Associations between effortful and automatic aspects of self-regulation in kindergarten children

DOI: 10.5176/2251-1865_CBP19.69

Authors: Antje von Suchodoletz , Ross A. Larsen and Iryna Nadyukova

Abstract: Self-regulation is one key component of young children’s school readiness. Theoretical models describe selfregulation as a bidirectional system of effortful (higher-order) and automatic (lower-order) aspects of the person that, together, enable goal-directed action [1]. Yet, evidence with regard to the direction and strength of the relation is mixed. The present study aimed to (a) explore linear and quadratic associations between effortful aspects (measured as executive functions) and automatic aspects (i.e., stress response physiology, measured through cortisol levels), and (b) examine whether associations were similar or different for boys and girls. Participants were 141 typically developing kindergarten children (55% boys) from the United Arab Emirates. Executive functions were measured with four tasks. Measures of stress response physiology included the overall output of salivary and hair cortisol. Results showed a systematic, U-shaped, relationship between effortful and automatic aspects of self-regulation (salivary cortisol: B=.18, S.E.=.08, β =.14, p<.05; hair cortisol: B=.30, S.E.=.10, β =.18, p<.01), thus suggesting that stress may not be uniformly harmful. The present data did not detect statistically different associations between boys and girls in our sample. Findings are discussed with regard to the role of context and the need to consider context-dependent effects of stress response physiology on executive functioning

Keywords: self-regulation, effortful processes, automatic processes, kindergarten children