The contribution of inhibitory control to early literacy skills in 4‐ to 5‐year‐old children

• Response inhibition and interference suppression are separate dimensions at 4–5 years of age. • Diverse inhibition dimensions differently account for early literacy skills. • Interference suppression was significantly related to early literacy skill tasks. • Interference suppression was associated with the growth in phonological awareness. • Language, verbal working memory, and visual-motor skills are also considered. Inhibitory control is associated with the pre-academic skills, nevertheless it is unclear the role of the diverse inhibitory control dimensions especially in the development of early literacy skills. In the present longitudinal study, the multi-componential structure of inhibitory control was investigated, and the roles of two different inhibitory control abilities were examined with respect to early literacy skills, with other variables (vocabulary, working memory, and visual-motor integration skills) controlled. A sample of 147 typically developing children from 4 to 5 years of age was assessed in the winter (T1) and then in the spring (T2) at a preschool educational center. Confirmatory factor analysis yielded a response inhibition dimension and an interference suppression dimension. Path analysis was conducted to examine the contribution of these dimensions, considered formative indices, on phonological awareness and procedural writing knowledge, with the other variables controlled. The latent change score approach was used to investigate the variables associated with change in phonological awareness and procedural writing knowledge at T1 and T2. Our results demonstrated that interference suppression was concurrently associated with phonological awareness and procedural writing knowledge tasks together with the other measures at T1. Moreover, interference suppression is associated with changes in phonological awareness, whereas the other measures did not contribute significantly to literacy growth.