Green Space and Internalizing or Externalizing Symptoms Among Children.

Importance: Evidence suggests that living near green space supports mental health, but studies examining the association of green space with early mental health symptoms among children are rare. Objective: To evaluate the association between residential green space and early internalizing (eg, anxiety and depression) and externalizing (eg, aggression and rule-breaking) symptoms. Design, Setting, and Participants: Data for this cohort study were drawn from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes cohort; analysis was conducted from July to October 2023. Children born between 2007 and 2013 with outcome data in early (aged 2-5 years) and/or middle (aged 6-11 years) childhood who resided in 41 states across the US, drawing from clinic, hospital, and community-based cohorts, were included. Cohort sites were eligible if they recruited general population participants and if at least 30 children had outcome and residential address data to measure green space exposure. Nine cohorts with 13 sites met these criteria. Children diagnosed with autism or developmental delay were excluded, and 1 child per family was included. Exposures: Green space exposure was measured using a biannual (ie, summer and winter) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, a satellite image-based indicator of vegetation density assigned to monthly residential history from birth to outcome assessment. Main Outcome and Measures: Child internalizing and externalizing symptoms were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½ to 5 or 6 to 18. The association between green space and internalizing and externalizing symptoms was modeled with multivariable linear regression using generalized estimating equations, adjusting for birthing parent educational level, age at delivery, child sex, prematurity, and neighborhood socioeconomic vulnerability. Models were estimated separately for early and middle childhood samples. Results: Among 2103 children included, 1061 (50.5%) were male; 606 (29.1%) identified as Black, 1094 (52.5%) as White, 248 (11.9%) as multiple races, and 137 (6.6%) as other races. Outcomes were assessed at mean (SD) ages of 4.2 (0.6) years in 1469 children aged 2 to 5 years and 7.8 (1.6) years in 1173 children aged 6 to 11 years. Greater green space exposure was associated with fewer early childhood internalizing symptoms in fully adjusted models (b = -1.29; 95% CI, -1.62 to -0.97). No associations were observed between residential green space and internalizing or externalizing symptoms in middle childhood. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study of residential green space and children's mental health, the association of green space with fewer internalizing symptoms was observed only in early childhood, suggesting a sensitive period for nature exposure. Policies protecting and promoting access to green space may help alleviate early mental health risk.

Airborne Lead Exposure and Childhood Cognition: The Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort (2003-2022).

Objectives. To examine whether a previously reported association between airborne lead exposure and children's cognitive function replicates across a geographically diverse sample of the United States. Methods. Residential addresses of children (< 5 years) were spatially joined to the Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators model of relative airborne lead toxicity. Cognitive outcomes for children younger than 8 years were available for 1629 children with IQ data and 1476 with measures of executive function (EF; inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility). We used generalized linear models using generalized estimating equations to examine the associations of lead, scaled by interquartile range (IQR), accounting for individual- and area-level confounders. Results. An IQR increase in airborne lead was associated with a 0.74-point lower mean IQ score (b = -0.74; 95% confidence interval = -1.00, -0.48). The association between lead and EF was nonlinear and was modeled with a knot at the 97.5th percentile of lead in our sample. Lead was significantly associated with lower mean inhibitory control but not with cognitive flexibility. This effect was stronger among males for both IQ and inhibitory control. Conclusions. Early-life exposure to airborne lead is associated with lower cognitive functioning. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(3):309-318. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307519).

The effect of hair type and texture on electroencephalography and event-related potential data quality.

Research utilizing event-related potential (ERP) methods is generally biased with regard to sample representativeness. Among the myriad of factors that contribute to sample bias are researchers' assumptions about the extent to which racial differences in hair texture, volume, and style impact electrode placement, and subsequently, study eligibility. The current study examines these impacts using data collected from n = 213 individuals ages 17-19 years, and offers guidance on collection of ERP data across the full spectrum of hair types. Individual differences were quantified for hair texture using a visual scale, and for hair volume by measuring the amount of gel used in cap preparation. Electroencephalography data quality was assessed with multiple metrics at the preprocessing, post-processing, and variable generation stages. Results indicate that hair volume is associated with small, but systematic differences in signal quality and signal amplitude. Such differences are highly problematic as they could be misattributed to cognitive differences among groups. However, inclusion of gel volume as a covariate to account for individual differences in hair volume significantly reduced, and in most cases eliminated, group differences. We discuss strategies for overcoming real and perceived technical barriers for researchers seeking to achieve greater inclusivity and representativeness in ERP research.

