Hot and cool effortful control in rreschool-aged children: The role of parent-child attachment configurations

Heidenreich, Abbie Louise

Item

Hot and cool effortful control in rreschool-aged children: The role of parent-child attachment configurations

Heidenreich, Abbie Louise

Date

2025-04-22

Abstract

Effortful control refers to the ability to inhibit a dominant response to perform a subdominant response. There are two functions of effortful control: hot (emotionally salient) and cool (lacks emotional intensity). The current study examined parent-infant attachment configurations, an aspect of parenting that includes both parents, as a longitudinal predictor of preschoolers’ hot and cool effortful control. The families visited the lab when the child was 12 months, 13 months, and 3 years old. This study was part of a larger study of 104 families. At the 3-year-old visit, the sample consisted of 67 preschoolers. This study used multivariate analysis of variance to examine whether child effortful control (hot vs. cool) differed as a function of attachment configuration. Results revealed that children’s effortful control (hot vs. cool) was not significantly related to the configuration of mother-father attachment quality. The current study provides important methodological considerations for future research.