Self-control can lead to a variety of positive outcomes including academic achievement, decreased risk-taking, fewer health problems, and a decreased risk for substance dependence, a criminal conviction, and money troubles. Research has found that interventions can improve self-control.

Some other findings include

• Self-control is a better predictor of academic performance than IQ in adolescents, according to one study.
• Self-control is malleable and the best time to intervene may be in early childhood and adolescence. The same study also found that:
• Children with low self-control demonstrate higher levels of health problems and higher risk for substance dependence and substance problems in adulthood.
• Children with low self-control were more likely later in life to have children within a single-parent family and were more likely to be convicted of a crime.
• Children with low self-control were less likely to save money, own a home, and were more likely to report money troubles in adulthood.

And what promising programs and practices are out there tat help boost self-control?

• KIPP is group of charter schools designed for underprivileged youth that focus on both academic success and character development.
• In a study of 22 KIPP middle schools, What Works Clearinghouse found that students at these schools had higher reading and math test scores compared to similar students that attended public middle schools. 

Conscientiousness

Psychology Today defines conscientiousness as “a fundamental personality trait that influences whether people set and keep long-range goals, deliberate over choices or behave impulsively, and take seriously obligations to others.”

Research findings on conscientiousness include

• Being conscientious is linked to an array of positive outcomes in childhood and adulthood, including grades, years of education, leadership, and job performance, resulting in overall better life outcomes.
• Conscientiousness significantly increases in young adulthood and is related to self-regulatory behaviors in childhood. 

And what promising programs and practices are out there that help boost conscientiousness?

• See self-control, above for information on KIPP schools

Grit

Grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” As books and studies by psychologist (and MacArthur genius grant award-winner) Angela Duckworth have shown, grit is predictive of a variety of positive outcomes including academic achievement, educational attainment, and persisting in a less than enjoyable task:

• Among adolescents, grit is related to higher levels of academic achievement (i.e., GPA) and lower levels of watching television per day.
• Grittier participants in the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee performed better than their counterparts because they engaged in more deliberate practice, a task less enjoyable and more effortful than other study activities.

And what promising programs and practices are out there that help boost conscientiousness?

• See self-control, above for information on KIPP schools

Perseverance/Industriousness

Limited research exists on this topic, but studies have found that perseverance/industriousness is linked with a variety of positive outcomes during adulthood:

• Evidence from early intervention programs indicates that non-cognitive skills such as perseverance are essential for success, according to research conducted by renowned University of Chicago psychologist James Heckman.
• Among adults, industriousness is related to higher levels of work dedication and reduces incidence of drug use and risky driving behaviors.
• Industriousness during early adolescence is related to a variety of positive outcomes in middle adulthood (e.g., employment and mental health).

Self-Regulated Learning 

This trait is defined as “control processes used to direct thinking and translate thinking into academic outcomes.” Research has found that:

• Self-regulated learning is associated with positive academic outcomes and does not vary across course subjects. 
• Self-regulated learning among adolescents can be improved through interventions.

And what promising programs and practices are out there that help boost self-regulated learning?

• The Self-Regulation Empowerment Program (SREP) is a training program that is designed to improve self-regulatory skills (e.g., goal-setting), motivation, and academic achievement among students.
• In a study of youth from a high school in a large, urban area, students that participated in SREP demonstrated significant improvements in academic performance, increases in seeking help when needed, decreases in disorganization, and increases in self-regulated l
• Learning and learning specific content.