Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mother-Child Interactions And Externalizing Behavior Problems In Preschoolers Over Time: Inhibitory Control As A Mediator, Rianne Van Dijk, Maja Deković, Tessa L. Bunte, Kim Schoemaker, Mariëlle Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, Kimberly A. Espy, Walter Matthys

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Previous research has shown links between parenting and externalizing behavior problems in young children over time. Associations between inhibitory control, one of the executive functions, and externalizing behavior problems are widely established as well. Yet, the role of inhibitory control in the maintenance and change of externalizing behavior problems over time remains unclear. We examined whether inhibitory control could explain the link between mother-child interactions measured on a moment-to-moment timescale and preschoolers’ externalizing behavior problems as reported by teachers. With a sample of 173 predominantly clinically referred preschoolers (76.9% boys) we tested a longitudinal model proposing that affective dyadic flexibility …