Zhang Jin-song, Jin Xing-ming, Shen Xiao-ming
Department of Children and Adolescents Healthcare, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Xin Hua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, China.
Zhonghua Er Ke Za Zhi. 2006 Jan;44(1):31-6.
To study the development of self-regulation competence and its relationship with behavioral problems in Chinese children with the method of questionnaire assessment.
The subjects of the study consisted of 18 to 36 months old toddlers and 3 to 6 years old children. Self-regulation competence in this study included effortful control and self-regulation development. Effortful control is the concept described in Rothbart theory. Attentional focus and inhibitory control were two components in effortful control, which mainly reflect the positive control of emotion and behavior. The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ) and Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) were adopted to assess the attentional focus and inhibitory control of effortful control and impulsivity in children at different ages. Achenbach's Children Behavioral Checklist was used to measure behavioral problems in three to five years old children.
Totally 114 18 to 36 months old toddlers and 443 3 to 6 years old children were enrolled in data analysis. (1) The internal consistency of attentional focus in ECBQ and CBQ, alpha (Cronbach) value was respectively 0.89 and 0.75. The internal consistency of inhibitory control, alpha value was respectively 0.84 and 0.78. The alpha value of self-regulation development was respectively 0.84 and 0.94. (2) In 18 to 36 months old toddlers, there was no significant difference between genders in effortful control and self-regulation development. In 3 to 6 years old children, the score of girls' effortful control was higher than the score of boys' effortful control, the scores of girls' self-regulation development factor except regulation motion were significantly higher than boys (t = 4.27 and 11.14, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). (3) The self-regulation competence including attentional focus, inhibitory control and all the factors in self-regulation development was significantly higher with age in three to six years old children (F = 2.9-10.16, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Children in this period already had some regulation skills. The development of regulation competence and regulation skill was not on the same step. Some were fast and some were slow. (4) The scores of attention focus and inhibitory control had significantly positive correlation with the general score of self-regulation development, the coefficient of partial correlation analysis was 0.52 and 0.64, respectively (P < 0.001). (5) The impulsivity had no significant correlation with self-regulation competence in 18 to 36 months old toddlers. The scores of impulsivity and behavioral problems scores had significantly negative correlation with attentional focus, inhibitory control and self-regulation development in 3-to-6 years old children. The coefficients were at low level, none was beyond -0.30 (P < 0.001).
Effortful control or self-regulation had sex differences, girls had higher competence than boys, except motivation of self-regulation. But such sex differences did not show significant difference in children younger than three years of age in this study. This phenomenon is consistent with the development of self-regulation reported by Kopp. Child self-regulation competence increases with age. Generally speaking, the lower self-regulation competent, the higher impulsivity and behavioral problems, but the correlation was at a low level. For assessment and prediction of occurrence of behavioral problems, self-regulation competence should be combined with the other influential factors.
采用问卷调查法研究中国儿童自我调节能力的发展及其与行为问题的关系。
研究对象包括18至36个月的幼儿和3至6岁的儿童。本研究中的自我调节能力包括努力控制和自我调节发展。努力控制是罗斯巴特理论中描述的概念。注意力集中和抑制控制是努力控制的两个组成部分，主要反映对情绪和行为的积极控制。采用幼儿行为问卷（ECBQ）和儿童行为问卷（CBQ）评估不同年龄段儿童努力控制中的注意力集中和抑制控制以及冲动性。使用阿肯巴克儿童行为量表测量3至5岁儿童的行为问题。
共114名18至36个月的幼儿和443名3至6岁的儿童纳入数据分析。（1）ECBQ和CBQ中注意力集中的内部一致性，α（克朗巴赫）值分别为0.89和0.75。抑制控制的内部一致性，α值分别为0.84和0.78。自我调节发展的α值分别为0.84和0.94。（2）在18至36个月的幼儿中，努力控制和自我调节发展在性别上无显著差异。在3至6岁的儿童中，女孩的努力控制得分高于男孩，女孩自我调节发展因子（除调节动作外）的得分显著高于男孩（t = 4.27和11.14，P < 0.05或P < 0.01）。（3）在3至6岁的儿童中，包括注意力集中、抑制控制和自我调节发展中的所有因子在内的自我调节能力随年龄显著提高（F = 2.9 - 10.16，P < 0.05或P < 0.01）。这一时期的儿童已经具备一些调节技能。调节能力和调节技能的发展并不同步。有些发展快，有些发展慢。（4）注意力集中得分和抑制控制得分与自我调节发展总分呈显著正相关，偏相关分析系数分别为0.52和0.64（P < 0.001）。（5）在18至36个月的幼儿中，冲动性与自我调节能力无显著相关性。在3至6岁的儿童中，冲动性得分和行为问题得分与注意力集中、抑制控制和自我调节发展呈显著负相关。系数处于较低水平，均未超过 - 0.30（P < 0.001）。
努力控制或自我调节存在性别差异，女孩的能力高于男孩，但自我调节动机除外。但在本研究中，这种性别差异在3岁以下儿童中未显示出显著差异。这一现象与科普报告的自我调节发展情况一致。儿童的自我调节能力随年龄增长而提高。一般来说，自我调节能力越低，冲动性和行为问题越高，但相关性处于较低水平。对于行为问题发生的评估和预测，应将自我调节能力与其他影响因素相结合。
