本研究探討臺灣學齡前兒童兩項核心能力─執行功能與奮力控制氣質─的發展軌跡及其相互關係。研究資料取自「臺灣幼兒發展調查資料庫」，共納入1,694 名36 至72 月齡兒童的四波縱貫資料，並運用雙領域潛在成長模型進行分析。研究結果顯示，執行功能呈現穩定的線性成長，而奮力控制氣質則在學齡前期迅速成長，隨後成長速率逐漸趨緩。兩項能力從36 月齡起即顯現出顯著的個體間差異，顯示兒童在自我調節發展上具有高度變異性。此外，研究發現執行功能與奮力控制氣質的起始能力與後續成長率之間皆呈現負相關，亦即初始能力較低的兒童在發展上反而有較大的成長幅度。更進一步地，兩者的起始點與成長率之間皆存在顯著正相關，顯示出執行功能與奮力控制氣質具有發展同步性與交互促進的潛能。此一發現補足了臺灣在早期兒童自我調節雙要素共同發展方面的縱貫研究缺口。在實務意涵上，本研究指出，早期介入應同時涵蓋執行功能與氣質等二個能力，以促進學齡前兒童的身心發展。

Preschool is a pivotal developmental period during which children’s self-regulatory capacities expand rapidly and lay the groundwork for later cognitive, social, and emotional adaptation. Two constructs have been consistently highlighted as core components of early self-regulation: Executive function (EF) and effortful control (EC). Although EF and EC originate from different theoretical traditions (neurocognitive vs. temperament), accumulating evidence suggests that they are distinguishable yet strongly related and jointly predictive of children’s adaptive functioning. In early childhood, both EF and EC have been linked to academic readiness, emotional and behavioral regulation, peer competence, and long-term adjustment. Despite this importance, there remains a need for longitudinal evidence clarifying how EF and EC develop together over time, whether their growth patterns are parallel or distinct, and how individual differences in initial levels relate to subsequent developmental change—especially in Taiwanese children using nationally representative longitudinal data. Guided by developmental and transactional perspectives on self-regulation, the present study investigated (a) the developmental trajectories of preschool children’s EF and EC from 36 to 72 months of age, (b) inter-individual differences in initial status and growth rates for both domains, and (c) the extent to which EF and EC exhibit synchronized development or compensatory dynamics across time. To address these aims, we analyzed four-wave longitudinal data drawn from the Kids in Taiwan: National Longitudinal Study of Child Development & Care (KIT), a large-scale cohort study designed to capture Taiwanese children’s development across early childhood. The analytic sample included 1,694 children followed at 36, 48, 60, and 72 months. This dataset is particularly valuable because its sampling design, measurement development, and quality control procedures support robust developmental inference and offer an empirical basis for informing early intervention and educational practice in Taiwan. Methodologically, we employed a dual-domain latent growth modeling (LGM) framework to examine EF and EC simultaneously. This approach allows researchers to estimate mean developmental change (fixed effects), individual differences in initial levels and growth (random effects), and cross-domain associations between growth factors (e.g., intercept–intercept, slope–slope, and intercept–slope relations) within a single integrated model. Prior to growth modeling, we evaluated longitudinal measurement invariance to ensure that EF and EC were assessed consistently across the four time points. Following commonly used criteria for invariance evaluation, changes in comparative fit index (ΔCFI) and root mean square error of

學齡前兒童、執行功能、奮力控制、雙領域潛在成長模型

preschool children, executive function, effortful control, dual-domain latent growth model