The purpose of this study was to analyze the research trends on effortful control with a focus on those found in
academic journals. This was done in an attempt to understand the conception of effortful control clearly and lay the
foundations for future studies. An analysis was performed on frequencies by years, methodology, and content. Results
showed that (1) 95 research articles on effortful control were published between January of 1999 and June of 2010.
(2) Most research participants were school-aged children. (3) There were a number of ways that researchers have assessed
the concept of effortful control, and the most frequently used measurement scale was the Rothbart's questionnaire for
temperament. (4) The main content of the research was the relationships between effortful control and developmental
domains (particularly, emotional and social development). More recently, researches examining environmental factors
including family and peer environment have increased.