The relations of effortful control and ego control to children's resiliency and social functioning.
The relations of effortful control and ego control to children's (mean age = 137 months) resiliency, social status, and social competence were examined concurrently (Time 3) and over time. Adults reported on the constructs, and a behavioral measure of persistence was obtained. At Time 3, resiliency mediated the unique relations of both effortful and reactive control to social status, and effortful control directly predicted socially appropriate behavior. Negative emotionality moderated the relations of ego and effortful control to socially appropriate behavior. When levels of the variables 2 years prior were accounted for, all relations held at Time 3 except that effortful control did not predict resiliency (even though it was the stronger predictor at Time 3) and ego control directly predicted socially appropriate behavior.
Eisenberg
Nancy
N
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe 85287-1104, USA. nancy.eisenberg@asu.edu
Valiente
Carlos
C
Fabes
Richard A
RA
Smith
Cynthia L
CL
Reiser
Mark
M
Shepard
Stephanie A
SA
Losoya
Sandra H
SH
Guthrie
Ivanna K
IK
Murphy
Bridget C
BC
Cumberland
Amanda J
AJ
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004532:Ego; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011779:Q-Sort; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012919:Social Behavior; D012951:Socialization; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012963:Sociometric Techniques