The interplay of maternal sensitivity and infant temperament and attention in predicting toddlers’ executive function: A two-year longitudinal study

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00141

Abstract

Abstract:

To explore the early mechanisms behind the development of execution function (EF) in toddlerhood from an intrinsic and environmental perspective, 163 mother-child dyads were invited to the laboratory for assessments. At 6 months, we evaluated maternal sensitivity by observing the free, interactive process between mother and children. Infant temperament was assessed by the Infant Behavior Questionnaire Revised-Short Form (IBQR-SF) reported by the mother. And infant attention was assessed by a Peak Look Duration task at six months. At 24 months, toddlers' EF was measured by a battery of EF tasks, including Multilocation Search, Shape Stroop, Reverse Categorization, and Delay of Gratification tasks. The results indicated that: (1) Peak look duration could predict working memory task and Delay of Gratification task performance at 24 months. (2) High levels of maternal sensitivity significantly predicted better EF performance among children with low levels of surgency in infancy. However, there was no link between maternal sensitivity and EF among children with medium-to-high levels of surgency in infancy. (3) Maternal sensitivity positively predicted EF performance among children with high levels of peak look duration in infancy. However, maternal sensitivity negatively predicted EF performance among children with low levels of peak look duration in infancy. Overall, our findings indicate the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the development of EF in toddlers and provide key insights into parenting.

Key words: maternal sensitivity, temperament, attention, executive function, toddler

ZHANG Qing, WANG Zhengyan. (2022). The interplay of maternal sensitivity and infant temperament and attention in predicting toddlers’ executive function: A two-year longitudinal study. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 54(2), 141-153.

Figures/Tables 5

References 62

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Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1. T1 Maternal sensitivity	1.00
2. T1 Surgency	0.01	1.00
3. T1 Negative affectivity	-0.12	0.18^*	1.00
4. T1 Regulation	0.04	0.52^**	-0.23^**	1.00
5. T1 Peak look duration	0.18^*	0.06	-0.01	0.14	1.00
6. T2 Multilocation Search	0.01	0.11	0.01	0.06	0.17^*	1.00
7. T2 Shape Stroop	-0.02	-0.07	-0.04	0.02	0.02	0.05	1.00
8. T2 Reverse Categorization Task	0.09	0.00	0.05	-0.04	-0.01	-0.01	0.03	1.00
9. T2 Delay of Gratification	0.08	0.10	0.02	0.00	0.22^*	0.03	-0.04	0.03	1.00
10. T2 Age	0.01	-0.12	-0.03	-0.17^*	-0.10	0.03	0.07	0.10	-0.13	1.00
11. T2 Verbal ability	0.11	0.02	0.10	0.03	-0.09	-0.00	0.22^*	0.03	0.15⁺	0.05	1.00
12. T2 Maternal Education	0.11	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.15⁺	0.07	0.15⁺	0.16⁺	0.06	-0.02	1.00
13. T2 Paternal Education	0.07	-0.09	-0.09	0.05	0.08	0.05	0.17⁺	0.11	0.22^*	0.06	0.06	0.51^**	1.00
M	0.37	4.6	3.32	5.05	13.65	8.38	5.6	0.48	66.45	754.67	502.41	4.14	4.17
SD	0.2	0.71	0.75	0.65	3.44	3.44	3.78	0.33	71.21	30.92	251.43	0.81	0.82
N	153	153	153	153	145	151	140	138	150	163	154	149	154

