Adaptation to intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure involves alterations in transdiagnostic processes including effortful control (EC), and yet little attention has been given to the ways such processes interact with family-level factors, such as caregivers’ psychopathology. This study used latent change score modeling to compare trajectories of EC and caregivers’ depressive (CD) symptoms between children and adolescents (N = 365) ages 7–17 who had witnessed IPV (IPV+; 45.3%) and those who had not (IPV−) across 3 years. Findings suggested that IPV exposure moderated relationships between EC and CD. CD was higher and EC was lower for IPV+ relative to IPV− participants, although there was significant variation around mean-level CD and EC in both groups. CD and EC were only linked for IPV+ participants, where higher baseline CD was associated with lower EC that lagged behind IPV− participants’ EC across the 3 years of the study. Rates of change for CD significantly varied for the IPV+ group only, indicating that individual difference factors interacted with IPV exposure to influence changes in CD. These findings inform literature on transdiagnostic adaptation processes and point to the potential utility of interventions to reduce IPV and CD in supporting EC in children and adolescents across contexts.

Background and aim: Temperament and personality traits are important factors underlying the vulnerability for both initiation and continuation of addictive behaviors. In SUDs there is a high comorbidity with mood and anxiety disorders and personality disorders. As there is a growing interest in the possible transdiagnostic role of Effortful Control in both SUDs as in their comorbid disorders the current study therefore investigates the influence of reactive (Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Activation System, BIS/BAS) and regulative (Effortful Control, EC) temperament and their interaction in relation to clinical symptomatology and PDs in adult inpatients with SUD. Methods: The EC, BIS/BAS, SCL-90-R and ADP-IV questionnaires were administered to 841 patients (age between 17 y and 71 y) with a SUD admitted at the treatment unit for addiction of a psychiatric hospital. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that both, clinical symptomatology and PDs were related to low levels of effortful control (EC). Furthermore, cluster C PDs were related to high levels of BIS and low levels of EC; whereas cluster B PDs were related to low levels of EC and high levels of BAS for the narcissistic and histrionic PD. An interaction effect (BIS*EC) was found for the Schizotypal PD, all other interactions (BIS*EC and BAS*EC) were not significant. Discussion: We found that low EC is involved in all clinical symptomatology and PDs in a sample of inpatients with SUDs. Therapeutic interventions aiming at strengthening effortful control can possibly result in better treatment outcomes for both the addiction as the comorbid psychopathology

In the first part of the talk I will show that using a computational approach, namely the Drift Diffusion Model, the efficiency of executive attention (EA) is associated with effortful control, the self-regulatory aspect of temperament in a sample of n=427 healthy subjects. Then I will demonstrate how, applying the same model, EA measured through the same conflict resolution task predicts longitudinally a sooner relapse in a sample of n=64 subjects with bipolar and depressive disorders. Lastly I will discuss how EA is associated with obsessive compulsive symptoms in the same clinical population and how they interact in predicting the course of illness. Altogether these results suggest that there is an association between self-reported effortful control and EA and that treatments targeting executive functions could be crucial in preventing relapses in subjects with mood disorders experiencing obsessive compulsive-symptoms.

Parental depression has significant implications for family functioning, yet much of the literature does not consider family-level dynamics in investigating individual, parenting and child outcomes. In the current study we apply a new index of couple-level support, partner reflective functioning (RF), or the romantic partner’s ability to consider how the partner’s mental states can guide behavior, to study familial resiliency in the face of prenatal parental depression among first-time parents. We investigate how partner RF buffers the association between prenatal parental depression and outcomes of postnatal parental depression, parenting style, and child effortful control. Maternal and paternal depression were measured in 91 primiparous couples during the sixth month of pregnancy and parental depression, partner RF, parental RF at 6 months postnatally. Outcomes of parental depression, permissive parenting, and children’s effortful control were assessed 24 months postnatally. Results indicate that average and high levels of paternal partner (not parental) RF attenuate risk for maternal postnatal depression, maternal permissive parenting, and deficits in child effortful control. Implications are discussed from a family systems approach.

Individual differences in two inhibitory temperament systems have been implicated as key in the development of early disruptive behaviors. The reactive inhibition system, behavioral inhibition (BI) entails fearfulness, shyness, timidity, and caution. The active inhibition system, or effortful control (EC) entails a capacity to deliberately suppress, modify, or regulate a predominant behavior. Lower scores in each system have been associated with more disruptive behaviors. We examined how the two systems interact, and whether one can alleviate or exacerbate risks due to the other. In two community samples (Study 1, N = 112, ages 2.5 to 4, and Study 2, N = 102, ages 2 to 6.5), we assessed early BI and EC, and future disruptive behaviors (observed disregard for rules in Study 1 and parent-rated externalizing problems in Study 2). Robustly replicated interactions revealed that for children with low BI (relatively fearless), better EC was associated with less disruptive behavior; for children with low EC, more BI was associated with less disruptive behavior. This research extends the investigation of Temperament × Temperament interactions in developmental psychology and psychopathology, and it suggests that reactive and active inhibition systems may play mutually compensatory roles. Those effects emerged after age 2.

This study examined whether the interaction between parenting and inhibitory control predicts hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention in 195 children. Observation data of positive parenting were collected at 4 years, and mother reports of coercive parenting at 5 years, inhibitory control at 6 years, and hyperactivity-impulsivity/inattention at 7 years were obtained. The common and unique variance of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention symptoms were examined as outcomes using a bifactor model. Results indicated that positive parenting practices predicted lower levels of hyperactivity-impulsivity/inattention behaviors at age 7 only when children's inhibitory control was high. These results support the vantage sensitivity model, which posits that some individuals show an increased sensitivity to positive experiences exclusively, and support the appropriateness of a targeted prevention approach in early childhood.

