Handedness and self-regulation in the early years

Abstract

Abstract Evidence shows that non-right-handed children are more likely to present with neurodevelopmental conditions compared to their peers, possibly because of brain lateralization differences. This, in turn, suggests that atypical cognitive abilities may explain this elevated risk. We explored whether non-right-handed children exhibit atypical patterns of self-regulation, an ability related to both cognitive and emotional development ( N  = 11,147, 50.19% girls). We used longitudinal data from the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study, a large and representative birth cohort. Self-regulation was assessed at ages 3, 5, and 7 with two parent-completed subscales of the Child Social Behaviour Questionnaire: independence self-regulation (related to cognitive self-regulation) and emotional dysregulation. Handedness (hand preference for writing) was reported by children at age 14 (a retrospective measure). We fitted linear growth curve models to examine if handedness predicts children’s cognitive and emotion regulation trajectories, adjusting for covariates. While handedness was not related to emotional dysregulation, being non-right-handed predicted lower cognitive self-regulation. Effects sizes were very small. In the sensitivity analysis excluding the mixed-handers from the non-right-handed group, this finding was not replicated. Overall, this study suggests that lower cognitive self-regulation might account for the higher risks that mixed-handed children face in their development, but also that left-handed and right-handed children show similar cognitive and emotional regulation in the early years.