The purpose of the study was to examine the zero-order and unique
relations of effortful attentional and behavioral regulation, reactive
impulsivity, and anger/frustration to Chinese first and second
graders' internalizing and externalizing symptoms, as well as the
prediction of adjustment from the interaction of anger/frustration and
effortful control or impulsivity. A parent and teacher reported on
children's anger/frustration, effortful control, and impulsivity.
Parents reported on children's internalizing symptoms, and teachers
and peers reported on children's externalizing symptoms. Children
were classified as relatively high on externalizing (or comorbid),
internalizing, or nondisordered. High impulsivity and teacher-reported
anger/frustration, and low effortful control, were associated with
externalizing problems, whereas low effortful control and high
parent-reported anger were predictive of internalizing problems. Unique
prediction from effortful and reactive control was obtained and these
predictors (especially when reported by teachers) often interacted with
anger/frustration when predicting problem behavior classification.This research was supported by a grant from the
National Institutes of Mental Health (2 R01 MH60838) to Nancy Eisenberg
and an Earmarked Research Grant (CUHK4620/05H) of the Research Grants
Council, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, to Lei
Chang.