Measuring effortful control in middle childhood: psychometric properties of the self-report form of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire

Effortful control (EC), defined as the ability to inhibit impulsive responses according to contextual demands, plays a key role in children’s socioemotional development. However, self-report measures of this ability are extremely scarce. The current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the EC scale within the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ), the only available self-report measure of EC in middle childhood. Participants were 441 Italian children (53.7% girls) aged between 7.9 and 10 years (Mage = 9.05, SD = 0.56). A series of confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor lower order structure, whereas evidence for the intended 1-factor higher order structure was not found. Structural equation modeling confirmed convergent validity of the questionnaire with theoretically related constructs such as self-worth, emotional-behavioral problems, and prosocial behavior. Reliability analyses indicated acceptable internal consistency for the Attention Focusing and Perceptual Sensitivity dimensions, while the Low-Intensity Pleasure and Inhibitory Control dimensions showed lower coefficients, suggesting that these subscales may benefit from further refinement. Overall, the EC scale represents a promising tool for assessing temperament-based self-regulation in middle childhood through distinct subscale scores. Future work should continue to examine its psychometric properties and clarify the hierarchical structure of effortful control within the broader TMCQ framework.