AGGRESSION

Best Practices in the

Development of Effortful
Control in Early Childhood
M. Rosario Rueda, PhD, Lina M. Cómbita, MA

Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Universidad de Granada, Spain

January 2012

Introduction

Effortful control (EC) is a dimension of temperament related to the self-regulation of emotional

reactivity and behaviour.1 EC allows increased control over action and adjustment to situational
demands in a flexible and willful manner. The concept includes aspects related to attention,
including the ability to voluntarily move, focus and sustain attention as needed, and behavioural
regulation, which includes both inhibitory control of action (not eating a candy) as well as
activation control (eating a fruit instead). From very early in life, children greatly differ in their EC
abilities. During infancy caregivers provide much of control over children behaviour and it is not
until the end of the first year of life that early forms of self-regulation start to develop.
Subsequently, the capacity for effortful control increases markedly in the preschool years and
may continue to develop into adulthood.2 However, despite the progressive development due to
maturation, EC appears to show within-subject stability from toddlerhood through preschool and
into early school age years.3

Subject

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Given its role in emotion regulation and adjustment, EC is considered an important contributor to
the socio-emotional development of the child.4 When experiencing negative emotions it is useful
to use attention in order to shift thoughts away from the source of distress. It can also be helpful
to use inhibitory control to stop aggressive impulses or mask the expression of negative emotion
when needed. Finally, it can also be good to use activation control to take actions that may
ameliorate the situation. The same range of abilities may help in a variety of situations in which
regulation is required. Many of these situations in children’s lives happen at school, and it has
been shown that EC is an important predictor of academic achievement and social adjustment at
school.5-7

Individual differences in EC are related to aspects of cognition such as theory of mind (i.e.,
knowing that people’s behaviour is guided by their mental state, which includes beliefs, desires
and knowledge). There is also evidence showing that EC plays an important role in the
development of conscience, which involves the interplay between experiencing moral emotions
(i.e., guilt/shame or discomfort following transgressions) and behaving morally, in a way that is
compatible with rules and social norms.8 Besides, children who are high in EC appear to be more
able to display empathy toward other’s emotional states and pro-social behaviour.4 EC is thought
to provide the attentional flexibility required to link emotional reactions (both positive and
negative) in oneself and others with internalized social norms and action in everyday situations.

Problems

Poor regulatory abilities often place the child at risk of developing pathologies such as disruptive
behaviour problems or ADHD.9 In relation to behaviour problems, it is important to distinguish
between reactive aggression (emotionally-driven conduct problems) and proactive aggression
(unprovoked, unemotional aggression that is used for personal gain or to influence and coerce
others). EC shows a consistent negative correlation with behaviour problems based on reactive
aggression but not so much on proactive aggression.10 Across cultures, it has been shown that
children who show high levels of emotional reactivity, either in a surge-approaching (e.g.,
impulsivity, sensation and reward-seeking) or a negative (e.g., anger and frustration) mode or
both, often show externalizing behaviour problems when having poor EC abilities.4 Conversely,
children with covert proactive behaviour problems such as stealing do not always exhibit self-
regulation difficulties. Aspects of the home environment are also important in the development of
behaviour problems. In fact, a direct relationship between positive parenting (warmth/positive
expressivity) and low levels of externalizing behaviour problems has been established.

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Nevertheless, this relationship appears to be mediated by children’s EC,11 meaning that positive
parenting is facilitated when children show more regulated behaviour.

Research Context

EC is often measured with parents, teachers or with self-reported questionnaires. These are made
up of questions about children’s reactions to everyday situations on the variety of dimensions
included in the definition of EC (focusing and shifting attention, inhibitory control and activation
control). It can also be measured with tasks designed to elicit temperament-related reactions
(i.e., receiving an undesired gift) in the laboratory, or by means of direct observations in
naturalistic settings. In addition, given the conceptual link between EC and attention,
experimental tasks often used to measure attentional control are also utilized to measure
individual differences in self-regulatory abilities.12 Such tasks usually require resolving conflict
between stimuli and/or responses. One example of this type of task is the Flanker task. In this
task, a target stimulus is surrounded by irrelevant stimulation that can either match or conflict
with the response required by the target. When distracting stimulation conflict with the correct
response, the time to respond is delayed with respect to when the distracting information
matches the target response (there is no conflict). This delay in reaction time can be used as an
index of efficiency of attentional control (larger delays indicate poorer control of the distracting
stimulation). Performance of conflict tasks in the laboratory have been empirically linked to
aspects of children’s EC in naturalistic settings. Children who are relatively less affected by
conflict receive higher parental ratings of EC and higher scores on laboratory measures of
inhibitory control.12 Moreover, using experimental tasks is particularly effective when it comes to
understanding the brain basis underlying children’s control skills, because the child can perform
those tasks while neural activation is registered with brain imaging techniques. It has been shown
that a brain network including the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and lateral prefrontal cortex
areas, mostly modulated by the neurotransmitter dopamine, subserves the function of regulating
thoughts, emotions and responses.13 Patterns of activation of these brain structures are related to
the efficiency of resolving conflict14 and variations in the size and structure of the ACC have been
related to the EC score obtained in temperament questionnaires.15

Key Research Questions

Key research questions that are currently addressed in relation to EC are about the genetic and
experiential factors that may influence individual differences in EC and its development. One

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important question is whether the regulatory abilities central to EC are subject to intervention,
and if so, what are the educational practices, whether provided at home or at school, more likely
to potentiate children’s EC.

