2-078 - Affective and Cognitive Aspects of Parental Self-Regulation in Early Parenting

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

A growing body of research has identified parents’ ability to self-regulate as an important determinant of parenting (Crandall, Deater-Deckard, & Riley, 2015). Parental self-regulation can be thought of as comprising two facets: (1) emotion regulation, the ability to modulate experience of emotions and their behavioral expression (Gross, 1998); and (2) cognitive control, the ability to regulate thoughts and actions for execution of goal-directed behavior (Braver, 2012). However, surprisingly little attention has been given to the relative and interactive contributions of the affective and cognitive aspects of self-regulation to early parenting. This symposium aims to explore these associations while bringing together studies conducted in different countries (Israel and the US), using diverse approaches for measurement of self-regulation and parenting in infancy. The first paper will examine the roles of emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal and suppression) and working memory in mothers’ tolerance of infants’ distress, utilizing an inconsolable baby simulator. The second paper will investigate the contribution of inhibitory control to harsh parenting and parenting stress in different emotional and non-emotional contexts, employing a novel variation of the Go/No-Go task. The third paper will address the roles of specific executive functions (and their interactions with contextual factors) in maternal mentalization, a parental capacity associated with emotion regulation, as measured in observations during infancy and interviews during preschool. Finally, the discussant, a prominent expert in the study of parental self-regulation, will lead a discussion on the overarching implications for understanding the roles of cognitive and affective aspects of self-regulation as determinants of parenting.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Naama Atzaba-Poria, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Discussant

• Kirby Deater-Deckard, University Massachusetts

Individual Presentations

• Maternal Emotion Regulation and Responding to Infant Distress - Presenting Author: Helena JV Rutherford, Yale Child Study Center; Non-Presenting Author: Rachel Martin, Yale Child Study Center; Non-Presenting Author: David Bridgett, Northern Illinois University; Non-Presenting Author: Linda C Mayes, Yale Child Study Center

• Inhibitory Control and Parenting During Infancy: Differentiating Between Classic and Emotionally Charged Go/No-Go Tasks - Presenting Author: Sofie Rousseau, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Ziama Arkin Infancy Institute; Non-Presenting Author: Tahl Frenkel, Ziama Arkin Infancy Institute

• Do Mothers' Executive Functions Contribute to Parental Mentalization? Child-related and Parent-related Contexts as Moderators - Presenting Author: Tal Yatziv, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Yoav Kessler, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Non-Presenting Author: Naama Atzaba-Poria, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev