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Effortful Control (effortful + control)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	86%

Distribution within Psychology

Developmental Psychology	67%
Personality & Individual Differences	19%
Clinical Psychology	11%

Selected Abstracts

Individual differences in preschool children: temperament or personality?

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2010
Cathy L. Grist
Abstract Individual differences among adults have generally been conceptualized in terms of personality theory and traits. In contrast, individual differences among very young children (birth to kindergarten) have generally been conceptualized in terms of temperament theory and traits. The present study compares and contrasts measures of temperament and personality in a sample of preschool children. Temperament traits were assessed with a well-established measure (the Rothbart CBQ), and a new preschool rating instrument was used to assess personality traits from the five-factor framework (M5-PS). Indeed, a key purpose of this study was to further the development of the M5-PS. Data were gathered on 122 preschool children who were rated by their teachers. Significant correlations were found between the temperament trait Surgency and the personality trait Extraversion, between the temperament trait Negative Affect and the personality trait Neuroticism, and between the temperament trait Effortful Control and the personality trait Conscientiousness. The overall pattern of correlational data suggests that individual differences in preschool children can be adequately described using the five-factor theory, and that this framework may effectively subsume traditional theories of temperament. Preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the M5-PS is offered. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The Relations of Effortful Control and Reactive Control to Children's Externalizing Problems: A Longitudinal Assessment

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 6 2003
Carlos Valiente
Teachers' and parents' reports of children's negative emotionality, effortful control, overcontrol and externalizing problem behaviors were obtained at T1 (N=199; M age=89.51 months) and again 2 (T2) and 4 years (T3) later. In addition, children's effortful control was assessed with an observed measure of persistence. In a T3 concurrent structural equation model, effortful control, but not overcontrol, was negatively related to children's T3 externalizing problem behaviors. In regression analyses, the negative relation between T3 effortful control and externalizing problem behaviors was strongest at high levels of T3 negative emotionality. In the best-fitting longitudinal structural equation model, both T1 effortful control and T1 overcontrol negatively predicted externalizing problems at T1, whereas T3 effortful control (but not T3 overcontrol) was significantly negatively related to T3 externalizing problem behaviors when controlling for T1 externalizing problem behaviors. [source]

The Role of Socialization, Effortful Control, and Ego Resiliency in French Adolescents' Social Functioning

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 3 2010
Claire Hofer
The relations among effortful control, ego resiliency, socialization, and social functioning were examined with a sample of 182 French adolescents (14,20 years old). Adolescents, their parents, and/or teachers completed questionnaires on these constructs. Effortful control and ego resiliency were correlated with adolescents' social functioning, especially with low externalizing and internalizing behaviors and sometimes with high peer competence. Furthermore, aspects of socialization (parenting practices more than family expressiveness) were associated with adolescents' effortful control, ego resiliency, and social functioning. Effortful control and ego resiliency mediated the relations between parental socialization and adolescents' peer competence and internalizing problems. Furthermore, effortful control mediated the relations between socialization and adolescents' externalizing behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of cultural and developmental variation. [source]

School Connectedness Buffers the Effects of Negative Family Relations and Poor Effortful Control on Early Adolescent Conduct Problems

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 1 2010
Alexandra Loukas
This study examined the unique and interactive contributions of school connectedness, negative family relations, and effortful control to subsequent early adolescent conduct problems. Data were collected from 476 adolescents when they were initially in the 6th and 7th grades and again 1 year later. Results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that even after controlling for negative family relations, effortful control, baseline levels of conduct problems, and gender, school connectedness contributed to decreasing subsequent conduct problems. Examination of 2- and 3-way interactions indicated that high levels of school connectedness offset the adverse effects of negative family relations for boys and girls and the adverse effects of low levels of effortful control for girls. Findings underscore the role of school connectedness as a protective factor for early adolescent conduct problems. [source]

Child ADHD and personality/temperament traits of reactive and effortful control, resiliency, and emotionality

