Self-regulation

Abstract

Self-regulation has been shown to have important implications for individual trajectories of health and well-being across the life course. The present chapter examines the development of self-regulation from a life course health development (LCHD) perspective. Using the seven principles of LCHD and the relational developmental systems (RDS) framework, the chapter focuses on the importance of self-regulation for health and well-being over time and across contexts and examines the pathways of self-regulation including the individual, contextual, and sociocultural factors that influence the development of these skills over time, methods for studying self-regulation, and translational issues. The chapter concludes by providing recommendations for future research and for better integrating the principles of LCHD and RDS within the study of self-regulation.