Infant Predictors of Toddler Effortful Control: A Multi-method Developmentally Sensitive Approach

Effortful control (EC) is a form of self-regulation characterized by inhibition of dominant responses in favour of more adaptive subdominant responses. In the present study, temperamental antecedents in infancy were examined in relationship to toddler EC. Parents reported on infant temperament at 6, 8, 10, and 12 months, using the regulatory capacity/orienting (RCO) factor of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised. Laboratory indicators of this temperamental construct were also collected at each time point via the Temperament Laboratory Assessment. Relations between changes in temperament across the first year of life and toddler EC (mean age = 22 months) were examined using multilevel modelling. Parent-reported RCO and the component subscale of cuddliness more specifically were the only temperamental variables that prospectively predicted toddler EC.