Dynamic regulatory processes among child welfare parents: Temporal associations between physiology and parenting behavior.

This study examined how temporal associations between parents' physiological and behavioral responses may reflect underlying regulatory difficulties in at-risk parenting. Time-series data of cardiac indices (second-by-second estimates of inter-beat intervals - IBI, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia - RSA) and parenting behaviors were obtained from 204 child welfare-involved parents (88% mothers, Mage = 32.32 years) during child-led play with their 3- to 7-year-old children (45.1% female; Mage = 4.76 years). Known risk factors for maltreatment, including parents' negative social cognitions, mental health symptoms, and inhibitory control problems, were examined as moderators of intra-individual physiology-behavior associations. Results of ordinary differential equations suggested increases in parents' cardiac arousal at moments when they showed positive parenting behaviors. In turn, higher arousal was associated with momentary decreases in both positive and negative parenting behaviors. Individual differences in these dynamic processes were identified in association with parental risk factors. In contrast, no sample-wide RSA-behavior associations were evident, but a pattern of increased positive parenting at moments of parasympathetic withdrawal emerged among parents showing more total positive parenting behaviors. This study illustrated an innovative and ecologically-valid approach to examining regulatory patterns that may shape parenting in real-time and identified mechanisms that should be addressed in interventions.

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure is associated with increased levels of metals in children's saliva.

BACKGROUND: Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has been associated with detectable levels of cotinine (a nicotine metabolite) in children's saliva. However, tobacco smoke also contains toxic and essential trace metals, including chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn). OBJECTIVE: The current study examines whether there is a relationship between ETS exposure, as gauged by salivary cotinine, and salivary levels of these metals in a subset (n = 238) of children from the Family Life Project. METHODS: Using inductively-coupled-plasma optical emission spectrophotometry, we measured levels of metals in saliva from children at ~90 months of age. Salivary cotinine was measured using a commercial immunoassay. RESULTS: We found that Cr, Cu, Mn, and Zn were detected in most samples (85-99%) with lower levels of detection for Pb and Ni (9.3% and 13.9% respectively). There were no significant differences in any of the metal concentrations between males and females, nor were levels associated with body mass index, although significant differences in salivary Cr and Mn by race, state and income-to-needs ratio were observed. Children with cotinine levels >1 ng/ml had higher levels of Zn (b = 0.401, 95% CI: 0.183 to 0.619; p = 0.0003) and Cu (b = 0.655, 95% CI: 0.206 to 1.104; p = 0.004) compared to children with levels <1 ng/ml, after controlling for multiple confounders, including sex, race, BMI and income-to-needs ratio. Further, we show that children whose cotinine levels were >1 µg/L were more likely to have detectable levels of Pb in their saliva (b = 1.40, 95% CI: 0.424 to 2.459; p = 0.006) compared to children with cotinine levels <1 ng/ml, also considering confounders. IMPACT STATEMENT: This is the first study to demonstrate significant associations between salivary cotinine and salivary levels of Cu, Zn and Pb, suggesting that environmental tobacco smoke exposure my be one source of increased children's exposure to heavy metals. This study also demonstrates that saliva samples can be used to measure heavy metal exposure, and thus serve as a non-invasive tool for assessing a broader range of risk indicators.

The role of strategy-use and parasympathetic functioning in maternal emotion regulation.

