Toddlers' impulsivity, inhibitory control, and maternal eating-related supervision in relation to toddler body mass index: Direct and interactive effects.

Previous studies have noted that child temperament characteristics, such as aspects of self-regulation, as well as parental feeding practices contribute to children's body mass index (BMI), and have implications for identifying children who may be at risk of being overweight or obese. While studies have considered children's temperament or maternal feeding practices separately, few have considered these correlates of children's BMI jointly or in interaction in relation to children's BMI. The current study included 179 mother-child dyads participating in a longitudinal study. Information on children's impulsivity and inhibitory control was collected when children were 24 months of age. Children's tendency to emotionally overeat, maternal supervision of children's eating, and toddler and maternal BMI were assessed when children reached 30 months of age. Higher toddler impulsivity and emotional overeating, as well as maternal BMI were positively associated with toddler BMI. Inhibitory control and maternal supervision of toddler eating were not directly associated with toddler BMI. However, the main effect of toddler impulsivity was qualified by a significant interaction with maternal supervision of toddler eating. For children high in impulsivity, there was a significant negative association between maternal eating supervision and toddler BMI. For children low in impulsivity, there was a trend level (p = .059) positive relation between maternal eating supervision and toddler BMI. These findings suggest that increased maternal supervision of children's eating may be beneficial for helping children maintain a healthy BMI when they exhibit high impulsivity.

Maternal executive functioning as a mechanism in the intergenerational transmission of parenting: Preliminary evidence.

Multiple lines of inquiry, including experimental animal models, have recently converged to suggest that executive functioning (EF) may be one mechanism by which parenting behavior is transmitted across generations. In the current investigation, we empirically test this notion by examining relations between maternal EF and parenting behaviors during mother-infant interactions, and by examining the role of maternal EF in the intergenerational transmission of parenting behavior. Mother-infant dyads (N = 150) in a longitudinal study participated. Mothers were administered measures of EF (working memory and inhibition), reported on the parenting they received from their parents (i.e., the infants' maternal grandparents), and were observed interacting with their 8-month-old infants. SEM findings indicated that the negative parenting mothers received from their own parents was significantly related to poorer maternal EF, and that poorer maternal EF was significantly related to subsequent engagement in more negative parenting practices (e.g., intrusiveness, displays of negativity) with their own infant. A significant indirect effect, through maternal EF, was observed between maternal report of her experiences of negative parenting received while growing up and her own use of negative parenting practices. Our findings make two contributions. First, we add to existing work that has primarily considered relations between parent EF and parenting behavior while interacting with older children by showing that maternal EF affects children, via maternal parenting behavior, beginning very early in life. Second, we provide key evidence of the role of EF in the intergenerational transmission of parenting. Additional implications of these findings, as well as important future directions, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record