Poster #54 - Effects of maternal parenting on children’s growth of effortful control and emotion regulation

• In Event: Poster Session 12

Abstract

Introduction:
Children’s competence in regulating their emotions is important for their social functioning. It is well documented that the construct of effortful control—the ability to inhibit dominant responses through voluntarily focusing and shifting attention—is associated with a wide array of developmental outcomes, including emotion regulation (Eisenberg et al., 2004). Studies (e.g., Tiberio et al., 2016) also show that positive parenting can predict the development of effortful control, whereas negative parenting has detrimental effects. However, limited studies have investigated the specific effects of both parenting styles on the developmental trajectory of effortful control during children’s first two years, when the effortful control starts to emerge, and the effects on emotion regulation in later years. Thus, in this study, we investigated the effects of positive parenting and negative parenting, measured at 6 months, on the developmental trajectory of effortful control at 12–24 months and the effects of the development of effortful control on emotion regulation at 36 months.
Method:
Data collected from a nationally representative sample of a large-scale survey in Taiwan (Kids in Taiwan: National Longitudinal Study of Child Development and Care [KIT]; Chang, 2021) were analyzed. The sample included 4,037 infants (2,035 boys, 2,002 girls). Their mothers completed the questionnaires at five time points of the infants’ ages: 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months. There were three items on positive parenting (e.g., “I respond to the child whenever he makes a sound or vocal”) and three on negative parenting (e.g., “I scold the child if he is not compliant”). The items were rated on a scale from 1 to 4. Effortful control comprised four items: inhibitory control, delay of gratification, adjusting to contextual needs, and attention focusing. Emotion regulation included four items (e.g., “The child can calm down after getting frustrated”). The items on effortful control and emotion regulation were rated on a scale from 1 to 5. Latent growth modeling was applied using Mplus 8.4.
Results:
The model had a good fit, with both RMSEA and SRMR being less than 0.06 and both CFI and TLI being greater than 0.95. Positive parenting at 6 months significantly predicted the intercept (i.e., the initial level) of the developmental curve of effortful control from 12 to 24 months. Meanwhile, negative parenting significantly and inversely predicted the slope of effortful control. In terms of the relationship between the developmental curve of effortful control and emotion regulation, both the intercept and slope of the developmental curve moderately predicted emotion regulation at 36 months.
Conclusion:
Based on a latent growth model, our study found that the effects of positive parenting and negative parenting on the initial level and development rate of effortful control differ and that both the initial level and development rate can predict emotion regulation in later life. The results indicate that early parenting, particularly at six months, can influence how children regulate their emotions two years later, via the developmental trajectory of effortful control.

Authors

• Chia Hui Lin, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU)
  Presenting Author

• Chien-Ju Chang, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU)