Early Childhood Behavioral Inhibition To Social Adjustment: A Follow-up Study From Age 2 To 11 Years

Behavioral inhibition is a temperamental dimension that refers to the initial negative reaction of young children(typically toddlers)to a new or novel environment or stimulus.A large number of studies conducted in Western countries have found that behavioral inhibition in early childhood is often associated with a variety of cognitive,social and emotional adjustment problems in later life.However,not all children who exhibit the characteristics of inhibited temperament in the early stage will have adjustment difficulties later,and children’s self regulatory ability may play a critical role in the relationship between early behavioral inhibition and later social adaptation.In addition,the adaptive functioning of behavioral inhibition is different across different cultures.For example,studies have found that behavioral inhibition is associated with positive adaptive outcomes in Chinese culture.But on the whole,research on this topic is still very rare.Therefore,the present study aims to explore the relationship between early behavioral inhibition and social adjustment during adolescence,and the potential moderate role of self regulatory,in the context of rapid social changes.The study followed 354 children in Nanjing,Jiangsu province,for nine years.When children were 2 years old(M age =2.16,SD=0.14),children and their parents were invited to participate in the study.Behavioral inhibition scores were obtained through laboratory observation and coding.When children were 7 years old,they and their parents were again invited to participate in the study.Children completed several effortful control tasks,and the parents filled out the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire(CBQ),which measured children’s effortful control.When children were 11 years old,they were invited again,and were asked to completed computer tasks which measured their effortful control and filled out questionnaires which examined their social adjustment.The main findings are as follows :(1)Overally,there is no significant association between behavioral inhibition at age 2 and social adjustment at age 11;(2)The relationship between behavioral inhibition at the age of 2 and social adjustment at the age of 11 varies with the level ofchildren’s self regulatory ability,and for children with higher inhibitory control at age 7,behavioral inhibition at age 2 positively predicted their social anxiety at age 11,however,for children with lower inhibitory control at age 7,behavioral inhibition at age 2 negatively predicted their social anxiety at age 11;for children with higher levels of error monitoring at age 11,their behavioral inhibition at age 2 would more strongly predicted their self-esteem at age 11.The results indicate that higher inhibitory control have a negative effect on inhibited children,and the role of error monitoring needs further investigation.