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Child Effortful Control as a Mediator of Parenting Practices on Externalizing Behavior: Evidence for a Sex-Differentiated Pathway across the Transition from Preschool to School

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Abstract

An explanatory model for children’s development of disruptive behavior across the transition from preschool to school was tested. It was hypothesized that child effortful control would mediate the effects of parenting on children’s externalizing behavior and that child sex would moderate these relations. Participants were 241 children (123 boys) and their parents and teachers. Three dimensions of parenting, warm responsiveness, induction, and corporal punishment, were assessed via maternal report when children were 3 years old. Child effortful control at age 3 was measured using laboratory tasks and a mother-report questionnaire. Mothers and teachers contributed ratings of child externalizing behavior at age 6. Results showed that the hypothesized model fit the data well and that the pattern of associations between constructs differed for boys and girls. For boys, parental warm responsiveness and corporal punishment had significant indirect effects on children’s externalizing behavior three years later, mediated by child effortful control. Such relations were not observed for girls. These findings support a sex-differentiated pathway to externalizing behavior across the transition from preschool to school.

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  1. Additional models were estimated to examine if results differed by method and informant. As 38 children did not have teacher-report of externalizing behavior at age 6, the model with mother-report of externalizing behavior only was compared with the model with both mother- and teacher-report. Despite slight differences in the coefficients, the pattern of results was the same for both models. Next, the models with the latent construct of EC assessed differently were compared (mother-report only vs. lab assessment only). The association between EC and externalizing behavior was weaker for lab EC (β = −0.14, p < 0.10) than mother-report EC (β = −0.79, p < 0.001). The pattern of relationship between parenting and EC also differed. Warm responsiveness predicted mother-report EC (β = 0.48, p < 0.001) whereas corporal punishment predicted lab EC (β = −0.24, p < 0.05). The findings imply that different measures of EC may be associated with different predictors and outcomes. However, because the manifest variables were generally good indicators of the specified latent construct fsall factor loadings > 0.40), the multi-method, multi-informant model was retained with a focus on common variance across measures.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (RO1MH57489) to Sheryl Olson and Arnold Sameroff. Support for Holly R. Sexton was provided by the Center for the Analysis of the Pathway from Childhood to Adulthood, funded by the National Science Foundation (Grant 0322356). We are very grateful to the children, parents, teachers, and preschool administrators who participated, and to many individuals who gave us invaluable help with data collection and coding, especially Gail Benninghoff, Meribeth Gandy Pezda, Lisa Alvarez, David Kerr, Nestor Lopez-Duran, Erika Lunkenheimer, Lindsey Combs-Ronto, and Jennifer LaBounty. We also thank the administrators of the University of Michigan Children’s Center for their generous assistance.

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  1. Hyein Chang

    Present address: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 210 S. Bouquet St., Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

  2. Holly R. Sexton

    Present address: Department of Human Ecology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Hyein Chang

  2. Department of Psychology and Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Sheryl L. Olson & Arnold J. Sameroff

  3. The Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Holly R. Sexton

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  1. Hyein Chang
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Correspondence to Hyein Chang.

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Chang, H., Olson, S.L., Sameroff, A.J. et al. Child Effortful Control as a Mediator of Parenting Practices on Externalizing Behavior: Evidence for a Sex-Differentiated Pathway across the Transition from Preschool to School. J Abnorm Child Psychol 39, 71–81 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9437-7

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