Abstract
The present study utilized a multilevel approach to examine developmental trajectories in risk-taking propensity. We examined the moderating role of specific executive function components, attention shifting and inhibitory control, on the link between exuberant temperament in infancy and propensity for risk taking in childhood. Risk taking was assessed using a task previously associated with sensation seeking and antisocial behaviors. Two hundred ninety-one infants were brought into the lab and behaviors reflecting exuberance were observed at 4, 9, 24, and 36 months of age. Executive function was assessed at 48 months of age. Risk-taking propensity was measured when children were 60 months of age. The results indicated that exuberance and attention shifting, but not inhibitory control, significantly interacted to predict propensity for risk taking. Exuberance was positively associated with risk-taking propensity among children who were relatively low in attention shifting but unrelated for children high in attention shifting. These findings illustrated the multifinality of developmental outcomes for temperamentally exuberant young children and pointed to the distinct regulatory influences of different executive functions for children of differing temperaments. Attention shifting likely affords a child the ability to consider both positive and negative consequences and moderates the relation between early exuberance and risk-taking propensity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 847-856 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Development and Psychopathology |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1 2012 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
Cite this
Temperamental exuberance and executive function predict propensity for risk taking in childhood. / Lahat, Ayelet; Degnan, Kathryn A.; White, Lauren K.; McDermott, Jennifer Martin; Henderson, Heather A.; Lejuez, C. W.; Fox, Nathan A.
In: Development and Psychopathology, Vol. 24, No. 3, 01.08.2012, p. 847-856.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Temperamental exuberance and executive function predict propensity for risk taking in childhood
AU - Lahat, Ayelet
AU - Degnan, Kathryn A.
AU - White, Lauren K.
AU - McDermott, Jennifer Martin
AU - Henderson, Heather A.
AU - Lejuez, C. W.
AU - Fox, Nathan A.
PY - 2012/8/1
Y1 - 2012/8/1
N2 - The present study utilized a multilevel approach to examine developmental trajectories in risk-taking propensity. We examined the moderating role of specific executive function components, attention shifting and inhibitory control, on the link between exuberant temperament in infancy and propensity for risk taking in childhood. Risk taking was assessed using a task previously associated with sensation seeking and antisocial behaviors. Two hundred ninety-one infants were brought into the lab and behaviors reflecting exuberance were observed at 4, 9, 24, and 36 months of age. Executive function was assessed at 48 months of age. Risk-taking propensity was measured when children were 60 months of age. The results indicated that exuberance and attention shifting, but not inhibitory control, significantly interacted to predict propensity for risk taking. Exuberance was positively associated with risk-taking propensity among children who were relatively low in attention shifting but unrelated for children high in attention shifting. These findings illustrated the multifinality of developmental outcomes for temperamentally exuberant young children and pointed to the distinct regulatory influences of different executive functions for children of differing temperaments. Attention shifting likely affords a child the ability to consider both positive and negative consequences and moderates the relation between early exuberance and risk-taking propensity.
AB - The present study utilized a multilevel approach to examine developmental trajectories in risk-taking propensity. We examined the moderating role of specific executive function components, attention shifting and inhibitory control, on the link between exuberant temperament in infancy and propensity for risk taking in childhood. Risk taking was assessed using a task previously associated with sensation seeking and antisocial behaviors. Two hundred ninety-one infants were brought into the lab and behaviors reflecting exuberance were observed at 4, 9, 24, and 36 months of age. Executive function was assessed at 48 months of age. Risk-taking propensity was measured when children were 60 months of age. The results indicated that exuberance and attention shifting, but not inhibitory control, significantly interacted to predict propensity for risk taking. Exuberance was positively associated with risk-taking propensity among children who were relatively low in attention shifting but unrelated for children high in attention shifting. These findings illustrated the multifinality of developmental outcomes for temperamentally exuberant young children and pointed to the distinct regulatory influences of different executive functions for children of differing temperaments. Attention shifting likely affords a child the ability to consider both positive and negative consequences and moderates the relation between early exuberance and risk-taking propensity.
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U2 - 10.1017/S0954579412000405
DO - 10.1017/S0954579412000405
M3 - Article
VL - 24
SP - 847
EP - 856
JO - Development and Psychopathology
JF - Development and Psychopathology
SN - 0954-5794
IS - 3
ER -