Father and mother executive function and parenting: associations with preschool children’s executive function

This longitudinal study examined relationships between parent executive function (EF), parenting, and child EF problems in a sample of 71 fathers and mothers of 4-year-old children (36 male). At Time 1 (T1), parent reports were collected of parent–child conflict and closeness, and parent EF, and children’s verbal ability was assessed. Parents rated their child’s EF at T1 and 9 months later (T2). After controlling for child age and verbal ability, hierarchical regression analysis revealed that mother–child and father–child conflict predicted more child EF problems at T2. Results of mediational analysis showed that parent–child conflict mediated the link between parent and child EF at T2. Findings add support for the intergenerational transmission of EF framework and suggest that the quality of father–child relationships contributes to preschool children’s EF in a similar way to mother–child relationships.