The Moderating Role Of Effortful Control In Children’s Loneliness And Their Social Relationships And Internalizing Emotions At School

Effortful control (EC) is a temperament dimension of self-regulation (Rothbart et al.,2003). While EC often serves as a protective factor against maladjustment (Shiner & Masten,2012), some studies also document that one component of EC (inhibitory control) may serve as a risk factor for the increase of internalizing emotions (Brooker et al.,2016). This study examines the moderating role of children's EC in the link between loneliness and social relationships and internalizing emotions at school. Participants were 169 children in Italy aged 8–14 years (M=10.82,SD=1.78). Children’s EC was reported by their parents (EATQ-R;Ellis & Rothbart,2001), while children reported their loneliness (Asher et al.,1984), positive and negative affect (PANAS;Watson et al.,1988), social anxiety (SASC-R;La Greca & Stone,1993), and closeness and conflict with teachers (SPARTS;Kommen & Jelleshma,2015). All measures displayed good Cronbach’s alpha values (αs=.71–91). Findings revealed that the negative link between loneliness and close teacher-child relationships was stronger at higher (b=-.54,p<.001) than lower (b=-.21,p=.04) levels of EC. The positive relation between loneliness and conflictive teacher-child relationships was stronger at higher (b=.30,p=.001) than lower (b=.08,p=.19) levels of EC. The link between loneliness and social anxiety was stronger at higher (b=.93,p<.001) than lower (b=.59,p<.001) levels of EC. Finally, the relation between loneliness and negative affect was stronger at higher (b=.25,p=.001) than lower (b=.04,p=.47) levels of EC. The discussion will focus on why higher levels of EC may represent a risk factor for the socio-emotional functioning of children who report higher loneliness.