 0.93 for the Social Skills and Problem Behavior subscales, respectively. Mean scores were calculated and used in the analyses.
2.3.7. Covariates (T1)

Previous research has shown significant relations between EA participation and a series of child and family characteristics, such as
child sex and family SES (e.g., Eisman et al., 2016; Mata & van Dulmen, 2012; Ren & Zhang, 2020). In the current study, we included
multiple covariates in model estimations to better delineate the unique role of EA participation in children’s school readiness. The
covariates included important socio-demographic variables (e.g., child sex, family SES, child singleton status), parental involvement in
home learning activities, and child baseline development.
2.3.7.1. Child and family demographics. We controlled for the following demographic variables in the analyses: child age at T3, child
sex, child singleton status, family SES, and preschool quality. Child’s sex and singleton status were both dummy coded. Preschool
quality was coded into three categories according to Shanghai’s government standards (i.e., Model, Level 1, Level 2). Model preschools
are those that have reached the highest quality standards, followed by Level 1 preschools and Level 2 preschools, which have the
lowest quality in our sample. As shown in Table 1, monthly family income was coded into six categories, whereas parental education
and occupational status were each coded into four categories. We computed the family SES index by averaging the standardized scores
of monthly family income, paternal educational level, maternal educational level, paternal occupational status, and maternal occu
pational status (Zhang et al., 2019).
2.3.7.2. Parental involvement. At T1, parental involvement in home learning activities was measured using 16 items adapted from the
Head Start Evaluation project (Pai-Samant et al., 2005). Parents reported how often they or other family members engaged the target
child in different learning activities, such as shared reading, engaging in art activities, and playing games related to shapes or spatial
relations (1 = not at all; 4 = every day). The average score across all items was used in the analyses. Good validity was reported in the
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literature (Hindman et al., 2012). Confirmatory factor analyses also showed that the measure had acceptable construct validity in this
study, χ 2(100) = 294.01, p < .001, CFI = 0.90, TLI = 0.89, RMSEA = 0.08, SRMR = 0.05. Cronbach’s α was 0.89 in the current study.
2.3.7.3. Baseline development at T1. Children’s baseline development was assessed using the short-form East Asia Pacific Early Child
Development Scale (EAP-ECDS; Rao et al., 2014). The EAP-ECDS was developed to assess the development of young children in the
East Asia-Pacific regions, including China. An iterative process that included multiple phases was adopted to develop the EAP-ECDS.
Content validity was achieved through expert review of each item. Item analysis was done to examine item discrimination and dif
ficulty. Reliability and validity analyses were carried out to evaluate the psychometric properties of the overall scale. Correlational
analyses were performed to assess the consistency between children’s performance on the EAP-ECDS and parents’ ratings of child
development (see details in Rao et al., 2014, 2019). We used three subscales in this study: Cognitive Development (27 items; e.g.,
addition and subtraction, knowledge in shapes, working memory), Social and Emotional Development (18 items; e.g., etiquette,
emotional recognition, social awareness), and Language and Emergent Literacy (22 items; e.g., emergent reading, writing). Children’s
total scores on each subscale were used in the analyses. In the present study, Cronbach’s α ranged from 0.81 to 0.85 for the three
subscales.
2.4. Data analytic strategies
We investigated the change of EA breadth and attendance intensity over time separately. Analyses were performed via Mplus 8.4
(Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2015) and R statistical package (R Core Team, 2013) in four steps: (a) establish the trajectory patterns of EA
participation, (b) identify distinct trajectory classes of EA participation, (c) examine the relationship between breadth and intensity
trajectories, and (d) examine the association between EA participation trajectory classes and child school readiness. We generally
followed the steps recommended by Grimm et al. (2017).
First, latent growth curve models were utilized to describe the general growth patterns (e.g., linear or nonlinear) of children’s EA
participation. The rates of missing data on EA participation ranged from 1.16% to 6.09% across time. Full information maximum
likelihood estimation and robust standard errors (MLR in Mplus) were used to account for missing data and data nonnormality,
respectively. As EA participation was measured only for three time points, we considered three models for the overall trajectory: a no-
growth model (i.e., an intercept-only model), a linear growth model, and a nonlinear growth model (i.e., a latent basis model). In these
and all subsequent analyses, EA participation at T1 was chosen as the centering point. In the no-growth model, children were assumed
to differ only in their levels of EA participation, and there was no change in EA participation over time. Random intercept that depicted
children’s initial levels of EA participation was included in the model. In the linear growth model, a linear growth in children’s EA
participation was presumed. Children were hypothesized to differ not only in their levels of EA participation but also in their rates of
change in EA participation over time. Two latent variables were created, with “intercept” representing initial breadth or intensity at T1
and “slope” depicting the rates of change in EA breadth or intensity. Because there was a one-year span between T1 and T2 and a six-
month span between T2 and T3, the loadings on “slope” were fixed to be 0, 2, and 3 for T1, T2, and T3 breadth/intensity, respectively.
The latent basis model assumed nonlinear growth, and its only difference from the linear growth model was that the loading of T2
breadth/intensity on “slope” was freely estimated. An acceptable model fit is typically indicated by a nonsignificant obtained model
chi-square value (χ2), the comparative fit index (CFI) and the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) above 0.90, and the root mean square error of
approximation (RMSEA) and the standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) below 0.08 (Brown, 2006). Satorra-Bentler scaled
chi-square difference tests (Satorra & Bentler, 2010) were used to compare the three models. If two models were not significantly
Fig. 1. Representation of unconditional growth mixture model.
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different, the model with fewer parameters would be selected for model parsimony, and otherwise the model with more parameters
would be chosen to better capture the change pattern.
Next, GMM was performed to evaluate whether there were distinct EA participation trajectories. In GMM, the trajectory classes are
determined based on the means and variances of the growth factors (i.e., intercept and slope means and variances), with each class
representing a different growth trajectory. GMM also captures within-class individual variations around these mean growth trajec
tories by estimating the growth factor variances within each class. As previously discussed, some researchers have used LCGA to
examine distinct developmental courses of EA participation (e.g., Denault & Poulin, 2019; Mata & van Dulmen, 2012). LCGA is a
special type of GMM in which individuals assigned to the same class are assumed to follow a homogeneous growth trajectory (i.e., the
variance and covariance estimates for the growth factors within each class are constrained to be zero; Jung & Wickrama, 2008; Ram &
Grimm, 2009).
Within the GMM models (see Fig. 1), we first restricted trajectory shape to the one identified in the latent growth curve models. As
indicated by Montroy et al. (2016), “This is a common practice in the GMM literature when there is not a strong theory regarding shape
of trajectory differences across the population” (p. 1750). We allowed latent intercept and slope parameters (but not function form) to
vary across classes. A series of GMM models with different numbers of classes and different constraints placed upon the growth factor
variances were compared. Maximum likelihood estimation with standard errors that are robust to nonnormality (MLR in Mplus) was
used. Unconditional GMM models with no covariates were estimated. Several model fit criteria were used to select models, including
the Bayesian information criterion (BIC), entropy, and the Lo-Mendell-Rubin likelihood ratio test (LMR-LRT). Although the Akaike
information criterion (AIC) and the sample size adjusted Bayesian information criterion (aBIC) are also occasionally used in model
selection, the BIC was found to perform the best among the information criteria-based indices in GMM (Nylund et al., 2007). The LMR-
LRT compares the fit of the estimated model with k classes against the same model with one less class (k− 1). A p value smaller than
0.05 indicates that the k-class model fits better than the k – 1 model, suggesting that a solution with k classes was preferred. However, if
the two models do not differ significantly, the k – 1 model should be selected for parsimony. In addition, entropy values approaching 1
indicate clear classification of classes (Celeux & Soromenho, 1996). We also considered other factors, including successful conver
gence, no less than 1% of the total sample in a class, and high posterior probabilities (Jung & Wickrama, 2008). The best-fitting GMM
models were preliminarily selected. As stated previously, the trajectory shape was fixed to be the same across classes in the previous
step. However, Grimm et al. (2017) suggested that “class-specific models may differ qualitatively in their pattern of change” (p. 163).
Therefore, we also tested alternative models in which the change patterns were allowed to differ between classes (e.g., one class has a
linear growth trajectory, whereas the other has a nonlinear growth trajectory).
Once the number of classes was determined based on unconditional GMM models, we added covariates to the selected models and
tested the conditional GMM models. Jung and Wickrama (2008) recommended following up unconditional models with conditional
models. If the conditional GMM models resulted in better model fits and clearer classifications of classes than their corresponding
unconditional models, the conditional GMMs were used and reported, because they could more accurately predict each individual’s
Table 2
Descriptive statistics of the study variables.
Mean SD Minimum Maximum Skewness Kurtosis
Child’s age at T3 75.01 3.64 69.00 88.00 0.15 –0.36

