A proposed model of direct and indirect influences on early childhood self-control: A pilot study

Abstract

Self-control is seen as a major key to success in life, relating to better interpersonal skills, higher grades and better physical health. Given the great impact early childhood self-control has on outcomes as meaningful as our health and wealth, increased knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of self-control development should be of high priority. In this preliminary pilot study, self-control of parents was investigated in relationship to parent’s dimensions of child-rearing practices and the early self-control of their 2-3-year-old child. A model of the direct and indirect relationships between parental self-control and early childhood self-control is proposed. Furthermore, validation of two additional self-control measures was investigated. A sample of 17 mothers completed questionnaires and 13 mother-child dyads participated in a mouse-tracking task and a delay of gratification task. Results show no significant relationships, possibly in part because of the small sample size in the study, which is an important limitation. Self-control of parents was found to explain 19.3% of the variance in childhood self-control. Moreover, medium effect sizes in the expected directions were found in the investigation of validation of self-control measures. Future research should focus on testing the proposed relationships of the self-control model in larger samples, test the relationships in the opposite direction, and further add to the investigation of validation of the discussed additional measures of self-control.