Carlos Valiente

Longitudinal Relations of Children's Effortful Control, Impulsivity, and Negative Emotionality to Their Externalizing, Internalizing, and Co-Occurring Behavior Problems

The purpose of the study was to examine the relations of effortful control (EC), impulsivity, and negative emotionality to at least borderline clinical levels of symptoms and change in maladjustment over four years. Childrens (N = 214; 77% European American; M age = 73 months) externalizing and internalizing symptoms were rated by parents and teachers at 3 times, 2 years apart (T1, T2, and T3) and were related to childrens adult-rated EC, impulsivity, and emotion. In addition, the authors found patterns of change in maladjustment were related to these variables at T3 while controlling for the T1 predictor. Externalizing problems (pure or co-occurring with internalizing problems) were associated with low EC, high impulsivity, and negative emotionality, especially anger, and patterns of change also related to these variables. Internalizing problems were associated with low impulsivity and sadness and somewhat with high anger. Low attentional EC was related to internalizing problems only in regard to change in maladjustment. Change in impulsivity was associated with change in internalizing primarily when controlling for change in externalizing problems.

The Relations of Problem Behavior Status to Children's Negative Emotionality, Effortful Control, and Impulsivity: Concurrent Relations and Prediction of Change

The relations of childrens internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors to their concurrent regulation, impulsivity (reactive undercontrol), anger, sadness, and fearfulness and these aspects of functioning 2 years prior were examined. Parents and teachers completed measures of childrens (N = 185; ages 6 through 9 years) adjustment, negative emotionality, regulation, and behavior control; behavioral measures of regulation also were obtained. In general, both internalizing and externalizing problems were associated with negative emotionality. Externalizers were low in effortful regulation and high in impulsivity, whereas internalizers, compared with nondisordered children, were low in impulsivity but not effortful control. Moreover, indices of negative emotionality, regulation, and impulsivity with the level of the same variables 2 years before controlled predicted stability versus change in problem behavior status.

Prediction of Children's Academic Competence from Their Effortful Control, Relationships, and Classroom Participation.

The authors examined the relations among childrens effortful control, school relationships, classroom participation, and academic competence with a sample of 7- to 12-year-old children (N = 264). Parents and children reported on childrens effortful control, and teachers and children reported on childrens school relationships and classroom participation. Childrens grade point averages (GPAs) and absences were obtained from school-issued report cards. Significant positive correlations existed between effortful control, school relationships, classroom participation, and academic competence. Consistent with expectations, the teacher-child relationship, social competence, and classroom participation partially mediated the relation between effortful control and change in GPA from the beginning to the end of the school year. The teacher-child relationship and classroom participation also partially mediated the relation between effortful control and change in school absences across the year.

Relation of emotion-related regulation to children's social competence: a longitudinal study.

The differential relations of childrens emotion-related regulation (i.e., effortful control and impulsivity) to their personality resiliency, adult-rated popularity, and social competence were examined in children who were 4.5-7.9 years old and who were remeasured 2 years later. Parents and teachers reported on all constructs, and childrens attentional persistence was observed. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediating role of resiliency on the relations between regulation/control and popularity using two-wave longitudinal data. The results provide some evidence of the mediating role of resiliency in the relations between effortful control and popularity, provide some evidence of bidirectional effects, and also buttress the view that emotional regulation should be differentiated into effortful and reactive forms of control.

The Relations of Effortful Control and Ego Control to Children's Resiliency and Social Functioning.

The relations of effortful control and ego control to childrens (mean age = 137 months) resiliency, social status, and social competence were examined concurrently (Time 3) and over time. Adults reported on the constructs, and a behavioral measure of persistence was obtained. At Time 3, resiliency mediated the unique relations of both effortful and reactive control to social status, and effortful control directly predicted socially appropriate behavior. Negative emotionality moderated the relations of ego and effortful control to socially appropriate behavior. When levels of the variables 2 years prior were accounted for, all relations held at Time 3 except that effortful control did not predict resiliency (even though it was the stronger predictor at Time 3) and ego control directly predicted socially appropriate behavior.

