Mommy and Me: How Infant Temperament and Maternal Affect Predict Executive Function Development

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Attention, Learning, Memory

Abstract

Previous studies have shown the importance of early life experiences and interactions shaping future life outcomes (Bolton et al., 2019). Cognitive development during the first year of life is dependent on both internal (Liu et al., 2018) and external factors (Hughes & Devine, 2019). These early life influences differentially impact the development of cognitive functioning, which includes the emergence of executive function (EF) abilities during the first year. Two important factors which have been shown to shape EF abilities are infant temperament and parental affect. A primary piece of infant temperament is negative affectivity which includes measures of fear, discomfort, and performance, and has consistently been linked with decreased levels of cognitive functioning (Liu et al., 2018). The relationship between greater parental warmth and positive affect and improved EF has also been supported (Kraybill & Bell, 2013).

Data on the target variables were collected from 304 infants at 10-months, and subsequently at 48-months, and 9-years. Infant temperament was measured using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-revised completed by the parent, while maternal positive affect was rated during interactions between the mother and infant. EF was considered using parent report and lab measures. The 48 month measures of EF include the Inhibitory Self-Control, Flexibility, and Emergent Metacognition indexes of the preschool adaptation of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF-P), as well as the Dimensional Change Card Sort task. At nine months, the BRIEF Behavioral Regulation Index and Metacognition Index were indicators of EF.

We tested the impacts of infant temperament and parental positive affect using structural equation modeling and show that although there are no significant correlations between a measure of EF at 10 months and these factors, thus a measure of EF at 10 months was not included in the current model. Negative affectivity at 10 months was significantly related to measures of EF at 48 months. In other words, infants with higher ratings of negative affectivity at 10 months had worse EF abilities at 48 months. Parental positive affect was not significantly associated with EF abilities at any age point. Although previous work in this area supported the relationship between parental positive affect at 10 months and EF abilities at 4 years, the difference may be explained by the consideration of primarily rating scale measures of EF rather than behavioral measures (Kraybill & Bell, 2013). Despite both behavioral and rating scales having internal consistency, there is some evidence that scores between them are not always correlated (Toplak, West, & Stanovich, 2013). Furthermore, EF abilities at 48 months significantly predicted EF abilities at 9 years, exhibiting the predictive power of preschool measures of EF. These findings support the impact of differences in infancy, especially in temperamental style, shaping later cognitive function.

Authors

• Nina Andre, Western Carolina University
  Presenting Author

• Alleyne Patricia Ross Broomell, Western Carolina University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Martha Ann Bell, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Non-Presenting Author