Concept of self - regulation in connection to executive functions and their development in children: Self - regulation in connection to EFs

Pages: 172 - 189

Language: eng

This paper reviews the current knowledge of Self-regulation (SR) and its relationship to Executive functions (EFs) in children. SR represents activities to achieve goals in the context of human learning and socialization. SR integrates top-down (EFs) and bottom-up regulatory processes to control dominant impulses and to achieve optimal arousal levels. Effortful control (EC) is one of the top-down aspects of SR and conceptually overlaps with EFs because attentional and inhibitory control mechanisms are the central self-regulatory processes of both constructs. The development of EFs has a significant impact on SR development and their developmental trajectories are similar. While basic biological factors at the temperament level are common to both, emotional aspects, e. g. motivation, occur in SR, but only in a part of EFsm,(Hot EFs). The methods of measuring SR depend on the phenomenolo- gical level of the regulatory processes and the results may not inter-correlate. While correlations between SR and EFs measured at the behavioral level are present, they are unclear for performance tests. Performance assessments of SR and EFs often have only a weak correlation with behavioral rating scales, but coherent patterns can be identified. Complex under-standing of regulatory functioning requires an integrative approach combining objective performance measures with subjective behavioral evaluations. There are opportunities to improve SR during the lifetime. Evidence-based intervention programs are promising tools for therapeutic and preventive interventions. The profound understanding of SR with connections to other concepts such as EFs, EC, temperament and motivation can be a solid foundation for future research and may help to create more effective interventions in the following time.

Košíková, E., Turoňová, D., Mesárošová, B. 2025. Concept of self - regulation in connection to executive functions and their development in children: Self - regulation in connection to EFs. In Activitas Nervosa Superior Rediviva, vol. 67, no.4, pp. 172-189. 1337-933X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/ansr.2025.67.4.4

Košíková, E., Turoňová, D., Mesárošová, B. (2025). Concept of self - regulation in connection to executive functions and their development in children: Self - regulation in connection to EFs. Activitas Nervosa Superior Rediviva, 67(4), 172-189. 1337-933X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/ansr.2025.67.4.4

Publisher: Centre of Experimental Medicine SAS/INPP