Trait Effortful Control Research Articles

Effectiveness of Sexual Assault Protective Behaviors on the Daily Level: The Roles of Intoxication and Executive Control.

Young adult women engage in a variety of behaviors aimed at reducing their risk of sexual assault (SA), termed sexual assault protective behavioral strategies (SA-PBS), yet the evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of SA-PBS in reducing SA risk has been relatively sparse and inconclusive. The current study examined the use of SA-PBS, the factor structure of a diverse array of SA-PBS, and their association with the occurrence of SA. The influence of state- and trait-level moderators on the association between SA-PBS and SA events was also examined. In a sample of community young adult women (N = 174), use of SA-PBS and the occurrence of same night SA were examined with a longitudinal burst design over 1 year that spanned 27 weekend nights when women were out in social contexts. We also examined the influence of state intoxication of alcohol use and trait effortful control (EC) on the relationship between SA-PBS factors and SA events. We found that SA-PBS cluster into two factors representing Proactive and Reactive SA-PBS. While Proactive PBS was not associated with SA, Reactive PBS were positively associated with a SA event occurring. There was no evidence in the current sample to support a moderating role of intoxication on the relationship between Proactive or Reactive PBS and SA. However, there was a marginal interaction effect found for the moderating role of EC on the relationship between Proactive PBS and SA. Our findings identify important differences in SA-PBS, and perhaps most importantly, suggest that not all strategies are created equal with respect to reducing risk.

Visual and auditory contextual cues differentially influence alcohol-related inhibitory control.

Representing a more immersive testing environment, the current study exposed individuals to both alcohol-related visual and auditory cues to assess their respective impact on alcohol-related inhibitory control. It examined further whether individual variation in alcohol consumption and trait effortful control may predict inhibitory control performance. Twenty-five U.K. university students (Mage = 23.08, SD = 8.26) completed an anti-saccade eye-tracking task and were instructed to look towards (pro) or directly away (anti) from alcohol-related and neutral visual stimuli. Short alcohol-related sound cues (bar audio) were played on 50% of trials and were compared with responses where no sounds were played. Findings indicate that participants launched more incorrect saccades towards alcohol-related visual stimuli on anti-saccade trials, and responded quicker to alcohol on pro-saccade trials. Alcohol-related audio cues reduced latencies for both pro- and anti-saccade trials and reduced anti-saccade error rates to alcohol-related visual stimuli. Controlling for trait effortful control and problem alcohol consumption removed these effects. These findings suggest that alcohol-related visual cues may be associated with reduced inhibitory control, evidenced by increased errors and faster response latencies. The presentation of alcohol-related auditory cues, however, appears to enhance performance accuracy. It is postulated that auditory cues may re-contextualise visual stimuli into a more familiar setting that reduces their saliency and lessens their attentional pull.

Psychometric properties of the brief loss of control over eating scale (LOCES-B) in early adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the brief loss of control over eating scale (LOCES-B) in a community sample of adolescents. Participants were 1,116 adolescents (11-15 years; 53% girls; 53% non-Hispanic White) recruited from middle schools in the Northeast United States. Participants were administered self-report surveys during school in the fall of 2016. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the LOCES-B total score was unidimensional, which was invariant across gender and weight status. The LOCES-B had excellent internal consistency (α = .92). The LOCES-B total score had large, positive relationships with the frequency of LOC eating episodes, objective bulimic episodes, and subjective bulimic episodes, and a small, positive relationship with objective overeating episode frequency. After adjusting for demographics, anthropometrics, and LOC eating frequency, adolescents reporting higher scores on the LOCES-B total score had greater body image dissatisfaction, more internalizing symptoms, and lower trait effortful control. Findings suggested that the LOCES-B is a reliable and valid measure of LOC eating in early adolescents. The availability of the LOCES-B has the potential to elucidate the developmental trajectories, predictors, and outcomes of LOC eating across the full severity spectrum in large cohort studies of youth.

High effortful control is associated with reduced emotional expressiveness in young children

The current study tested the claim that trait effortful control (EC), the ability to suppress a dominant response to perform a subdominant response, is associated with children’s emotion expression. Participants were 206 community children between the ages of 3 and 7years. Children completed a battery of 10 laboratory tasks to assess temperamental differences in EC, as well as positive and negative emotionality. We report on bivariate associations between laboratory-assessed and parent-reported EC and laboratory-assessed emotions of different valences and intensity levels. Children coded as high in lab-assessed EC exhibited fewer total emotional expressions (positive and negative emotions), and engaged in lower intensity expressions than children lower in EC. Parent-reported EC measures were weakly associated with laboratory measures of emotion.

