Attentional Control Is a Stable Construct in Infancy but Not Steadily Linked With Self-Regulatory Functions in Toddlerhood

Attentional control in infancy has been postulated as foundational for self-regulation later in life. However, the empirical evidence supporting this claim is inconsistent. In the current study, we examined the longitudinal data from a sample of Swedish infants (6, 10, and 18 months, n = 118, 59 boys) across a broad set of eye-tracking tasks to find stable markers of attention. Two attention indices showed a high degree of stability and internal consistency but were not related to self-regulatory functions measures at 18 or 30 months. Our findings add to a growing body of research suggesting that a relation between attentional control and self-regulation is unsupported. We discuss the need for a revision of the idea of attention as foundational for self-regulation.