Heterogeneity in Maltreated and Non‐maltreated Preschool Children's Inhibitory Control: The Interplay Between Parenting Quality and Child Temperament

This study examined the contribution of child temperament, parenting, and their interaction on inhibitory control development in a sample of maltreated and non‐maltreated preschool children. One hundred and eighteen mother–child dyads were drawn from predominantly low‐income, rural communities. Dyads participated in a laboratory session in which maternal warm autonomy support, warm guidance, and strict/hostile control were observationally coded during a joint teaching task. Independent assessments of children's inhibitory control were obtained, and observers rated children's temperament. After relevant covariates, including income, maternal education, and child age and IQ were controlled for, there were no differences between the maltreatment and non‐maltreatment groups in either children's inhibitory control or mothers' behaviours in the laboratory session. Even after much of the variance in children's inhibitory control was accounted for from the covariates, children's temperamental negativity moderated the effects of warm autonomy support on inhibitory control in both maltreatment and non‐maltreatment groups. Temperamentally negative children whose mothers displayed more warm autonomy support showed greater inhibitory control, at levels on par with low‐negative children. Findings suggest that heterogeneity in children's self‐regulation may be due in part to individual differences in sensitivity to caregiver support for children's independence, even among those exposed to maltreatment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mediated pathways from maternal depression and early parenting to children's executive function and externalizing behaviour problems

Structural equation models were used to examine pathways from maternal depression and early parenting to children's executive function (EF) and externalizing behaviours in the first nationally representative study to obtain direct assessments of children's kindergarten EF skills (i.e., the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011). Preliminary analyses revealed that maternal depression was negatively related to children's EF and positively related to children's externalizing behaviour problems. However, the negative association between maternal depression and children's EF was completely mediated by maternal parenting practices (i.e., warmth and home learning stimulation). Furthermore, there was an indirect effect from maternal parenting practices to children's externalizing behaviour problems through EF, such that children with stronger EF skills had fewer externalizing behaviour problems. Findings provide support for a family process model in which warm, cognitively stimulating parenting supports children's EF, which in turn decreases externalizing behaviours.

Highlights

• This study examined pathways from parent mental health to children's executive function (EF) and behaviour problems.
• Maternal depression was negatively related to children's EF and positively related to children's behaviour problems.
• The negative association between maternal depression and children's EF was completely mediated by maternal parenting. There was an indirect effect from maternal parenting to children's behaviour problems through EF.

     

Parent and child personality characteristics as predictors of negative discipline and externalizing problem behaviour in children

Negative discipline has been linked to childhood externalizing behaviour. However, relatively little attention has been given to the potential effect of individual personality characteristics of children and parents. Using the Five Factor Model, we examined the extent to which parents' and children's personality characteristics were related to parenting and children's externalizing behaviour in a proportional stratified general population sample (N=599) of elementary‐school‐aged children. Based on Patterson's macromodel of parenting, an initial model was built, hypothesizing that the impact of parents' and child's personality dimensions on externalizing problems was fully mediated by negative discipline. Results supported a modified model that added direct pathways between parent and child personality characteristics and externalizing problem behaviour. For the mother data, as well as for the father data, children's Extraversion and Imagination were positively related to children's externalizing problem behaviours. Children's Benevolence and Conscientiousness and parents' Emotional Stability were negatively related to externalizing problem behaviours. For the mother data, maternal Agreeableness was positively related to externalizing problem behaviours too. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Situational affect and temperament: Implications for sibling caregiving

The caregiving behaviour of 60 preschool‐age children (M=50 months) toward their 16‐month‐old younger siblings was observed during a brief separation from their parents. Sibling caregiving was more strongly associated with parent ratings of both the older siblings' and toddlers' temperament than with the younger siblings' distress exhibited during the separation. The older siblings' social fear was positively related to providing care, whereas their temperamental activity level was negatively related to caregiving. Younger siblings' temperamental anger and soothability were positively associated with receiving care from an older sibling. Relations with temperament were independent of both children's distress levels during the separation, and in several instances, dispositional affective measures (i.e. temperament) made stronger contributions to the prediction of sibling caregiving than did situational distress. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parental personality,parenting and toddlers' externalising behaviours

