The many factors that shape self-regulation in children
A new study from the ASU Department of Psychology has shown that mothers, fathers, genetics and life experiences all affect self-regulation skills in children. For instance, fathers influenced how well children were able to focus attention. Photo by Vitaly Gariev/Pexels
Why are some kids easily able to keep listening to a teacher when their friends are chatting, refrain from blurting out an answer or get started on their homework instead of playing?
The ability to pay attention, manage impulses and to intentionally start a behavior are all examples of self-regulation.
Children vary widely in their ability to regulate their behaviors, and a new study from the Arizona State University Department of Psychology has shown that genetics and the actions of mothers and fathers all play a role in how self-regulation differs across kids.
“Self-regulation predicts physical health, mental health, less alcohol and drug use, less criminal offending and higher family incomes. This study shows how self-regulation clusters in families and how genetics and life experiences work together to set children up for success in life,” said Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant, professor of psychology and senior author on the paper.
The work, which was published in Child Development, is part of the Arizona Twin Project, which is co-led by Lemery-Chalfant, Mary Davis, professor emeritus of psychology, and Leah Doane, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology.
Genetic and life experience influences are not competing explanations.
Qingyang LiuPostdoctoral researcher scholar, ASU Department of Psychology
The influence of Mom and Dad
The research team studied 935 twins when they were 8 and 10 years old. Mothers and fathers completed surveys that measured their own self-regulation abilities. Parents and teachers completed surveys that assessed the children’s self-regulation.
Mothers who reported having high self-regulation abilities themselves had children who were better able to begin and persist at a task, focus their attention and inhibit inappropriate responses. These children were also less impulsive overall. This relationship was found when children were 8 and when they were 10.
Fathers had a later and specific influence on their children’s self-regulation abilities. The fathers who reported a strong ability to focus their attention had children who were better at paying attention. This relationship was found only when the children were 10 years old.
“Children learn self-regulation gradually through repeated experiences,” said Qingyang Liu, a postdoctoral research scholar and first author on the paper.
“Parents can model pausing before reacting, organizing a task, recovering from frustration and returning their attention to a goal. Predictable routines, clear expectations, warm guidance and opportunities to make age-appropriate choices can give children regular practice with these skills.”
The synergy of genes and life experiences
Comparing findings from fraternal and identical twins lets researchers tease apart contributions from genetics and life experiences.
“Genetic and life experience influences are not competing explanations,” Liu said. “Children actively respond to, select and shape their environments partly on the basis of their individual characteristics, and supportive environments can influence how those characteristics develop and are expressed.”
All the aspects of self-regulation measured in this study were influenced by genes to some extent.
“Finding a genetic influence does not mean that a child’s self-regulation ability is fixed or that parenting and other life experiences do not matter. Heritability describes sources of differences among children in a particular population and context; it does not determine any child’s potential,” Liu explained.
Life experiences that were shared across twins, which could include parenting style or home environment, influenced inhibitory control and the ability to intentionally start a behavior. The researchers also found that nonshared life experiences, which could include being in different classrooms at school and having distinct friend groups, influenced self-regulation abilities in the children.
“Self-regulation is not a single ability with a single developmental pathway, and understanding these differences may eventually help us tailor support to a particular skill that a child is working on,” Liu said.
This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health.
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