Boys have caught up, family influences still continue: Influences on executive functioning and behavioral self‐regulation in elementary students in Germany

Abstract

Abstract:The development of self-regulation is influenced by various child-level and family-level characteristics. Previous research focusing on the preschool period has reported a female advantage in self-regulation and negative effects of various adverse features of the family environment on self-regulation. The present study aimed to investigate growth in self-regulation (i.e., executive functioning and behavioral self-regulation) over 1 school year during early elementary school and to explore the influences of child sex, the level of home chaos, and family educational resources on self-regulation. Participants were 263 German children (51% boys; mean age 8.59 years, SD = 0.56 years). Data were collected during the fall and spring of the school year. A computer-based standardized test battery was used to assess executive functioning. Caregiver ratings assessed children's behavioral self-regulation and information on the family's home environment (chaotic home environment and educational resources). Results suggest growth in elementary school children's executive functioning over the course of the school year. However, there were no significant changes in children's behavioral self-regulation between the beginning and the end of Grade 3. Sex differences in executive functioning and behavioral self-regulation were found, suggesting an advantage for boys. Educational resources in the family but not chaotic family environment were significantly related to self-regulation at both time-points. Children from families with more educational resources scored higher on self-regulation measures compared to their counterparts from less advantaged families. We did not find evidence for child-level or family-level characteristics predicting selfregulation growth over time. Findings suggest that the male disadvantage in self-regulation documented in previous studies might be specific to characteristics of the sample and the context in which the data were collected. Adequate self-regulation skills should be fostered in both girls and boys. Results also add to the importance of supporting self-regulation development in children from disadvantaged family backgrounds early in life.

Teacher-Evaluated Self-Regulation Is Related to School Achievement and Influenced by Parental Education in Schoolchildren Aged 8–12: A Case–Control Study

“…Executive functions include a set of higher-order abilities such as working memory, mental flexibility, planning, prioritizing, impulse regulation, assessing the consequences of actions, and attentional functions. These abilities provide the cognitive foundation for self-regulation (see Hofmann et al, 2012 ; Diamond, 2013 ; Gunzenhauser et al, 2017 ). Complex brain networks – including those which connect the prefrontal cortex to other cortical and subcortical brain areas – have been associated with these self-regulatory skills ( Giedd and Rapoport, 2010 ; Lenroot and Giedd, 2011 ; Leshem, 2016 ).…”

Implications of Unconnected Micro, Molecular, and Molar Level Research in Psychology: The Case of Executive Functions, Self-Regulation, and External Regulation

“…The very concept of neuro-education attempts to establish a connection between the two distal levels, micro-analysis/neurology and molar analysis/education (for a detailed analysis, see Pallarés-Dominguez, 2016), without regard for the qualitative leap and the difficulty involved in connecting and conceptually integrating the two levels of research. “ Executive functioning lays the basis for behavioral self-regulation in real-life contexts, such as adapting one’s behavior according to social standards and working consistently toward long-term goals despite the temptations of short-term pleasures (it is important to note that several terms with overlapping definitions, such as behavioral self-regulation, effortful control, and self-control, are used in the literature with regard to the construct we are referring to as behavioral self-regulation)” (Gunzenhauser et al, 2017, pp 30–31).…”

Inhibitory abilities in girls and boys: More similarities or differences?

“…The use of factorial or composite scores may limit task impurity, especially if a latent factor approach is used to obtain more accurate measures of inhibitory abilities that better reflect the real organization of inhibitory abilities during development (Miller et al, 2012). A few studies have used composite scores (Brocki & Bohlin, 2004;Gunzenhauser et al, 2017;Raaijmakers et al, 2008) or a latent approach (Malagoli & Usai, 2018).…”