Abstract: Based on the family investment model and the family stress model, this study conducted a three-level meta-analysis to investigate the associations of family cognitive stimulation, parenting style, and parental psychological distress with children’s executive function. In addition, it compared the relative strength of these associations across family factors.Previous studies have typically examined the effects of a single category of family factors on children’s executive function from the perspective of either the family investment model or the family stress model. However, few studies have compared the strength of associations between different family factors and children’s executive function within a unified analytical framework. Consequently, it remains unclear which type of family factor is more closely associated with children’s executive function. To address this issue, the present study synthesized relevant empirical evidence to provide clearer support for understanding the relative roles of different family factors in the development of children’s executive function.
A total of 154 studies comprising 612 effect sizes were included in the meta-analysis. The results indicated that family cognitive stimulation and positive parenting style were both significantly and positively associated with children’s executive function, whereas negative parenting style and parental psychological distress were both significantly and negatively associated with children’s executive function. Further comparisons showed that family cognitive stimulation (r = 0.146) and parenting style (positive parenting: r = 0.169; negative parenting: r = -0.128) were more closely associated with children’s executive function than parental psychological distress (r = -0.102). These findings suggest that, relative to parental psychological distress, family cognitive stimulation and parenting style may play a more direct or more prominent role in the development of children’s executive function.
With respect to moderation effects, the measurement method of family cognitive stimulation significantly influenced the magnitude of its association with children’s executive function. Specifically, compared with questionnaire-based and video-based assessments, studies using home visits to assess family cognitive stimulation yielded larger effect sizes. This finding suggests that different measurement approaches may capture different aspects of the family environment, and that home-visit assessments may better reflect the actual level of cognitive stimulation available in the family context. In addition, the measurement method of children’s executive function also significantly moderated the observed associations. When executive function was assessed using indirect measures, the effect sizes linking parental psychological distress, positive parenting style, and negative parenting style to children’s executive function were all significantly larger than those obtained when executive function was assessed using direct measures. This result indicates that the strength of associations between family factors and children’s executive function may vary depending on the assessment approach adopted for executive function, and that such methodological differences should be taken into consideration when interpreting related findings.
This study also examined the associations of different family factors with cool and hot executive function. The results showed that family cognitive stimulation, parental psychological distress, and parenting style were each significantly associated with both cool executive function and hot executive function. However, executive function type did not significantly moderate the associations between these family factors and children’s executive function. In other words, the patterns of association between family factors and children’s executive function were relatively consistent across cool and hot executive function. At the same time, variables such as age did not show significant moderating effects on the associations between family factors and children’s executive function, suggesting that these associations were generally stable across age groups.
The significance of this study is reflected in two main aspects. First, by simultaneously examining and comparing the associations of family cognitive stimulation, parenting style, and parental psychological distress with children’s executive function within the same meta-analytic framework, this study provides evidence for a more comprehensive understanding of the relative roles of different family factors in the development of children’s executive function, and also offers empirical support for integrating the family investment model and the family stress model. Second, the findings have implications for family-based interventions targeting children’s executive function. Comparing the relative strength of associations between different family factors and children’s executive function may help identify which family factors warrant greater attention in intervention practice, thereby providing a basis for promoting the development of children’s executive function.

Key words: cognitive stimulation, parental psychological distress, parenting style, executive function, three level meta-analysis