This study examined the mediating role of parenting on the relation between parental personality and toddlers' externalising behaviours. Participants were 112 boys and their parents. The data were analysed using multilevel modelling and moderated mediation analyses. Several associations were found between parental personality and parenting dimensions. Additionally, several parenting dimensions were associated with children's externalising behaviours. Emotional stability was the only parental personality trait that was related to children's externalising behaviours. The effect of maternal emotional stability on children's aggressive behaviours appeared to be mediated by maternal support. For fathers, there appeared to be a direct effect of emotional stability on children's aggressive behaviours. In addition, for both mothers and fathers, emotional stability was directly related to children's attention problems. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Child Personality in Effects of Psychologically Controlling Parenting: An Examination at the Level of Daily Fluctuations

Research increasingly demonstrates the detrimental effects of psychologically controlling parenting on children's adjustment. An important and practically relevant question is whether some children are more vulnerable for the effects of psychologically controlling parenting. In the current diary study, we investigated whether daily psychologically controlling parenting relates to children's daily externalizing and internalizing problems and whether these associations depend on child personality. A total of 206 children (M age = 9.93 years; 46.6% female) along with their mothers and fathers (M age = 40.30 and 42.40 years) participated in this multi‐informant diary study. All three family members filled out a diary each day for seven days. Multilevel analyses indicated that daily maternal and paternal psychological control were positively related to daily externalizing and internalizing problems, a pattern that was fairly consistent across informants. Out of the 35 interactions tested, only three turned out to be significant. Overall, the limited number of interactions suggests that psychologically controlling parenting is generally detrimental to children's daily functioning. Still, children differ somewhat in their susceptibility to the effect of psychologically controlling parenting. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The relationship between negative parenting and child and maternal temperament

The purpose of the present study was to examine how negative parenting, namely coercive and abusive parenting, relates to maternal and child temperamental characteristics, based on Belsky’s model of parenting. In addition to the unique effects of child temperamental characteristics (approach, perceptual sensitivity, soothability, persistence, and reactivity), we investigated how child temperamental characteristics play a moderating role between maternal temperamental characteristics (negative affect, effortful control, extraversion and orienting sensitivity) and negative parenting. Participants were 209 mothers of preschool children (M_age = 50.01 months, SD = 5.75) from 48 child care centers across the capital city of Turkey. Two sets of hierarchical regression analyses showed that coercive parenting was predicted by child reactivity, perceptual sensitivity, maternal negative affect, and effortful control. In addition, maternal SES and negative affect were related to abusive parenting. Furthermore, interaction between maternal extraversion and child’s persistence predicted coercive parenting. For children with high levels of persistence, maternal extraversion levels did not make any difference in the level of abusive parenting. However, for children with low levels of persistence, mothers who had high levels of extraversion were more likely to display coercive parenting. Consistent with Belsky’s model, both child and maternal characteristics were related to parenting. While both maternal and child characteristics were associated with coercive parenting, only maternal negative effect was associated with abusive parenting.

     

The link between child temperament and low-income mothers’ and fathers’ parenting

Numerous studies have shown that children's temperamental characteristics impact the quality and quantity of parent–child interactions. However, these studies have largely focused on middle-class samples, have not compared multiple domains of parenting across mothers and fathers, and have not considered the possibility of nonlinear associations between temperament and parenting. The present study addresses these gaps by examining the potentially nonlinear role of two temperamental characteristics—negative emotionality and sociability—in predicting the quality and quantity of low-income mothers’ and fathers’ parenting. Data were drawn from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a study of low-income children and families. Results indicated that whereas parenting quality was somewhat impaired when children were temperamentally vulnerable (low sociability, high negativity), parents increased parenting quantity with the same vulnerable children. There was some evidence that parents were most reactive to children who scored either very high or very low on negative emotionality and sociability in both parenting domains. Patterns also suggest that mothers were more reactive to sociability, and fathers to negative emotionality.     

Do maternal power assertive discipline and warmth interact to influence toddlers' emotional reactivity and noncompliance?