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1. T1 Maternal sensitivity	1.00
2. T1 Surgency	0.01	1.00
3. T1 Negative affectivity	-0.12	0.18^*	1.00
4. T1 Regulation	0.04	0.52^**	-0.23^**	1.00
5. T1 Peak look duration	0.18^*	0.06	-0.01	0.14	1.00
6. T2 Multilocation Search	0.01	0.11	0.01	0.06	0.17^*	1.00
7. T2 Shape Stroop	-0.02	-0.07	-0.04	0.02	0.02	0.05	1.00
8. T2 Reverse Categorization Task	0.09	0.00	0.05	-0.04	-0.01	-0.01	0.03	1.00
9. T2 Delay of Gratification	0.08	0.10	0.02	0.00	0.22^*	0.03	-0.04	0.03	1.00
10. T2 Age	0.01	-0.12	-0.03	-0.17^*	-0.10	0.03	0.07	0.10	-0.13	1.00
11. T2 Verbal ability	0.11	0.02	0.10	0.03	-0.09	-0.00	0.22^*	0.03	0.15⁺	0.05	1.00
12. T2 Maternal Education	0.11	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.15⁺	0.07	0.15⁺	0.16⁺	0.06	-0.02	1.00
13. T2 Paternal Education	0.07	-0.09	-0.09	0.05	0.08	0.05	0.17⁺	0.11	0.22^*	0.06	0.06	0.51^**	1.00
M	0.37	4.6	3.32	5.05	13.65	8.38	5.6	0.48	66.45	754.67	502.41	4.14	4.17
SD	0.2	0.71	0.75	0.65	3.44	3.44	3.78	0.33	71.21	30.92	251.43	0.81	0.82
N	153	153	153	153	145	151	140	138	150	163	154	149	154

Variable	Level 1			Level 2			Level 3
Variable	β	t	p	β	t	p	β	t	p
Child age	0.11	1.18	0.24	0.12	1.26	0.21	0.13	1.42	0.16
Paternal education	-0.02	-0.17	0.87	-0.02	-0.19	0.85	-0.03	-0.27	0.79
Maternal education	0.15	1.36	0.18	0.14	1.31	0.19	0.14	1.31	0.19
Verbal ability	0.03	0.33	0.75	0.02	0.20	0.84	-0.001	-0.01	0.99
Maternal sensitivity				0.07	0.71	0.66	0.04	0.48	0.64
Surgency				0.04	0.44	0.48	0.02	0.17	0.87
Maternal sensitivity × Surgency							-0.19	-2.05^*	0.04
R²	0.031			0.037			0.072
ΔR²	0.031			0.006			0.035

Variable	Level 1			Level 2			Level 3
Variable	β	t	p	β	t	p	β	t	p
Child age	0.11	1.18	0.24	0.12	1.26	0.21	0.13	1.42	0.16
Paternal education	-0.02	-0.17	0.87	-0.02	-0.19	0.85	-0.03	-0.27	0.79
Maternal education	0.15	1.36	0.18	0.14	1.31	0.19	0.14	1.31	0.19
Verbal ability	0.03	0.33	0.75	0.02	0.20	0.84	-0.001	-0.01	0.99
Maternal sensitivity				0.07	0.71	0.66	0.04	0.48	0.64
Surgency				0.04	0.44	0.48	0.02	0.17	0.87
Maternal sensitivity × Surgency							-0.19	-2.05^*	0.04
R²	0.031			0.037			0.072
ΔR²	0.031			0.006			0.035

Variable	Level 1			Level 2			Level 3
Variable	β	t	p	β	t	p	β	t	p
Child age	0.07	0.67	0.50	0.07	0.70	0.49	0.06	0.59	0.56
Paternal education	0.06	0.49	0.63	0.06	0.51	0.61	0.08	0.66	0.51
Maternal education	-0.03	-0.27	0.79	-0.03	-0.26	0.80	-0.06	-0.52	0.61
Verbal ability	0.20	2.06	0.04	0.23	2.22	0.03	0.20^*	2.00	0.05
Maternal sensitivity				-0.06	-0.61	0.54	-0.004	-0.04	0.97
Peak look duration				0.08	0.77	0.44	-0.10	-0.76	0.45
Maternal sensitivity × Peak look duration							0.28	2.27^*	0.03
R²	0.049			0.057			0.106
ΔR²	0.049			0.008			0.049