Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Aug;52(8):3496-3511.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05219-x. Epub 2021 Aug 26.

Infant Effortful Control Mediates Relations Between Nondirective Parenting and Internalising-Related Child Behaviours in an Autism-Enriched Infant Cohort

C G Smith  1 , E J H Jones  2 , S V Wass  3 , G Pasco  4 , M H Johnson  2   5 , T Charman  4 , M W Wan  6 ; BASIS Team
Collaborators, Affiliations

Infant Effortful Control Mediates Relations Between Nondirective Parenting and Internalising-Related Child Behaviours in an Autism-Enriched Infant Cohort

C G Smith et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Internalising problems are common within Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); early intervention to support those with emerging signs may be warranted. One promising signal lies in how individual differences in temperament are shaped by parenting. Our longitudinal study of infants with and without an older sibling with ASD investigated how parenting associates with infant behavioural inhibition (8-14 months) and later effortful control (24 months) in relation to 3-year internalising symptoms. Mediation analyses suggest nondirective parenting (8 months) was related to fewer internalising problems through an increase in effortful control. Parenting did not moderate the stable predictive relation of behavioural inhibition on later internalising. We discuss the potential for parenting to strengthen protective factors against internalising in infants from an ASD-enriched cohort.

Keywords: ASD; Anxiety; Behavioural inhibition; Effortful control; Infant sibling study; Internalising; Parent-infant interaction; Temperament.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic showing the relationships between variables in the moderation analyses (Hypotheses 1–2) and mediation analysis (Hypothesis 3). Labels a, b and c’ are path coefficients representing standardised coefficients; the c-prime path refers to the direct effect. *p < 0.01
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aiken, L. S., West, S. G., & Reno, R. R. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage.
    1. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed).
    1. Bailey DB, Hatton DD, Mesibov G, Ament N, Skinner M. Early development, temperament, and functional impairment in autism and fragile X syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2000;30(1):49–59. doi: 10.1023/A:1005412111706. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beauchaine TP, Hinshaw SP. Child and adolescent psychopathology. John Wiley & Sons; 2010.
    1. Belsky J, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, van IJzendoorn MH. For better and for worse: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2007;16(6):300–304. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00525.x. - DOI