More than meets the eye: Examining physiological and behavioral regulation during delay of gratification task

Children continually encounter situations where they must regulate impulsive responses to achieve a goal, requiring both self-control (SC) and delay of gratification. We examined concurrent behavioral SC strategies (fidgeting, vocalizations, anticipation) and physiological regulation (heart rate [HR], respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) in 126 children (M (SD) = 5.4 (0.29) years) during a standard delay of gratification task. Latent variable models derived latent SC classes and examined the moderating role of HR/RSA on SC and delay ability. Three classes of SC were identified: passive: low fidgeting and vocalizations, moderate anticipation; active: moderate fidgeting, low vocalizations, and high anticipation; and disruptive: moderate fidgeting, high vocalizations, and high anticipation. Children in the active class had the lowest odds of delaying full task time, compared to children in the passive (OR = 0.67, z = −5.25, p <.001) and disruptive classes (OR = 0.76, z = −2.03, p =.04). RSA changes during the task moderated the relationship between SC class and delay ability for children in the active class (aOR = 0.92, z = −3.1, p <.01). Within the group who struggled to delay gratification (active class), a subset exhibiting appropriate autonomic regulation was able to delay. The findings suggest probing congruency of observed behavioral and unobserved physiological regulation.