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Attentional control and executive functioning in school-aged children: Linking self-regulation and parenting
Andrea M Spruijt1, Marielle C Dekker2, Tim B Ziermans1
1Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands; Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
Insights
Parenting styles impact children's executive functions. Supportive, open-ended questioning enhances inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility in school-aged children.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Parenting significantly influences children's neurocognitive development.
- Limited understanding exists regarding parenting's impact on school-aged children's executive functions and potential age-related shifts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between observed parenting strategies and executive functions in school-aged children.
- To explore how this association changes with age.
Main Methods:
- Utilized linear and curvilinear regression analyses.
- Observed parenting strategies during home visits.
- Assessed attentional control and executive functioning in 98 children aged 4-8 years.
Main Results:
- Supportive, less intrusive parenting with more open-ended questions correlated with better inhibitory control.
- More open-ended than closed-ended questions improved inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.
- Optimal, moderate use of closed-ended and elaborative questions benefited attentional and inhibitory control.
- Parental intrusiveness and frequent elaborative questioning negatively impacted younger children's inhibitory control, but not older children's.
Conclusions:
- Parenting strategy effectiveness in influencing executive functions is age-dependent.
- Adaptive parenting, tailored to a child's age and needs, is crucial for developing self-regulation skills.
Abstract:
Good parenting strategies can shape children's neurocognitive development, yet little is known about the nature of this relation in school-aged children and whether this association shifts with age. We aimed to investigate the relation between parenting strategies observed during a home visit and children's performance-based attentional control and executive functioning (N=98, aged 4-8years). Linear and curvilinear regression analyses showed that children of parents who were more supportive, were less intrusive, and asked more open-ended questions displayed better inhibitory control. In addition, children of parents who asked relatively more open-ended than closed-ended questions showed better performance on inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility tasks. Curvilinear relations indicated the presence of an optimal amount of closed-ended and elaborative questions by parents-that is, not too few and not too many-which is linked to increased performance on attentional and inhibitory control in children. Higher parental intrusiveness and more frequent elaborative questioning were associated with decreased inhibitory control in younger children, whereas no such negative associations were present in older children. These results suggest that susceptibility to certain parenting strategies may shift with age. Our findings underscore the importance of adaptive parenting strategies to both the age and needs of school-aged children, which may positively affect their self-regulation skills.