Research has recognized that parental emotion regulation influences whether parents respond sensitively to their children in challenging parenting situations. However, parental emotion regulation is usually assessed using questionnaires that are not about parenting, rather than through examining parents' reaction to specific parenting situations that might evoke negative emotions. This study investigates individual differences in mothers' emotion regulation during parenting, specifically examining the relation between their subjective negative emotions and observed parenting behaviors and whether this relation is moderated by cognitive (strategies to manage negative emotions) and physiological (resting baseline and reactivity of respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) processes. Data of 157 mothers' self-reported negative emotions and strategy-use, their RSA, observed maternal responsiveness, and their preschool-age children's (30-60 months, 49.7% female) challenging behaviors were collected during a Wait Task, in which mothers told children to wait before opening an appealing gift. Regression analysis indicated that, after controlling for how challenging children were, mothers' level of negative emotion was not associated with observed level of maternal responsiveness. In line with hypotheses, the association was moderated by mothers' resting RSA and the extent to which they suppressed negative emotions. However, contrary to hypotheses, the association was not moderated by use of reappraisal, distraction, or rumination, or RSA reactivity. The significant findings suggest that, although mothers' subjective experiences of negative emotions are not necessarily related to less responsive parenting behaviors, the link between maternal emotions and parenting behavior may indicate differences in how mothers engage cognitive strategies as well as their physiological regulation capacity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Decision-making in uncertain contexts: The role of autonomic markers in resolving indecision.

Although impulsivity is associated with an increased willingness to make risky decisions, uncertainty intolerance may also contribute to maladaptive decision-making behavior, where individuals neglect to pursue potential rewards even when probabilities for success are in their favor. Several theories have sought to explain the neural systems that guide decision-making in this context, with evidence supporting a role for increased sympathetic activation. However, it remains unclear whether the sympathetic system is associated with greater apprehension in response to uncertain outcomes, or whether it serves to guide behavioral decisions in the context of this uncertainty. Furthermore, although postulated as a within-person process, most research has examined the association between decision behavior and sympathetic activation at the between-person level. We hypothesize that in the context of uncertainty between-person differences in skin conductance will be associated with longer deliberation times; whereas within-person trial-level increases in skin conductance will be associated with a tendency to reject uncertain options. Data were collected from n = 56 children aged 7-11 years, using a computerized card game in which children chose to accept or reject cards of varying point value at varying levels of probability. Skin conductance level (SCL) was recorded throughout the task. No significant between-person associations emerged. However, within-person analyses indicated that momentary deliberation time moderated the association between momentary skin-conductance and decision outcome. This moderation was such that for trials during which the individual deliberated longer (i.e., was more indecisive), a concurrent increase in skin conductance was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of rejecting the card. The within-person nature of these results suggests that skin conductance may help in resolving indecision in the context of uncertainty.

A dynamic systems account of parental self-regulation processes in the context of challenging child behavior.

To advance the understanding of how parental self-regulation contributes to their role in supporting children's development, this study proposes a model of the dynamic processes involved in parental self-regulation. Based on time-series data from 157 mothers and their 30- to 60-month-old children (49.7% female; 96% White; data collected June 2017-December 2019 in central Pennsylvania, U.S.) during a challenging wait task, the model was tested by examining the temporal relations among challenging child behavior, maternal physiology, and maternal responsiveness. Results were consistent with the hypothesized dynamic negative feedback processes and revealed their associations with the overall quality of parenting behaviors and experiences. Findings elucidate how parents adapt to competing external (attending to child) and internal (restoring parents' equilibrium) demands during parenting challenges.

An event-based analysis of maternal physiological reactivity following aversive child behaviors.

Research investigating the association between parents' physiological reactivity and their ability to self-regulate in parenting contexts typically examines the average physiological response across the duration of a dyadic task, conflating reactivity across a multitude of parent and child behaviors. The present study utilized a moving-window analytical technique to generate a continuous, second × second time series of mothers' high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) to conduct an event-based analysis of maternal reactivity in the 10 s following an aversive child event. Analyses examined whether maternal reactivity related to parenting behaviors similarly among maltreating (n = 48) and non-maltreating (n = 29) mother-preschooler dyads. Results indicate that maternal behavior was not associated with average HF-HRV reactivity, but mothers who demonstrated an increase in HF-HRV immediately following a negative child event were more likely to engage in behaviors to return the dyad to a positive state. Findings were specific to incidents of negative child behavior, and results were not moderated by maltreatment status. These results highlight the value of using an event-based design to isolate reactivity in response to targeted events to understand how physiological reactivity supports parenting.

Father-child physiological concordance on two timescales is differentially associated with paternal characteristics.

