Longitudinal relations among maternal behaviors, effortful control and young children's committed compliance.

In a sample (n = 235) of 30-, 42-, and 54-month-olds, the relations among parenting, effortful control (EC), impulsivity, and children's committed compliance were examined. Parenting was assessed with mothers' observed sensitivity and warmth; EC was measured by mothers' and caregivers' reports, as well as a behavioral task; impulsivity was assessed by mothers' and caregivers' reports; and committed compliance was observed during a cleanup and prohibition task, as well as measured by adults' reports. Using path modeling, there was evidence that 30-month parenting predicted high EC and low impulsivity a year later when the stability of the outcomes was controlled, and there was evidence that 30- and 42-month EC, but not impulsivity, predicted higher committed compliance a year later, controlling for earlier levels of the outcomes. Moreover, 42-month EC predicted low impulsivity a year later. Fixed effects models, which are not biased by omitted time-invariant variables, also were conducted and showed that 30-month parenting still predicted EC a year later, and 42-month EC predicted later low impulsivity. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of differentiating between effortful control and impulsivity and the potential mediating role of EC in the relations between parenting and children's committed compliance.

Peer Victimization and Effortful Control: Relations to School Engagement and Academic Achievement.

The relations among peer victimization, effortful control, school engagement, and academic achievement were examined in a group of 390 (212 boys and 178 girls) racially diverse (38.20% Latino and 46.70% White) 6- to 10-year-old children. Specifically, a multimethod, multi-informant approach was used in which data were gathered using self-report, peer-report, and teacher-report questionnaires at three points in time: twice during the initial year of the study when children were in first and third grades and once in the fall of their second-grade and fourth-grade years, respectively. Findings showed that peer victimization was negatively correlated with effortful control; however, longitudinal analyses conducted to examine causal priority were inconclusive. Results from structural equation modeling were consistent with the hypotheses that school engagement mediated the relations between peer victimization and academic achievement, as well as between effortful control and academic achievement.