Development of inhibitory control during childhood and its relations to early temperament and later social anxiety: unique insights provided by latent growth modeling and signal detection theory.

BACKGROUND: Children with the temperament of behavioral inhibition (BI) face increased risk for social anxiety. However, not all children with BI develop anxiety symptoms. Inhibitory control (IC) has been suggested as a moderator of the pathway between BI and social anxiety. This study uses longitudinal data to characterize development of IC and tests the hypothesis that IC moderates associations between early BI and later social anxiety symptoms.

METHODS: Children completed a Go/Nogo task at ages 5, 7, and 10 years as part of a longitudinal study of BI (measured at 2-3 years) and social anxiety symptoms (measured at 12 years). To assess IC development, response strategy (criterion) and inhibitory performance (d') were characterized using signal detection theory. Latent growth models were used to characterize the development of IC and examine relations among BI, IC parameters, and social anxiety symptoms.

RESULTS: IC response strategy did not change between 5 and 10 years of age, whereas IC performance improved over time. BI scores in toddlerhood predicted neither initial levels (intercept) nor changes (slope) in IC response strategy or IC performance. However, between ages 5 and 10, rate of change in IC performance, but not response strategy, moderated relations between BI and later parent-reported social anxiety symptoms. Specifically, greater age-related improvements in IC performance predicted higher levels of social anxiety in high BI children.

CONCLUSIONS: IC development in childhood occurs independent of BI levels. However, rapid increases in IC performance moderate risk for social anxiety symptoms in children with BI. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.