title: Mother-Child Interactions and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Preschoolers over Time: Inhibitory Control as a Mediator.
abstract: 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 and maternal negative affect predict as well as interact in predicting hyperactive/impulsive behavior and aggressive behavior, with preschoolers' inhibitory control as a mediator. Our results provide support for this model for preschoolers' hyperactive/impulsive behavior, but not for aggressive behavior. Hence, inhibitory control is identified as a mechanism linking the content and structure of mother-child interactions to preschoolers' hyperactivity and impulsivity over time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands. R.vanDijk@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Rianne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deković
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85500, Heidelberglaan 100, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tessa L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Bunte
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Child & Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schoemaker
authors.affiliation: Department of Methodology & Statistics, Utrecht University, Padualaan 14, 3584 CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mariëlle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zondervan-Zwijnenburg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.|Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Espy
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85500, Heidelberglaan 100, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Matthys
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006948:Hyperkinesis / Q000523:psychology; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D000066553:Problem Behavior / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Affective dyadic flexibility; Aggressive behavior; Hyperactivity/impulsivity; Inhibitory control; Maternal negative affect; Preschoolers