Psychology, Department of
Date of this Version
7-20-2006
Abstract
The present study examined the contribution of caregiving practices at ages 4–5 (Time 1) to children’s capacity for self regulation at ages 8–9 (Time 2). The multiethnic sample comprised 549 children of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) participants. High levels of maternal warmth and low levels of physically punitive discipline at Time 1 were associated with a greater capacity for self-regulation at Time 2. These associations remained significant once initial levels of self-regulation were taken into account, indicating that the development of self-regulation is open to caregiver infl uence during childhood. Neither child gender nor ethnicity moderated the effects of early parenting practices on later self-regulation; the interaction between low maternal warmth and high discipline was also non-significant. Findings add to the literature on how early parenting practices shape children’s capacity for effective self-regulation, and have implications for researchers and practitioners.
Comments
Published in Infant and Child Development 15:4 (July/August 2006), pp. 421–437. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Used by permission. Available online in Wiley InterScience http://www.interscience.wiley.com DOI: 10.1002/icd.469