Kindergarten children's attachment security, inhibitory control, and the internalization of rules of conduct

Abstract

Starting from research on relations between attachment and the development of self-regulation, the present study aimed to investigate research questions on relations among inhibitory control, internalization of rules of conduct (i.e., behavior regulation, concern occasioned by others transgressions, confession, reparation after wrongdoing), and attachment security. Attachment security and internalization of rules of conduct of German kindergarten children (N = 82) were assessed by maternal reports. Children's inhibitory control was measured with the Stop-task. Regression analyses revealed that inhibitory control was positively related to attachment security and to internalization of rules of conduct. Mediational analysis using a bootstrapping approach indicated an indirect effect of attachment security on internalization processes via inhibitory control. Implications for further research on the development of inhibitory control and internalization of rules of conduct are discussed.

Keywords: Stop-task; attachment; inhibitory control; internalization; kindergarten children; self-regulation.

Figure 1

Design of the Stop-task. Note. Depicted is a stop-signal trial (1/3 of all trials in the test blocks). In the go-trials (all trials in the practice and baseline blocks, 2/3 of all trials in the test blocks), no stop signal appeared and the target stimulus disappeared either immediately after responding or after 2500 ms elapsed without a response being executed. Stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) values were set as equally spaced proportions (i.e., 20, 40, 60, and 80%) of mean go reaction times from the baseline blocks (see text for further details).

Figure 2

Probability (in %) of responding to the go-stimulus despite that a stop signal appeared [p(response | stop signal)] at the individual SOAs. Note. MRT, Mean Response Time in the baseline blocks. Error bars represent standard errors of the means.

Figure 3

Mediation model for the relations between attachment security, inhibitory control, and behavior regulation. Path estimates for the direct effect of attachment security on inhibitory control (a), the direct effect of inhibitory control on behavior regulation (b), the direct (c), and indirect effect (c') of attachment security on behavior regulation (controlling for socio-economic status, child's age, and gender). Standardized regression coefficients are presented.