TY - JOUR
T1 - The validity of the higher-order structure of effortful control as defined by inhibitory control, attention shifting, and focusing
T2 - A longitudinal and multi-informant study
AU - Alessandri, Guido
AU - Perinelli, Enrico
AU - Filosa, Lorenzo
AU - Eisenberg, Nancy
AU - Valiente, Carlos
N1 - Funding Information:
Part of this paper was prepared while Enrico Perinelli was visiting scholar at Arizona State University (March-May 2017) as a part of an international exchange agreement between Sapienza University of Rome and the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. Funding information The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Preparation of this manuscript was supported by Grant RG11816433CBD8D3 and RM11715C809391B1 from Sapienza, University of Rome to Guido Alessandri
Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Preparation of this manuscript was supported by Grant RG11816433CBD8D3 and RM11715C809391B1 from Sapienza, University of Rome to Guido Alessandri
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Objective: Effortful control (EC) has been conceptualized as a higher-order construct defined by a class of self-regulatory mechanisms. However, the developmental higher-order structure of EC has seldom been investigated with a thorough psychometric analysis. To begin to fill this gap in the literature, data were obtained from parents and teachers of 185 children (age at T1: M = 9.43 y/o, SD = 1.17) every 2 years for 8 years. Method: We used a structural equation modeling approach for assessing if EC develops as a higher-order factor superordinate to three commonly studied self-regulatory mechanisms, namely inhibitory control (IC), attention focusing (AF), and attention shifting (AS). Results: Results showed that (a) IC, AF, and AS followed a similar pattern of growth, (b) EC displayed an acceptable degree of scalar longitudinal invariance when operationalized as a latent variable indicated by IC, AF, and AS, (c) a higher-order structure explained the co-development of IC, AF, and AS, and (d) stability and change in EC negatively predicted externalizing symptoms, much better than the stability and change of IC, AF, and AS, but only for parents' reports. Conclusion: Overall, the higher-order structure of EC was supported, but our results also indicated that there is a certain degree of uniqueness in its facets.
AB - Objective: Effortful control (EC) has been conceptualized as a higher-order construct defined by a class of self-regulatory mechanisms. However, the developmental higher-order structure of EC has seldom been investigated with a thorough psychometric analysis. To begin to fill this gap in the literature, data were obtained from parents and teachers of 185 children (age at T1: M = 9.43 y/o, SD = 1.17) every 2 years for 8 years. Method: We used a structural equation modeling approach for assessing if EC develops as a higher-order factor superordinate to three commonly studied self-regulatory mechanisms, namely inhibitory control (IC), attention focusing (AF), and attention shifting (AS). Results: Results showed that (a) IC, AF, and AS followed a similar pattern of growth, (b) EC displayed an acceptable degree of scalar longitudinal invariance when operationalized as a latent variable indicated by IC, AF, and AS, (c) a higher-order structure explained the co-development of IC, AF, and AS, and (d) stability and change in EC negatively predicted externalizing symptoms, much better than the stability and change of IC, AF, and AS, but only for parents' reports. Conclusion: Overall, the higher-order structure of EC was supported, but our results also indicated that there is a certain degree of uniqueness in its facets.
KW - effortful control
KW - higher-order latent growth curve models
KW - longitudinal structural equation modeling
KW - multi-informant study
KW - self-regulatory mechanisms
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U2 - 10.1111/jopy.12696
DO - 10.1111/jopy.12696
M3 - Article
C2 - 34923632
AN - SCOPUS:85121831068
SN - 0022-3506
VL - 90
SP - 781
EP - 798
JO - Journal of personality
JF - Journal of personality
IS - 5
ER -