Commonalities and Differences in the Research on Childrenâ•Žs Effortful Control and Executive Function: A Call for an Integrated Model of Selfâ•’Regulation

Effortful control (EC) and executive function (EF) are 2 constructs related to children’s self-regulation that have historically been the subject of research in separate fields, with EC primarily the focus of temperament research and EF the focus of cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology. This article selectively reviews and compares the EC and EF literature. The review indicates considerable similarities and overlaps in the definitions, core components, and measurement of EC and EF. Differences between the 2 literatures seem to primarily reflect differences in research focus as influenced by each field’s ‘‘tradition’’ rather than ‘‘real’’ differences in EC and EF as developmental constructs. Thus, developing an integrated theory of self-regulation encompassing the EC and EF perspectives is critical for reducing overlap and confusion in future research. The article provides a number of recommendations on how to integrate the theory and methodology of EC and EF in future research for (a) the components and organization of self-regulation, (b) the relation of self-regulation to children’s adaptive functions, (c) the neurological basis of self-regulation and its develThe work on this article was supported by a grant from the Foundation for Child Development Young Scholars Program to Qing Zhou, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to Stephen Chen, and a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship to Alexandra Main. We thank Silvia Bunge, Jeffrey Liew, Carlos Valiente, and the anonymous reviewers for insightful comments on earlier drafts of the article. Correspondenceconcerning this article shouldbeaddressed toQing Zhou, Department of Psychology, 3210 Tolman Hall #1650, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1650; e-mail: qingzhou @berkeley.edu. a 2011 The Authors Child Development Perspectives a 2011 The Society for Research in Child Development DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00176.x Volume 6, Number 2, 2 opment, and (d) the development and evaluation of interventions targeting children’s self-regulation. KEYWORDS—effortful control; executive function; selfregulation Self-regulation refers to internal or transactional processes that enable an individual to guide his or her goal-directed activities over time and across changing contexts (Karoly, 1993). Effortful control (EC) and executive function (EF) are two frameworks for studying self-regulation in childhood and adolescence that have received considerable attention in child development research across fields. Historically, these two constructs were the subjects of separate fields, with EC the focus of socioemotional development and temperament research and EF the topic of cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology. Recent research including both constructs has indicated some clear conceptual and measurement overlap between EC and EF (Blair & Razza, 2007; Bull & Scerif, 2001; Espy et al., 2004). However, dedicated exploration of the relations between EC and EF is rare. This review has two aims: to identify the commonalities and differences in the definitions, core components and structure, and measures of EC and EF, and to call for an integrated model of self-regulation that encompasses both EC and EF. We believe that combining the theory and methodology of EC and EF can benefit multiple areas of research on children’s self-regulation.