Predictions of emotionality and self-regulation on adolescents’ adjustment: A cross-cultural longitudinal study

Research emphasizes the crucial role of negative-emotionality (NEG-EMO) and self-regulation (SR) in the development of emotional/behavioral problems during adolescence (Eisenberg & Morris,2002; Rothbart & Bates,2006; Oldeinkel et al.,2007): different levels of NEG-EMO and SR can be differently associated to internalizing/externalizing problems, or to school adjustment across different cultures. Despite the importance of the combined effects of NEG-EMO and SR, to our knowledge there are no previous studies focused on this issue, considering the role of culture. The present contribution examined: (a) temperamental profiles in a cross-cultural sample of preadolescents, based on NEG-EMO and SR; and (b) longitudinal relations among profiles, anxiety/depression, aggressive-behaviors, and school performance, controlling for adolescents’ culture and gender. Participants were 527 mother-child dyads from 3 different countries (Italy, Colombia, and USA), taken from a wider crosscultural longitudinal study (Lansford, 2011). At Wave1 (ageM=12) youths’ NEG-EMO and SR were collected through mothers’ evaluation (EATQ - Capaldi & Rothbart,1992). After 3 years (Wave2 - ageM=15), we considered adolescents’ anxiety/depression and aggressive-behaviors using self-report and mother report, and adolescents’ school performance using mother-report (CBCL and YSR - Achenbach,1991). Latent Profile Analysis at Wave1 identified four culture-invariant profiles: Regulated (low NEG-EMO/high SR); Average (average NEG-EMO/SR); Over-reactive/dysregulated (high NEG-EMO/low SR); Over-reactive/regulated (high NEG-EMO/average SR). At Wave2 analysis of variance, controlling for youths’ gender and culture, showed that: Regulated and Average were not anxious/ depressed and aggressive; Over-reactive/dysregulated and Over-reactive/regulated were anxious/depressed and aggressive; moreover, despite the specific impairment of Over-reactive/regulated, they showed good school adjustment, as for Regulated; Over-reactive/dysregulated showed lower school adjustment. Overall, the study corroborated the importance of considering patterns of NEG-EMO and SR in the development across adolescence. Our findings highlight that, beyond youths’ culture and gender, if the impairment is limited to the emotional area and is combined with good self-regulation, adolescents’ self-regulative abilities can support their academic developmental pathways.