Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring Patterns of Self-control and the Relationship with Home-rearing Environment Among Preschoolers

  • Published:
Early Childhood Education Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Home-rearing environment (HRE) at an early age has a longitudinal effect on the development of children’s self-control. Some evidence has articulated this relationship; however, few studies have addressed heterogeneous patterns in self-control. This study aimed to identify a typology of self-control among preschoolers and examine its relationship with HRE. A total of 430 children from the Child Care Cohort study in Japan were included to assess their HRE and self-control over 2 years. Latent class analysis was carried out to identify self-control patterns, and the relationship between HRE and different classes was explored using multinomial regression analyses. Three latent classes were found, characterized as high, moderate, and low levels. In addition, two HRE items were associated with preschoolers’ self-control over 2 years. Children who often met peers of a similar age and whose parents often received others’ help to care for them were more likely to have a higher level of self-control. This study indicated different patterns of self-control among preschoolers and highlighted the significance of HRE, particularly in peer involvement and co-parenting, in helping children develop high self-control.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Not applicable.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

References

  • Anme, T., Shinohara, R., Sugisawa, Y., Tanaka, E., Watanabe, T., & Hoshino, T. (2013a). Validity and reliability of the Social Skill Scale (SSS) as an index of social competence for preschool children. Journal of Health Science, 3(1), 5–11. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.health.20130301.02

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anme, T., Tanaka, E., Watanabe, T., Tomisaki, E., Mochizuki, Y., & Tokutake, K. (2013b). Validity and reliability of the Index of Child Care Environment (ICCE). Public Health Frontier, 2, 141–145. https://doi.org/10.5963/phf0203003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, D., McCartney, K., Petrill, S., Deater-Deckard, K., & Blair, C. (2013). Gene-environment interaction between DRD4 7-repeat VNTR and early child-care experiences predicts self-regulation abilities in prekindergarten. Developmental Psychobiology, 56(3), 373–391. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolger, M. A., Meldrum, R. C., & Barnes, J. C. (2018). The contribution of maternal and paternal self-control to child and adolescent self-control: A latent class analysis of intergenerational transmission. Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology, 4(3), 251–275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40865-018-0084-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Botchkovar, E., Marshall, I. H., Rocque, M., & Posick, C. (2015). The importance of parenting in the development of self-control in boys and girls: Results from a multinational study of youth. Journal of Criminal Justice, 43(2), 133–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2015.02.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burt, C. H., Simons, R. L., & Simons, L. G. (2006). A longitudinal test of the effects of parenting and the stability of self-control: Negative evidence for the general theory of crime. Criminology, 44(2), 353–396. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2006.00052.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calkins, S. D., Gill, K. L., Johnson, M. C., & Smith, C. L. (2001). Emotional reactivity and emotional regulation strategies as predictors of social behavior with peers during toddlerhood. Social Development, 8(3), 310–334. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, W., Tanaka, E., Watanabe, K., Tomisaki, E., Watanabe, T., Wu, B., & Anme, T. (2016). The influence of home-rearing environment on children’s behavioral problems 3 years’ later. Psychiatry Research, 244, 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2016.07.043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choe, D. E., Olson, S. L., & Sameroff, A. J. (2013). Effects of early maternal distress and parenting on the development of children’s self-regulation and externalizing behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 25(2), 437–453. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579412001162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, L. M., & Lanza, S. T. (2009). Latent class and latent transition analysis: With applications in the social, behavioral, and health sciences (1st ed.). Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dionne-Odom, J. N., Demark-Wahnefried, W., Taylor, R. A., Rocque, G. B., Azuero, A., Acemgil, A., Martin, M. Y., Astin, M., Ejem, D., Kvale, E., Heaton, K., Pisu, M., Partridge, E. E., & Bakitas, M. A. (2017). The self-care practices of family caregivers of persons with poor prognosis cancer: Differences by varying levels of caregiver well-being and preparedness. Supportive Care in cancer, 25(8), 2437–2444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3650-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estecha Querol, S., Iqbal, R., Kudrna, L., Al-Khudairy, L., & Gill, P. (2021). The double burden of malnutrition and associated factors among south Asian adolescents: Findings from the global school-based student health survey. Nutrients, 13(8), 2867.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira, T., Cadima, J., Matias, M., Vieira, J. M., Leal, T., Verschueren, K., & Matos, P. M. (2018). Trajectories of parental engagement in early childhood among dual-earner families: Effects on child self-control. Developmental Psychology, 54(4), 731–743. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagne, J. R. (2017). Self-control in childhood: A synthesis of perspectives and focus on early development. Child Development Perspectives, 11(2), 127–132. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gresham, F. M., & Elliott, S. N. (2008). Social skills improvement system (SSIS) rating scales. SSIS Rating Scales.

