Parenting and toddler self‐regulation in low‐income families: What does sleep have to do with it?

• Published in: Infant mental health journal 2019-07, Vol.40 (4), p.479-495
• Main Authors: Julian, Megan M., Leung, Christy Y. Y., Rosenblum, Katherine L., LeBourgeois, Monique K., Lumeng, Julie C., Kaciroti, Niko, Miller, Alison L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; auto‐regulación; auto‐régulation; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Children & youth; crianza; duración del sueño; durée de sommeil; einkommensschwache Familien; Erziehung; familias de bajos recursos; Families & family life; familles issues de milieux défavorisés; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant Behavior - psychology; jeune enfant; Kleinkind; Low income groups; low‐income families; Male; Maternal Behavior - psychology; Mother-Child Relations - psychology; Mothers - psychology; niño pequeño; parentage; parenting; Parenting - psychology; Parents & parenting; Poverty - psychology; Poverty - statistics & numerical data; Preschool children; Schlafdauer; Selbstregulation; Self-Control - psychology; self‐regulation; Sleep; sleep duration; Time Factors; toddler; طفل رضيع; التنظيم الذاتي ؛ مده النوم; الرعاية الوالدية والأسر ذات الدخل المنخفض; 低収入家庭; 低收入家庭; 子育て; 幼児; 幼兒; 睡眠時間; 自己調整; 自我調節; 養育
• ISSN: 0163-9641; 1097-0355
• DOI: 10.1002/imhj.21783

ABSTRACT Toddlerhood is a sensitive period in the development of self‐regulation, a set of adaptive skills that are fundamental to mental health and partly shaped by parenting. Healthy sleep is known to be critical for self‐regulation; yet, the degree to which child sleep alters interactive child–parent processes remains understudied. This study examines associations between observed parenting and toddler self‐regulation, with toddler sleep as a moderator of this association. Toddlers in low‐income families (N = 171) and their mothers were videotaped during free play and a self‐regulation challenge task; videos were coded for mothers’ behavior and affect (free play) and toddlers’ self‐regulation (challenge task). Mothers reported their child's nighttime sleep duration via questionnaire. Results revealed significant Sleep × Maternal Negative Affect and Sleep × Maternal Negative Control interactions. Children who did not experience negative parenting had good self‐regulation regardless of their nighttime sleep duration. For children who did experience negative parenting, self‐regulation was intact among those who obtained more nighttime sleep, but significantly poorer among children who were getting less nighttime sleep. Thus, among children who were reported to obtain less nighttime sleep, there were more robust associations between negative parenting and poorer self‐regulation than among toddlers who were reported to obtain more sleep. RESUMEN Los primeros años de la niñez son un período sensible en el desarrollo de la auto‐regulación, un grupo de habilidades adaptables que son fundamentales para la salud mental y a las que en parte les da forma la crianza. Es sabido que el dormir bien es esencial para la auto‐regulación y, aun así, el nivel al que el sueño del niño altera los procesos interactivos entre progenitor y niño permanece poco estudiado. Este estudio examina las asociaciones entre la crianza observada y la auto‐regulación del niño pequeño, tomando como moderador de tal asociación el proceso de dormir del niño pequeño. Se grabó en video a niños pequeños de familias de bajos ingresos (N=171) y sus madres durante una sesión de juego libre y una tarea de auto‐regulación que suponía un reto; los videos fueron codificados en cuanto al comportamiento y afecto de las madres (juego libre) y la auto‐regulación de los niños pequeños (tarea que suponía reto). Las madres reportaron acerca del sueño nocturno de sus niños por medio de un cuestionario. Los resul