Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Centre for Women's Mental Health During the Reproductive Lifespan - WOMHER, Uppsala, Sweden.
Dev Sci. 2024 Sep;27(5):e13526. doi: 10.1111/desc.13526. Epub 2024 May 7.
Previous research and theory indicate an importance of the quality of the early caregiving environment in the development of self-regulation. However, it is unclear how attachment security and maternal sensitivity, two related but distinct aspects of the early caregiving environment, may differentially predict self-regulation at school start and whether a distinction between hot and cool executive function is informative in characterizing such predictions through mediation. In a 5-year longitudinal study (n = 108), we examined these associations using measures of maternal sensitivity and attachment security at 10-12 months, executive function at 4 years, and self-regulation at 6 years. Surprisingly, and despite methodological rigor, we found few significant bivariate associations between the study variables. We found no credible evidence of a longitudinal association between maternal sensitivity or attachment security in infancy and self-regulation at 6 years, or between executive function at 4 years and self-regulation at 6 years. The lack of bivariate longitudinal associations precluded us from building mediation models as intended. We discuss our null findings in terms of their potential theoretical implications, as well as how measurement type, reliability, and validity, may play a key role in determining longitudinal associations between early caregiving factors and later self-regulation and related abilities. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: The early caregiving environment has been implicated in the development of later self-regulation, which includes more basic skills, such as hot and cool executive functions (EF). In a 5-year longitudinal study, with a sample of 108 children, we rigorously measured aspects of early caregiving, EF, and self-regulation. We found no significant longitudinal associations between early caregiving and self-regulation at 6 years, nor between EF at 4 years and self-regulation at 6 years. These null results highlight the complexity of modeling self-regulation development and raise critical questions about general methodological conventions within self-regulation development research.
先前的研究和理论表明，早期养育环境的质量在自我调节的发展中至关重要。然而，尚不清楚依恋安全性和母亲敏感性这两个早期养育环境的相关但不同的方面如何可能以不同的方式预测学校开始时的自我调节，以及区分热执行功能和冷执行功能是否有助于通过中介来描述这种预测。在一项为期 5 年的纵向研究（n=108）中，我们使用 10-12 个月时的母亲敏感性和依恋安全性、4 岁时的执行功能以及 6 岁时的自我调节来检验这些关联。令人惊讶的是，尽管方法严谨，但我们发现研究变量之间很少有显著的二元关联。我们没有发现可信的证据表明婴儿期的母亲敏感性或依恋安全性与 6 岁时的自我调节之间存在纵向关联，也没有发现 4 岁时的执行功能与 6 岁时的自我调节之间存在纵向关联。缺乏二元纵向关联使我们无法按照预期构建中介模型。我们根据其潜在的理论意义讨论了我们的零结果，以及测量类型、可靠性和有效性如何在确定早期养育因素与后期自我调节和相关能力之间的纵向关联方面发挥关键作用。研究亮点：早期养育环境与后期自我调节的发展有关，后者包括更基本的技能，如热执行功能和冷执行功能。在一项为期 5 年的纵向研究中，我们对 108 名儿童进行了严格的早期养育、执行功能和自我调节方面的测量。我们没有发现早期养育与 6 岁时自我调节之间、4 岁时执行功能与 6 岁时自我调节之间存在显著的纵向关联。这些零结果突出了建模自我调节发展的复杂性，并对自我调节发展研究中的一般方法学常规提出了关键问题。
