Article summary with The Interplay of Maternal Sensitivity and Gentle Control When Predicting Children’s Subsequent Academic Functioning: Evidence of Mediation by Effortful Control by Kopystynska a.o. - 2016

What is this article about?

The study in this article aimed to research the relationship between a mothers sensitivity and gentle control on the children’s effortful control (EC) and academic functioning.

The idea of this study developed based on the attempt to understand children’s early scholastic adjustment, including school enjoyment, classroom engagement and academic performance.

Previous research revealed children who enjoy going to school showed a better academic performance, better social skills and a lower risk of developing mental health problems. In order to increase children’s positive attitude towards school, it is beneficial to understand the influential factors of it. The influential factors can include environmental factors, teacher-child relationship and parenting behaviour. One aspect of parenting behavior is maternal gentle control.

The term gentle control describes a supportive, power de-emphasizing and non-coercive parental style with clear expectations setting and provision of constructive guidance to increase the children’s autonomy.

Despite lack of empirical research, it is suggested that maternal gentle control impact children’s early school adjustment due to the way they are guided through chores and activities in early years. Additionally, the purpose of chores and social activities are more likely to be explained to the children. During school years, gentle control can be applied to age-appropriate strategies, including later curfews and bedtime routine. This might contribute to internalizing the importance of academics for children.

Recent research found children’s EC increased their academic functioning. EC can be defined as the ability to pay attention to something and to either inhibit a dominant response and/or activate a subdominant response and to recognize errors. It usually emerges in the first year of life and develops further. A high level of EC has shown to predict high social competence and academic achievements. This could be due to children with high EC often aiming for harmonic teacher-child relationships, which are beneficial for school enjoyment. Furthermore, they often show more disciplined classroom behaviour.

How was this study conducted?

The study of this article was part of a larger longitudinal research project. Recruited participants were mothers and their children. They were invited to the laboratory for the observational assessment.

The mothers' gentle control and sensitivity were observed, as well as the level of EC displayed by their children. Additionally, the mothers had to fill out a questionnaire and teachers were asked to fill out a questionnaire about the academic functioning of the child.

What were the results of this study and how can they be explained?

The results of this study suggest that supportive parenting behavior, of which maternal gentle control and maternal sensitivity are a part, predicts high level of EC among their children. In turn, a high level of EC can benefit and increase children’s academic functioning during the transition phase to elementary school. However, the nature of this relationship is quite complex. Maternal gentle control at 18 months and children's EC at 30 months is moderated by maternal sensitivity, promoting that especially a combination of sensitivity and gentle control increases children’s level of EC.

A high level of EC was shown to mediate the relationship between maternal gentle control and children’s academic functioning. However, the mediation effect was only found under the condition of high maternal sensitivity. Contrary to expectations, no direct association between maternal gentle control and children’s academic functioning was found. This could be due to the context of the observation and laboratory settings. Moreover, children’s level of EC did not influence a higher level of maternal gentle control, suggesting that this relationship is unidirectional.