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Maternal Responsiveness as a Predictor of Self-Regulation Development and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Symptoms

Ursula Pauli-Pott1, Susan Schloß2, Katja Becker2

  • 1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University of Marburg, Hans Sachs Str. 6, 35039, Marburg, Germany. Ursula.pauli-pott@med.uni-marburg.de.

Child Psychiatry and Human Development
|April 14, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Responsive parenting supports children's self-regulation, specifically reward-related control (RRC). This improved RRC in preschoolers can reduce attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, highlighting parenting's role in early development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychiatry
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Early self-regulation, particularly reward-related control (RRC), is crucial for social adjustment and understanding attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
  • Parenting styles, specifically maternal responsiveness, may influence the development of these early self-regulatory capacities.
  • Understanding this relationship can inform interventions for children at risk for ADHD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if maternal responsiveness/sensitivity predicts the development of reward-related control (RRC) in preschoolers.
  • To examine if RRC mediates the association between maternal responsiveness and ADHD symptoms.
  • To explore the role of parenting in early self-regulation and its impact on ADHD.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 125 preschoolers and their families observed at ages 4 and 5.
  • Maternal responsiveness/sensitivity assessed through home observations.
  • Reward-related control (RRC) measured using neuropsychological tasks, and ADHD symptoms assessed via structured clinical parent interviews.

Main Results:

  • Maternal responsiveness/sensitivity at age 4 significantly predicted the development of RRC by age 5.
  • RRC performance at age 5 mediated the negative relationship between maternal responsiveness/sensitivity at age 4 and ADHD symptoms at age 5.
  • Children with ADHD symptoms and low RRC capacity showed particular benefit from responsive parenting.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal responsiveness/sensitivity is a significant predictor of RRC development in preschoolers.
  • Responsive parenting can mitigate ADHD symptoms through the enhancement of children's RRC.
  • Targeting RRC through responsive parenting may be a viable strategy for supporting children with ADHD.

Keywords:
Attention deficits hyperactivity symtomsDelay aversionDelay of gratificationDevelopment of self-regulationMaternal responsivenessParentingPreschool age

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