Interactions between familial risk profiles and preschoolers' emotionality in predicting executive function

Abstract

We identified familial risk profiles and examined interactions between these profiles and child emotionality in predicting child executive function (EF). Among 126 mother-child dyads (child mean age = 3.23 years), four profiles were found based on maternal education, family income-to-needs ratio, and maternal depressive symptoms, anxiety, and parenting stress: Higher SES-Lower Mental Health Risk, Lower SES-Lower Mental Health Risk, Lower SES-Average Mental Health Risk, and Lower SES-Higher Mental Health Risk profiles. We found that high child positive emotionality at age 3 predicted high inhibitory control and low attention flexibility a year later exclusively in the Lower SES-Higher Mental Health Risk profile. Overall, children in the Higher SES-Lower Mental Health Risk profile showed better inhibitory control and attention flexibility than those in the Lower SES-Higher Mental Health Risk. This study extends our understanding of how different constellations of familial risks interact with child emotionality to contribute to child EF development.