Social–Emotional Competence for Children with Identified Developmental Concerns: The Impact of Parenting and Executive Function

Social–emotional competence and executive function at preschool are critical for children’s school readiness. Unfortunately, young children with the dual risk of low-income status and identified developmental concerns are more likely to have lower social–emotional learning. This study examines (a) bidirectional associations between dyadic parenting behaviors, executive function, and social–emotional competence; and (b) executive function as an explanatory mechanism for the predictive relationship between specific parenting behaviors and children’s social–emotional competence. Data came from 267 parents and children with identified developmental concerns attending publicly funded center-based preschools. Children’s executive function was assessed by teacher-report, while parenting behaviors and children’s social–emotional competence were observationally assessed. Executive function and children’s social–emotional competence were bidirectionally related across the first year of preschool. Cross-lagged panel models demonstrated that executive function was not an explanatory mechanism for the relationship between parenting behaviors and children’s social–emotional competence. However, higher levels of conflict displayed by parents in the fall of the first year of preschool predicted more conflict during the spring of the same year. Higher levels of conflict in the spring then predicted poorer executive function and social–emotional competence during the spring of the child’s second year of preschool.