Family SES 0.00 0.70 − 1.89 1.56 − 0.52 –0.21
Parental involvement 2.70 0.50 1.00 4.00 0.06 0.17
T1 EA Breadth 1.54 1.10 0.00 5.00 0.27 –0.52
T1 EA Intensity 2.98 2.53 0.00 13.00 0.90 0.87
T2 EA Breadth 2.22 1.20 0.00 5.00 − 0.18 –0.53
T2 EA Intensitya 4.65 3.60 0.00 36.50 2.54 18.03
T3 EA Breadth 2.59 1.15 0.00 5.00 − 0.43 –0.13
T3 EA Intensity 6.44 4.05 0.00 28.00 1.10 2.71
T1 Cognitive development 18.64 4.48 4.00 27.00 − 0.79 0.44
T1 Social-emotional development 13.21 3.52 1.00 18.00 − 0.96 0.75
T1 Language and emergent literacy 14.15 4.48 0.00 22.00 − 0.45 –0.23
T3 Chinese reading 31.30 23.14 0.00 110.00 1.03 0.50
T3 Receptive vocabulary 74.81 16.13 33.00 111.00 − 0.44 –0.19
T3 Expressive language 21.06 1.55 16.00 23.00 − 1.40 1.83
T3 Early math 0.00 0.85 − 3.07 3.77 0.13 2.00
T3 Social skills 89.82 18.03 16.00 138.00 − 0.07 1.08
T3 Problem behaviors 18.67 11.65 0.00 68.00 1.04 1.71
Note. SES = socioeconomic status. EA = extracurricular activity.

