Relations of maternal socialization and toddlers' effortful control to children's adjustment and social competence.

Abstract

The authors examined the relations of maternal supportive parenting to effortful control and internalizing problems (i.e., separation distress, inhibition to novelty), externalizing problems, and social competence when toddlers were 18 months old (n = 256) and a year later (n = 230). Mothers completed the Coping With Toddlers' Negative Emotions Scale, and their sensitivity and warmth were observed. Toddlers' effortful control was measured with a delay task and adults' reports (Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire). Toddlers' social functioning was assessed with the Infant/ Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment. Within each age, children's regulation significantly mediated the relation between supportive parenting and low levels of externalizing problems and separation distress, and high social competence. When using stronger tests of mediation, controlling for stability over time, the authors found only partial evidence for mediation. The findings suggest these relations may be set at an early age. Keywordstoddlers' effortful control; maternal socialization; social functioning; problem behaviors A major goal of current research has been to understand individual differences in young children's problem behaviors and social competence. Although researchers have identified parenting and children's temperament as factors that play an important role in children's socioemotional functioning Kochanska & Knaack, 2003;Rothbart & Bates, 2006), few efforts have been made to study these links in very young children. Despite the lack of attention to this issue, there is some evidence that internalizing and externalizing problems in toddlerhood are stable (Keenan, Shaw, Delliquadri, Giovannelli, & Walsh, 1998;Smith, Calkins, Keane, Anastopoulos, & Shelton, 2004) and may have implications for later maladjustment (Campbell, Shaw, & Gilliom, 2000;Keenan et al., 1998). The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of toddlers' temperamental effortful control and maternal socialization to social functioning at 18 months of age (Time 1 [T1]) and a year later (Time 2 [T2]). Effortful ControlThere is a growing body of research on the construct of emotion regulation as it pertains to children's social functioning. Although the definition of emotion regulation varies, some NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript researchers have conceptualized emotion regulation in terms of children's effortful or voluntary control as opposed to more reactive forms of control Rothbart & Bates, 2006). Effortful control has been defined as "the efficiency of executive attention, including the ability to inhibit a dominant response and/or to activate a subdominant response, to plan, and to detect errors" (Rothbart & Bates, 2006, p. 129). Effortful control is characterized by the ability to voluntarily focus and shift attention and to voluntarily inhibit or initiate behaviors, and includes behaviors such as delaying; these processes are integral to emotion regulation (Caspi & Shiner, 2006;Kieras, Tobin...

The emotional and academic consequences of parental conditional regard: Comparing conditional positive regard, conditional negative regard, and autonomy support as parenting practices.

“…Eisenberg, Hofer, and Vaughan (2007) described ego resiliency and effortful control, as highly related and overlapping. Effortful control is the ability to voluntarily focus and shift attention to inhibit dominant responses or to initiate subdominant ones (Rothbart & Bates, 2006;Spinrad et al, 2007). According to SDT, however, emotional integration is not viewed in terms of the right amount of control but rather as the development of processes and structures that allow regulation through choice rather than through control, and that is accompanied by the experiences of volition and choice, without pressure or demand.…”

Gender as predictor of social rejection: the mediating/moderating role of effortful control and parenting. [El género como predictor de rechazo social: el papel mediador / moderador del control con esfuerzo y crianza de los hijos]

“…Specifically, low levels of EC linked: a) to worse social adjustment of the individual (Eisenberg, Fabes, Guthrie, & Reiser, 2000), b) with lower levels of social competence (Spinrad et al, 2007), and c) a greater presence of internalizing and externalizing problems (Murray & Kochanska, 2002). Elsewhere, lower levels of EC found in boys than in girls (Else-quest, Hyde, Goldsmith, & van Hulle, 2006), confirming gender difference in this construct.…”

Longitudinal Connections of Maternal Supportiveness and Early Emotion Regulation to Children’s School Readiness in Low-Income Families

“…Such emotionally supportive interactions set the stage for key dyadic processes that promote positive regulatory development (Robinson, Emde, & Korfmacher, 1997). Second, mothers influence children's developing emotion regulation through sensitive and positive involvement in the parent-child relationship, which provides resources for children's support and management of their insecurities (Cole, Dennis, Smith-Simon, & Cohen, 2009;Spinrad et al, 2007;Thompson & Goodwin, 2007). The literature strongly suggests that although many environmental and parenting variables might be associated with toddlers' emotion regulation, maternal supportiveness plays a key role.…”