The Relationship Between Executive Function With Temperament And Parenting In 3-and 4-Year-Olds

Executive function is the higher-level cognitive process associated with the prefrontal cortex that consciously controls thoughts and actions,which is related to core achievement tasks in daily life,academic achievement and social behaviors.The development of executive function in preschool age contributes great significance to higher cognitive process in adulthood.Zelazo and Müller separated cool EF(psychological process involves pure logic and critical analysis)and hot EF(psychological process driven by emotion).Gene-environment interaction model holds that individual behavior is formed and developed in the interaction between individuals and the environment.As the most important biological factors and acquired environment for preschoolers,temperament and parenting style are widely concerned factors to explore the gene-environment interaction model.The current study aimed to investigate the relations between executive function,temperament and parenting style of 3-and4-year-olds children.Firstly,the primary caregivers of children aged 3-4(N = 230)completed Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory(CHEXI),Child Behavior Questionnaire(CBQ)and Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire(PSDQ).Secondly,participants aged 3-4(N = 113)performed tests of cool EF(Digital Span Task and Black-White Stroop).Lastly,participants aged 3-4(N = 118)performed tests of hot EF(Delay of Gratification Task).The results of this study show that:(1)Extraversion and negative affectivity negatively predicted global EF and inhibition;negative affectivity negatively predicted global EF,working memory,inhibition and inhibitory control.(2)Permissive parenting negatively predicted global EF,inhibition,authoritative parenting positively predicted working memory and inhibitory control.(3)Authoritative parenting moderated the relations between effortful control both working memory and global EF.The higher the level of effort control,the better the performance of global EF and working memory.However,for children with low Authoritative parenting,the effect of children’s effort control on their global EF and working memory was not significant.(4)Authoritarian parenting moderated the relations between extraversion and working memory.For children with low authoritarian parenting,extraversion positively predicted working memory.Authoritarian parenting moderated the relations between negative affectivity and inhibitory control.The lower the children’s negative affectivity was,the higher the inhibitory control performance was.When parents adopted low authoritarian parenting,the higher the negative affectivity of children,the higher the level of inhibition and control.(5)Moderating effect analysis suggested that permissive parenting moderated the relations between negative affectivity and working memory.When parents adopted high permissive parenting,children’s working memory is higher with lower negative affectivity.When parents adopted low permissive parenting,the lower the negative affectivity of children,the lower working memory,but the prediction did not reach the significance.(6)Negative affectivity of high hot EF group was significantly lower than that of medium group and low group.The authoritative parenting of parents with high hot EF group was significantly higher than that of parents with low hot EF group.In conclusion,the results of this study partially support the gene-environment interaction model.Authoritarian parenting can aggravate the negative effects of negative affectivity and extraversion on cold EF.Therefore,parents should reduce the use of authoritarian parenting as much as possible.Authoritative parenting can promote the positive effects of effort control on global EF and working memory.Therefore,parents should try to use authoritative parenting.