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Updated: Dec 26, 2025
08:09
Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
Published on: February 11, 2017
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Understanding how and why effortful control moderates children's vulnerability to interparental conflict
Morgan J Thompson1, Patrick T Davies1, Rochelle F Hentges1
1Department of Psychology.
Developmental Psychology
|March 13, 2020
Summary
Children with poor effortful control (EC) show more externalizing problems when parents conflict. High EC protects preschoolers from parental conflict by reducing angry reactivity.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Interparental conflict is a known risk factor for child behavior problems.
- Effortful control (EC) is a key self-regulatory capacity in early childhood.
- Understanding protective factors is crucial for intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the moderating role of effortful control (EC) in the link between interparental conflict and externalizing problems.
- To investigate the mechanisms through which EC may protect children.
Main Methods:
- A diverse sample of 243 preschool children (mean age 4.60 years) participated.
- A multimethod, multi-informant, prospective research design was employed.
- Statistical analyses included mediated moderation to explore underlying mechanisms.
Main Results:
- The association between interparental conflict and externalizing problems was significant only for children with low effortful control.
- Children with high effortful control exhibited low externalizing problems, even with high interparental conflict.
- Effortful control protected children by reducing their angry reactivity to interparental conflict.
Conclusions:
- Effortful control acts as a significant protective factor against the negative impact of interparental conflict on preschooler's externalizing behaviors.
- Reducing children's angry reactivity is a key mechanism by which effortful control confers protection.
- Findings highlight the importance of fostering effortful control in early childhood for positive adjustment.
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