Measurement of self-regulation in early childhood: Relations between laboratory and performance-based measures of effortful control and executive functioning

Highlights

• Convergent and divergent validity were found amongst four commonly used performance-based measures of children’s self-regulation.

• Effortful control and executive functioning tasks loaded onto a one-factor model of self-regulation.

• Empirical overlaps exist between effortful control and executive functioning in early childhood.

Abstract

Effortful control (EC) and executive functioning (EF) are two focal constructs in the study of self-regulation in early childhood. Given a number of conceptual and empirical overlaps between EC and EF, this study examined the associations between commonly used laboratory and performance-based measures of EC and EF in early childhood. Children (N = 244; age 4–6 years) completed the Shape Stroop, Snack Delay and Toy Delay tasks, as well as the Conner’s Kiddie-Continuous Performance Task (KCPT). Partial correlations and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to assess the relations between performance on the EC and EF tasks and the factor structure of self-regulation. Convergent and divergent validity were found amongst the performance-based measures. In addition, results from CFA support a one-factor model of self-regulation with “hot” EC and “cool” EF loading onto a general self-regulation factor. Study results highlight the similarities that exist between EC and EF during early childhood and the need for integrative, whole-child approaches in order to understand the neurophysiological and behavioral underpinnings of self-regulation and its development.

Introduction

Children’s capacities for self-regulation have important developmental implications for their ability to successfully achieve short and long-term goals (Griffin, Freund, McCardle, DelCarmen-Wiggins, & Haydon, 2016; Mischel et al., 2010). Self-regulation has been defined as the ability to inhibit or to activate responses, through neurocognitive and behavioral processes, in the service of goal attainment and is a core component underlying children’s school readiness (Blair & Diamond, 2008; Liew, 2012; Liew, Cameron, & Lockman, 2018). School readiness, usually assessed between 3 to 5 years, refers to children’s ability to successfully enter or make a smooth transition into formal schooling. Research has identified self-regulation as one of the core developmental capacities or assets for school readiness as well as for future learning and achievement (Blair & Raver, 2015; Mazzocco & Kover, 2007). Thus, there is a need for valid and reliable methods of assessing self-regulation skills in young children to identify and offer assistance to those who exhibit difficulties managing their attention, emotions, or behaviors (Winsler et al., 2008). The primary purpose of this study was to examine relations between performance-based measures of effortful control and executive functioning, which are two major aspects of self-regulation in young children.

The literature on self-regulation in early childhood has primarily focused on effortful control (EC) and on executive functioning (EF) as the focal constructs that underlie self-regulation (Karoly, 1993; Nigg, 2017). While EC and EF are distinct constructs and come from different research traditions, they are overlapping constructs. Such overlap between EC and EF makes measurement of these constructs challenging. Thus, it is important to integrate the constructs and measurement of EC and EF in research to allow for a deeper and nuanced understanding of their unique and shared contributions to the broader construct of self-regulation.

Temperament-based reactivity and self-regulation can be observed as early as in infancy and these early temperament traits are typically carried forward into adulthood (Bornstein et al., 2015; Chen & Schmidt, 2015). EC is one of the core temperament factors that is most directly relevant for self-regulation. EC is defined as the ability to inhibit a dominant (motor, vocal, emotional, or cognitive) response and to activate a subdominant response (Rueda, 2012; Rothbart, Ellis, Rueda, & Posner, 2003). EC includes inhibitory control, effortful attention, conflict resolution, and the ability to identify and correct errors and plan actions (Kochanska, Murray, & Harlan, 2000). Researchers who study self-regulation in very young children such as infants and toddlers tend to focus on the construct of EC given that individual differences in EC can be observed early in life. For example, EC has been successfully assessed using behavioral batteries and parents’ ratings with children at 22 months of age (Kochanska et al., 2000).

Researchers who study self-regulation from a neurocognitive perspective tend to focus on EF as the primary construct of study. EF originated from the field of clinical neuropsychology, and refers to the more deliberate or goal-directed, top-down neurocognitive processes involved in self-regulation. Such processes include inhibitory control, attention shifting or cognitive flexibility, and working memory processes (Diamond, 2013; Zelazo & Carlson, 2012; Zelazo, Craik, & Booth, 2004). EF skills are believed to develop shortly after birth and show significant improvements between 3 to 5 years, and continue to improve throughout adolescence and into early adulthood (Carlson, 2005). Different models have been used to conceptualize EF, with some researchers conceptualizing EF as a unitary construct with multiple components (e.g., Garon, Bryson, & Smith, 2008; Wiebe, Espy, & Charak, 2008) and some researchers conceptualizing EF as a multi-faceted construct (e.g., Miyake et al., 2000). Some researchers have also called for the need to integrate these models because there may be more similarities than differences between models of EF as a unitary and as a multi-faceted construct (e.g., Zhou, Chen, & Main, 2012).

