Developmental Psychobiology. 2020;00:1–14. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/dev | 1 © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC 1 | INTRODUCTION Effortful control (EC) refers to a child's “ability to inhibit a domi- nant response to perform a subdominant response” (Rothbart & Bates, 1998, p. 137). EC incorporates attentional focusing, atten- tional shifting, and inhibition and activation control of one's thought, emotion, and behavior (Eisenberg et al., 2013; Rothbart, Ellis, Rueda, & Posner, 2003; Rothbart & Postner, 2005), and has been shown to be a strong indicator for children's later functioning, including aca- demic achievement, interpersonal relationships, as well as physical and mental disorders. An impaired EC, or the lack of ability to reg- ulate emotions and behaviors, on the other hand, has been known to associate with later emotional and behavioral problems, includ- ing, but not limited to expressed frustration and anger, tantrums, and internalizing and externalizing problems (Eisenberg et al., 2005; Nigg, 2017). Given its developmental importance, research in the past decade has been increasingly focused on identifying factors in early life that predict children's EC capacity in order to effectively prevent problematic developmental outcomes associated with lower EC. EC is characterized as having a constitutional basis. That is, EC reflects a relatively enduring biologically based aspect of a child, which is also influenced over time by heredity, maturation, and experience (Rothbart & Bates, 2006). Children are limited in their Received: 3 September 2019 | Revised: 23 May 2020 | Accepted: 27 May 2020 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22005 RESEARCH ARTICLE Predicting child effortful control: An integrative analysis of child physiological, familial, and community factors Xiaoning Sun | Jeffrey Measelle | Jennifer C. Ablow Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA Correspondence Xiaoning Sun, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, 1451 Onyx St. Eugene, OR 97403, USA. Email: sunxn1005@gmail.com Funding information Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS) Faculty Research Grant, University of Oregon.; Oregon Community Credit Union Fellowship; National Institute of Mental Health, Grant/Award Number: MH068692; Lewis Endowment for Faculty Research, University of Oregon Abstract Effortful control (EC) is a regulatory capacity that refers to children's ability to inhibit a dominant response to perform a subdominant response. Although attempts have been made to identify early predictors of children's EC, the confluence and interac- tion of child-, familial-, and community factors has not been pursued adequately. This study investigated how predictors from different aspects of children's rearing envi- ronment interacted to predict later EC. In a sample of 88 primiparous women with elevated depressive symptomotology and low household income, we examined how children's own psychobiology (baseline cortisol), familial relationship (mother–child attachment), and community resources (social support) at 17 months independently and jointly predicted EC at age 5. Our results showed that, controlling for maternal depressive symptomotology and household income, predictors from child-, familial-, and community-aspect function integratively, rather than independently, in predict- ing later EC. Specifically, within the context of a secure attachment relationship, baseline cortisol positively predicts later EC only for children of mothers who re- ported low social support. Whereas within the context of an insecure attachment re- lationship, baseline cortisol negatively predicts later EC, regardless of the perceived social support levels. Our results highlighted the importance of taking into considera- tion predictors from multiple aspects for intervention designs. KEYWORDS attachment, baseline cortisol, effortful control, integrative approach, social support