a
The Skewness and Kurtosis statistics of T2 intensity were substantially larger compared to T1 and T3 intensity, because there was one extreme case
that reported 36.5 h of EA participation per week. If this case was removed, the Skewness and Kurtosis statistics would be 0.74 and 0.82, respectively.
Based on recommended practices regarding dealing with outlying observations in growth curve modeling (Tong & Zhang, 2017) and the fact that
growth mixture modeling is advantageous in modeling these kinds of cases because a mixture distribution can be used as a means of representing non-
normal distributions (McLachlan & Peel, 2000), we decided to keep this case. Furthermore, we conducted sensitivity analyses and found little impact
of whether to include or exclude this case on the results. This is because a univariate outlier is not necessarily a multivariate outlier and a univariate
outlier is not necessarily an influential observation (Tong & Zhang, 2017). In our data, this univariate outlier did not affect much on the initial level
and the rate of change of this individual and thus had little impact on model estimations.
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class membership and individual intercept and slope (Lubke & Muthén, 2007). Each child’s class membership probabilities and latent
intercept (i.e., individual latent initial level of EA breadth/intensity) and slope (i.e., latent rate of change of EA breadth/intensity) were
estimated based on the final GMM models. They were output for further analyses. In the third step, we examined how children’s
breadth and intensity trajectories were related by conducting correlational analyses using the data output from the GMM models.
Finally, we examined whether children’s distinct trajectories predicted their school readiness outcomes assessed at T3. Using data
output from the final GMM models, we regressed children’s school readiness variables on their predicted individual intercept, slope,
and class membership probabilities to test how individual EA participation trajectories might relate to school readiness. All covariates
were included in the regression models in order to delineate the unique effects of EA participation on children’s school readiness above
and beyond socio-demographic factors and baseline development.
3. Results
The descriptive statistics for and bivariate correlations among study variables are presented in Table 2 and Table 3, respectively.
Breadth and intensity were treated as continuous variables. However, it is worth noting that we also tried to model EA breadth as count
data using the Poisson link function, but the model fits worsened. An inspection of the EA breadth data showed that they followed
normal distributions. Therefore, T1, T2, and T3 EA breadth were treated as continuous variables. T2 intensity was slightly skewed due
to one outlier (see Table 2). Based on recommended practices for dealing with outlying observations in growth curve modeling (Tong &
Zhang, 2017), we decided to keep this case. Furthermore, GMM is particularly advantageous in modeling data with non-normal
distributions (McLachlan & Peel, 2000). Analyses were conducted following the four steps outlined in the “Data analytic strategies”
section.
3.1. Overall trajectory of EA participation
To determine the overall trajectory patterns, no-growth, linear growth, and nonlinear growth models were fit to the data. For EA
breadth, the no-growth model had an unacceptable fit: χ 2(4) = 208.95, p < .001, CFI = 0, TLI = 0.25, RMSEA = 0.39, SRMR = 0.28.
The linear growth model achieved an excellent fit: χ 2(1) = 0.02, p = .89, CFI = 1.00, TLI = 1.00, RMSEA = 0, SRMR = 0.002. Satorra-
Bentler scaled chi-square difference tests showed that the linear growth model was significantly better than the no-growth model,
χ 2(3) = 215.95, p < .001, and it was not significantly worse than the latent basis model, χ 2(1) = 0.02, p = .89. Therefore, the linear
growth pattern model was chosen. Children on average showed linear increases in their breadth of EA participation. Both the intercept
(σ2 = 0.87, p < .001) and slope (σ 2 = 0.08, p = .004) variances were statistically significant, indicating that children varied in their
initial levels of, as well as rates of, change in EA breadth.
For EA intensity, the no-growth model had a very poor fit: χ 2(4) = 148.79, p < .001, CFI = 0, TLI = 0, RMSEA = 0.32, SRMR = 0.32.
The linear growth model also had an inadequate fit, χ 2(1) = 6.16, p = .01, CFI = 0.90, TLI = 0.70, RMSEA = 0.12, SRMR = 0.05,
although it was statistically significantly better than the no-growth model, χ 2(3) = 134.42, p < .001. Following Widaman and
Thompson’s (2003) suggestion, we also evaluated how different null models affected the model fit indices. The null model was
specified to be a no-growth model, a no-growth model with fixed initial level, or a no-growth model with equal measurement error
variances across time, but the resulting TLI was always below 0.86, indicating poor model fit. Therefore, we then estimated the
nonlinear growth model (i.e., the latent basis model). It is worth noting that the latent basis model was just-identified and therefore
had a perfect model fit. The Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square difference test showed that the latent basis model was statistically
significantly better than the linear growth model, χ 2(1) = 6.16, p = .01. Thus, the nonlinear growth pattern model was chosen for
further analyses. The basis coefficient (i.e., the loading of T2 intensity on “slope”) was 1.46, indicating that children showed a faster
increase in EA intensity between T2 and T3 compared to between T1 and T2. In addition, both the intercept (σ2 = 5.05, p < .001) and
slope (σ2 = 0.97, p = .001) parameters had statistically significant variances, suggesting considerable individual variations existed with
regard to the number of hours children spent on EAs at T1 as well as the rates of change in EA intensity over time. In sum, the sta
tistically significant variances related to the growth factors justified an examination of interindividual differences in EA participation
over time using GMM.
3.2. Heterogeneity in EA participation trajectories
GMM allows for all estimated parameters (e.g., means, variances, covariances) to vary across different trajectory classes. We tested
a series of unconditional GMM models with different constraints added to within-class trajectory patterns. We started with a two-class
model in which only intercept and slope means were allowed to vary across trajectory classes and within-class variations (i.e., random
effects) were constrained to be zero. Within-class growth factor variances (i.e., intercept and slope variances and intercept-slope
covariances) were progressively relaxed to examine whether individual variations existed within a certain class. Additional trajec
tory classes were then added and the same parameter relaxation sequence was applied. Table 4 presents the fit statistics of the GMM
models.
According to BIC, entropy, and the LMR-LRT, for EA breadth the two-class solution with all within-class growth factor variances
freely estimated obtained the best model fit (see Table 4). Following Grimm et al.’s (2017) recommendation, we then varied the
trajectory shape for each class to examine whether class-specific growth patterns were needed. When the growth pattern of one or both
of the classes was set to be nonlinear, the BICs increased slightly and the entropy values either stayed the same or dropped dramatically
(see Table 4). Therefore, the linear growth pattern was retained for both emerged classes.
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L. Ren et al.
Table 3
Correlations among the study variables.
T1 EA T1 EA T2 EA T2 EA T3 EA T3 EA Chinese Receptive Expressive Early Social Problem
Breadth Intensity Breadth Intensity Breadth Intensity reading vocabulary language math skills behaviors
Preschool quality 1 0.14** 0.15** 0.26*** 0.23*** 0.17** 0.16** 0.04 − 0.09 − 0.004 0.09 0.11 − 0.06
(Model vs. Level 2)
Preschool quality 2 0.11 0.04 0.02 0.003 0.10 0.08 0.03 0.14* 0.04 0.05 0.02 − 0.08
(Level 1 vs. Level
2)
Child’s sex − 0.04 − 0.07 0.02 − 0.04 0.09 − 0.03 0.16** − 0.01 0.02 0.08 − 0.06 0.06
Child’s age at T3 − 0.04 − 0.06 − 0.01 − 0.08 − 0.03 − 0.06 0.11* 0.10 0.03 0.17** − 0.03 − 0.11*
Family SES 0.36*** 0.34*** 0.38*** 0.33*** 0.37*** 0.28*** 0.23*** 0.09 0.08 0.29*** 0.12* –0.11
Child singleton status − 0.05 − 0.04 0.04 − 0.02 0.02 − 0.05 0.08 0.11 0.08 0.04 − 0.04 0.09
Parental involvement 0.07 0.06 0.09 0.06 0.13* 0.08 0.15** 0.10 0.05 0.17** 0.21*** –0.12*
109
T1 Cognitive 0.28*** 0.20*** 0.28*** 0.21*** 0.26*** 0.22*** 0.44*** 0.34*** 0.18*** 0.60*** 0.13* –0.21***
development
T1 Social-emotional 0.06 0.01 0.04 0.02 0.12* 0.08 − 0.05 0.20*** 0.09 0.06 0.13* –0.06
development
T1 Language and 0.10 0.05 0.07 0.02 0.10 0.08 0.35*** 0.16** 0.07 0.32*** 0.10 –0.21***
emergent literacy
T1 EA Breadth – 0.80*** 0.52*** 0.50*** 0.47*** 0.44*** 0.14** 0.05 0.06 0.33*** 0.12* –0.07
T1 EA Intensity 0.80*** – 0.41*** 0.50*** 0.36*** 0.39*** 0.08 0.02 0.01 0.26*** 0.14* –0.05
T2 EA Breadth 0.52*** 0.41*** – 0.71*** 0.64*** 0.49*** 0.18** 0.15** 0.15** 0.28*** 0.05 − 0.12*
T2 EA Intensity 0.50*** 0.50*** 0.71*** – 0.44*** 0.52*** 0.14** 0.13* 0.10 0.23*** 0.05 –0.11
T3 EA Breadth 0.47*** 0.36*** 0.64*** 0.44*** – 0.67*** 0.12* 0.14* 0.11* 0.27*** 0.11* − 0.14*
T3 EA Intensity 0.44*** 0.39*** 0.49*** 0.52*** 0.67*** – 0.16** 0.12* 0.11 0.23*** 0.12* − 0.14*
Journal of School Psychology 86 (2021) 100–119

Note. SES = socioeconomic status. EA = extracurricular activity. Preschool quality was measured by two dummy variables, with Level 2 preschools used as the comparison group: “preschool quality 1”
(Model vs. Level 2 preschools) and “preschool quality 2” (Level 1 vs. Level 2 preschools). Child’s sex was dummy coded (0 = female, 1 = male). Child singleton status was dummy coded (0 = children with
siblings, 1 = children from only-child families). *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
Table 4
Fit statistics of the models examined using growth mixture modeling.
GMM models BIC Entropy LMR-LRT
Unconditional breadth models (no covariates)

