How parental responsiveness shapes preschoolers’ emotional understanding through expressive language and executive function

Using data from a large national sample of preschool-age children in Taiwan, this study takes a unique approach by examining the links of parental responsiveness to multiple domains of child outcomes. Specifically, this study innovatively inspects the potential mediating roles of children’s expressive language and executive functioning in the relationship between positive parental responsiveness and children’s emotional understanding. We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Child Development and Care in Taiwan to examine a sample of 1743 4-year-old children with a balanced gender distribution. The structural equation modeling analysis findings reveal that positive parental responsiveness has a statistically significant direct association with children’s emotional understanding and significant mediation associations through expressive language and executive functioning, even after controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES). These findings highlight the crucial role of parental responsiveness, as well as the significance of children’s expressive language and executive functioning, in promoting emotional understanding in early childhood. Therefore, early childhood prevention and intervention programs should consider targeting these skills as a strategic approach to enhancing emotional competence in young children.