Conceptual work on interpersonal physiology suggests that the dynamic concordance between two person's physiological arousal may transpire on multiple timescales, and the timescale on which it unfolds may determine its psychological significance. The current study tested this hypothesis in the context of parent-child interaction by examining whether the concordance in their cardiac arousal on two timescales was differentially associated with parental characteristics. Using data from 98 fathers and their 3- to 5-year-old children during a task designed to frustrate young children, results indicated that the associations between cardiac concordance and fathers' self-reported parenting hassles emerged for the slower timescale (concordant increasing trends in arousal), whereas concordance on the faster timescale (concordant second-by-second reactivity) was associated with fathers' emotional clarity. Findings suggest that there may be multiple layers of concordant patterns in the dynamic associations between fathers' and children's cardiac arousal, which unfold on different timescales and bear different psychological significance.

Early executive and school functioning: Protective roles of home environment by income.

This study used data from the Family Life Project (N=1,227), a longitudinal study of child development. We tested a three-way interaction in which positive parenting and learning materials in the home from age 6-36 months and family income predicted children's executive functioning (EF) at 58 months. We also tested whether this interaction predicted early school functioning, specifically behavioral and academic skills in the 1st grade. The interactive effects of positive parenting and learning materials differed by family income. For children in families of lower income, more learning materials and positive parenting predicted better EF, and in turn, better early school functioning. For children in families of higher income, only positive parenting significantly predicted EF, which in turn, predicted better early school functioning. Findings suggest that more targeted policy and program support for enrichment and positive parenting may bolster efforts to combat poverty.

Exposure to Parental Aggression and the Development of Psychopathology in Young Children: The Mediating Role of Early Dissociative Symptoms.

Exposure to child-directed parental aggression in early life has been found to increase the risk of later psychopathological symptoms among children and adolescents. However, little is known about intermediate phenotypes and the developmental progression of symptoms, especially across the transition to grade school. Using prospectively collected longitudinal data from a large sample of children enrolled in the Family Life Project (n = 1,166, 49.7% female), the current study examined the mediating role of early dissociative symptoms in the relations between parental aggression and children's psychopathological symptoms. Children's exposure to parental aggression and their dissociative symptoms before school entry were assessed based on primary caregivers' reports. Teacher ratings of children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms were collected in pre-kindergarten as well as in the 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades. Results showed that dissociative symptoms before school entry partially mediated the association between parental aggression and persistent externalizing symptoms in school years. However, no significant associations were found between parental aggression or dissociative symptoms and internalizing symptoms. Findings suggest that dissociative symptoms manifested early in life serve as a mediating mechanism and indicator of risk for persistent impulsivity and behavioral problems. Thus, these symptoms could be an important target of preventive services provided to children with adverse experiences in their families.

Integrating dynamic and developmental time scales: Emotion-specific autonomic coordination predicts baseline functioning over time.

Autonomic nervous system activity flexibly shifts and modulates behavior at multiple time scales, with some work suggesting that patterns of short-term reactivity contribute to long-term developmental change. However, previous work has largely considered sympathetic and parasympathetic systems independently, even though both systems contribute dynamically to the regulation of physiological arousal. Using physiological data obtained from 313 children in kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade we examined whether within-person autonomic coordination during an emotion-inducing film task in kindergarten was associated with developmental change in resting autonomic activity. On average, these kindergarteners exhibited reciprocal coordination during the approach-oriented emotion (angry, happy) condition and a lack of coordination during the avoidance-oriented emotion (fear, sad) condition. Alignment with these patterns was associated with more typical autonomic development, specifically an increase in resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and a decrease in resting skin conductance (SCR) from kindergarten to 2nd grade; while lack of coordination during the approach condition was associated with a relatively delayed increase in resting RSA and a steeper decline in SCR, and reciprocal coordination during the avoidance condition was associated with a lack of RSA increase. Findings highlight the need for additional consideration of how moment-to-moment dynamics of autonomic coordination influence longer-term development, and suggest that early patterns of atypical arousal may portend dysregulation of developing physiological systems.

Developmental changes in external and internal performance monitoring across middle childhood: An ERP study.

