Parenting Influences on Executive Function in Early Childhood: A Review

Abstract

Developmental processes critical to the emergence of executive function (EF) play out across early childhood-a period of rapid change and neural plasticity. The emergence of self-regulatory capacities is highly embedded in the many contexts or ecologies nested within a child's broader environment, among which the parent-child relationship assumes primary importance. However, only recently have early childhood researchers begun to investigate the contributions of parenting variables to EF. In this article, we review this emerging evidence as it pertains to (a) the parenting behaviors associated with EF, (b) the risk and protective factors that moderate these associations, and (c) the mechanisms through which parenting apparently operates on emerging EF. We also discuss directions for research on transactional parent-child dynamics, experimental tests of causation, and differential susceptibility to environmental influences.