Impairments in inhibitory control (IC) are traditionally seen as a vital aspect in the emergence and course of maladaptive behavior across early childhood. However, it is currently unclear whether this view applies to both the externalizing and internalizing domain of parent-reported behavioral adjustment. Furthermore, past (meta-analytic) developmental research and theory characterizing this association have largely neglected the vast heterogeneity of IC measures and conceptualizations. The present meta-analyses examined the association of IC with parent-reported externalizing (N = 3160, 21 studies) and internalizing (N = 1758, 12 studies) behavior problems, assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), in non-clinical populations of children aged 2–8 years. They further investigated the moderating effects of a priori IC categorization, according to a recently proposed two-factor model of IC (“Strength/Endurance” account, Simpson & Carroll, 2019). In line with previous research in the clinical domain, the current results corroborate the notion of a robust, but small association between IC and externalizing behavior problems (r = −0.11) in early childhood. However, although frequently proposed in the literature, no significant linear association could be identified with internalizing behavior problems. Furthermore, in both meta-analyses, no significant moderating effects of IC categorization could be revealed. These findings enhance our knowledge about the cognitive underpinnings of early-emerging maladaptive behavior, indicating that different subtypes of IC are statistically related with externalizing, but not internalizing behavior problems. Overall, the small association of IC ability with behavior problems in non-clinical populations provokes broader questions about the role of IC in behavioral adjustment.

中文翻译：

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典型发育儿童抑制控制与父母报告的行为调整之间关联的元分析方法：区分外化和内化行为问题

抑制性控制 (IC) 的损害传统上被视为整个儿童早期适应不良行为的出现和过程中的一个重要方面。然而，目前尚不清楚这种观点是否适用于父母报告的行为调整的外化和内化领域。此外，过去（元分析）发展研究和表征这种关联的理论在很大程度上忽略了 IC 测量和概念化的巨大异质性。目前的荟萃分析检查了 IC 与父母报告的外化（N  = 3160，21 项研究）和内化（N = 1758，12 项研究）行为问题，用儿童行为检查表 (CBCL) 评估，在 2-8 岁儿童的非临床人群中。根据最近提出的 IC 的双因素模型（“强度/耐力”帐户，Simpson & Carroll，2019 年），他们进一步研究了先验 IC 分类的调节作用。与之前在临床领域的研究一致，目前的结果证实了 IC 与外化行为问题之间存在稳健但小的关联的概念（r = -0.11）在儿童早期。然而，尽管在文献中经常提出，但没有发现与内化行为问题有显着的线性关联。此外，在这两项荟萃分析中，都没有发现 IC 分类的显着调节作用。这些发现增强了我们对早期出现的适应不良行为的认知基础的认识，表明 IC 的不同亚型与外化行为问题在统计学上相关，但与内化行为问题无关。总体而言，IC 能力与非临床人群行为问题的微小关联引发了关于 IC 在行为调整中的作用的更广泛的问题。