Measuring Self-Regulation in Pre-Schoolers: Links to Later Language Development and Behavioral Difficulties

Abstract

This study investigated whether multiple aspects of preschoolers’ self-regulation abilities (hot/cool executive functions [EFs], emotion regulation, and emotion reactivity) reflect common or distinct processes and how these abilities relate to later development. A sample of 153 mother–child dyads (79 girls) was assessed at 34 months ( SD  = 2.12; Phase 1), when children’s self-regulation and temperament were measured, and at 48 months ( SD  = 0.98; Phase 2), when children’s verbal ability and behavioral difficulties were assessed. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four separable factors—hot EF, cool EF, emotion regulation, and emotion reactivity—and their links with temperament were identified. Cool EF predicted higher verbal ability 1 year later, whereas stronger emotion regulation skills, encompassing both positive and negative emotional contexts, predicted fewer externalizing difficulties beyond temperament effects. These findings support characterizing self-regulation in early childhood as a constellation of distinct abilities, extending the previous literature by highlighting further distinctions among EF, emotion regulation, and emotion reactivity, and their unique developmental pathways.