  • Hamama, R., Ronen, T., & Feigin, R. (2000). Self-control, anxiety, and loneliness in siblings of children with cancer. Social Work in Health Care, 31(1), 63–83. https://doi.org/10.1300/j010v31n01_05

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hosokawa, R., & Katsura, T. (2017). Marital relationship, parenting practices, and social skills development in preschool children. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 11(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-016-0139-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karreman, A., van Tuijl, C., van Aken, M. A. G., & Deković, M. (2008). Parenting, coparenting, and effortful control in preschoolers. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(1), 30–40. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.22.1.30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, H., & Kärtner, J. (2013). Development: the cultural solution of universal developmental tasks. In M. Gelfand, C. Chiu, & Y. Hong (Eds.), Advances in culture and psychology (pp. 63–116). Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kochanska, G., Coy, K. C., & Murray, K. T. (2001). The development of self-regulation in the first four years of life. Child Development, 72(4), 1091–1111. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology, 36(2), 220–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.2.220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanza, S. T., & Cooper, B. R. (2016). Latent class analysis for developmental research. Child Development Perspectives, 10(1), 59–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, J. B., & Lau, E. Y. H. (2019). Teacher-student conflict and preschoolers’ adjustment in the transition to primary school: The role of child self-regulation and parents’ positive relations with others. Early Education and Development, 30(3), 423–437. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2018.1535227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, J. B., Willems, Y. E., Stok, F. M., Deković, M., Bartels, M., & Finkenauer, C. (2020). Parenting and self-control across early to late adolescence: A three-level meta-analysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(6), 967–1005. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619863046

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion and motivation. Psychological Review, 24, 224–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meldrum, R. C. (2008). Beyond parenting: An examination of the etiology of self-control. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36(3), 244–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2008.04.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meldrum, R. C., & Hay, C. (2011). Do peers matter in the development of self-control? Evidence from a longitudinal study of youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(6), 691–703. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9692-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meldrum, R. C., Verhoeven, M., Junger, M., van Aken, M. A. G., & Deković, M. (2018). Parental self-control and the development of male aggression in early childhood: A longitudinal test of self-control theory. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(4), 935–957. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624x16662921

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., Houts, R., Poulton, R., Roberts, B. W., Ross, S., Sears, M. R., Thomson, W. M., & Caspi, A. (2011). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 2693–2698. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1010076108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moon, B., McCluskey, J. D., Blurton, D., & Hwang, H.-W. (2013). Parent and teacher practices as sources of low self-control. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 12(2), 167–187. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204013481982

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, A. S., Houltberg, B. J., Criss, M. M., & Bosler, C. D. (2017). Family context and psychopathology. In L. C. Centifanti & D. M. Williams (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of developmental psychopathology (pp. 365–389). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118554470.ch18

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, B., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, M. (2002). Latent variable analysis with categorical outcomes: Multiple-group and growth modeling in Mplus. Mplus Web Notes, 4, 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neef, K. (2003). Understanding how universal goals of independence and interdependence are manifested within particular cultural contexts. Human Development, 46, 312–318. https://doi.org/10.1159/000071938

