What Drives the Strength of Will? Perceived Self-Control in Children and Adolescents

Swati Y Bhave; Jill N Mota; Simi S Shibu; Latika Bhalla; Sunita Manchanda; Anuradha Sovani

Swati Y Bhave Executive Director, AACCI, India.
Jill N Mota Research Assistant, AACCI , India
Simi S Shibu Research Assistant, AACCI , India
Latika Bhalla AACCI Delhi Centre In-charge, India.
Sunita Manchanda AACCI NCR Centre, India.
Anuradha Sovani Advisor, AACCI, India.

Keywords: Self-Control, Perceived Self-Control, Multi centric Research, Life Skills Interventi on, Adolescent and Child Care

Abstract

Background: One’s locus of control substantially motivates the behavioural grati fi cati on of needs and orientati on to long-term goals.
Objecti ves: As a part of the Associati on of Adolescent and Child Care in India’s multi centric studies on youth behaviour, the current study aimed to assess the eff ects of sociodemographic factors like gender,
age, sibling status, and body mass index on perceived self-control (PSC) among children and adolescents.
Methods: Parti cipants (N = 964) for the study were children and adolescents between 10 and 18 years of age from English-medium co-ed schools in North India. PSC was assessed using the 11-item Children’s Perceived Self Control scale by Laura Humphrey with high scores refl ecti ng high PSC. One-way ANOVAs and t tests were conducted to test for demographic-based diff erences in PSC scores.
Results: Females had signifi cantly higher PSC scores than males in the older age group (p = 0.041). Children with no siblings had lower interpersonal self-control (p = 0.014). PSC scores were the highest among children with obesity. BMI had a stati sti cally signifi cant effect on interpersonal self-control (p = 0.044), self-evaluati on (p < 0.000), and total PSC scores (p = 0.009).
Conclusions: The fi ndings may refl ect the internalisati on of systemic gender-strati fi ed practi ces, perceived parental bias, sibling rivalry, and multi factorial eff ects of BMI on SC in Generati on Z. They also suggest
the importance of life skills educati on to initi ate and sustain positive health behaviours in this cohort.

How to cite this article:
Bhave S Y, Mota J N, Shibu S S, Bhalla L, Manchanda S, Sovani A. What Drives the Strength of Will? Perceived Self-Control in Children and Adolescents. Ind J Youth Adol Health. 2024;11(2):1-8.

DOI: https://doi.org/0.24321/2349.2880.202404

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