Introduction & Hypotheses• Parenting behavior during infancy has implications for

later childhood development.

– Negative parenting behaviors (e.g., harshness)

have been associated with poorer child outcomes

(e.g., increased aggression).4

– Positive parenting behaviors (e.g., sensitivity) have

been associated with better child outcomes such as

decreased externalizing behaviors and increased

social competence.10

• Aspects of maternal executive functioning (EF) may

influence parenting behaviors.

– Mothers with poorer working memory (WM) have

shown higher levels of negative reactivity to their

children.6

– Mothers with higher effortful control (EC) have been

shown to spend more time in caregiving interactions

with their infants than mothers with lower EC.3

• No identified studies have examined the relationship

between multiple aspects of EF (i.e., attention shifting,

WM, inhibition) and both negative and positive parenting

behaviors in mother-infant dyads.

• Hypothesis 1: Better maternal EF will be associated

with more positive parenting behaviors (i.e., sensitivity

and displays of positive affect/behavior).

• Hypothesis 2: Poorer maternal EF will be associated

with more negative parenting behaviors (i.e.,

insensitivity/intrusiveness and displays of negative

affect/behavior).

Maternal Executive Functioning and Parenting Behavior During Interactions with 8-Month Old InfantsRobert W. Miller, Lauren M. Laake, Rachel S. Schultz, Lauren E. Boddy, Nicole M. Burt, Mary C. Nasca, & David J. BridgettNorthern Illinois University, Department of Psychology, Emotion Regulation and Temperament Lab

References1.Abidin, R. R. (1995). Parenting Stress Index, Third Edition: Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.

2.Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

3.Bridgett, D. J., Gartstein, M. A., Putnam, S. P., Lance, K. O., Iddins, E., Waits, R., VanVleet, J., & Lee, L. (2011). Emerging effortful control

in toddlerhood: The role of infant orienting/regulation, maternal effortful control, and maternal time spent in caregiving activities. Infant

Behavior & Development, 34, 189-199.

4.Chang, L., Schwartz, D., Dodge, K.A., & McBride-Chang, C. (2003). Harsh parenting in relation to child emotion regulation and

aggression. Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 598–606.

5.Clark, R. (1985). The Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment: Instrument and manual. Madison: University of Wisconsin Medical

School, Department of Psychiatry.

6.Deater-Deckard, K., Sewell, M. D., Petrill, S. A., & Thompson, L. A. (2010). Maternal working memory and reactive negativity in parenting.

Psychological Science, 21(1), 75-79.

7.Delis, D., Kaplan, E., & Kramer, J. (2001). Delis-Kaplan Executive Function Scale. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

8.Gartstein, M. A., & Rothbart, M. K. (2003). Studying infant temperament via the revised infant behavior questionnaire. Infant Behavior &

Development, 26(1), 64-86. doi:10.1016/S0163-6383(02)00169-8

9.Heaton, S. K., Chelune, G. J., Talley, J. L., Kay, G. G., & Curtiss, G. (1993). Wisconsin Card Sorting Test manual: xRevised and expanded.

Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

10.Spinrad, T. L., Eisenberg, N., Gaertner, B., Popp, T., Smith, C. L., Kupfer, A., Greving, K., Liew, J., & Hofer, C. (2007). Relations of

maternal socialization and toddlers’ effortful control to children’s adjustment and social competence. Developmental Psychology, 43(5),

1170–1186.

11.Teti D., & Gelfand, D. (1991) Behavioral competence among mothers of infants in the first year: The mediational role of maternal self-

efficacy. Child Development, 62(5):918–929.

12.Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, fourth edition: Technical and interpretive manual. San Antonio, TX: Pearson.

Discussion

• Better maternal WM predicted less negative

affect/behavior during parent-infant interactions.

• Better maternal inhibition predicted less negative

maternal affect/behavior during parent-infant

interactions.

• A trend was found between better maternal inhibition

and more positive maternal affect/behavior.

• Maternal EF seems to be particularly salient for negative

parenting behaviors.

– Parental EF could be used as a screening

measure for potentially problematic parent-child

interactions.

• Future studies could examine the effects of EF training

(e.g., WM training) on parenting for mothers with lower

EF.

• Future studies will also need to consider that parenting

behavior may mediate the link between parental EF and

child outcomes.

Method - Measures & Procedures• At four months postpartum, mothers completed measures

of various aspects of EF:

– Wisconsin Card Sorting Task9 (Attention Shifting)

– Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System7

• Color-Word Interference (Inhibition)

• Verbal Fluency (Working Memory)

– Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV,12 Letter-

Number Sequencing (Working Memory)

• At eight months postpartum, mother-infant interactions

were video recorded during a five-minute play/interaction

task wherein no toys/props were provided.

• The Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment (PCERA)5

was used to code maternal positive affect, negative

affect/behavior, and intrusiveness/insensitivity during

parent-infant interactions.

• Cumulative risk and other constructs were controlled for

in regression analysis:

– Infant frustration (IBQ-R)8

– Maternal depression (BDI-II)2 and maternal self-

efficacy (MSES)11

– Parenting stress in the context of the mother-child

relationship (PSI)1

Table 2. Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Maternal

Parenting Behavior during an Unstructured Parent-Child Interaction

Dependent Variable Predictor β ΔR2

Parenting PA/B

Step 1 .139**

Cumulative Risk -.226**

Step 2 .111

Infant Frustration -.164†

Parenting Stress .070

Maternal Self Efficacy -.309

Maternal Depression .085

Step 3

Inhibition .154† .045†

Attention Shifting -.010 .010

Working Memory .132 .030

Parenting NA/B

Step 1 .017

Cumulative Risk .016

Step 2 .089

Infant Frustration .037

Parenting Stress -.012

Maternal Self Efficacy .063

Maternal Depression .000

Step 3

Inhibition -.063** .140**

Attention Shifting -.018 .019

Working Memory -.042* .058*

Intrusiveness/Insensitivity

Step 1 .120**

Cumulative Risk .054**

Step 2 .889

Infant Frustration .030

Parenting Stress -.061

Maternal Self Efficacy -.106

Maternal Depression .008

Step 3

Inhibition -.028 .030

Attention Shifting .012 .006

Working Memory -.031 .032Note. NA/B = negative affect/behavior during parenting interaction; PA/B = positive affect/behavior

during parenting interaction; each predictor in Step 3 was run in separate analyses to reduce

suppression effects.†p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01

ResultsTable 1. Correlations between Study Variables

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Working M. --

2. Inhibition .596** --

3. Attention S. .192 .220* --

4. Parenting PA/B .324* .273* .133 --

5. Parenting NA/B -.340**-.405** .017 -.483** --

6. Intrusiveness -.359**-.275* -.227† -.698** .505** --

Note. PA/B = positive affect/behavior during parenting interaction; NA/B =

negative affect/behavior during parenting interaction†p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01

Method - Participants• 85 mother-infant dyads participated (41.7% of infants were

male).

• Mothers ranged in age from 17 to 42 years (M = 27.67) and

came from diverse ethnic backgrounds (30% minorities).

• Income-to-needs ratios ranged from 0.3 to 9.01 (M = 2.44),

and maternal education ranged from 9 to 20 years (M =

14.53, SD = 2.78).

Correspondence• Corresponding Authors:

– David J. Bridgett (dbridgett1@niu.edu)

– Robert W. Miller (robert.walker.miller@gmail.com)

• Copies may be obtained online at

http://www.niu.edu/emotionreg/presentations/index.html