Honors Program
Date of this Version
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
Parolek, G. E., Finch, J. E., Votruba, A. M., & Bloemker, M. A. (2024) Intergenerational executive function transmission: The role of parenting behaviors during everyday conflict resolution discussions. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Abstract
This study explored the roles of parent and child executive functions for parent-child interactions during a conflict resolution discussion during the elementary school years. I helped develop a novel global coding scheme to capture parents’ and children’s behaviors and affect during normative parent-child conflict resolution discussions. From this coding scheme, three reliable composite measures emerged that captured different aspects of these interactions: responsive guidance, parents’ negative affect, and joint off-task discussion. Neither measure of parents’ executive functions (working memory and inhibitory control/cognitive flexibility) was linked to parenting measures during conflict resolution discussion; however, parents’ inhibitory control/cognitive flexibility was directly linked to children’s executive functions in third grade. Additionally, parents’ responsive vocabulary was linked to both parent executive function measures and parents’ educational attainment was linked to parents’ working memory and responsive guidance during the parent-child conflict resolution discussion. This study contributes to the evolving understanding of executive function development within the family context and underscores the importance of exploring normative conflict resolution in relation to parents’ self-regulation skills and children’s cognitive development.
Comments
Copyright Grace Parolek, Jenna Finch, Ashley Votruba, and Malia Bloemker 2024