Developmental trajectories of 'hot' executive functions across early childhood: Contributions of maternal behavior and temperament.

摘要

It has been established that children's executive functioning (EF) skills play an important role in psychopathology (e.g., AD/HD) as well as social and academic competence. However, other than the examination of genetic factors, there remains a limited number of studies examining extrinsic (e.g., parenting) and temperamental factors that contribute to individual differences in the development of EF. The current study examined the role of maternal behavior and emotion regulation in the development of children's "hot" EF of attentional control, which consists of sustained attention and inhibitory control. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated significant growth in both sustained attention and inhibitory control across the toddlerhood to early childhood period. Maternal overcontrol or intrusiveness at age 2 was found to negatively predict initial levels of children's sustained attention as well as children's inhibitory control at age 5. Maternal warmth/responsiveness was also a significant positive predictor of children's inhibitory control at age 5. Emotion regulation at age 2 was found to positively predict initial levels of children's sustained attention and negatively predict children's impulsivity at age 5. These findings are discussed in terms of how maternal and temperamental factors may facilitate the development of attentional control.