Abstract
Development in multidimensional self-regulation is important because it can be leveraged to enable healthy long-term adjustment. This four-wave study investigated longitudinal associations between two domains of adolescent self-regulation, specifically its cognitive (e.g., planning and decision-making) and emotional components (e.g., control of negative emotions). Participants included 500 adolescents (52% female; T1 Mage = 13.31 years; 76% White; average yearly family income > 100,000 USD). A random-intercepts cross-lagged panel model revealed that, once trait-level longitudinal stability in each regulatory component was controlled, there were small cross-lagged effects from cognitive self-regulation to later emotional self-regulation. Findings warrant additional future research that describes adolescents’ multidimensional self-regulation development and its antecedents, in part by appropriately distinguishing between intra- and inter-individual effects.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge and thank all the families that participated in the Flourishing Families Project, as well as the primary investigators of the project, undergraduate and graduate research assistants who helped with data collection, and numerous others.
Authors’ Contributions
MKME helped conceive of the study; MKME performed and interpreted the statistical analysis; MKME drafted the paper; KLM helped conceive of the study; KLM heavily edited the paper. All authors read and approved the final paper.
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The datasets analyzed in the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Before the Flourishing Families Project was initiated, the Brigham Young University Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained.
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Appendix
Appendix
Item Information for Study Measures
Measure | Items |
|---|---|
Cognitive self-regulation | I develop a plan for all my important goals. |
I think about the future consequences of my actions. | |
Once I have a goal, I make a plan to reach it | |
As soon as I see that things are not working, I do something about it. | |
Emotional self-regulation | I have a hard time controlling my temper (r). |
I get so frustrated I feel ready to explode (r). | |
I get upset easily (r). | |
I am afraid I will lose control over my feelings (r). | |
I slam doors when I am mad (r). |
r indicates items that were reverse coded during variable creation
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Memmott-Elison, M.K., Moilanen, K.L. Longitudinal Intra-Individual and Inter-Individual Relations Between Cognitive and Emotional Self-Regulation Across Adolescence. J Youth Adolescence 50, 1970–1981 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01488-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01488-y