Diversifying a Normative Science of Children’s Self-Regulation

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Empirical studies illustrate the importance of self-regulation (SR; the integration of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to achieve one’s goals) for academic readiness, positive social interactions, and psychological functioning (McClelland et al., 2010). However, the SR literature on predictors and mechanisms is largely based on White middle-class families. Less is known about SR processes in ethnically and economically diverse children, who are traditionally underrepresented in SR research (Jaramillo et al., 2017). This lack of diversity in participant sampling is concerning because it fails to examine the sources of individual differences in SR within groups, limiting our understanding of a normative development of SR beyond White middle-class families.
This symposium will broaden the “normative science” of self-regulation to identify sources of within-group variation in self-regulatory processes among African American, Latinx, and rural economically strained White families using longitudinal designs. We examine the individual and interaction effects of multiple proximal systems on SR during various developmental periods. These proximal systems include individual characteristics (temperament), parenting (racial socialization), quality of the parent-child relationship (dyadic synchrony), and household characteristics (household chaos; family income).
By focusing on within-group processes, these studies challenge deficit-based narratives regarding the development of SR in ethnically and economically underrepresented children. This symposium will provide insight on (1) universal vs. unique factors and mechanisms influencing SR and (2) whether SR development is similar across ethnic and economic groups. More importantly, the findings from these studies will contribute to our understanding of how to uniquely promote SR among ethnically and economically diverse children.

Sub Unit

• Cognitive Processes

Chairs

• Angelica Alonso, University of Maryland - College Park

• Natasha J Cabrera, University of Maryland - College Park

Individual Presentations

• The Role of Child Self-Regulation During Discussions about the Police in Black and Latinx Families - Presenting Author: Kimberly R. Osborne, Arizona State University; Mia A. Smith-Bynum, University of Maryland - College Park; Margaret O'Brien Caughy, University of Georgia

• Relations Among Parent-Child Dyadic Synchrony, Child Temperament, and Toddlers’ Self-Regulation in Ethnically Diverse Families - Presenting Author: Angelica Alonso, University of Maryland - College Park; Natasha J Cabrera, University of Maryland - College Park; Stephanie M Reich, University of California - Irvine

• Family Chaos and Self-Regulation in Middle Childhood: Individual Differences from a Holistic Dynamic System Perspective - Presenting Author: Dian Yu, Oklahoma State University - Stillwater; Margaret O'Brien Caughy, University of Georgia; Rachel M Taylor, University of Georgia

• Parental Language Input and Toddlers’ Speech Use During a Self-Regulation Challenge among Economically Strained Families - Presenting Author: Yeunjoo Kim, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Crystal Thinzar, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Margaret A. Fields-Olivieri, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Pamela M Cole, Pennsylvania State University, University Park