Emotional and behavioural self-regulation emerges during infancy and toddlerhood and is heavily influenced by parenting. Parents facilitate toddlers' behavioural regulation (e.g., compliance) by using appropriate control with warmth and managing children's emotional reactivity during situational demands. In contrast, power assertive discipline may strain children's regulatory skills, for example by evoking toddlers' negative affect. However, we have more to learn about how discipline relates to toddlers' self-regulation in the moment and whether concurrent displays of parental warmth may moderate these relations. Mother–toddler dyads (N = 74, M_age = 13.30 months) from low-to-middle income Turkish families participated in a 3-min laboratory task, in which toddlers needed to delay playing with an attractive toy. Maternal discipline, warmth, toddler's emotional reactivity, and noncompliance were coded from observations. Results showed that higher power assertive discipline was associated with more frequent emotional reactivity in toddlers whose mothers' showed warmth during the <84% of the task duration. Maternal warmth was negatively associated with child noncompliance, but warmth did not interact with power assertive discipline in relation to noncompliance. Results suggest that observed power assertive discipline is meaningfully related to toddlers' emotional reactivity and higher levels of expressed maternal warmth attenuates these relations.     

Child and family correlates of toddlers' emotional and behavioral responses to a mishap

This study evaluated the unique and joint contributions of internal state language, externalizing behavior, and maternal talk about emotions to the prediction of toddlers' empathy‐related responsiveness. The empathy‐based guilt reactions of 47 toddlers (27 boys) were observed in response to distress that they thought they had caused. In addition, mothers reported on the children's internal state language, externalizing behavior, and empathy‐based guilt. In a separate observation, the mothers discussed emotional expressions with their children, and the functional significance of their emotional discourse was considered. Results revealed that toddlers' internal state language ability was positively related to their attempts to comprehend another's affective state and to maternal reports of children's sympathy reactions. There was also an unexpected inverse relation between externalizing behavior and arousal level. In terms of the parent measures, maternal explanations of emotions were positively related to children's attempts to comprehend another's affective state, whereas mothers' directives for children to label emotions were positively related to children's expressed emotional concern for others. The implications of these findings for understanding empathy and guilt development in young children are discussed. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

The role of parenting and dopamine D4 receptor gene polymorphisms in children's inhibitory control

Temperamental effortful control has important implications for children's development. Although genetic factors and parenting may influence effortful control, few studies have examined interplay between the two in predicting its development. The current study investigated associations between parenting and a facet of children's effortful control, inhibitory control (IC), and whether these associations were moderated by whether children had a 7‐repeat variant of the DRD4 exon III VNTR. A community sample of 409 3‐year‐olds completed behavioural tasks to assess IC, and observational measures of parenting were also collected. Negative parenting was associated with lower child IC. The association between children's IC and positive parenting was moderated by children's DRD4 7‐repeat status, such that children with at least one 7‐repeat allele displayed lower IC than children without this allele when positive parenting was lower. These effects appeared to be primarily influenced by parent support and engagement. Results extend recent findings suggesting that some genetic polymorphisms may increase vulnerability to contextual influences.     

Vocabularies

Negative emotionality is considered to be the core of the difficult temperament concept (J. E. Bates, 1989; R. L. Shiner, 1998). In this correlational study, the authors examined whether the relations between children's negative emotionality and problematic behavior (internalizing and externalizing) were partially mediated by parenting style (authoritative and authoritarian) in a community sample of 196 3-year-old children and their mothers. The authors assessed maternal perception of child negative emotionality using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (M. K. Rothbart, S. A. Ahadi, K. L. Hershey, &; P. Fisher, 2001) and assessed problematic child behavior by means of maternal report using the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach, 1992). The results showed that the relations between child negative emotionality and internalizing and externalizing behaviors were partially mediated by mothers' authoritative parenting style. Moreover, when the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to decontaminate possible overlap in item content between measures assessing temperament and problematic behavior, the association between negative emotionality and internalizing behavior was fully mediated by authoritative parenting.     

With a little help from my friends: maternal social support,via parenting,promotes willingness to share in preschoolers born to young mothers

Little is known about prosocial behaviours in children of young mothers. This longitudinal study involved 44 young mother (age <20 years at birth of first child) families and 44 older mother families, who were carefully matched for child age and gender, as well as for family structure (number of children, lone‐parent status) and socio‐economic background (maternal education, head‐of‐household unemployment, low family income). At the first time‐point (M child age = 2.45 years), mothers listed family members or friends who provided practical and/or emotional support; videos of mother–child interaction in play and tidy‐up were coded for positive and negative parenting. Two years later (M child age = 4.32 years), children's prosocial behaviours were assessed via (i) an experimental task of willingness to share and (ii) video‐based ratings of sharing and helping during dyadic play with friends. T‐tests showed few group differences in prosocial behaviours. Regression analyses showed that, for young mother families only, reduced negative parenting mediated associations between support from friends and preschoolers' willingness to share. Support from friends, via parenting, may promote willingness to share in children born to young mother families. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Behavioural Problems in Children with Headache and Maternal Stress: Is Children's Attachment Security a Protective Factor?

