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Breaking cycles of risk: The mitigating role of maternal working memory in associations among socioeconomic status, early caregiving, and children's working memory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2016

Jennifer H. Suor ,
Melissa L. Sturge-Apple  and
Michael A. Skibo
Jennifer H. Suor*
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
Melissa L. Sturge-Apple
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
Michael A. Skibo
Affiliation:
Westchester Community College
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Jennifer H. Suor, Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Previous research has documented socioeconomic-related disparities in children's working memory; however, the putative proximal caregiving mechanisms that underlie these effects are less known. The present study sought to examine whether the effects of early family socioeconomic status on children's working memory were mediated through experiences of caregiving, specifically maternal harsh discipline and responsiveness. Utilizing a psychobiological framework of parenting, the present study also tested whether maternal working memory moderated the initial paths between the family socioeconomic context and maternal harsh discipline and responsiveness in the mediation model. The sample included 185 socioeconomically diverse mother–child dyads assessed when children were 3.5 and 5 years old. Results demonstrated that maternal harsh discipline was a unique mediator of the relation between early experiences of family socioeconomic adversity and lower working memory outcomes in children. Individual differences in maternal working memory emerged as a potent individual difference factor that specifically moderated the mediating influence of harsh discipline within low socioeconomic contexts. The findings have implications for early risk processes underlying deficits in child working memory outcomes and potential targets for parent–child interventions.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 2017 , pp. 1133 - 1147
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Footnotes

This research was supported by National Institute of Nursing Research Grant R21 NR010857-01. We are much appreciative of the mothers and children who participated in this project and gave generously of their time. We also thank the staff on the project, including Katie Kao, Michael Fittoria, Samantha Spivey, and Caryn Stark.

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