Naturalistic patterns of sustained attention across early childhood: Developmental profiles and longitudinal associations with executive functions.

The capacity to sustain attention over time develops rapidly over early childhood and is associated with socioemotional and cognitive outcomes. However, sustained attention has largely been studied in either shared or independent contexts, leading to gaps in our understanding of how trade-offs between sustained attention to shared versus individual targets may predict later outcomes. We examined this question in a longitudinal sample of 1,290 children (49% female, 43% Black), living in predominately rural, low-income regions, using a naturalistic shared picture book reading task.

Within-person bidirectional associations between maternal cortisol reactivity and harsh parenting across infancy and toddlerhood.

To understand transactional associations between mothers' biological stress responsivity and parenting behaviors, we examined bidirectional effects between maternal cortisol reactivity to observing their children during distress-eliciting paradigms and harsh parenting across infancy and toddlerhood using longitudinal data from the Family Life Project ( = 1,292, 41.5% African American). Children completed a series of distress-eliciting laboratory paradigms when they were 7, 15, and 24 months old, and mothers observed their children during the paradigms.

Trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms from infancy through early childhood: The roles of perceived financial strain, social support, and intimate partner violence.

Although new mothers are at risk of heightened vulnerability for depressive symptoms, there is limited understanding regarding changes in maternal depressive symptoms over the course of the postpartum and early childhood of their child's life among rural, low-income mothers from diverse racial backgrounds. This study examined distinct trajectories of depressive symptoms among rural low-income mothers during the first five years of their child's life, at 6, 15, 24, and 58 months, using data from the Family Life Project ( = 1,292). Latent class growth analysis identified four distinct trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms, including (50%; = 622), (26%; = 324), (13%; = 156), and (11%; = 131) trajectories.

Sensitive caregiving and reward responsivity: A novel mechanism linking parenting and executive functions development in early childhood.

Sensitive caregiving is an essential aspect of positive parenting that influences executive functions development, but the mechanisms underlying this association are less clear. Using data from the Family Life Project, a large prospective longitudinal sample of 1292 families residing in rural, predominately low-income communities, the current study examined whether sensitive caregiving impacts executive functions development by shaping behavioral reward processing systems in early postnatal life. Results indicated that higher levels of sensitive caregiving during infancy were associated with heightened reward responsivity at age 4, which in turn predicted superior executive functions ability at age 5.

A Hierarchical Integrated Model of Self-Regulation.

We present a hierarchical integrated model of self-regulation in which executive function is the cognitive component of the model, together with emotional, behavioral, physiological, and genetic components. These five components in the model are reciprocally and recursively related. The model is supported by empirical evidence, primarily from a single longitudinal study with good measurement at each level of the model.

Profiles of early family environments and the growth of executive function: Maternal sensitivity as a protective factor.

We identified family risk profiles at 6 months using socioeconomic status (SES) and maternal mental health indicators with data from the Family Life Project ( = 1,292). We related profiles to executive function (EF) at 36 months (intercept) and growth in EF between 36 and 60 months. Latent profile analysis revealed five distinct profiles, characterized by different combinations of SES and maternal mental health symptoms.

Maternal depressive symptoms and the growth of child executive function: Mediation by maternal sensitivity.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in on Feb 09 2023 (see record 2023-44680-001). In the original article, there were errors in the second paragraph of the Method section whereby the text "22.1% did not in Grade 3," should have read "22.

Maternal emotion coaching styles in the context of maternal depressive symptoms: Associations with preschoolers' emotion regulation.

This study examined the interplay between maternal depressive symptoms and emotion coaching in predicting preschoolers' emotion regulation skills. Participants included 126 preschoolers and their mothers, assessed at two time points, when children were 3 (T1) and 4 (T2). Mothers' coaching of sadness and anger was observationally assessed in a laboratory task at T1 under two categories, high and low elaborative styles of emotion coaching.

A naturalistic study of parental emotion socialization: Unique contributions of fathers.

The socialization of emotion in preschool-aged children is an important developmental task, which is associated with a number of socioemotional outcomes. This study examined the contribution of both fathers' and mothers' emotion coaching to their 3- to 4-year-old children's emotion socialization. Two time points of data were collected for 69 families.