About this session

Saturday, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Longitudinal Associations Between Health Behaviors and Self-regulation Across Development

This symposium employs integrative developmental science and interdisciplinary perspectives on health behaviors across the first part of the lifespan. Many important factors, including childhood health behaviors (i.e., diet/physical activity) and skills (i.e., self-regulation) have emerged in predicting adolescent health, but longitudinal studies are still lacking. The first paper examines the longitudinal relation between early childhood self-regulation and adolescent health and examines if middle childhood social functioning serves as a potential mechanism. Findings highlight significant pathways through social skills and perceived victimization to adiposity, mental health symptomology, and unhealthy behaviors. The authors of paper two report on a year-long examination of Appalachian preschooler’s parent-reported structured and unstructured physical activities (SUPAs) in relation to executive functioning (EF) and income, finding that fitness and participation in SUPAs in the fall significantly predicts spring EF, and that the influence of socio-economic status on EF is mediated by SUPAs and fitness. The authors of paper three explored early childhood EF in relation to adolescent adiposity through a mechanism of late childhood dietary behaviors and physical activity, using the NICHD study of early care and youth development (SECCY). Findings suggest that childhood EF predicts adolescent adiposity with significant indirect effects through late childhood unhealthy eating and physical activity. Together, these papers represent diverse perspectives on the importance of measuring the longitudinal interplay between self-regulation and health behaviors across childhood and adolescence. Discussions will be focused on the role of self-regulation and physical health, including implications for prevention and intervention and the importance of using integrative developmental science.

Paper #1
Title	Longitudinal Pathways from Self-regulation to Mental and Physical Health: Indirect Effects Through Social Functioning
Presenting author	Jessica Dollar, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, United States

Paper #2
Title	Connections Among Appalachian Family Socioeconomic Status, Aerobic Fitness, Executive Function, and Childhood Physical Activity
Presenting author	Derek Raymond Becker, Ph.D., Western Carolina University, United States

Paper #3
Title	The Relationship Between Early Childhood Executive Functioning and Adolescent Adiposity Explained by Health Behaviors
Presenting author	Meghan Gangel, Ph.D., Western Carolina University, United States

View all paper details

Session chair
Meghan Gangel, Ph.D., Western Carolina University, United States

Discussant
Esther M. Leerkes, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Greensboro, United States

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