Self-Regulation and School Readiness

Research Findings: In this article, we review research on the relations of self-regulation and its dispositional substrate, effortful control, to variables involved in school success. First, we present a conceptual model in which the relation between self-regulation/effortful control and academic performance is mediated by low maladjustment and high-quality relationships with peers and teachers, as well as school engagement. Then we review research indicating that effortful control and related skills are indeed related to maladjustment, social skills, relationships with teachers and peers, school engagement, as well as academic performance. Practice or Policy: Initial findings are consistent with the view that self-regulatory capacities involved in effortful control are associated with the aforementioned variables; only limited evidence of mediated relations is currently available.

Conscientiousness: Origins in Childhood?

In this review, we evaluate developmental and personality research with the aim of determining whether the personality trait of conscientiousness can be identified in children and adolescents. After concluding that conscientiousness does emerge in childhood, we discuss the developmental origins of conscientiousness with a specific focus on self-regulation, academic motivation, and internalized compliance/internalization of standards. On the basis of the accumulated body of evidence, we conclude that self-regulation fosters conscientiousness later in life, both directly and via academic motivation and internalized compliance with norms. We argue that elements of conscientiousness are evident by early childhood; self-regulation skills are likely a core developmental component of conscientiousness; and despite the contribution of heredity to the aforementioned aspects of functioning, environmental factors likely contribute to conscientiousness.

Predicting Early Adolescents’ Academic Achievement, Social Competence, and Physical Health From Parenting, Ego Resilience, and Engagement Coping

This study examined ego resilience and engagement coping as mediators of the relationships between supportive and controlling parenting practices and early adolescents’ academic achievement, social competence, and physical health. Participants were 240 predominantly Mexican American early adolescents, their parents, and their teachers. There were significant positive correlations between supportive parenting and ego resilience and between ego resilience and achievement, social functioning, and health. Supportive parenting was also positively related to engagement coping, which in turn was positively related to achievement and health. Controlling parenting was significantly negatively related to ego resilience but not engagement coping. As hypothesized, ego resilience mediated relationships between supportive or controlling parenting and outcomes. Engagement coping mediated relationships between supportive parenting and academic achievement and supportive parenting and physical health. Findings support the roles of ego resilience and engagement coping in positive functioning across fundamental domains of development.

Effortful Control and Impulsivity as Concurrent and Longitudinal Predictors of Academic Achievement

The goal of this study was to test if both effortful control (EC) and impulsivity, a reactive index of temperament, uniquely predict adolescents’ academic achievement, concurrently and longitudinally (Time 1: N = 168, x ¯ age = 12 years). At Time 1, parents and teachers reported on students’ EC and impulsivity. At both time points, spaced 2 years apart, parents and teachers reported on students’ achievement. In a concurrent regression, both EC and impulsivity were positively related to achievement. At T1, there was evidence of a nonlinear relation between impulsivity and achievement, and the shape of the quadratic was dependent on if EC was simultaneously considered. Results from a longitudinal analysis demonstrated that although parent-reported impulsivity was generally negatively correlated with achievement, EC, but not impulsivity, was prospectively, uniquely related to achievement. The discussion highlights the value of considering adolescents’ EC and impulsivity in models of school success.

Predicting Academic Achievement from Cumulative Home Risk: The Mediating Roles of Effortful Control, Academic Relationships, and School Avoidance

Components of the home environment are associated with children’s academic functioning. The accumulation of risks in the home are expected to prove more detrimental to achievement than any one risk alone, but the processes accounting for this relation are unclear. Using an index of cumulative home risk (CHR) inclusive of protective factors, as well as risks, we examined child-level and school environment variables as potential mediators of the relation of CHR to academic achievement in a sample of 266 third-grade through fifth-grade children. Parents reported on the home environment, and school-issued report cards assessed achievement. Results from structural equation models indicated that children’s effortful control (parent- and child-reported), conflictual peer and student-teacher relationships (teacher- and child-reported), and school avoidance (teacher- and child-reported) significantly mediated the relation between CHR and achievement. Findings offer insights into specific mechanisms that link a negative home environment to academic functioning.