Inform educators and clinicians about acute effects of negative life events on self-control and offer interventions to affected children¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (2 for, 1 mixed) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

In the Conclusion the authors propose two practical implications should future research affirm the findings: first, "educators and clinicians might be informed about the acute influence of negative life events on self-control so as to obviate misinterpretation of stress-related impulsive behavior" (e.g., inaccurate ADHD diagnoses); second, identifying children coping with stressful life events and providing interventions that enhance self-control capacity or improve coping skills. Because life stress correlates with social disadvantage, such policies may disproportionately benefit the least advantaged youth.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Identification of children coping with stressful life events

Constraints¶

• The authors condition these implications on future research affirming the findings

Target Learners¶

• early adolescents experiencing negative life events

Target Learning Goals¶

• self-control
• coping skills

Claims¶

• Negative life events predict rank-order decreases in self-control in early adolescents over time, controlling for baseline self-control and demographics [+W]
• Perceived stress mediates the effect of negative life events on self-control decreases when measured at temporally separated occasions (Study 3) [+W]
• Exploratory moderation analyses found no significant moderators (age, gender, SES, baseline self-control, baseline life events) of the life events–self-control relation [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Study basic learning processes in stress-exposed youth to guide targeted prevention and intervention

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Duckworth, A. L., Kim, B., and Tsukayama, E. (2013). Life stress impairs self-control in early adolescence. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00608