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 11 2006
Michelle M. Martel
Background:, Models of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggest developmental influences may feed into components of the disorder separately from associated disruptive behavior problems. We investigated this in terms of key personality/temperament traits of Reactive and Effortful Control, Resiliency, and Emotionality. Methods:, A sample of 179 children (age 6,12, 63% boys), of whom 92 had ADHD, 52 were Controls, and 35 were borderline or not otherwise specified cases of ADHD, were examined. Dispositional trait scores were derived from parent-completed California Q-sort and the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire. Child ADHD symptoms were evaluated using maternal structured diagnostic interview and teacher-completed symptom ratings. Results:, Traits were differentially associated with symptoms. Reactive Control was related to hyperactivity-impulsivity as rated by both parents and teachers. Negative Emotionality was related to oppositional-defiance. Resiliency was primarily related to inattention-disorganization as rated by both parents and teachers; Effortful Control was related uniquely to inattention in parent but not teacher data. A moderation effect emerged; the relationship between parent-rated Negative Emotionality and teacher-rated ADHD symptoms was stronger for children with high levels of both Reactive and Effortful Control. Conclusions:, Results are interpreted in relation to a two-pathway model of ADHD; regulation problems contribute to the emergence of symptoms of inattention-disorganization, reactive or motivational control problems to the emergence of hyperactivity-impulsivity, and these are distinct from negative affectivity. Children with regulation deficits and a reactive motivational style are especially at risk for the development of ADHD. [source]

The Relations of Effortful Control and Impulsivity to Children's Resiliency and Adjustment

CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2004
Nancy Eisenberg
The unique relations of effortful control and impulsivity to resiliency and adjustment were examined when children were 4.5 to 8 years old, and 2 years later. Parents and teachers reported on all constructs and children's attentional persistence was observed. In concurrent structural equation models, effortful control and impulsivity uniquely and directly predicted resiliency and externalizing problems and indirectly predicted internalizing problems (through resiliency). Teacher-reported anger moderated the relations of effortful control and impulsivity to externalizing problems. In the longitudinal model, all relations held at T2 except for the path from impulsivity to externalizing problems. Evidence of bidirectional effects also was obtained. The results indicate that effortful control and impulsivity are distinct constructs with some unique prediction of resiliency and adjustment. [source]

The Relations of Parenting, Effortful Control, and Ego Control to Children's Emotional Expressivity

CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2003
Nancy Eisenberg
The relations of observed parental warmth and positive expressivity and children's effortful control and ego control with children's high versus low emotional expressivity were examined in a 2-wave study of 180 children (M age = 112.8 months). There were quadratic relations between adults' reports of children's emotional expressivity and effortful control; moderate expressivity was associated with high effortful control. Structural equation models supported the hypothesis that children's ego overcontrol (versus undercontrol) mediated the relation between parental warmth or positive expressivity and children's emotional expressivity, although parenting at the follow-up did not uniquely predict in children's expressivity after controlling for the relations in these constructs over time. The alternative hypothesis that children's ego overcontrol elicited positive parenting and expressivity also was supported. [source]

The Role of Socialization, Effortful Control, and Ego Resiliency in French Adolescents' Social Functioning

Brain responses to surprising sounds are related to temperament and parent,child dyadic synchrony in young children

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2010
Anu-Katriina Pesonen
Abstract This study investigated the relationship between temperament characteristics, parent,child dyadic synchrony and auditory event-related potentials (ERP) in 15 two-year-old children. Temperament was assessed with the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire, and parent,child dyadic synchrony was analyzed from video-taped play situations. Involuntary switching of attention toward surprising sounds was measured with auditory ERPs by quantifying the P3a response for repeated and nonrepeated novel, naturally varying sounds, presented in a continuous repetitive sound sequence. Lower negative emotionality, higher effortful control and higher dyadic synchrony were associated with larger P3a responses to repeated novel sounds. The results demonstrate that temperament is related to P3a responses in early childhood, and that parent,child synchrony associates with both temperament and P3a responses in a theoretically meaningful way. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 52: 513,523, 2010. [source]

Developmental changes in baseline cortisol activity in early childhood: Relations with napping and effortful control