Headache is a potentially disabling condition involving enduring pain that negatively influences the quality of family life. Behavioural problems are more common in children with headache and are potentially associated with higher levels of parental stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent to which children's behavioural problems were associated with maternal stress and how the child's perception of security in the maternal attachment relationship moderates this association. Seventy‐one school‐aged children with headache (headache group (HG), age M = 9.8 years old, SD = 1.3) and 71 children from a low‐risk normative population (control group (CG), age M = 9.2 years old, SD = 1) and their mothers were involved in the study. Mothers' reports of children's behavioural problems were associated with higher maternal stress in the caring task both in the HG and in the CG. Results also showed that the HG was more at risk for behavioural problems, whereas no difference between groups was detected for parenting stress and for attachment insecurity. In children with headache, perception of attachment security decreased the strength of the association between maternal stress and externalizing behavioural problems. Secure attachment may provide children with headache and their parents with support in managing the negative emotions that arise in the context of significant health issues. Implications for practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maternal socialization and child temperament as predictors of emotion regulation in Turkish preschoolers

This study investigated the role of maternal socialization and temperament in Turkish preschool children's emotion regulation. Participants consisted of 145 preschoolers (79 boys, 69 girls; M_age= 62 months), their mothers, and daycare teachers from middle‐high socioeconomic suburbs of Istanbul. Maternal child‐rearing practices and emotion socialization behaviours were examined together as interconnected constituents of parenting in relation to emotion regulation skills in young children. Mothers completed a set of questionnaires that measured their child's emotion regulation and temperament as well as their own emotion socialization and child‐rearing behaviours. Teachers also completed a scale that measured the child's ability to regulate emotions. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that child's reactivity negatively and persistence positively predicted emotion regulation. The interaction of maternal responsiveness and child approach–withdrawal also significantly predicted emotion regulation. Simple slope tests were conducted slicing the data in both directions. In the first instance, for children low in Approach, the simple slope of Responsiveness on emotion regulation score was significantly positive. In contrast, for children high in Approach, the simple slope of Responsiveness on emotion regulation score was not significant. In the second instance, for mothers average in Responsiveness, the simple slope of Approach on emotion regulation score was significantly positive. In contrast, for mothers high in Responsiveness, the simple slope of Approach on emotion regulation was not significant. These findings were considered within an interactional model in which positive parenting and inhibited temperament are significant predictors of emotion regulation in Turkish preschoolers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parenting behaviour as a mediator between young children's negative emotionality and their anxiety/depression

The goal of this longitudinal study was to examine observed paternal and maternal control (psychological control and autonomy granting) and support (rejection and emotional warmth) as mediators of the relation between children's negative emotionality at 3.5 years of age and depression and anxiety problems at 4.5 years. For 35 children, 60‐min unstructured parent–child interactions were rated at 4.5 years. Results indicated that maternal rejection mediated the relation between children's negative emotionality and their later anxiety/depression. Higher levels of child negative emotionality predicted more psychological control in mothers, but did not predict any parenting behaviours in fathers. Higher levels of paternal autonomy granting were associated with more child anxiety/depression. Unexpectedly, however, more maternal emotional warmth was related to higher levels of child anxiety/depression. The findings offer new insights to guide future research on the (mediating) role of parenting behaviours in the relation between children's negative emotionality and their internalizing problems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Child Negative Emotionality and Caregiver Sensitivity Across Context: Links with Children's Kindergarten Behaviour Problems