While EC and EF come from different historical disciplines, there are many conceptual and empirical overlaps between EC and EF (see Liew, 2012). For example, neurologically, both EC and EF involve the frontal lobe, specifically the prefrontal cortex (Hrabok & Kerns, 2010). Both constructs refer to the ability to inhibit a salient or dominant response in favor of a less salient or subdominant response. Additionally, both EF and EC focus on top-down goal-oriented processes, such as attention planning (Eisenberg & Zhou, 2016). The use of the term EC and EF often depends on the researchers’ discipline or the measures used to assess self-regulation. Importantly, it is often difficult to differentiate between EC and EF empirically because researchers often are not careful in explicitly selecting and using measurements or assessment tasks that are designed to tap primarily EC or EF (Spinrad, Eisenberg, Gaertner, Popp et al., 2007; Zhou et al., 2012).

Self-regulation has been conceptualized as consisting of “hot” and “cool” components or processes (e.g., Zelazo & Mueller, 2002) and such a framework of self-regulation has been endorsed by a number of researchers (e.g., Kim, Nordling, Yoon, Boldt, & Kochanska, 2013; Willoughby, Kupersmidt, Voegler-Lee, & Bryan, 2011; Zelazo & Carlson, 2012). “Hot” self-regulation involves situations that are emotionally arousing while “cool” self-regulation involves situations that are emotionally neutral. Although EC and EF both have “hot” and “cool” aspects, EC is typically considered part of the “hot” system while EF is typically considered part of the “cool” system (Hongwanishkul, Happaney, Lee, & Zelazo, 2005; Kim et al., 2013; Willoughby et al., 2011). However, empirical support is somewhat mixed for the “hot” and “cool” framework for self-regulation and for viewing EC as primarily “hot” and EF as primarily “cool” (e.g., Cunningham & Zelazo, 2007; Prencipe et al., 2011). Furthermore, in light of the mixed evidence and a lack of agreement amongst researchers on the factor structure of self-regulation in early childhood, the relations between EC and EF remain an important and unresolved empirical question (Allan & Lonigan, 2011; Denham, Warren-Khot, Bassett, Wyatt, & Perna, 2012).

Laboratory and performance-based measures of EC and EF have been developed and validated for use with young children. Among the methods that have been used in published studies, Kochanska’s Battery for Assessing Effortful Control, Mischel’s Delay of Gratification Task, EF or Stroop Tasks, including computerized performance-based measurement of EF such as the Conners’ Kiddie Continuous Performance Test (K-CPT; Conners, 2006), are some of the most widely used performance-based methods of child self-regulation (for a review, see Spinrad, Eisenberg, & Gaertner, 2007; also see Barnard et al., 2015).

Kochanska’s Battery for Assessing Effortful Control (Kochanska, Coy, & Murray, 2001; Kochanska et al., 2000) consists of multiple behavioral tasks that were designed for use with toddlers (as early as 22 months), preschoolers, and young school-age children. Kochanska’s Battery has tasks that assess abilities for delaying or waiting, slowing down of gross and fine motor activity, suppressing or activating behavior, effortful attention, and lowering of voice or whispering. Several of the tasks that are included in Kochanska’s Battery include the Shape Stroop and the Snack Delay tasks, with the former task tapping more “cool” aspects of self-regulation and the latter task tapping more “hot” aspects of self-regulation. There are multiple advantages to using Kochanska’s tasks to assess young children’s self-regulation, including the fact that reliabilities on the tasks tend to be relatively high and the tasks have been widely used in child research on self-regulation and have shown good criterion, concurrent, and predictive validity.

Since the 21st century, computerized performance-based tasks have been increasingly used and have become a common method to assess young children’s EC or EF. One such task is the Conners’ Kiddie Continuous Performance Test (K-CPT; Conners, 2006), which was designed to assess young children’s EF or executive control and attention and is often used as a neuropsychological and diagnostic tool for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The K-CPT is often viewed as tapping “cool” aspects of self-regulation. Researchers have found that the K-CPT as useful in detecting early onset of problems with EF in preschool-aged children. However, Barnard et al. (2015) found that performance on the K-CPT does not correlate with parents’ self-reports of children’s EF.