2-class:
Means only 2933.04 0.71 <0.001
Within-class intercept variances free 2860.84 0.46 0.10
All within-class free 2770.77 0.94 <0.001
3-class:
Means only 2880.58 0.77 0.003
All within-class free 2782.81 0.80 0.34
Unconditional intensity models (no covariates)
2-class:
Means only 5038.77 0.68 0.20
All within-class free 4865.43 0.77 <0.001
3-class:
Means only 4882.37 0.77 0.002
All within-class free 4837.22 0.74 0.11
Breadth models with alternative growth patterns
2-class model: all within-class free (one class with linear growth, one class with nonlinear growth) 2776.10 0.94 <0.001
2-class model: all within-class free (both classes with nonlinear growth) 2872.47 0.42 0.002
Intensity models with alternative growth patterns
2-class model: all within-class free (one class with linear growth, one class with nonlinear growth) 4866.62 0.72 0.002
2-class model: all within-class free (both classes with linear growth) 4872.31 0.69 0.041
Conditional breadth model (covariates added)
2-class model: all within-class free 2472.56 0.95 –
Conditional intensity model (covariates added)
2-class model: all within-class free 4244.72 0.88 –
Note. GMM = growth mixture modeling. Bolded values indicate the selected unconditional growth mixture models. Means only model: only the
intercept and slope means were allowed to vary between trajectory classes. Within-class intercept variances free model: the intercept variances were
freely estimated for each emerged class. All within-class free: the intercept and slope variances as well as the intercept-slope covariances were all
freely estimated for each emerged class. BIC: Bayesian information criterion. LMR-LRT: p value from the Lo-Mendell-Rubin likelihood ratio test. The
four-class models for EA breadth was not included because one class had a proportion of less than 5% of the sample. The four-class models for EA
intensity was not included because the models did not converge.
Following Jung and Wickrama’s (2008) recommended procedure, to confirm the selection of the two-class solution, we added the
covariates to the model. The conditional two-class model with all growth factor variances unconstrained had a smaller BIC and larger
entropy than the two-class all free model (see Table 4), indicating a better model fit and more accurate classifications. Therefore, the
conditional two-class all free model was used to estimate each child’s class membership probabilities and predicted intercept and slope
for further analyses. Based on this conditional model, the posterior probabilities for the two classes were both 0.99, indicating very
good classification clarity. The first class (i.e., the lower-breadth class) composed 89.34% of the sample, whereas the second class (i.e.,
the higher-breadth class) consisted of 10.66% of the sample (see Fig. 2). In both classes, children on average demonstrated a steady
increase in EA breadth over time. In the lower-breadth subgroup, children continued to demonstrate statistically significant variations
in their initial EA breadth (intercept variance: σ 2 = 0.47, p = .003), but not in their rates of change in EA breadth (slope variance: σ 2 =
0.04, p = .12). In the higher-breadth subgroup, however, the intercept and slope variances were negative, meaning that their true
values were very close to zero, which is the boundary of a variance parameter (Savalei & Kolenikov, 2008). This finding suggests that
there was little individual variation in EA breadth within the higher-breadth subgroup. We did not constrain the variance parameters
to be zero or above zero, because simulation studies strongly favored unconstrained models under such circumstances (Du & Wang,
2020; Savalei & Kolenikov, 2008; Saville et al., 2011). However, we conducted additional analyses in which the negative variances
were fixed to zero. Similar patterns of results were found (results available upon request).
For EA intensity, the nonlinear growth pattern identified in the latent basis analysis was first adopted in GMM. The two-class all free
model (i.e., all within-class growth factor variances were freely estimated) was chosen because it had relatively large entropy and the
LMR-LRT results suggested a better fit than the one-class all free model and a nonsignificant difference from the three-class all free
model (see Table 4). Although the three-class means only model had the same entropy as the two-class all free model, its BIC was larger
by 17. The three-class model with only intercept variances freely estimated had a slightly smaller BIC than the two-class all free model,
but its entropy was much smaller. Models with higher entropy are favored when selecting among models that have similar relative fit
indexes (e.g., BIC; Ram & Grimm, 2009). Therefore, the two-class all free model was preferred. It is worth noting that its entropy (i.e.,
0.77) did not reach the recommended cutoff value of 0.80 (Ram & Grimm, 2009). However, selected GMM models with entropy values
below 0.80 have been frequently observed in educational research (e.g., Montroy et al., 2016; Weybright et al., 2016). When we tested
alternative models in which the growth pattern of one or both of the classes was constrained to be linear, the BICs increased slightly
and the entropy values became smaller (see Table 4). Therefore, the nonlinear growth pattern was retained for both classes.
After adding the covariates to the selected two-class all free model for EA intensity, the BIC became smaller and the entropy was
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Fig. 2. Individual trajectories plotted around two subgroup trajectories based on two-class growth mixture models for the breadth and intensity of
EA participation.
larger relative to the unconditional model (see Table 4). The entropy of the conditional model reached 0.88, suggesting much clearer
classifications than the unconditional model. The conditional model was used to predict each child’s class membership probabilities,
intercept, and slope for use in subsequent analyses. The lower-intensity class included 87.30% of the children, whereas the higher-
intensity class included 12.70% of the children (see Fig. 2). The posterior probabilities were 0.98 and 0.88 for the lower- and
higher-intensity class, respectively. Children in the lower-intensity subgroup still varied in their initial EA intensity (intercept variance:
σ2 = 1.69, p < .001) and rates of change in intensity (slope variance: σ 2 = 0.22, p = .03). However, the higher-intensity class had
negative variance parameters, indicating that within-class variations could be ignored for this subgroup. When the negative variances
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were fixed to zero, similar patterns of results were found (results available upon request).
3.3. Association between EA breadth and intensity trajectories
Based on the final conditional GMM models examined in the previous step, each child’s class membership probabilities (i.e., the
probabilities of belonging to the lower- or higher-breadth/intensity class), latent intercept (i.e., individual latent initial level of EA
breadth/intensity), and slope (i.e., latent rate of change of EA breadth/intensity) were estimated and output for analyses. Using data of
the whole sample, we examined the correlation between children’s probabilities of belonging to the lower-breadth class and the
probabilities of belonging to the lower-intensity class. Children’s EA breadth and intensity membership classifications were not
correlated (r = 0.07, p = .21), suggesting that children who were more likely to be in the lower-breadth class were not necessarily more
prone to be classified into the lower-intensity class.
Appendix C presents the correlations among predicted individual intercepts and slopes estimated based on the conditional GMM
models. Children with higher initial EA breadth had slower increases in EA breadth (r = − 0.71, p < .001). Similarly, children with
higher initial EA intensity showed slower increases in intensity (r = − 0.79, p < .001). Yet children with greater initial EA breadth had
faster increases in EA intensity (r = 0.18, p = .002). Specifically, children who participated in more types of EAs at T1 also had more
rapid increases in attendance intensity from T1 to T3. In addition, children with greater EA breadth at T1 did not necessarily have
greater concurrent attendance intensity (r = 0.08, p = .166), and those showing faster increases in EA breadth did not necessarily show
higher rates of increase in EA intensity (r = 0.05, p = .387). Therefore, children were likely to follow different intensity and breadth
trajectories, which further indicates the need to differentiate EA breadth and intensity in EA research.
3.4. Role of EA participation in school readiness
To examine whether children’s growth trajectories would predict their school readiness, child school readiness outcomes were
regressed on predicted individual intercept, slope, and class membership (i.e., the probability of belonging to the lower-breadth/
intensity class) estimated based on the conditional GMM models.1 All covariates were controlled. As shown in Table 5, children’s
class membership and individual breadth/intensity intercept and slope did not predict Chinese reading, receptive vocabulary,
expressive language, social skills, or problem behaviors. The findings indicate that children belonging to different trajectory classes
and those who had different initial levels of or rates of change in EA participation did not have statistically significant differences in
their above-mentioned outcomes. However, statistically significant associations between EA participation and school readiness
emerged for early math skills. Specifically, children with greater EA breadth at T1 had better math skills 1.5 years later (B = 0.20, p =
.001). Those who had faster increases in their breadth of EA participation also demonstrated better math skills at T3 (B = 0.39, p <
.001). Children with a higher probability of belonging to the lower-intensity class had poorer early math skills (B = − 0.30, p = .037).
Thus, children who were more likely to be in the lower-intensity class tended to have lower levels of early math skills. In contrast,
children who had higher propensities to belong to the higher-intensity class tended to have better math skills. However, the unique
effects of EA participation on child math skills were small. The three EA breadth variables (i.e., predicted class membership proba
bility, intercept, slope) explained 2.8% of the variance in child math skills above and beyond the covariates. Children’s EA intensity
variables explained an additional 1.8% of the variance in math skills.
In terms of the covariates (see Table 5), the statistically significant effects on school readiness outcomes that were consistent across
the breadth and intensity models were as follows: (a) children in Model preschools had fewer problem behaviors than those attending
Level 2 preschools; (b) boys had better Chinese reading and early math skills than girls; (c) higher levels of parental involvement were
related to better social skills in children; (d) children’s better cognitive development at T1 predicted better Chinese reading, receptive
vocabulary, and early math skills; (e) children who had better language and emergent literacy development at T1 had better Chinese
reading skills at T3; and (f) children with better social-emotional development at T1 had better receptive vocabulary. Unexpectedly,
children with better baseline social-emotional development had worse Chinese reading and early math skills at T3. Child age, family
SES, and child singleton status were not statistically significantly associated with child school readiness.
4. Discussion
This study examined distinct trajectories of preschoolers’ EA participation and their associations with child school readiness in an
urban Chinese context. The results revealed two heterogeneous trajectory classes for the breadth of EA participation and two classes for
attendance intensity as well. After controlling for the covariates, children with higher initial levels of or more rapid increases in EA
breadth showed better early math skills. Those with higher probabilities of belonging to the lower-intensity class had lower levels of
1
Considering that children were nested within classrooms, we evaluated the extent of dependence between observations by calculating the intra-
class correlation coefficient (ICC) for each school readiness outcome under a null model: Chinese reading (ICC = 0.04), receptive vocabulary (ICC =
0.04), expressive language (ICC = 0.18), early math skills (ICC = 0.12), social skills (ICC = 0.03), and problem behavior (ICC = 0.05). Given that
there were only 12 preschools (21 classrooms) involved in this study, the ICCs were relatively small for most outcome variables, and growth mixture
modeling was very complex already, we did not consider the nesting issue in our final reported models. However, we did conduct additional an