Performance monitoring is critical for learning and behavioral adaption and is supported by both externally and internally sourced information. Cross-sectional studies indicate an increase in internal error processing across childhood, suggesting a potential developmental transition from reliance on external information to reliance on internally developed models. However, little research has examined the association between these constructs longitudinally. Data from 339 children assessed annually from kindergarten to 2nd grade were examined to determine the developmental trajectory of ERP indices of performance monitoring, and whether the association between these indices changes across time. EEG data were recorded during an incentivized Go/No-Go task and ERP component amplitudes were extracted as peak measures at Fz. Despite small increases in magnitude, no significant changes were observed in any of the ERPs. Multi-level regression analyses indicated that in kindergarten a more negative feedback-related negativity (FRN) was associated with a more negative error-related negativity (ERN) and a more negative error positivity (Pe). Further, the association between the FRN and Pe changed over time, such that in 2nd grade the FRN and Pe decoupled from one another and were no longer associated. These results suggest that the development of performance monitoring through middle childhood may be a phasic process. More specifically, matured external feedback monitoring processes may first facilitate the development of conscious error recognition, and then the development of internal error monitoring processes. Once internal models of error monitoring are well-established, children may then reduce their utilization of external feedback.

Association Between Dynamic Parasympathetic Reactivity to Frustration and Children's Social Success with Peers in Kindergarten.

The inability to regulate affective arousal in the context of frustration may jeopardize children's ability to form successful friendships, especially as new peer groups are formed during the transition to kindergarten. While substantial research has utilized teacher reports of children's socioemotional behavior, there is less empirical evidence on the peer perspective. The present study utilized data from n = 235 kindergarteners (54% high in disruptive behavior) recruited for a multicomponent intervention. We examined whether physiological reactivity to frustration was associated with children's social success. Peer nominations of liking or disliking to play with the child were used to compute a social preference score, where negative values reflect greater rejection than acceptance. Multilevel growth modeling was employed to capture changes in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity across a manipulated inhibitory control task administered in 3 blocks, with differing algorithms embedded to induce affect: points were earned in the 1st and 3rd blocks (reward) and lost during the 2nd block (frustration). Groups did not differ in RSA reactivity during the 1st block, but children who experience greater peer rejection showed significant decreases in RSA (increases in arousal) across frustration. This increased arousal persisted across the 3rd block despite the reinstatement of reward, indicating a greater degree of reactivity and a lack of recovery relative to peer-accepted children. Teacher screenings of disruptive behavior only partially aligned with peer ratings of acceptance, highlighting the benefits of leveraging peer report to capture regulatory functioning and identify children for intervention recruitment.

Association between EEG asymmetry and the error-related negativity across middle childhood.

Resting frontal EEG alpha asymmetry has been extensively examined as a marker of motivational disposition. Recent research has examined how this trait-level marker of motivation influences an individual's internal error monitoring (indexed by the error-related negativity; ERN), with mixed findings as to whether more negative ERNs are associated with greater left or right alpha power. Data from 339 children who completed an incentivized Go/No-Go task annually from Kindergarten through 2nd grade were examined for an association between ERN amplitude and EEG asymmetry, and for whether the association was developmentally stable. Results indicate an association between left-dominant activation and a more negative amplitude in Kindergarten, with an inversion of this association emerging by 2nd grade, such that a more negative ERNs were associated with right-dominant activation. We suggest that the association between EEG asymmetry and ERN amplitude is likely modulated by task condition (e.g., incentivization) and experience over time (e.g., habituation).

The reliability of visual ERP components in children across the first year of school.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) are increasingly used as neurophysiological markers of perceptual and cognitive processes conveying risk for psychopathology. However, little is known about the reliability of ERP components during childhood, a time of substantial brain maturation. In the present study, we examine the early visual ERP components (P1, N170, VPP), frequently examined as indicators of attentional bias, for 110 children at kindergarten (T1) and first grade (T2). Children performed a Go/Nogo task at both time points, with exact stimuli changed to reduce habituation. All components showed increases in absolute amplitude and the P1 and VPP also showed decreases in latency. Retest reliability across time was good to very good for amplitude measures (Pearson rs ranging from .54 for N170 to .69 for P1) and low to very good for latencies (rs from .34 for P1 to .60 for N170), despite the change in visual stimuli. Although there was some evidence of moderation by sex, early visual ERP components appear to be a reliable measure of individual differences in attention processing in middle childhood. This has implications for the use of early visual ERP components as trait-like markers for individual differences in perceptual processes in developmental research.

