The Interplay of Parenting and Temperament in Associations with Child Executive Functions

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Executive Functions (EF) are higher-order cognitive processes (e.g., working memory, set-shifting, inhibitory control) that support self-regulation of behavior and develop in early childhood. Early EF abilities are robust predictors of academic readiness and socio-emotional competence; and EF interventions have been identified as potential paths for decreasing health-related disparities experienced by disadvantaged populations. EFs are highly malleable in early childhood and social influences seem to play a significant role in contributing to individual differences in children's abilities; however, curren developmental models lack specificity with respect to which caregiver behaviors are the most influential. Recent domain approaches to parenting propose that the socialization of children occurs within distinct domains (e.g., guided learning, control, and reciprocity) and domain-specific parenting practices serve to promote domain relevant child outcomes. The current application will apply this novel domain approach, which may provide conceptual clarity to developmental models of child EF, and enhance the ability to draw firm conclusions about the key parental socialization behaviors associated with individual differences in children's EF abilities. This will be accomplished by testing the differential associations among parental socialization practices and child EF, with the hypothesis that parenting practices within the guided learning domain will be more proximally related to child EF outcomes in comparison to other socialization domains (AIM 1). Second, differential susceptibility frameworks have identified child temperamental characteristics of negative emotionality and exuberance as plasticity factors that evince heightened sensitivity to both positive and negative aspects of parenting; however, this has yet to be examined within the context of child EF. The present study will integrate differential susceptibility and domain frameworks to delineate whether this 'for better or for worse' pattern as it pertains to child EF is specific to variations in guided learning parenting practices (AIM 2). Aims will be tested within a study of 162 socioeconomically and racially diverse mothers and their 5 year-old children. New elements of this work include the application of a domain approach to parenting in examining specific parental socialization practices associated with individual differences in child EF, integration of differential susceptibility framework to examine how child temperament fits within this model, observational coding of different domains of parenting and child temperament, and multi- method assessments of child EF (performance-based tasks, caregiver reports). Findings will enhance understanding of the interplay between parenting practices and individual child variables in association with individual differences in children's EF. Research also has the potential to identify specific targets for parenting interventions towards supporting child EF outcomes, and the child characteristics that moderate their efficacy.