alyses in which “TYPE = COMPLEX MIXTURE” command with classroom specified as a cluster variable was used in Mplus to account for nesting. The
patterns of the results remained similar to the ones reported in this article.
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Table 5
Unstandardized and standardized (the estimates in parentheses) regression coefficients of children’s predicted intercept, slope, and class membership
on their school readiness outcomes controlling for covariates.
Chinese reading Receptive Expressive Early math Social skills Problem
vocabulary language behaviors
Breadth Model
Individual intercept 2.23 (0.11) 0.19 (0.01) 0.86 (0.10) 0.20 (0.28)*** –0.03 (− 0.002) − 0.47 (− 0.05)
Individual slope 3.48 (0.09) 1.32 (0.05) 2.00 (0.11) 0.39 (0.27)*** 1.11 (0.04) − 1.43 (− 0.07)
Class membership –0.91 (− 0.01) − 1.22 (− 0.02) 1.20 (0.03) − 0.05 (− 0.02) − 3.79 (− 0.06) 1.28 (0.03)
Preschool quality 1 (Model vs. − 4.02 (− 0.08) − 3.15 (− 0.10) –0.80 (− 0.04) − 0.11 (− 0.07) 5.68 (0.15) − 4.40 (− 0.18)*
Level 2)
Preschool quality 2 (Level 1 − 6.55 (− 0.14) –0.75 (− 0.02) − 1.38 (− 0.06) − 0.24 (− 0.14)* 2.92 (0.08) − 3.70 (− 0.15)
vs. Level 2)
Child’s sex 9.20 (0.20)*** 0.31 (0.01) 0.79 (0.04) 0.16 (0.09)* − 2.36 (− 0.06) 1.15 (0.05)
Child’s age at T3 0.20 (0.03) 0.34 (0.08) 0.04 (0.01) 0.01 (0.06) − 0.29 (− 0.06) − 0.16 (− 0.05)
Family SES 2.95 (0.09) 1.72 (0.08) 1.13 (0.08) 0.06 (0.05) 1.91 (0.07) 0.54 (0.03)
Child singleton status 2.61 (0.05) 3.49 (0.10) 2.13 (0.09) 0.03 (0.02) –1.11 (− 0.03) 2.90 (0.11)
Parental involvement 2.32 (0.05) 1.28 (0.04) –0.02 (− 0.001) 0.10 (0.06) 6.14 (0.17)** − 1.50 (− 0.06)
T1 Cognitive development 1.66 (0.31)*** 1.02 (0.27)*** 0.29 (0.12) 0.09 (0.50)*** 0.22 (0.05) − 0.36 (− 0.13)
T1 Social–emotional − 1.46 (− 0.22)*** 0.62 (0.14)* 0.25 (0.08) − 0.03 (− 0.12)* 0.44 (0.08) 0.15 (0.05)
development
T1 Language and emergent 1.47 (0.28)*** − 0.32 (− 0.09) − 0.05 (− 0.02) 0.02 (0.13)* 0.12 (0.03) − 0.33 (− 0.12)
literacy
R2 0.322 0.149 0.058 0.430 0.103 0.109
∆R2 0.004 0.002 0.005 0.028 0.005 0.003
Intensity model
Individual intercept 0.08 (0.02) 0.03 (0.01) − 0.02 (− 0.01) 0.01 (0.07) − 0.34 (− 0.11) 0.19 (0.09)
Individual slope − 0.52 (− 0.05) − 0.28 (− 0.04) − 0.10 (− 0.02) 0.001 (0.0002) − 0.79 (− 0.09) 0.88 (0.16)
Class membership − 3.49 (− 0.05) 0.03 (0.001) − 2.12 (− 0.06) − 0.30 (− 0.11)* − 5.48 (− 0.09) 3.30 (0.08)
Preschool quality 1 (Model vs. − 2.38 (− 0.05) − 2.71 (− 0.08) − 0.21 (− 0.01) 0.01 (0.003) 6.56 (0.18)* − 5.44 (− 0.22)**
Level 2)
Preschool quality 2 (Level 1 − 5.41 (− 0.11) − 0.49 (− 0.01) − 1.06 (− 0.05) − 0.16 (− 0.09) 3.54 (0.09) − 4.39 (− 0.18)*
vs. Level 2)
Child’s sex 9.31 (0.20)*** 0.35 (0.01) 0.91 (0.04) 0.17 (0.10)* − 2.70 (− 0.07) 1.26 (0.05)
Child’s age at T3 0.18 (0.03) 0.35 (0.08) 0.03 (0.01) 0.01 (0.05) − 0.27 (− 0.05) − 0.17 (− 0.05)
Family SES 3.61 (0.11) 1.85 (0.08) 1.35 (0.09) 0.11 (0.09) 2.00 (0.08) 0.31 (0.02)
Child singleton status 2.61 (0.05) 3.51 (0.10) 2.30 (0.10) 0.04 (0.02) − 1.19 (− 0.03) 2.95 (0.11)
Parental involvement 2.36 (0.05) 1.28 (0.04) –0.06 (− 0.003) 0.10 (0.06) 6.36 (0.18)** − 1.57 (− 0.07)
T1 Cognitive development 1.76 (0.33)*** 1.03 (0.28)*** 0.32 (0.13) 0.10 (0.52)*** 0.24 (0.06) − 0.40 (− 0.15)*
T1 Social–emotional − 1.40 (− 0.21)*** 0.66 (0.14)* 0.26 (0.09) − 0.02 (− 0.10)* 0.49 (0.09) 0.10 (0.03)
development
T1 Language and emergent 1.43 (0.28)*** − 0.32 (− 0.09) − 0.07 (− 0.03) 0.02 (0.11)* 0.06 (0.02) − 0.29 (− 0.11)
literacy
R2 0.323 0.149 0.057 0.420 0.106 0.117
∆R2 0.006 0.002 0.003 0.018 0.007 0.011
Note. SES = socioeconomic status. EA = extracurricular activity. Children’s individual intercept and slope were predicted based on the selected two-
class growth mixture models with covariates included. The variable “class membership” represents the probability of belonging to the lower-breadth/
intensity class. R2 coefficients represent the amount of variance in child outcomes explained by all predictors in the model. ∆R2 coefficients represent
the additional amount of variance in child outcomes explained by EA-related variables relative to the model with covariates only. Preschool quality
was measured by two dummy variables, with Level 2 preschools used as the comparison group: “preschool quality 1” (Model vs. Level 2 preschools)
and “preschool quality 2” (Level 1 vs. Level 2 preschools). Child’s sex was dummy coded (0 = female, 1 = male). Child singleton status was dummy
coded (0 = children with siblings, 1 = children from only-child families). *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
early math skills. However, children’s EA participation patterns did not predict their Chinese reading, receptive vocabulary, expressive
language, social skills, or problem behaviors.
4.1. Distinct trajectory classes of EA participation
All emerged classes of EA participation exhibited an upward trend on average across the last two years of preschool (see Fig. 2). In
the fall semester of the second preschool year (i.e., T1), children in the lower-breadth class participated in approximately 1.5 types of
EAs on average, and this number increased to 2.6 by the end of the third preschool year (i.e., T3). In the higher-breadth class, children’s
EA breadth increased from 2.1 to 3.0 between T1 and T3. Children’s average weekly time investment in EAs doubled from T1 (lower-
intensity class: 2.7 h; higher-intensity class: 5.0 h) to T3 (lower-intensity class: 5.8 h; higher-intensity class: 11.5 h). This was
inconsistent with existing studies involving older children in which decreasing and/or stable trajectories were also observed (e.g.,
Aumètre & Poulin, 2016; Denault & Poulin, 2019). As most EAs are provided by commercial entities and often associated with high
cost in China, the overall increasing trend reflects Chinese parents’ growing commitment to EA enrollment during preschool years. EAs
intended for young children are often beyond the scope of Chinese preschool curriculum. Chinese parents may wish to cultivate early
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skills and competencies in children by exposing them to additional learning experiences provided by EAs, in addition to regular
preschool (Lau & Cheng, 2016). Because of rapid economic and social changes in Chinese society, education has become more
competitive, which could have contributed to young children’s increasing involvement in EAs (Kuan, 2015). Indeed, preparing
children for school transition, providing children with a competitive edge in applications for private elementary school, and fear of
being left behind in school have all been identified as important motives for Chinese parents to enroll young children in EAs (Lau &
Cheng, 2016; Yi, 2013).
Despite our sample having been quite homogeneous and predominantly composed of middle- and upper-middle-class families in
China, a single developmental course of EA participation could not be applied to all children. The results indicated considerable in
dividual variations in EA involvement. Although family demographic characteristics (e.g., family SES) can greatly impact children’s
EA participation (Aumètre & Poulin, 2016; Ren & Zhang, 2020), recent qualitative studies also revealed divergent parental attitudes
and approaches towards EAs among middle-class Chinese families. For instance, some parents rely on EAs to make up for the lack of
home learning activities (Xie & Li, 2018), whereas some purposefully avoid burdening children with EAs in hopes of protecting their
childhood (Ren & Edwards, 2016). Data on parenting beliefs and practices should be included in future research because they are
possibly important factors that can distinguish between different EA participation trajectories. Qualitative research methodologies can
also be applied to better reveal the meaning underlying emerged classes.
4.2. Relationship between EA breadth and intensity trajectories
Our findings suggest that for children who already had relatively high levels of EA participation in the fall semester of the second
preschool year, their EA participation did not continue to increase very rapidly, as indicated by the negative correlations between
initial EA breadth/intensity and the rates of change in EA breadth/intensity. As described previously, Chinese parents may have
different beliefs about when to start enrolling children in EAs and how much EA participation is appropriate for young children. As
found in the current study, some children had low EA involvement at T1. However, as the transition to elementary school approaches,
parents of low-involvement children might rapidly increase investments in EAs to better prepare children for future learning. For
children who were already heavily involved in EAs, parents might refrain from further increasing children’s EA participation to avoid
overscheduling children’s free time and inducing stress in children. However, one exception of this pattern was that children who were
involved in more diverse EAs at T1 were found to have faster increases in attendance intensity, as implied by the positive correlation
between breadth intercept and intensity slope. Children who participated in more types of EAs at T1 appeared to experience more rapid
increases in their time investment in EAs without rapidly broadening their breadth of EA participation. Parents might wish to focus
children’s time and energy in a certain number of EAs to hone children’s knowledge and skills in those specific areas.
Although children’s EA breadth and intensity were moderately or highly correlated at each time point (see Table 3), their breadth
and intensity class memberships were not significantly related. Furthermore, children’s individual breadth intercept and intensity
intercept did not correlate, nor did their breadth slope and intensity slope. These findings suggest that children’s breadth and intensity
trajectories did not necessarily coincide. EA breadth captures the diversity of children’s EA involvement, whereas attendance intensity
depicts children’s dosage of EA exposure. We speculate that many factors that were not assessed in this study may come into play when
parents try to adjust their children’s EA participation profile over time, such as parenting beliefs, child temperamental traits, and
children’s prior experiences with EAs. For instance, some parents may gradually widen children’s EA experiences but try not to in
crease attendance intensity, whereas some may value a focused extracurricular path by narrowing the range of EAs but increasing
exposure to a certain field. We tried to model these two dimensions of EA participation simultaneously using GMM, but the models did
not converge.
It is important to note that we proposed many speculations about the relationship between children’s EA breadth and intensity
trajectories. Unfortunately, we did not find existing studies that had included both dimensions when exploring distinct EA partici
pation trajectories and thus were unable to link our findings to existing evidence. To achieve a better understanding of this issue, future
research is needed to investigate parents’ decision-making process regarding children’s EA participation at different ages and to
examine how parents negotiate between the breadth and intensity of children’s EA involvement over time.
4.3. EA participation trajectories and child early math skills
Children with higher predicted initial levels of or rates of increase in EA breadth had better early math skills, and those with a
higher likelihood of being in the higher-intensity class tended to perform better in early math. Considering that a number of socio-
demographic variables and multiple aspects of children’s baseline development were controlled for in the analyses, the significant
association between EA participation and early math skills is noteworthy. Our findings are consistent with previous studies that have
demonstrated a positive link between EA participation and children’s math performance (e.g., Dumais, 2006; Ren & Zhang, 2020).
Although EAs are mainly subject specific, and many do not focus on math, math-related concepts might be embedded in some EAs. For
instance, children might need to count their movements during dance lessons and athletic activities and learn about shapes and
patterns in art classes. Indeed, Dumais (2006) showed that participation in dance lessons predicted children’s math gains between
Grades 1 and 3, and involvement in athletic EAs predicted teacher-rated math skills in Grade 3. Moreover, children’s experiences with
art have been associated with math achievement (e.g., Edens & Potter, 2007; Ruppert, 2006). Engaging in a broader range of EAs (i.e.,
greater breadth) or having more exposure to EAs (i.e., greater intensity) might provide children with more opportunities to practice
math skills such as counting, addition, and problem solving.
Another possible explanation is that the benefits of a particular EA could be transferred from the targeted skill domain to other
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spheres of development and/or generic abilities that are beneficial for learning in general. For instance, EA participation has been
