Low-Income Latina Mothers’ Scaffolding of Preschoolers’ Behavior in A Stressful Situation and Children’s Self-Regulation: A Longitudinal Study

SYNOPSIS

Objective. Maternal control and directiveness in Latina/o families often do not show the negative associations with child adjustment seen in European American samples. This study tested the self-determination hypotheses that Latina maternal involvement and structure would be positively associated with preschool children’s later self-regulation, whereas directiveness and control would show negative relations. Design. At Time 1, 130 low-income Latina mothers were observed helping their 4- to 5-year-old children complete a stressful task. Maternal strategies for scaffolding children’s responses to stress were examined with detailed event coding. At Time 1 and Time 2 18 months later, a delay of gratification task assessed children’s self-regulation. Results. Children’s Time 2 ability to delay gratification at 5½ to 6½ years (controlling for delay of gratification at ages 4 to 5) was predicted by Time 1 maternal scaffolding strategies. Children showing the greatest delay gratification at Time 2 (controlling for delay of gratification at Time 1) had mothers who used instructive praise and nonverbal autonomy-promoting scaffolding strategies at Time 1. Negative predictors included nonverbal attention directing and restriction. Conclusions. The findings highlight the importance of physical guidance in Latina/o families and suggest that highly directive maternal strategies may not interfere with the development of self-regulation as is often found in European American families. These findings will be useful in developing interventions to promote self-regulation in Latina/o children from low-income families.

ADDRESSES AND AFFILIATIONS

Thomas G. Power, Department of Human Development, Washington State University, P.O. Box 644852, Pullman, WA 99164-4852. E-mail: [email protected]. Ashley Beck, Karina Silva Garcia, Noemi Duran Aguilar, Veronica Hopwood, Guadalupe Ramos, and Yadira Olivera Guerrero were at Washington State University, Jennifer O. Fisher is at Temple University, and Teresia M. O’Connor and Sheryl O. Hughes are at the Baylor College of Medicine.

ARTICLE INFORMATION

Conflict of Interest Disclosures

Each author signed a form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No authors reported any financial or other conflicts of interest in relation to the work described.

Ethical Principles

The authors affirm having followed professional ethical guidelines in preparing this work. These guidelines include obtaining informed consent from human participants, maintaining ethical treatment and respect for the rights of human or animal participants, and ensuring the privacy of participants and their data, such as ensuring that individual participants cannot be identified in reported results or from publicly available original or archived data.

Role of the Funders/Sponsors

None of the funders or sponsors of this research had any role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or decision to submit the manuscript for publication. This work is also a publication of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA/ARS) Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) funded in part by the USDA/ARS (Cooperative Agreement 6250-51000). The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the USDA, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement from the US government.

Acknowledgments

The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone, and endorsement by the authors’ institutions or the funding agency is not intended and should not be inferred. We thank Nilda Micheli for her assistance in data collection and management.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Grant R01 HD062567 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Notes on contributors

Thomas G. Power

Thomas G. Power, Ph.D., is a Professor Emeritus of Human Development at Washington State University. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Illinois. He conducts research on parenting and children’s self-regulation with an emphasis on the regulation of emotions and caloric intake.

Ashley Beck

Ashley Beck, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist at the Spokane Regional Health District.  She received her doctoral degree in Prevention Science at Washington State University in 2016.

Karina Silva Garcia

Karina Siva Garcia, Ph.D., is a Frost Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Kinesiology at California Polytechnic State University.  She received her doctoral degree in Prevention Science at Washington State University in 2020.

Noemi Duran Aguilar

Noemi Duran Aguilar, received a B. S. in Psychology and a B. A. in Human Development at Washington State University in 2013.

Veronica Hopwood

Veronica Hopwood, Ph.D., is Wellness for Life Coordinator at the Pullman Regional Hospital.  She received her doctoral degree in Prevention Science at Washington State University in 2018.

Guadalupe Ramos

Guadalupe Ramos, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California.  She received her doctoral degree in Prevention Science at Washington State University in 2019.

Yadira Olivera Guerrero

Yadiara Olivera Guerrero, Ph.D., is a Research Associate in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University. She received her doctoral degree in Prevention Science at Washington State University in 2017.

Jennifer O. Fisher

Jennifer O. Fisher, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Temple University and Associate Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education where she directs the Family Eating Laboratory. She holds graduate degrees in Nutrition from the University of Illinois and from the Pennsylvania State University.  Her research focuses on the development of eating behavior during infancy and early childhood.

Teresia M. O’Connor

Teresia M. O’Connor, M.D., MPH, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine and is a researcher at the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston.  She graduated with an M.D. from the University of Wisconsin Medical School and completed her residency and fellowship at the Baylor College of Medicine.  She received her MPH from the University of Texas School of Public Health.  Her research focuses on the determinants, prevention, and treatment of childhood obesity.

Sheryl O. Hughes

Sheryl O. Hughes, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine and is a researcher at the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston.  She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Houston. She conducts research on the influence of parenting styles and practices on the development of childhood obesity.