Children’s self-control as an antecedent of adolescent prosociality and adult civic engagement

Abstract

Guided by the ecological model of civic development, this study examined the extent to which the growth in children’s self-control during middle childhood predicted their civic engagement at age 26 directly and indirectly via their prosociality at age 15. We used data from 1,042 children (50% female, 77% White) in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Children’s self-control at 3^rd grade and growth in self-control from 3^rd to 6^th grade were significantly and positively associated with voting at age 26. In addition to these direct links, children’s self-control at 3^rd grade and growth in self-control during middle childhood positively predicted children’s prosociality at age 15, which, in turn, positively predicted engagement in environmental causes, political or social action groups, and volunteering at age 26. These findings indicate that children’s self-control during middle childhood may be an important foundational asset for later prosociality and unique types of civic engagement and may be a key factor for nurturing the development of well-rounded citizens.

Acknowledgment

A cooperative agreement (5 U10 HD027040) between the study investigators, which included Deborah Lowe Vandell, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development supported the design and data collection of the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) from birth through age 15 years. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation provided support to Deborah Lowe Vandell (PI) for the age 26 data collection (G-2017-00786).

We are grateful to the research team at UC Irvine (Andrea Karsh, Christopher Wegemer, Stephanie Soto-Lara, Khamia Powell, Olaitan Jimoh, Lea Ibalio, and Michael Mayfield) and the SECCYD site coordinators (Andrea Karsh, Susan Dell, Wendy Wagner Robeson, Carol, Rangel, and Janet Gouge Johns) for their tireless efforts to locate study participants and to coordinate data collection for the age 26 follow-up. Finally, we thank the study participants for their willingness to be a part of this longitudinal follow-up of a project that began shortly after their birth.

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the funders.

Funding statement

The present analyses were supported by a grant from the Sir John Templeton Foundation (#161089) to Sandra Simpkins, Deborah Lowe Vandell, Nicole Zarrett, and Jacquelynne Eccles, and from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (G2017-00786) to Deborah Lowe Vandell.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study from 1 month of age to age 15 are publicly available in the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research at https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/DSDR/studies/21942. The data that support the findings of this study at age 26 are available from Dr. Deborah L. Vandell, upon reasonable request.