linked to approaches to learning (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010) and engagement in learning (Piché et al., 2015), which are both domain-
general skills that can benefit math performance (e.g., Li-Grining et al., 2010; Robinson & Mueller, 2014). In qualitative research with
older children, parents expressed the belief that EAs could facilitate broad skills such as concentration, which might improve children’s
academic performance (Kremer-Sadlik et al., 2010). From a theoretical perspective, the holistic-interactionist theory highlights the
mutual effects of different developmental domains (Mahoney & Bergman, 2002). In addition, based on cognitive load theory (Sweller,
2010), math skills are biologically secondary skills that require considerable effort to acquire. Greater EA involvement may provide
more structured learning experiences that can potentially enable children to explore math knowledge and skills.
However, the directionality of the link between EA participation and child math skills cannot be determined without experimental
designs. It is also likely that parents chose to enroll children in more diverse EAs or arrange more hours of EAs for children who
displayed better math skills. Starting from a young age, children’s math learning is highly valued by Chinese parents, and competence
in math is an important marker that Chinese parents use to evaluate children’s intelligence (Furnham et al., 2002). When children
display high levels of math skills, parents may be inclined to increase EA involvement to capitalize on children’s intelligence and foster
talents.
With regard to the covariates, consistent with previous studies focused on Chinese preschoolers, boys tended to have better Chinese
reading and math skills than girls (Ren & Zhang, 2020; Zhang et al., 2019). Children with better baseline development achieved better
performance in some aspects of school readiness. This finding was congruent with our expectation, because children’s early
achievement gap often sustains or even widens over time (Duncan et al., 2007). Parental involvement in home learning activities has
been linked to children’s social-emotional development (Baker, 2013), which was also supported by our findings. However, incon
sistent with existing evidence (e.g., Baker, 2013; Zhang et al., 2019), parental involvement did not predict children’s academic
readiness (e.g., reading and early math skills) and family SES was unrelated to any aspect of child school readiness. This might be
attributed to the inclusion of a large number of predictors in the models, especially the inclusion of children’s baseline development,
which could have diminished the unique effects of family SES and parental involvement on child outcomes. Another unexpected
finding was that T1 social-emotional development negatively predicted children’s Chinese reading and early math skills. According to
bivariate correlations, T1 social-emotional development was unrelated to Chinese reading or early math skills. Thus, the negative
effects might indicate suppressor effects when other predictors were entered in regression. Nevertheless, the weak relationship be
tween social-emotional development and children’s later school readiness did not align with previous studies among Chinese pre
schoolers (e.g., Chiu & Lau, 2018; Zhang et al., 2019). Our measure of social-emotional development relied on children’s responses to a
series of hypothetical social situations. Children’s T1 social-emotional development was only weakly correlated with parent-reported
social skills at T3, and it was not significantly correlated with parent-reported problem behaviors. We postulate that the individual
assessment used at T1 might not adequately capture children’s social-emotional behaviors in real life.
4.4. Lack of association between EA participation and aspects of school readiness
After controlling for the covariates, children’s EA participation did not predict their Chinese reading, receptive vocabulary,
expressive language, or social-emotional functioning. The findings suggest that EA participation might have a very limited role in
children’s school readiness development, despite that some parents could have turned to EAs in hopes of helping children better
prepare for school transition (Lau & Cheng, 2016; Xie & Li, 2018).
We assessed reading using a Chinese character recognition task. Learning to read Chinese characters requires formal literacy ac
tivities via which children receive direct teaching of print (Ren et al., 2019). EAs that are not specifically focused on reading (very few
children in our sample participated in this type of EA) might involve little explicit instruction on Chinese characters and therefore
provide limited benefits for children’s Chinese reading skills. Furthermore, direct teaching of Chinese characters in preschools is
prohibited by Chinese early childhood education policies (Ren et al., 2019). Consequently, the potential benefits of EA participation for
children’s domain-general skills might not translate into their learning of Chinese characters in other contexts.
In terms of the two aspects of language development (i.e., receptive vocabulary and expressive language), we expected that
children’s interactions with peers and adults during EAs would increase language input. The seminal work conducted by Hart and
Risley (1995) demonstrated a close linkage between the amount of language input to which children were exposed and their vo
cabulary gains. However, incidental exposure to words seemed to be insufficient to generate language gains; rather, instructions that
incorporate multiple methods and engage children in rich dialogical interactions involving words and word meanings appear to be
most effective in promoting vocabulary development (Christ & Wang, 2011; Coyne et al., 2009). Because of the subject-specific and
goal-directed nature of EAs, instructors might not include language learning as a component of their instruction. In addition, informal
literacy activities (e.g., shared reading) can often elicit spontaneous back-and-forth conversations between children and adults,
promoting children’s language development (Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2014). Because EAs in China are often very structured, opportu
nities for children to engage in extended conversations with peers and instructors may be limited.
Children’s EA participation was found to be unrelated to social skills and problem behaviors, which was incongruent with the
findings reported among school-aged populations (e.g., Aumètre & Poulin, 2018; Denault & Déry, 2015; Denault & Poulin, 2019; Rose-
Krasnor et al., 2006). Yet our finding was consistent with two previous studies involving Hong Kong preschoolers that showed that EA
participation was unrelated to children’s social skills and problem behaviors reported by teachers and/or parents (Chiu & Lau, 2018;
Ren & Zhang, 2020). Some parents intend to provide children with opportunities for social interaction through enrolling them in EAs
(Lau & Cheng, 2016). However, our findings cast doubt on whether EAs can really facilitate children’s social-emotional competence.
EAs are typically structured around specific learning goals and carried out following a standard curriculum. Children may have few
115
opportunities to actually socialize with peers in this structured learning setting. In addition, children usually come across different peer
groups in different EAs, and scattered encounters with peers during EAs may not be sufficient for children to develop and maintain
deep and meaningful social relationships.
4.5. Strengths, limitations, and future directions
The current study explored distinct trajectory classes of EA participation during preschool years in Chinese context. It extends the
existing EA literature that previously has primarily focused on school-aged children and adolescents in Western contexts. To our
knowledge, this was the first study that examined preschoolers’ trajectories of EA participation utilizing a longitudinal design. We
examined distinct trajectory classes and individual variations around the mean class trajectories. We also explored the associations
between child EA participation and various aspects of school readiness, providing evidence for the potential benefits as well as lack of
benefits of EA participation for child school readiness development.
The study was subject to several limitations, which should be borne in mind when interpreting the results. First and foremost, the
sample consisted mainly of middle- and upper-middle-class families in Shanghai. The findings cannot be generalized to families from
other cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. The small sample size (N = 345) further constrains the generalizability of the findings
that were explorative and sample specific. Future research should be conducted with more representative samples. Second, we focused
on the breadth and intensity of EA participation. Other dimensions, such as the duration of participation, children’s engagement in
EAs, and the quality of EAs, are also important. Reliable measures should be developed to assess these understudied dimensions to
facilitate investigations of EA participation in future research. Third, we focused on children’s overall levels of EA participation, yet
different types of EAs are likely to vary in the extent to which they elicit children’s use of school readiness skills. For instance,
academic-oriented EAs may be more directly and closely linked to children’s reading and early math skills than art-focused EAs.
However, we intended to answer the question of “How much EA participation is beneficial?” rather than the question of “Which EAs
are beneficial?” In future studies, researchers should try to simultaneously examine the effects of overall EA participation and the
content of EAs on individual development. In addition, only three waves of data were collected with unequal spacing. To better depict
the trajectories of young children’s EA participation, longitudinal studies that cover a longer period with more intensive data collection
are required. Finally, it remains unclear through what mechanisms EAs were related to children’s early math learning. More research is
needed to systematically explore these issues.
5. Conclusions and practical implications
The current study showed that urban Chinese preschoolers followed an overall increasing trajectory in EA participation, suggesting
that families’ needs for after-school programs appear to grow as children grow older. However, EAs are often costly because they are
primarily provided by commercial entities. The Chinese government may provide affordable after-school programs at preschools or in
community centers, which will not only reduce families’ financial burden but also help oversee the quality of these programs. In
addition, heterogeneous patterns of EA participation trajectories as well as within-class individual variations emerged, underscoring
substantial individual differences in Chinese families’ practices regarding young children’s EA involvement. As EA participation
during early childhood has become one of the top concerns of Chinese families, family educators need to understand individual
families’ attitudes and beliefs about this issue to better guide families to prepare an optimal educational environment for children.
Greater EA involvement was found to be associated with better early math skills, but not with other aspects of school readiness.
Although some parents place their hopes on EAs to better prepare children for upcoming formal schooling, our findings suggest that EA
participation may hold limited value in promoting school readiness. EAs often take a heavy financial and emotional toll on families.
The empirical evidence provided by the current study informs parents and educators that it may be more valuable to allocate familial
and societal resources to other important aspects of children’s lives that can facilitate children’s school readiness, such as increasing
parental involvement at home and improving the quality of preschool education. Nevertheless, the positive relationship between EA
involvement and child early math skills, albeit weak in its strength, does suggest that the math performance gap may be enlarged over
time between children who have access to EAs and those who do not. Children from higher-SES families are likely to have greater
exposure to EAs. Policy makers need to consider how to better regulate the EA market and ensure that unequal access to EAs will not
further increase the already alarming achievement gap between young children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Funding
This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2017ECNU-HLYT002) and Research
Program Funds of the Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality (No. 2020-02-014-BZPK01).
Appendix A. Basic information of all instruments
Instrument Content of the Instrument Time of Data Method of Data

