Differential Components of Reactivity and Attentional Control Predicting Externalizing Behavior.

a r t i c l e i n f o The present study examined the contribution of early reactivity and regulation on externalizing behavior in pre-adolescence. Moreover, subcomponents of attentional control (i.e., attention shifting and attention focusing) and negative reactivity (i.e., sadness and anger) were examined individually to test whether a specific combination of factors uniquely contributed to the outcome. A subset of data were utilized from the ongoing, longitudinal RIGHT Track project (N = 404), in which parents reported on individual factors at age 4 and teachers reported on ex-ternalizing behavior at age 10. A hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed a significant interaction between anger reactivity and attention shifting when controlling for early externalizing behavior, where children with high levels of anger and low levels of attention shifting experienced the greatest increase in externalizing behavior over time. An increased focus on specificity is needed in research on the interplay between reactivity and regulation in the prediction of externalizing behavior. Externalizing behavior is characterized by conduct problems, aggressive or disruptive actions, and antisocial behaviors; these behaviors represent a pervasive problem that negatively impacts current functioning and reliably predicts later psychopathology in adulthood, including antisocial behavior (Zhou et al., 2007). Early deficits in self-regulation have been implicated in externalizing outcomes; however, greater specificity is needed to understand the role of individual components of self-regulation in the development of externalizing behaviors. For example, Rothbart, Ahadi, and Evans temperament model (2000) suggests that self-regulation is best conceptualized as a dynamic interplay between biological reactivity and regulatory skill development. However, the specific components of reactivity and regulation, and their subcomponents, have not been thoroughly investigated in most research. Establishing the presence of an essential and unique interplay between subcomponents would assist in the identification of those children most at risk for developing externalizing problems in preadoles-cence. The present study adopts a developmental psychopathology perspective which emphasizes the importance of developmental tasks, as well as context, in the shaping of adaptive and maladaptive behavior (Cicchetti, 1984). Furthermore, we sought to examine the contribution of reactivity and one specific aspect of regulation (i.e., attentional control) at age 4 to the development of externalizing behaviors at age 10. Interactions between subcomponents were examined to determine which specific combination of reactivity and attentional control predicts of externalizing behavior in preadolescence. Research questions were guided by Eisenberg and Fabes (1992) heuristic model, which suggests that externalizing behavior is …