Family Stress Processes and Children's Self‐Regulation

Economic hardship can affect children's development through child–caregiver interactions, which may mediate cascading effects of other family stress processes. This study examined, simultaneously, the relations of financial strain, caregiver general stress, and child–caregiver conflict—each mea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 2020-03, Vol.91 (2), p.577-595
Main Authors: Duran, Chelsea A.K., Cottone, Elizabeth, Ruzek, Erik A., Mashburn, Andrew J., Grissmer, David W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caregiver burden
Caregivers
Caregivers - psychology
Child
Child development
Child, Preschool
Children
Children & youth
Developmental delays
Economic hardship
Economic stress
Executive function
Family relations
Family Relations - psychology
Female
Gratification
Humans
Male
Parent-Child Relations
Parenting - psychology
Parents - psychology
Poverty
Poverty - psychology
Prospective Studies
Psychology, Child
Self-Control
Socioeconomic Factors
Stress, Psychological
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Summary:Economic hardship can affect children's development through child–caregiver interactions, which may mediate cascading effects of other family stress processes. This study examined, simultaneously, the relations of financial strain, caregiver general stress, and child–caregiver conflict—each measured at two time points—with child self‐regulatory outcomes in a high‐poverty sample (age 5–7 years; n = 343). Increase in child–caregiver conflict mediated negative relations between other processes and development of executive function. In contrast, only increase in financial strain had direct, negative association with development of delay of gratification and did not significantly mediate relations between any other process and children's outcomes. Results have implications for understanding effects of family stress on self‐regulatory outcomes and for interventions with low‐income families.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.1111/cdev.13202