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2004
Sarah E. Watamura
Abstract Development of the hypothalamic,pituitary,adrenocortical (HPA) axis was examined using salivary cortisol levels assessed at wake-up, midmorning, midafternoon, and bedtime in 77 children aged 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months, in a cross-sectional design. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses were used to characterize cortisol production across the day and to examine age-related differences. Using area(s) under the curve (AUC), cortisol levels were higher among the 12-, 18-, and 24-month children than among the 30- and 36-month children. For all five age groups, cortisol levels were highest at wake-up and lowest at bedtime. Significant decreases were noted between wake-up and midmorning, and between midafternoon and bedtime. Unlike adults, midafternoon cortisol levels were not significantly lower than midmorning levels. Over this age period, children napped less and scored increasingly higher on parent reports of effortful control. Among the 30- and 36-month children, shorter naps were associated with more adultlike decreases in cortisol levels from midmorning to midafternoon. Considering all of the age groups together, effortful control correlated negatively with cortisol levels after controlling for age. These results suggest that circadian regulation of the HPA axis continues to mature into the third year in humans, and that its maturation corresponds to aspects of behavioral development. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 45: 125-133, 2004. [source]

Predicting life-time and regular cannabis use during adolescence; the roles of temperament and peer substance use: the TRAILS study

ADDICTION, Issue 4 2010
Hanneke E. Creemers
ABSTRACT Aims The aim of the present study was to determine the mediating role of affiliation with cannabis-using peers in the pathways from various dimensions of temperament to life-time cannabis use, and to determine if these associations also contributed to the development of regular cannabis use. Methods Objectives were studied using data from 1300 participants of the Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS), a large, general population study of Dutch adolescents. We used parent-reports on the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire to assess the dimensions of high-intensity pleasure, shyness, fearfulness, frustration and effortful control at age 10,12 years. By means of self-reports, life-time and regular cannabis use were determined at age 15,18 years, and proportion of substance-using peers was determined at ages 12,15 and 15,18 years. Models were adjusted for age, sex, intelligence and parental cannabis use. Results High-intensity pleasure [odds ratio (OR) = 1.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05,1.13] and effortful control (OR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.89,0.96) affected the risk for life-time cannabis use through their influence on affiliation with cannabis-using peers. Shyness affected this risk independently from peer cannabis use. Only the pathway from effortful control was associated additionally with the development of regular cannabis use (OR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.89,0.98). Conclusions Peer cannabis use and, to a lesser extent, certain temperamental characteristics affect an adolescent's risk of cannabis use, and should be considered in prevention programmes. We recommend future research to focus upon factors that potentially modify the association between temperament, affiliation with cannabis-using peers and cannabis use. [source]

Transactional development of parent personality and child temperament

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 6 2008
Niina Komsi
Abstract Stability and change in parental extraversion and neuroticism were studied in transaction with their views of their child's temperament from the age of six months to the age of five-and-a-half years in 109 mother,father,child triads (parent,daughter: n,=,61, parent,son: n,=,48). While parental traits showed high stability, infants' higher positive affectivity predicted an increase in parental extraversion over 5 years, and infant's higher activity predicted a decrease in parental neuroticism. Parent-rated temperament showed expected heterotypic continuity. Initially higher parental extraversion predicted an increase in the child's effortful control, and higher parental neuroticism predicted an increase in the child's negative affectivity. The results indicate that parental personality and child temperament develop in transaction promoting change in each other. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Temperament at 7, 12, and 25 months in children at familial risk for ADHD

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2008
Judith G. Auerbach
Abstract As part of a longitudinal investigation of infants at familial risk for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mothers and fathers independently completed temperament ratings on their infants. In this paper, we examine the 7-, 12-, and 25-month temperament of 58 boys, 36 of whom were considered at familial risk for ADHD and 22 of whom were in the comparison group. Risk for ADHD was based on self-reported ADHD symptoms in the father. In addition, the influence of informant gender on temperament ratings was examined. The ADHD risk group received significantly higher scores for activity level and anger and lower scores for attentional shift, appropriate allocation of attention and inhibitory control. Their scores were also significantly lower on a composite measure of effortful control. Taken together, these findings offer support for the view of a link between early temperament and risk for ADHD. The only informant gender difference was for the activity level; mothers rated their sons as more active than did fathers. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Genetic relations between effortful and attentional control and symptoms of psychopathology in middle childhood

