Maternal control and children’s inhibitory control in China: The role of child exuberance and parenting contexts

Abstract

Parental control is widely considered to have a detrimental effect on children’s psychological development. However, it is commonplace and generally accepted in China and is intended to regulate children’s behavior. It is unclear whether Chinese parental control promotes or hinders children’s inhibitory control (IC) development. This study investigated the influence of maternal control on Chinese children’s development of IC using a longitudinal design (N = 163), with attention to the influence of children’s temperamental exuberance and different parenting contexts. Children’s exuberance (at 2 years of age) was assessed via laboratory observations. Maternal control (at 3 years of age) was coded during parent–child interaction in play-based and cleanup contexts. Children’s IC (at 3 years of age) was assessed by day–night and snow–grass tasks. Results suggested that maternal control in the play-based context was negatively related to IC development. The association between maternal control in the cleanup context and IC varied in children with different levels of temperamental exuberance. Specifically, maternal control in the cleanup context impeded low-exuberant children’s IC development but promoted it for highly exuberant children. These findings support the self-determination theory and the goodness-of-fit model and have implications for educational practice in China.