Longitudinal associations between inhibitory control, gratitude, and positive parenting during early childhood.

Abstract

Children's inhibitory control, which refers to the capability to recognize social and task demands by suppressing inappropriate behavior, is a key element closely related to both external and internal issues in preschoolers. The protective roles of parenting factors and social and moral functions, such as gratitude, remain unknown in the mechanism of inhibitory control. The present study employed a general cross-lagged panel model to explore the relationships between positive parenting, child gratitude, and inhibitory control. The research design involved repeated measurements based on parents' reports on 373 Chinese preschoolers in Hong Kong (179 males, 182 females; M age = 4.51, SD = 0.60). The cross-lagged panel model revealed that positive parenting at Time 1 (T1) was significantly associated with preschool children's gratitude but not with inhibitory control at Time 2 (T2). Conversely, child gratitude at T1 was positively associated with inhibitory control at T2. These findings underscore the impact of positive parenting on gratitude and the predictive role of gratitude on inhibitory control.