Poster #24 - Are Boys More Sensitive to Parenting? Differential Parental Influences on Executive Functions in Early Childhood

• In Event: 2-110 - Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Section - Cognitive Processes

Integrative Statement

Parenting is linked to individual differences in children’s executive functions, a set of cognitive abilities that enable goal-directed behaviour. Both sensitive and harsh parenting are associated with children’s working memory/inhibitory control (WMIC), assessed in motivationally or affectively neutral contexts. Fewer studies have examined parenting and self-control (SC), assessed in motivationally or affectively charged contexts, and results of these studies are mixed. Associations between parenting and executive functions may differ by sex: one study found that sensitive parenting led to better inhibitory control for boys but not for girls (Mileva-Seitz et al., 2015). This study extends these findings, examining if child sex moderates the effect of parental sensitivity and harsh discipline on executive functions.

Participants were 143 36-month-old children and their mothers, drawn from a prospective cohort followed longitudinally from pregnancy. Mothers were originally recruited to participate in a study examining the effects of smoking during pregnancy on infant and child development. Children completed a battery of tasks assessing executive functions. Mother-child dyads completed free play, structured play, and waiting tasks, which were videotaped and coded for maternal sensitivity and harshness using the Parent-Child Observational Coding Scheme. Analyses were conducted using structural equation modelling in Mplus. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model of executive functions corresponding to WMIC and SC latent factors. Multiple group modelling was used to examine whether sex moderated the effects of sensitivity and harsh discipline on executive functions. Prenatal tobacco exposure status, child sex, child verbal ability, maternal psychological distress, and household income-to-needs ratio were included as covariates in all analyses.

The final model is presented in Figure 1. Different aspects of parenting differentially predicted WMIC and SC. Sex moderated the relation between sensitivity and SC. Higher parental sensitivity was associated with better SC for boys only. Greater harsh discipline was marginally associated with poorer WMIC for both boys and girls. Sensitivity was not associated with WMIC and harsh discipline was not associated with SC for either boys or girls. Further, boys and girls did not differ in their exposure to sensitive (p = .42) or harsh parenting (p = .24) and there were no sex differences in mean latent WMIC or SC (Δχ2(2) = 5.03, p = .08).

This study examined the differential impact of sensitivity and harsh discipline on executive functions in boys and girls. Sensitivity predicted SC, but only in boys, whereas harsh discipline marginally predicted WMIC in both boys and girls. The finding that sensitivity was related to SC in boys but not girls is consistent with evidence that boys are generally more sensitive to environmental influences (e.g., Elsmen, Steen & Hellstrom-Westas, 2004). Further, boys are at greater risk for externalizing behaviour problems, which are characterized by SC difficulties. Taken together, sensitive parenting could serve as a protective factor for the development of SC, in turn, reducing vulnerability to develop externalizing behaviour problems.

Authors

• Daphne Vrantsidis, University of Alberta
  Presenting Author

• Auriele Volk, University of Alberta
  Non-Presenting Author

• Erica Anderson, Northwestern University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laurie S. Wakschlag, Northwestern University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sandra Wiebe, University of Alberta
  Non-Presenting Author