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2008
Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant
Abstract Elucidating the genetic and environmental aetiology of effortful control (mother and father reports at two time points), attentional control (observer reports), and their associations with internalizing and externalizing symptoms (mother and father reports) is the central focus of this paper. With a sample of twins in middle childhood participating in the Wisconsin Twin Project, broad sense heritability for parental-report effortful control ranged from 68% to 79%, with a slightly higher heritability estimate of 83% for observer report attentional control, and no influence of the shared environment on either trait. Further, measures of control were negatively correlated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms longitudinally, concurrently, and across reporters. Importantly, shared additive genetic influence accounted for the covariation between the control variables and symptoms of psychopathology. These results encourage identification of common genes that affect both effortful control and symptoms, and environmental triggers that uniquely influence symptoms of psychopathology. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Context in action: Implications for the study of children and adolescents

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 9 2006
Christopher C. Henrich
Action theories acknowledge the reciprocal nature of the relationship between individual action and social context. In this article, the author discusses various ways that the social context and the individual's actions can interact in childhood and adolescence. From an ecological perspective, emphasis is placed on two main issues: Children and adolescents develop within an interactive web of social contexts, and the examination of some contexts without taking into account others can lead to an incomplete and inaccurate accounting of the role of the social environment. Social contexts are frequently dynamic systems that fluctuate over time, and the extent to which children and adolescents can exert effortful control over changes in contexts varies. Implications of the ecological perspective for action-oriented research are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 1083,1096, 2006. [source]

Hypo-Egoic Self-Regulation: Exercising Self-Control by Diminishing the Influence of the Self

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 6 2006
Mark R. Leary
ABSTRACT Theory and research dealing with self-regulation have focused primarily on instances of self-regulation that involve high levels of self-reflection and effortful self-control. However, intentionally trying to control one's behavior sometimes reduces the likelihood of achieving one's goals. This article examines the process of hypo-egoic self-regulation in which people relinquish deliberate, conscious control over their own behavior so that they will respond more naturally, spontaneously, or automatically. An examination of spontaneously occurring hypo-egoic states (such as flow, deindividuation, and transcendence) suggests that hypo-egoic states are characterized by lowered self-awareness and/or an increase in concrete and present-focused self-thoughts. In light of this, people may intentionally foster hypo-egoism via two pathways,(a) taking steps to reduce the proportion of time that they are self-aware (such as repeating a behavior until it is automatic or practicing meditation) or (b) increasing the concreteness of their self-thoughts (such as inducing a concrete mindset or practicing mindfulness). In this way, people may deliberately choose to regulate hypo-egoically when effortful control might be detrimental to their performance. [source]

The Relations of Effortful Control and Reactive Control to Children's Externalizing Problems: A Longitudinal Assessment

The Role of Socialization, Effortful Control, and Ego Resiliency in French Adolescents' Social Functioning

School Connectedness Buffers the Effects of Negative Family Relations and Poor Effortful Control on Early Adolescent Conduct Problems

Child ADHD and personality/temperament traits of reactive and effortful control, resiliency, and emotionality

The Relations of Effortful Control and Impulsivity to Children's Resiliency and Adjustment

The Relations of Parenting, Effortful Control, and Ego Control to Children's Emotional Expressivity

Pre-adolescent gender differences in associations between temperament, coping, and mood

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 4 2010
Gerly M. De Boo
Abstract Relationships between temperament, coping, depressive and aggressive mood in 8,12-year-old boys (n = 185) and girls (n = 219) were investigated, with a focus on gender differences. Children completed two self-report questionnaires: the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised and Children's Coping Strategies Checklist-Revised1. Comparing boys and girls on three temperament dimensions, positive affectivity, negative affectivity and effortful control, girls scored higher than boys on the first two dimensions. Girls also scored higher than boys on avoidant coping and depressive mood. For both boys and girls, aggressive and depressive mood were predicted by negative affectivity. Coping did not add towards this prediction. Gender specific models of temperament, coping and depressive mood were tested. For girls, both effortful control and active problem solving, accounted for the variability in depressive mood. For boys, only effortful control accounted for variance in depressive mood. Results showed that gender specific vulnerability to depression in girls is apparent before adolescence and can be linked to temperament and coping. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: Pre-adolescent girls are more vulnerable to depression than boys. Interventions focussing on self-control, emotion regulation and active coping are tailored towards vulnerabilities in temperament and coping in girls. [source]