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ng-Knight, T., & Schoon, I. (2020). Self-control in early childhood: Individual differences in sensitivity to early parenting. Journal of Personality. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ng-Knight, T., Shelton, K. H., Riglin, L., McManus, I. C., Frederickson, N., & Rice, F. (2016). A longitudinal study of self-control at the transition to secondary school: Considering the role of pubertal status and parenting. Journal of Adolescence, 50, 44–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.04.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nylund, K. L., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 14(4), 535–569. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701575396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pan, Q., & Zhu, Q. (2018). Development of self-control in early childhood—a growth mixture modeling approach. Cogent Psychology, 5(1), 1544537. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2018.1544537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, T. C., Turner, M. G., & Piquero, A. R. (2004). Parental socialization and community context: A longitudinal analysis of the structural sources of low self-control. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 41(3), 219–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427803260270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramani, G. B., Brownell, C. A., & Campbell, S. B. (2010). Positive and negative peer interaction in 3- and 4-year-olds in relation to regulation and dysregulation. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 171(3), 218–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221320903300353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ren, L., & Fan, J. (2019). Chinese preschoolers’ daily routine and its associations with parent-child relationships and child self-regulation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 43(2), 179–184. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025418811126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richmond-Rakerd, L. S., Caspi, A., Ambler, A., d’Arbeloff, T., de Bruine, M., Elliott, M., Harrington, H. L., Hogan, S., Houts, R. M., Ireland, D., Keenan, R., Knodt, A. R., Melzer, T. R., Park, S., Poulton, R., Ramrakha, S., Rasmussen, L. J. H., Sack, E., Schmidt, A. T., & Moffitt, T. E. (2021). Childhood self-control forecasts the pace of midlife aging and preparedness for old age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(3), e2010211118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2010211118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (2006). Temperament. In N. Eisenberg & W. Damon (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 99–166). Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1), 2307–919.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slagt, M., Dubas, J. S., Deković, M., & van Aken, M. A. G. (2016). Differences in sensitivity to parenting depending on child temperament: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 142(10), 1068–1110. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000061

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi, Y., Okada, K., Hoshino, T., & Anme, T. (2015). Developmental trajectories of social skills during early childhood and links to parenting practices in a Japanese sample. PLoS ONE, 10(8), e0135357. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tao, T., Wang, L., Fan, C., & Gao, W. (2014). Development of self-control in children aged 3 to 9 years: Perspective from a dual-systems model. Scientific Reports, 4(1), 7272. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep07272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taraban, L., Shaw, D. S., Leve, L. D., Natsuaki, M. N., Ganiban, J. M., Reiss, D., & Neiderhiser, J. M. (2019). Parental depression, overreactive parenting, and early childhood externalizing problems: Moderation by social support. Child Development, 90(4), e468–e485. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tehrani, H. D., & Yamini, S. (2020). Dataset of parenting practices, self-control and anti-social behaviors: Meta-analytic structural equation modeling. Data in Brief, 32, 106114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2020.106114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trommsdorff, G., Cole, P., & Heikamp, T. (2012). Cultural variations in mothers’ intuitive theories: A preliminary report on interviewing mothers from five nations about their socialization of children’s emotions. Glob. Stud. Child., 2, 158–169. https://doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.2.158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weissberg, R. (1998). Healthy children 2010: Next steps? In Promoting positive and healthy behaviors in children (p. 30).

Download references

Acknowledgements

We express our deepest gratitude to the Japan Night Child Care Alliance and all the participants and staff members.

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP21H00790.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    Yantong Zhu, Dandan Jiao, Xiang Li, Zhu Zhu & Ammara Ajmal

  2. Faculty of Nursing, Musashino University, Tokyo, Japan

    Emiko Tanaka

  3. Faculty of Nursing, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Etsuko Tomisaki

  4. Faculty of Nursing, Shukutoku University, Chiba, Japan

    Taeko Watanabe

  5. Faculty of Health Medicine, Morinomiya University of Medical Sciences, Osaka, Japan

    Yuko Sawada

  6. Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8577, Japan

    Tokie Anme

Authors
  1. Yantong Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dandan Jiao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Emiko Tanaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Etsuko Tomisaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Taeko Watanabe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yuko Sawada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Xiang Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Zhu Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Ammara Ajmal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Tokie Anme
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

TA, YZ and DJ designed the study. ET, ET and TW collected data. YZ analyzed the results and write the manuscript in consultation with XL, ZZ and AA.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tokie Anme.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

This study was approved by the relevant ethics committee of the affiliated university. All participants were informed about the study’s objectives and process and made aware that they had the right to withdraw from the study at any time.

Consent to Participate

The participants have consented to the submission of this study for submission to the journal.

Consent for Publication

The Author hereby consents to publication of the Work in publications.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhu, Y., Jiao, D., Tanaka, E. et al. Exploring Patterns of Self-control and the Relationship with Home-rearing Environment Among Preschoolers. Early Childhood Educ J 51, 1349–1357 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01380-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01380-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation