Maternal scaffolding and attention regulation in children living in poverty

Abstract

This study examines the relation of maternal scaffolding and children's attention regulation abilities in preschool children from low-income families within the context of a parent–child interaction task and in a child-alone task. Maternal scaffolding behaviors differed for mothers of children with different attention regulation skills. Mothers whose children demonstrated poor attention regulation skills in the parent–child interaction were more likely to verbally engage their children, including more strategic questions, verbal hints, and verbal prompts. Children's level of attention regulation skills interacted with mother's amount of scaffolding to predict performance in the child-alone task. Attention regulation skills were related to independent performance only in the context of high maternal scaffolding. Findings contribute new information important for parent interventions to promote attention regulation skills in children who are at risk for poor academic achievement outcomes.