Recent Research Results

From early models, temperament has been thought to have a constitutional basis.1 Recent
evidence is showing that polymorphic variation in dopamine-related genes is associated to
individual differences in EC and attentional control.16 However, the relevance of the biological
endowment for EC does not mean that this ability cannot be influenced by experience. Computer-
based training programs targeting attention focusing and control has proven to enhance
efficiency of the brain attention system in young children as well as reasoning capacities.14 It has
also been shown that classroom curricula that emphasize regulation and executive functions
skills, such as Tools of the Mind,17 improves children’s cognitive control.18 But home environment
is also important. Aspects of parent-child relationships such as attachment security, early positive
mutuality, warmth, responsiveness and discipline have been shown to play a role on the
development of regulatory abilities. Recent evidence suggests that autonomy support (i.e.,
offering children age-appropriate problem-solving strategies and providing opportunities to use
them) is the strongest predictor of children performance on cognitive control tasks.19 In children
who are more likely to display externalizing behaviour problems, it has been shown that the use
of gentle discipline (i.e., giving commands and prohibitive statements in a positive tone) by
parents results in the development of greater EC, whereas the use of reasoning explanations and
redirections in neutral tone is associated to poorer EC later on.20 In line with this, other studies
have shown that positive parental control can buffer the risk of developing externalizing
behavioural problems in children low in EC.21 A similar result is also found for teacher-child
relationships. Supportive teaching appears to safeguard the risk of academic failure in children
who are low in EC.22

Research Gaps

Since the entire human genome sequencing a decade ago, lots of research efforts have been
devoted to understanding genetics of behaviour and cognition. Variations in a number of genes
have been associated with particular developmental pathologies (i.e., VNTR-type 7-repeats
polymorphism of the DRD4 gene is associated with increased risk for developing ADHD).23
However, it would be worthwhile to explore whether genetic variation interacts with experience to

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determine patterns of behaviour and cognitive efficacy. Related to this question, recent research
suggests that particular polymorphisms, often those linked to risk for pathology, make the
individual more susceptible to be influenced by parenting and other experiences.24-26 For example,
children carrying the 7-repeat variation of the DRD4 appear to benefit more from interventions
directed to prevent behaviour problems than those carrying other variations of the gene.24
Nonetheless, further research is needed on how and to what extent EC skills may be influenced
by the interplay between constitution and experience.

Conclusions

Effortful control is a dynamic temperamental dimension determined by a multiplicity of factors

including both constitutional dispositions as well as experience. It captures individual differences
in the voluntary and effortful regulation of thoughts, emotions and responses. Individual
differences in EC are important for a broad range of behaviours that significantly influence
children’s social adjustment and their success in school. There are strong increases in this
function during early childhood followed by a more progressive development during late
childhood and adolescence, as brain processes related to executive control become progressively
more refined and efficient. Efficiency of systems of self-regulation is partially determined by the
genetic endowment of the individual and is also affected by environmental factors such as
parenting and education. Susceptibility to experience provides an opportunity to promote EC by
means of appropriate educational interventions. Determining the interventions and experiences
most likely to foster EC may serve the purpose of helping children to become successful and
happily-adjusted members of society.

Implications for Parents, Services and Policy

Effortful control is a quality that is key to socialization. Children need to develop self-control to
resist temptations, stay focused despite distractions, persist to complete tasks even when the
reward may take time to arrive, and avoid acting in a way that they might regret, giving
considered responses rather than impulsive ones. Evidence shows that improving EC will promote
children’s adjustment to society and pro-social attitudes, and will help to prevent the
development of regulation-related disorders and conduct problems.4,8 An important challenge for
parents and educators is to provide children with the type of learning experiences that will help
them to succeed in this endeavour.27 Parental attitudes involving secure and affectionate
responsiveness toward the child together with discipline and autonomy support appear to

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promote the development of EC.11,19-22,25 Also, emerging scientific evidence shows that particular
educational experiences support the acquisition of regulatory skills.14,18 This type of studies
provides an opportunity to turn research findings into curricular improvement.

References

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 18. Diamond A, Barnett WS, Thomas J, Munro S. Preschool program improves cognitive control. Science 2007;318(5855):1387-
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