Parental Overprotection and Executive Functioning in Children Born Preterm

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Executive function (EF) is frequently compromised in children born preterm (Aarnoudse-Moens et al., 2009). Research with normative samples has shown that maternal controlling behaviors are associated with poorer children’s EF (Tracey Fay-Stammbach et al., 2014). However, little is known about the role of fathers’ behaviors. Although mothers of children born preterm tend to display greater controlling, overprotective behaviors than mothers of full-terms (Toscano et al., 2020), no studies have investigated the role of maternal and paternal overprotection on preterm-born children’s EF. As part of a larger longitudinal study about the development of children born preterm, the purpose of this study was (1) to explore the differences in overprotective behaviors between mothers and fathers of preterm-born children and their interrelation, and (2) to examine the relations of maternal and paternal overprotective behaviors with children’s EF. Participants included 69 preterm-born children aged 3½ years and their parents. Parental overprotection was coded during a mother-child/father-child interaction (play with challenging toy, free-play, clean-up toys), using the Johnson and Holmbeck (1995) coding system measuring 3 dimensions of overprotection: parental prevention of child independent behavior, infantilization, and excessive parental control. The Head-to-Toes-Task (Ponitz et al., 2008) was used to measure three aspects of children’s EF: inhibitory control, attention focusing, and working memory. To control for children’s cognitive ability, a short form of the WPPSI-R (Sattler, 1988; Wechsler, 2003) was administered. An independent sample t-test revealed no differences between mothers and fathers regarding their overprotective behaviors, and Pearson correlations showed a significant positive association between maternal and paternal overprotection. Linear regression analyses revealed that both maternal and paternal overprotective behaviors were significantly related to lower children’s EF, after controlling for children’s cognitive ability. Results highlight the importance of both mothers’ and fathers’ behaviors to the development of preterms’ EF. Potential clinical implications of the results will be discussed.

Authors

• Carolina Toscano, Universidade do Minho
  Presenting Author

• Judi Mesman, Leiden University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joana Baptista, University Institute of Lisbon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Vanessa Moutinho
  Non-Presenting Author

• Isabel Soares, Universidade do Minho
  Non-Presenting Author