Collection Collection
(continued on next page)
116
(continued )
Instrument Content of the Instrument Time of Data Method of Data
Collection Collection
Covariates
Demographic Questionnaire Child and family demographics (e.g., child age, child sex, and T1 (Fall 2017) Parental report
parental education and occupation); level of preschool (i.e., Model,
Level 1, and Level 2)
Parental Involvement Questionnaire from the Parental involvement in home learning activities T1 (Fall 2017) Parental report
Head Start Evaluation project (Pai-Samant
et al., 2005)
East Asia Pacific Early Child Development Scale Children’s initial cognitive development, social-emotional T1 (Fall 2017) Individual
(EAP-ECDS; Rao et al., 2019) development, and language and emergent literacy assessment
EA participation
Child EA Participation Questionnaire Children’s participation in EAs, including the content of each EA T1 (Fall 2017), T2 Parental report
and the numbers of hours children spent on each EA per week (Fall 2018),
& T3 (Spring
2019)
School readiness outcomes
Chinese Character Recognition Task Children’s Chinese reading skills T3 (Spring 2019) Individual
(Shu, Peng, & McBridge-Chang, 2008) assessment
Chinese Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-R Children’s receptive vocabulary T3 (Spring 2019) Individual
(C-PPVT-R, Lu & Liu, 1994) assessment
Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test Children’s expressive language T3 (Spring 2019) Individual
(REVT; Huang et al., 2010) assessment
Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement Children’s early math skills T3 (Spring 2019) Individual
(WJ-IV; Shrank, Mather, & McGrew, 2014) assessment
Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scale Children’s social-emotional development T3 (Spring 2019) Parental report
(SSIS-RS; Gresham & Elliott, 2008)
Note. EA = extracurricular activity.
Appendix B. Coded categories of extracurricular activities and rates of participation
Activity type Description & examples Percentage
T1 T2 T3
Art All types of art activities, including music, dancing, performing arts, and other art activities 56.3% 67.8% 72.5%
English English lessons 48.7% 67.2% 71.9%
Academic Any activity that focuses on academic learning, such as classes on learning Chinese characters, math, 27.9% 46.2% 62.3%
and science, storytelling, programs in logic training (e.g., siwei xunlian; luoji siwei), lego, and school
readiness programs (i.e., youxiao xianjie ban)
Sports Athletic activities such as soccer, swimming, roller skating, and taekwondo 15.8% 31.9% 38.3%
Chess Chess or Chinese chess 3.5% 8.1% 10.2%
Integrated educational Integrated programs focused on early education 1.2% 0.6% 0.6%
program
Other activities Other activities other than the above categories, such as emotional intelligence training 0.6% 0.6% 2.8%
Appendix C. Correlations among predicted individual intercepts and slopes of EA breadth and intensity.
1 2 3 4
1. Breadth intercept –
2. Breadth slope − 0.71*** –
3. Intensity intercept 0.08 − 0.01 –
4. Intensity slope 0.18** 0.05 − 0.79*** –
Note. EA = extracurricular activity.
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Journal of School Psychology 86 (2021) 100–119