Reprint of “Effortful control, depression, and anxiety correlate with the influence of emotion on executive attentional control”

Recent evidence confirms that emotion can trigger executive attentional control. Participants resolve conflict faster when encountering emotionally negative or positive stimuli. This effect is accompanied by an enlarged conflict negativity in event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and activation of the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in fMRI. Here, we tested whether temperament (the trait effortful control) and subclinical factors (anxiety, depression) can influence the emotional modulation of executive attention. These factors correlated with conflict processing in six experiments that utilized different conflict tasks (flanker, Simon) and different types of emotional stimuli (visual, auditory). Participants high in effortful control and low in anxiety and depression responded faster to conflict processing in emotional stimuli, showed an enhanced ERP conflict negativity, and additional activation in the ventral ACC. The data show that temperamental effortful control, depression, and anxiety are related to the influence of emotion on executive attention and its underlying neural correlates.

Effortful control, depression, and anxiety correlate with the influence of emotion on executive attentional control

Recent evidence confirms that emotion can trigger executive attentional control. Participants resolve conflict faster when encountering emotionally negative or positive stimuli. This effect is accompanied by an enlarged conflict negativity in event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and activation of the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in fMRI. Here, we tested whether temperament (the trait effortful control) and subclinical factors (anxiety, depression) can influence the emotional modulation of executive attention. These factors correlated with conflict processing in six experiments that utilized different conflict tasks (flanker, Simon) and different types of emotional stimuli (visual, auditory). Participants high in effortful control and low in anxiety and depression responded faster to conflict processing in emotional stimuli, showed an enhanced ERP conflict negativity, and additional activation in the ventral ACC. The data show that temperamental effortful control, depression, and anxiety are related to the influence of emotion on executive attention and its underlying neural correlates.

Individual differences in preschool children: temperament or personality?

AbstractIndividual differences among adults have generally been conceptualized in terms of personality theory and traits. In contrast, individual differences among very young children (birth to kindergarten) have generally been conceptualized in terms of temperament theory and traits. The present study compares and contrasts measures of temperament and personality in a sample of preschool children. Temperament traits were assessed with a well‐established measure (the Rothbart CBQ), and a new preschool rating instrument was used to assess personality traits from the five‐factor framework (M5‐PS). Indeed, a key purpose of this study was to further the development of the M5‐PS. Data were gathered on 122 preschool children who were rated by their teachers. Significant correlations were found between the temperament trait Surgency and the personality trait Extraversion, between the temperament trait Negative Affect and the personality trait Neuroticism, and between the temperament trait Effortful Control and the personality trait Conscientiousness. The overall pattern of correlational data suggests that individual differences in preschool children can be adequately described using the five‐factor theory, and that this framework may effectively subsume traditional theories of temperament. Preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the M5‐PS is offered. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effortful control mediates associations of fetal growth with hyperactivity and behavioural problems in 7‐ to 9‐year‐old children

Inverse associations of fetal growth with behavioural problems in childhood have been repeatedly reported, suggesting long-term effects of the prenatal developmental environment on behaviour later in life. However, no study so far has examined effects on temperament and potential developmental pathways. Temperamental traits may be particularly susceptible to neurodevelopmental alterations, and they are linked to behavioural problems. Therefore, we tested for associations of fetal growth with behavioural problems in children and tested if temperament mediated such effects. One hundred and thirty-nine mother-child pairs were recruited in early pregnancy.Weight, head circumference and gestational age were measured at birth, and the mother reported on their child's behavioural problems and temperament at age 7 to 9 years. Birth weight and head circumference at birth adjusted for gestational age (i.e., fetal growth) were inversely associated with hyperactivity and total behavioural problems, and positively associated with the temperamental trait Effortful Control. Path analyses showed that Effortful Control mediated the effects of fetal growth on hyperactivity and total behavioural problems. Our results suggest that an adverse fetal environment is associated with behavioural problems in childhood, in particular in those children that show a low capacity for attentional and behavioural regulation. An adverse fetal environment might induce vulnerability for behavioural problems, or it might induce changes in temperament and behavioural problems independently, representing a common cause. Pathways are likely to be based on long-lasting neurodevelopmental alterations due to prenatal adversity.