Developmental Traits of Impulse Control Behavior in School Children under Controlled Attention, Motor Function, and Perception

Hsin-Yung Chen; Ling-Fu Meng; Yawen Yu; Chen-Chi Chen; Li-Yu Hung; Shih-Che Lin; Huang-Ju Chi

doi:10.3390/children8100922

Developmental Traits of Impulse Control Behavior in School Children under Controlled Attention, Motor Function, and Perception

Children (Basel). 2021 Oct 16;8(10):922. doi: 10.3390/children8100922.

Authors

Hsin-Yung Chen^{1

2}, Ling-Fu Meng^{1

3}, Yawen Yu⁴, Chen-Chi Chen⁵, Li-Yu Hung^{6

7}, Shih-Che Lin³, Huang-Ju Chi²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Occupational Therapy & Graduate Institute of Clinical Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City 33302, Taiwan.
² Department of Neurology and Dementia Center, Taoyuan Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan City 33378, Taiwan.
³ Division of Occupational Therapy, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Puzi City 613016, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Occupational Therapy, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1573, USA.
⁵ Health Center, Taipei Fushing Private School, Taipei City 106343, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Special Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City 106308, Taiwan.
⁷ College of Teacher Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City 106308, Taiwan.

Abstract

This research surveyed the characteristics of the developmental traits of impulse control behavior in children through parent-report questionnaires. After matching for gender and attention behavior, as well as controlling for variables (motor and perception) which might confound impulse control, 710 participants (355 girls and 355 boys; grade, 1-5; age, 7-12 years) were recruited from a database of 1763 children. Results demonstrated that there was a significant difference between grade 1 and grade 5 in impulse control. Conversely, no significant differences were found when comparing other grades. The present findings indicate that a striking development of impulse control occurs from grade 4 to 5. Moreover, the plateau of impulse control development from grade 1 to 4 implies that a long transition period is needed to prepare children to develop future impulse control. In conclusion, the age-dependent maturation associated with stage-wise development is a critical characteristic of impulse control development in school age children. Further discussions are made regarding this characteristic, such as from the perspective of frontal lobe development.

Keywords: developmental trait; impulsive behavior; inhibition; school age.

Abstract

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