Intergenerational associations in executive function between mothers and children in the context of risk

Abstract

Executive functioning (EF) is critical for school readiness and other important life skills. Previous investigations have often neglected the important influence of parental EF skills in shaping their own children’s EF. This study attempted to replicate recent empirical work that has shown that maternal EF is positively related to child EF. An ecological theoretical framework was used to examine the maternal EF–child EF link in family environments characterized by significant risk and socioeconomic adversity. Data from 38 mother–child dyads revealed that larger maternal working memory capacity was associated with greater child accuracy and slower reaction times on a child-friendly Go/No-Go task of response inhibition, but not on an emotional Go/No-Go task. This finding suggests that in contexts of risk and adversity, slower reaction times, instead of reflecting weaker EF skills, might reflect an adaptive skill; that is, exercising appropriate caution and careful responding on a challenging task. Results provide additional evidence of an intergenerational link between maternal EF and child EF and yield new insights into the nature of EF in adverse environments.

Bebeklerde Bağlanmanın Önemi ve Bunu Etkileyen Faktörler

“…socio-cultural level) were effective in attachment. It has been stated that brain response mechanisms, which are one of the factors used by the mother when adjusting her relationship with her child, are strongly influenced by socio-economic status (19). The attachment type in babies is influenced by the conditions that create psychological tension in the mother.…”

Culturally relevant stressors as moderators of intergenerational transmission of mother-adolescent executive function in Mexican immigrant families

“…Executive function is a set of foundational skills that are necessary for successful academic, behavioral, and socio-emotional development (Diamond, 2013 ). As caregivers, mothers are influential in the development of children’s executive functioning skills (Kim et al, 2017 ). Deater-Deckard ( 2014 ) further contends that the intergenerational transmission of executive function from parent to child can be altered by contextual features of the home environment (e.g., low socioeconomic status, cultural factors, household chaos).…”

Study Protocol: The Coaching Alternative Parenting Strategies (CAPS) Study of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy in Child Welfare Families

“…Finally, the CAPS study will test for PCIT-driven positive effects on children’s developing self-regulation skills in addition to the previously well-documented gains achieved in child behavior outcomes. CM-exposed children are doubly challenged by (a) stress overload through exposure to specific acts of CM and (b) heightened environmental and biological risk for poor self-regulation that is inextricably linked to their parents’ own self-regulation difficulties ( 24 ). Research has documented the detrimental effects of CM exposure on children’s developing capacities to regulate emotion, cognition, physiology, and behaviour ( 25 , 26 ), including heightened autonomic responding to interpersonal hostility, dysregulated emotion, enhanced event-related potential (ERP) responses to negative emotion ( 27 , 28 ), problems with cortisol regulation ( 29 ), and impairments in inhibitory control ( 19 , 30 ).…”