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of School Psychology

Distinct patterns of organized activity participation and their

1.1. Framing EAs within the Chinese context

1.2. EA participation: a multidimensional concept

1.3. The relationship between EA participation and school readiness

1.4. Longitudinal patterns of EA participation

1.5. The current study

2.3.1. Children’s participation in EAs (T1, T2, and T3)

2.3.2. School readiness (T3): Chinese reading

2.3.3. School readiness (T3): receptive vocabulary

2.3.4. Child school readiness (T3): expressive language

2.3.5. School readiness (T3): early math skills

2.3.6. School readiness (T3): social-emotional development

2.3.7. Covariates (T1)

2.4. Data analytic strategies

Fig. 1. Representation of unconditional growth mixture model.

Child’s age at T3 75.01 3.64 69.00 88.00 0.15 –0.36

Note. SES = socioeconomic status. EA = extracurricular activity.

3.1. Overall trajectory of EA participation

3.2. Heterogeneity in EA participation trajectories

Journal of School Psychology 86 (2021) 100–119

Unconditional breadth models (no covariates)

3.3. Association between EA breadth and intensity trajectories

3.4. Role of EA participation in school readiness

4.1. Distinct trajectory classes of EA participation

4.2. Relationship between EA breadth and intensity trajectories

4.3. EA participation trajectories and child early math skills

4.4. Lack of association between EA participation and aspects of school readiness

4.5. Strengths, limitations, and future directions

5. Conclusions and practical implications

Appendix A. Basic information of all instruments

Instrument Content of the Instrument Time of Data Method of Data

(continued on next page)

Appendix B. Coded categories of extracurricular activities and rates of participation

Activity type Description & examples Percentage

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