(PS6-29) The Impacts of Self Regulation on Early Childhood Aggressive Behavior and Treatment

Abstract Text: Aggressive behavior has been found to occur earlier in childhood than once thought with identifiable precursors as early as six months (Hay et al., 2014). Aggression is an important treatment target due to its stability throughout development and predictive validity of future psychopathology including conduct problems and poor self-control (Kokko et al., 2007). Currently, many behavioral interventions exist with primary treatment goals to decrease early disruptive and aggressive externalizing behaviors in young children (Hoagwood et al., 2024). Beginning as early as three months, self-regulatory processes modulate an infant’s automatic and nonconscious reactivity and promote responses to handle and cope with environmental demands (Crockenberg et al, 2008; Pinto & Figueiredo, 2023; Posner et al., 2014; Calkins et al., 2016). Specifically, infants utilize attentional, behavioral, emotional, and physiological strategies to regulate independently (Pinto & Figueiredo, 2023; Calkins & Fox, 2002; Calkins et al., 2016). Recent longitudinal studies have identified these self-regulation processes, which are developed within the first two years of life, as preceding later aggressive behavior. Because aggressive behavior in early childhood is often considered indicative of poor self-regulation, identifying elements of self-regulation with confirmed longitudinal associations with aggression is key. This study sought to synthesize current literature on the association between infant self-regulation processes and later aggressive behavior to clarify existing evidence and recommend future research directions. We conducted a literature review of peer-reviewed publications to identify papers with self-regulation measured before age 24 months and child aggressive behavior measured at least two years later. Our review identified 17 longitudinal studies where self-regulation within the first two years of life significantly related to or predicted aggressive behavior. Developmentally, attention can be thought of as the foundation for self-regulation skills, as infants rely on attentional control strategies to interact with their environment initially (e.g., diverting eye-gaze) (Tu et al., 2022). Behavioral regulation strategies allow for infants to engage with their environment more actively through goal-directed movement like reaching (Berger et al., 2007). Emotional regulatory skills can be conceptualized as an infant’s abilities to self-soothe (Grolnick et al., 2006). Attentional, behavioral and emotional self-regulation strategies are reliant on biological functioning, specifically physiological functioning (Calkins et al., 2016). By clarifying the development of self-regulation mechanisms during early childhood as related to aggressive behavior, more preventative measures to alter trajectories in later childhood can be better informed. We will present findings to support the relationship between each regulatory domain and aggressive behavior across samples. Specific findings related to predictive pathways will be highlighted to further highlight possible mechanisms for assessment and treatment.