Adverse childhood experiences, parenting, and child executive function

ABSTRACT

Parent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and caregiver reports of harsh parenting were examined in relation to the executive function (EF) abilities in young low-income children. Data were collected from 55 mother–child dyads; 17–40 months of age. Parent measures included the ACEs questionnaire and harsh parenting items from the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory-2. Children’s EF was assessed using game-like tasks to measure working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. Harsh parenting attitudes were marginally correlated with children’s cognitive flexibility. In regression analyses controlling for child age, harsh parenting attitudes predicted lower inhibitory control in children, and parent-reported ACEs predicted lower working memory scores. Findings suggest that parent ACEs and parenting attitudes may be important factors in the development of young children’s EF skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Adverse childhood experiences
• parenting
• executive function
• young children
• low income

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Amy Treat is a doctoral student in Human Development and Family Science at Oklahoma State University. She currently works as an evaluation coordinator for the Legacy for Children™ implementation study in Tulsa.

Dr Amanda Morris is a Regents professor in Human Development and Family Science and George Kaiser Family Foundation Chair in Child Development at Oklahoma State University, and an adjunct professor at Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR).

Dr Amy C. Williamson is an Associate Professor in Human Development and Family Science at Oklahoma State University. She is the Ramona Ware Emmons Paul Professor in Early Childhood and the Director for the Institute for Building Early Relationships (IBEaR).

Dr Jennifer Hays-Grudo is a Regents professor in Human Development and Family Science and an adjunct professor of Paediatrics at Oklahoma State University. She is the Director of the Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Adversity (CIRCA).

Dr Debbie Laurin recently completed her PhD in Educational Leadership and Academic Curriculum at the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa. She is currently an associate professor at Eastern Michigan University.

ORCID

Amy E. Treat http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6695-8532