Behavioural adjustment is critical for children's school readiness. This study used data from a nationally representative sample of children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort. We examined the effects of interactions between children's negative emotionality, maternal sensitivity and preschool teacher sensitivity on children's kindergarten internalizing and externalizing behaviours. Parent report of children's negative emotionality and observations of maternal sensitivity were obtained at age 2 years, teacher sensitivity was observed in preschool and teacher report of children's behaviour problems was obtained in kindergarten. Negative emotionality moderated links between maternal sensitivity, teacher sensitivity and children's internalizing behaviours. For children high in negativity, maternal sensitivity was positively associated with internalizing behaviour in the context of low teacher sensitivity, whereas for children low in negativity, maternal sensitivity was negatively associated with internalizing behaviour. For children high or low in negativity, internalizing behaviour was comparable when teacher sensitivity was high regardless of maternal sensitivity. Maternal sensitivity and teacher sensitivity interacted to predict externalizing behaviour regardless of child negativity. Children who experienced high teacher sensitivity displayed comparable externalizing behaviour regardless of maternal sensitivity. When children experienced low teacher sensitivity, maternal sensitivity was negatively associated with externalizing behaviour. Interactions between child characteristics and caregiving across developmental contexts are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Mediational Role of Parenting on the Longitudinal Relation Between Child Personality and Externalizing Behavior

ABSTRACT Building on prior cross‐sectional work, this longitudinal study evaluated the proposition that maternal and paternal overreactive and authoritative parenting mediates the effect of child personality characteristics on externalizing behavior. Data from the Flemish Study on Parenting, Personality, and Problem Behavior were used in a moderated mediation analysis (N=434). Teachers rated children's Big Five characteristics, fathers and mothers rated their parenting, and 3 years later, children rated their externalizing behavior. Mediational analysis revealed both direct and indirect effects. Higher levels of Extraversion and lower levels of Benevolence were related directly to higher levels of child externalizing behavior. Higher levels of paternal authoritative parenting and lower levels of maternal overreactivity were related to lower scores on externalizing behavior. In addition, the relation between Benevolence, Emotional Stability, and externalizing behavior was partially mediated by parental overreactivity. Conscientiousness had an indirect effect on externalizing behavior through paternal authoritative parenting. Relations were not moderated by child gender. This study is of theoretical interest because the results demonstrate that parenting is a mediating mechanism that accounts for associations between personality and externalizing behavior.     

Difficult temperament predicts self‐esteem in adolescence

A six‐year longitudinal study investigated the impact of maternal hostile child‐rearing attitudes, role dissatisfaction, and maternal perceptions of adolescent temperamental difficultness on self‐esteem in late adolescence, after controlling for the initial self‐esteem measured in early adolescence. Adolescents (n = 313), derived from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study, rated their self‐esteem at the study entry at age 12, and six years later at age 18. Maternal reports of child‐rearing attitudes, of role satisfaction, and of the temperament of the adolescent were obtained at the study entry and three years later. Mother's perceptions of adolescent's temperament as difficult at ages 12 and 15 predicted adolescent's self‐reported self‐esteem in late adolescence, whereas earlier self‐esteem did not predict later perceptions of temperament or parenting. We found no evidence that maternal perceptions of parenting indirectly, or after controlling for the initial level, predicted adolescent's self‐reported self‐esteem. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sustained attention development during the toddlerhood to preschool period: associations with toddlers' emotion regulation strategies and maternal behaviour

The current study examined the role of maternal behaviour and toddlers' emotion regulation strategies in the development of children's sustained attention abilities. Participants for this study included 447 children (232 girls) obtained from three different cohorts participating in a larger ongoing longitudinal study. When the children were 2 years of age, mothers brought their children to the laboratory and were videotaped during several tasks designed to elicit emotion regulation and mother–child interaction. Sustained attention was also measured at the same visit via a laboratory task and in a subsequent visit when children were 4.5 years of age. Results indicated that toddlers' use of help‐seeking emotion regulation strategies was positively related to sustained attention, while avoidance behaviours and maternal behaviour characterized by high levels of overcontrolling/intrusiveness were negatively related to sustained attention at age 2. Significant interactions emerged such that high levels of maternal warmth/responsiveness buffered the negative associations between low use of distraction and high use of self‐comforting emotion regulation strategies and sustained attention at age 2. Maternal behaviour characterized by high levels of warmth/responsiveness also predicted greater growth in sustained attention from age 2 to 4.5. These findings are discussed in terms of how maternal behaviours and children's use of active versus passive emotion regulation strategies relate to sustained attention abilities. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.