The current study had three goals. First, we replicated recent evidence that suggests a concurrent relation between attention bias to reward and externalizing and attention problems at age 7. Second, we extended these findings by examining the relations between attention and behavioral measures of early exuberance (3 years), early effortful control (4 years), and concurrent effortful control (7 years), as well as later behavioral problems (9 years). Third, we evaluated the role of attention to reward in the longitudinal pathways between early exuberance and early effortful control to predict externalizing and attention problems. Results revealed that attention bias to reward was associated concurrently and longitudinally with behavioral problems. Moreover, greater reward bias was concurrently associated with lower levels of parent-reported effortful control. Finally, attention bias to reward moderated the longitudinal relations between early risk factors for behavioral problems (gender, exuberance, and effortful control) and later externalizing and attention problems, such that these early risk factors were most predictive of behavioral problems for males with a large attention bias to reward. These findings suggest that attention bias to reward may act as a moderator of early risk, aiding the identification of children at the highest risk for later behavioral problems.

Aims: To determine whether distinct trends can exist in children's diurnal cortisol slopes as they transition to school, and the extent to which these trends relate to preschool attendance and/or exerted effortful control. Method: A secondary analysis of the anonymised data gathered for the UK Transition to School Study was carried out. 105 children were studied over a 12-month period during transition to school at mean age 55 months. Children's diurnal cortisol slopes were measured as the difference between average salivary cortisol concentrations (SCC) sampled at waking and early evening over two days at each of three measurement time points: 4 months before, 2 weeks after, and 6 months after school entry. Children's effortful control was measured at 2 weeks after school entry using the parent-administered Child Behavior Questionnaire. Parental questionnaires recorded the duration children spent in preschool (months; days per week; hours per week), and four background characteristics: child gender, parental cohabitation, responding parent's age, and responding parent's level of education. Findings: Latent class growth analysis suggested two distinct trends in diurnal cortisol slopes during children's transition to school: 39% of children demonstrated flatter diurnal cortisol slopes. These children were likely to have spent fewer hours per week in preschool, and were likely to exert less effortful control 2 weeks after transitioning to school. These associations underscore the importance of continuity in children's daily routines as they transition to school. Implications are discussed concerning school readiness and the effectiveness of early interventions.

Our goal was to estimate genetic and environmental sources of influence on adolescent problematic internet use, and whether these individual differences can be explained by effortful control, an important aspect of self-regulation. A sample of 825 pairs of Chinese adolescent twins and their parents provided reports of problematic internet use and effortful control. Univariate analysis revealed that genetic factors explained 58–66% of variance in problematic internet use, with the rest explained by non-shared environmental factors. Sex difference was found, suggesting boys’ problematic internet use was more influenced by genetic influences than girls’ problematic internet use. Bivariate analysis indicated that effortful control accounted for a modest portion of the genetic and non-shared environmental variance in problematic internet use among girls. In contrast, among boys, effortful control explained between 6% (parent report) and 20% (self-report) of variance in problematic internet use through overlapping genetic pathways. Adolescent problematic internet use is heritable, and poor effortful control can partly explain adolescent problematic internet use, with effects stronger for boys. Implications for future research are discussed.

Our review examines the current state of the research on hot executive function (EF), as contrasted with cool EF, with regard to the evidence for construct validity. Current theoretical discussions have examined the conceptual overlap among constructs such as hot EF, effortful control, self-control, and self-regulation. We explore this emerging literature with a focus on research questions, tasks, and methods. Finally, we consider the unresolved questions facing the study of hot EF, most notably the difficulty in determining the relative “heat” of a given task based on task content, testing context, and the individual differences among the participants. (JINS, 2014, 20, 1–5)

This study explored the predictive power of effortful control (EC) on empathy, academic performance, and social competence in adolescents. We obtained self-report measures of EC and dispositional empathy in 359 students (197 girls and 162 boys) aged between 12 and 14 years. Each student provided information about the prosocial behavior of the rest of his/her classmates and completed a sociogram. At the end of the school year, we calculated the mean grade of each student and the teacher responsible for each class completed a questionnaire on the academic skills of his/her students. The study confirmed the existence of a structural equation model (SEM) in which EC directly predicted academic performance and social competence. Additionally, empathic concern partially mediated the effect of EC on social competence. Finally, social competence significantly predicted academic performance. The article discusses the practical applications of the model proposed.

This study had two objectives: To examine poorly understood patterns of young children's electrodermal reactivity and to test the hypothesis that this reactivity reflects individual differences in the behavioral inhibition system (BIS). We recorded skin conductance responses (SCRs) from 92 4-year-old children during a laboratory session that encompassed physiological and psychological stimuli. Physiological stimuli (breaths), moderately loud to loud sounds (expected and unexpected) and, to a lesser extent, stimuli with psychological significance elicited clear SCRs. Induction of psychological conflict and exposure to emotional film clips for the most part did not elicit increases in skin conductance (SC). Children's temperament dimensions of fearfulness and effortful (or inhibitory) control—two components of the BIS—were assessed using robust observational batteries at age 2 and 4 years. The theoretically expected correlations between overall SC lability (reflecting SC levels) and both dimensions of temperament were significant, albeit modest and limited to the contemporaneous measures at age 4.