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Self-regulation and Psychopathology in Young Children

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Abstract

The current study examined concurrent relationships between children’s self-regulation, measured behaviorally and by parent-report, and children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The aim was to distinguish which components of self-regulation (attention vs. inhibitory control, “hot” vs. “cool” regulation) best predict dimensional symptomatology and clinical disorders in young children. The participants were 120 children, ages 4–8 years old. Results showed that greater parent-reported attention was associated with fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Behaviorally-measured hot inhibitory control related to fewer internalizing symptoms, whereas parent-reported inhibitory control related to fewer externalizing symptoms. Similar patterns emerged for clinical diagnoses, with parent-rated attention most strongly predicting disorders across domains. Results support prior evidence implicating self-regulatory deficits in externalizing problems, while also demonstrating that components of self-regulation are impaired with internalizing symptoms. Further, different sub-components of self-regulation relate to different dimensions of psychopathology in children. Interventions should target these areas in children at-risk for disorders.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the children and families who participated and the research assistants who collected the data. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Mental Health (R03MH102648; MPI: Katherine Rosenblum, Kate Fitzgerald), the Brain Behavior Research Foundation (Kate Fitzgerald), the One Mind- AIM Sullivan Family Rising Star Award (Kate Fitzgerald), the Michigan Institute for Clinical Health Research (UL1TR000433-06; MPI: Kate Fitzgerald, Jason Moser), and the University of Michigan Depression Center (Strategic Translational Research Grant; Jamie Lawler).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, 341 Science Complex, Ypsilanti, MI, 48197, USA

    Jamie M. Lawler & Kristin M. Aho

  2. Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Ka I. Ip

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Jamie M. Lawler, Jerrica Pitzen, Yanni Liu, Maria Muzik, Katherine L. Rosenblum & Kate D. Fitzgerald

  4. Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Jessica L. Hruschak

  5. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Kate D. Fitzgerald

  6. New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA

    Kate D. Fitzgerald

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  1. Jamie M. Lawler
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  4. Ka I. Ip
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Correspondence to Jamie M. Lawler.

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Lawler, J.M., Pitzen, J., Aho, K.M. et al. Self-regulation and Psychopathology in Young Children. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 54, 1167–1177 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01322-x

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