The purpose of this study was to examine whether preschoolers’ effortful control mediated the effect of attachment security on preschoolers’ regard for rules.
Subjects in this study were 166 preschoolers’ mothers and their 17 homeroom teachers. Attachment security was evaluated by the IPPA-R Revised for Preschoolers. Preschoolers’ regard for rules was measured by the Preschoolers’ Moral Observation Rating Scale. And Preschoolers’ effortful control was assessed by the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire-Short Form.
Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, analysis of variance(ANOVA) and path analysis using SPSS 22.0 program and structural equation modeling(SEM).
The major results of this study were as follows;
First, there were significant differences in preschoolers’ regard for rules and their effortful control by gender but there were no significant differences in attachment security by gender.
Second, there were significantly positive correlations between attachment security, regard for rules and effortful control.
Third, preschoolers’ effortful control mediated the effects of attachment security on preschoolers’ regard for rules
Forth, preschoolers’ effortful control mediated the effects of attachment security on preschoolers’ regard for moral rules and conventional rules. And the model of preschoolers’ regard for moral rules showed higher explanatory power than the model of regard for conventional rules.
In conclusion, preschoolers'' effortful control mediated the effect that attachment affects on preschoolers'' regard for rules. Therefore, it is important to increase preschooler''s attachment and effortful control for improving their regard for rules. The results of this study will contribute to developing the programs that promote children’s attachment stability and regard for rules.