University of Rochester.
Dev Psychopathol. 2019 Feb;31(1):341-360. doi: 10.1017/S0954579417001894. Epub 2018 Mar 1.
Informed by a developmental psychopathology perspective, the present study applied a person-based approach to examine whether associations between early sociocontextual experiences (e.g., socioeconomic factors and maternal discipline practices) and preschool-age children's delay of gratification vary across profiles of children's temperamental reactivity. In addition, the study examined the direct and mediating role of children's set shifting in associations with delay of gratification within each profile. The sample consisted of 160 socioeconomically and ethnically diverse mothers and their 5-year-old children drawn from a longitudinal study of mother-child relationships. Latent profile analyses identified three profiles of temperamental reactivity distinguished by sensitivity to reward and punishment and negative affectivity. Multigroup analysis revealed maternal sensitive discipline (observed during a parent-child compliance task) at age 3.5 predicted longer delay of gratification at age 5 in the punishment reactivity/negative affectivity group. Maternal inductive reasoning discipline at age 3.5 predicted longer delay in the low temperamental reactivity group. For children with the reward reactivity/negative affectivity profile, higher family income at age 3.5 predicted longer delay of gratification at age 5, which was mediated by children's set shifting. Findings underscore the utility of person-based approaches for delineating differential developmental routes toward children's delay of gratification.
受发展心理病理学观点的启发，本研究采用基于个体的方法来检验早期社会环境经验（例如，社会经济因素和母亲纪律实践）与学龄前儿童延迟满足之间的关联是否因儿童气质反应的特征而异。此外，该研究还检验了儿童在每个特征中在延迟满足关联内的设置转换的直接和中介作用。该样本由 160 名来自母亲-儿童关系纵向研究的具有不同社会经济和种族背景的母亲及其 5 岁儿童组成。潜在剖面分析确定了三种气质反应特征，其特征是对奖励和惩罚以及消极情感的敏感性。多组分析显示，3.5 岁时母亲的敏感纪律（在亲子服从任务中观察到）预测了惩罚反应性/消极情感组在 5 岁时更长的延迟满足。3.5 岁时母亲的诱导推理纪律预测了低气质反应性组的延迟更长。对于具有奖励反应性/消极情感特征的儿童，3.5 岁时家庭收入较高预测了 5 岁时更长的延迟满足，这是由儿童的设置转换介导的。研究结果强调了基于个体的方法在描绘儿童延迟满足的不同发展途径方面的实用性。
