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

• Published in: Child development Vol. 75; no. 1; pp. 25 - 46
• Main Authors: Eisenberg, Nancy, Spinrad, Tracy L., Fabes, Richard A., Reiser, Mark, Cumberland, Amanda, Shepard, Stephanie A., Valiente, Carlos, Losoya, Sandra H., Guthrie, Ivanna K., Thompson, Marilyn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing 01-01-2004; Blackwell Publishers; Blackwell; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adjustment; Anger; Attention; Attention Control; Behavior; Behavior Problems; Behavioural psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child Behavior; Child Behavior Disorders - diagnosis; Child Behavior Disorders - psychology; Child development; Child protection; Child psychology; Child Reactive Disorders - diagnosis; Child Reactive Disorders - psychology; Child, Preschool; Children; Conceptual Tempo; Control; Developmental psychology; Emotional adjustment; Emotional expression; Emotionality; Emotions; Empirical Articles; Family studies; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Impulsive Behavior - psychology; Impulsivity; Internal-External Control; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Models, Statistical; Motivation; Parents; Personality Assessment; Personality Traits; Predictor Variables; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data; Resilience; Sadness; Self Control; Statistics as Topic; Student Adjustment; Temperament; USA; Vigilance; Young Children; Human; Preschool age; Impulsivity; Regulation(control); School age; Follow up study; Self control; Emotion emotionality; Child; Adaptation; Resilience; Behavioral disorder
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00652.x

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.