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The Development of Regulatory Functions From Birth to 5 Years: Insights From Premature Infants
Author(s) -
Feldman Ruth
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01278.x
Subject(s) - psychology , vagal tone , emotional regulation , autoregulation , developmental psychology , executive functions , cognition , consciousness , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , heart rate variability , medicine , heart rate , blood pressure , radiology
This study examined physiological, emotional, and attentional regulatory functions as predictors of self‐regulation in 125 infants followed 7 times from birth to 5 years. Physiological regulation was assessed by neonatal vagal tone and sleep–wake cyclicity; emotion regulation by response to stress at 3, 6, and 12 months; and attention regulation by focused attention and delayed response in the 2nd year. Executive functions, behavior adaptation, and self‐restraint were measured at 5 years. Regulatory functions showed stability across time, measures, and levels. Structural modeling demonstrated both mediated paths from physiological to self‐regulation through emotional and attentional processes and direct continuity between vagal tone and each level of regulation. Results support the coherence of the regulation construct and are consistent with neurobiological models on self and consciousness.