Simcock, Victoria Ellen (2020) Effortful control and the importance of parent-child reciprocal effects. Doctoral thesis (PhD), University of Sussex.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the importance of parent-to-child and child-to-parent effects in the development of child effortful control. Although the influence of parenting on child effortful control development has been extensively researched, few studies have examined the effect of child effortful control on later parenting behaviours. By applying developmental cascade models to data from longitudinal studies, I have explored the relevance of the child’s rearing environment and early regulatory abilities on later developmental outcomes. The research examines how child effortful control may elicit the parenting behaviours that go on to further influence the development of child effortful control and other developmental outcomes, specifically child ADHD symptomology and maths performance. Two large longitudinal studies have been used to examine these parent-child effects; the first uses an adoption-at-birth design and the second uses a large UK general population sample, both of which have collected data over multiple time-points across development. This thesis includes the first study that tests for a direction of effects between hostile parenting and child ADHD symptoms in a design able to remove the confound of shared genes, highlighting the importance of parenting for child developmental outcomes. The second empirical chapter explores more closely the relationship between the components of effortful control and different parenting behaviours. This thesis also includes a systematic review of previous studies that have explored the impact of child effortful control on parenting behaviours, with thought given as to why some studies find a child-driven effect, and why some do not. The work included in this thesis explores, through both a thorough examination of the literature and empirical evidence, how different parenting behaviours may have different relationships with child effortful control. The impact of methodology choice for study findings is extensively discussed. Overall, a bidirectional relationship between child effortful control and parenting behaviour was supported.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Schools and Departments:	School of Psychology > Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF0199 Behaviourism. Neobehaviourism. Behavioural psychology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF0698 Personality B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF0712 Developmental psychology Including infant psychology, child psychology, adolescence, adulthood
Depositing User:	Library Cataloguing
Date Deposited:	09 Sep 2020 10:36
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2022 07:02
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/93653

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