Self-Regulatory Antecedents Predict Trajectory Change in Internalizing Problem Behaviors in Children

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Attention, Learning, Memory

Abstract

Given the importance of social competence in early childhood (Jones & Bouffard, 2012), there are self-regulatory components that can support or undermine positive trajectories for these skills (Rose-Krasnor & Denham, 2008). Research has supported that a strong self-regulatory foundation can safeguard one from psychopathology and later behavioral problems (i.e., socially incompetent behavior) (e.g., Barkley, 1997; Cole, et al., 1996; Hill et al., 2006; Pennington & Ozonoff, 1996). Moreover, acquiring these skillsets often emerge from the transactions children have with peers and adults, and optimal development of such skills and abilities can be impeded when children do not experience such positive interactions (e.g., Bernier, Carlson, & Whipple, 2010; Hughes & Ensor, 2008). Because of this evidence, efforts to further understand the association between self-regulation and socially competent behaviors should be at the forefront of developmental research (e.g., Woltering & Shi, 2016). The goal of the current study was to examine the longitudinal interplay between cognitive self-regulatory (CSR) abilities (i.e., attentional focus and inhibitory control) and internalizing problem behaviors (IPB) using a latent change score (LCS) framework to innovatively investigate the leading/lagging relation between these developmental constructs.
Through the use of a LCS framework, structural equation modeling was used to examine the stability of, and dynamics between, CSR and IPB. A significant advantage of the using LCS is the estimation of latent change over time. As such, one is able to examine additive (α), proportional (β), and dynamic (γ) influences on the level of change itself, incorporating the features of both latent growth curve and cross-lagged autoregressive SEM (Ferrer & McArdle, 2010). Utilizing data from the ECLS-K:2011, data from 11, 406 children were assessed annually from kindergarten through fourth grade, and analyses used sample (W8CF8P_2T28) and replication weights to account for the complex design and correct standard errors (Tourangeau et al., 2018).
As is common in these complex models, equality constraints were tested on all slope (α), feedback (β), and coupling (γ) parameters over time to aid in model estimation (McArdle, 2009); equality constraints resulted in a worse fit for IPB β and γ parameters. A series of four bivariate LCS models were compared (i.e., no coupling, CSR to IPB change, IPB to CSR change, & bivariate coupling). Child gender and age were entered as covariates. Fit indices indicated that the bivariate coupling model best fit the data and can be found with parameter estimates in Table 1. The best fitting model is depicted in Figure 1. Results indicate that children with greater mean levels of CSR reported less latent change (i.e., β), whereas greater fluctuations in IPB change were predicted by higher mean levels of both prior IPB and CSR. Additionally, the magnitude of the effect prior IPB had in predicting IPB change largely declined over time, whereas the inverse was found when examining CSR coupling estimates. Consequently, the role CSR plays in the trajectory of IPB development should be further investigated as a fruitful buffer against future maladaptive behaviors. These findings and their implications are discussed further.

Authors

• David E Ferrier, University of Tennessee - Chattanooga
  Presenting Author

• Mary Sloan, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
  Non-Presenting Author