The developmental cascade of early parenting, emergence of executive functioning, and emotional symptoms across childhood.

Many studies focus on proximal associations between parental sensitivity and emotional well-being in early childhood, with less data examining how parenting in infancy predicts children's emotional trajectories across childhood, in particular negative emotional symptoms of anxiety and depression. Thus, this study utilized data from The Family Life Project (N = 1015), a prospective study of child development in rural poverty, and assessed whether sensitive parenting in the first 4 years of life predicted child internalizing emotional symptoms (i.e., anxiety and depression) from kindergarten to fifth grade and whether early child executive functioning mediated this relationship. Path models indicated that observation of sensitive parenting predicted a decrease in teachers' report of child negative emotional symptoms over time and predicted fewer negative emotional symptoms in fifth grade. Moreover, though executive functioning performance did not mediate change in symptoms over time, executive functioning did mediate the relationship between sensitive parenting and fifth-grade symptoms, suggesting that executive functioning is one mechanism by which early sensitive parenting buffers long-term emotional development. Findings highlight the importance of early parenting and executive functioning in development of anxiety and depression symptoms and suggests potential targets for transdiagnostic intervention.

Muchos estudios se enfocan en asociaciones proximales entre la sensibilidad del progenitor y el bienestar emocional en la temprana niñez, aunque una menor información examina cómo la crianza en la infancia predice las trayectorias emocionales de los niños a lo largo de la niñez, particularmente los síntomas emocionales de ansiedad y depresión. Por tanto, este estudio utilizó datos de [BLINDED FOR REVIEW] (N = 1,015), un estudio en prospecto del desarrollo del niño en la pobreza rural, y evaluó si la crianza sensible en los primeros 4 años de vida predijo los síntomas emocionales de internalización en el niño (v.g. ansiedad y depresión) a partir del kínder hasta el quinto grado y si el temprano funcionamiento ejecutivo del niño mediaba esta relación. Los modelos de trayecto indicaron que la observación de la crianza sensible predijo una baja en los reportes de los maestros sobre síntomas emocionales negativos en el niño a lo largo del tiempo y predijo menos síntomas emocionales negativos en el quinto grado. Es más, a pesar de que el rendimiento del funcionamiento ejecutivo no medió el cambio en los síntomas a lo largo del tiempo, el funcionamiento ejecutivo sí medió la relación entre la crianza sensible y los síntomas en el quinto grado, lo cual sugiere que el funcionamiento ejecutivo es un mecanismo por medio del cual la temprana crianza sensible amortigua el desarrollo emocional a largo plazo. Los resultados subrayan la importancia de la crianza temprana y el funcionamiento ejecutivo en el desarrollo de los síntomas de ansiedad y depresión y sugiere metas probables para la intervención de transdiagnosis.

Beaucoup d'études portent sur les liens proximaux entre la sensibilité parentale et le bien-être émotionnel dans la petite enfance, avec moins de données examinant comment le parentage dans la petite enfance prédit les trajectoires émotionnelles des enfants durant l'enfance, en particulier les symptômes émotionnels négatifs d'anxiété et de dépression. Donc, cette étude a utilisé des données du Project de Vie Familiale (en anglais Family Life Project) (N = 1015), une étude prospective du développement de l'enfant en pauvreté rurale, et évalué si la sensibilité de parentage dans les quatre premières années de vie prédisaient l'internalisation de symptômes émotionnels de la part de l'enfant (comme l'anxiété et la dépression) de la maternelle au CM2 (ou 5ème au Québec) et si le fonctionnement exécutif précoce de l'enfant servait de médiateur à la relation. Les analyses causales ont indiqué que l'observation d'un parentage sensible prédisait une baisse des rapports faits par les enseignants de symptômes émotionnels négatifs de la part des enfants et prédisaient moins de symptômes émotionnels négatifs au CM2 (5ème au Québec). De plus, bien que la performance du fonctionnement exécutif n'a pas médié les changements dans les symptômes au fil du temps, le fonctionnement exécutif a médié la relation entre le parentage sensible et les symptômes au CM2 (5ème au Québec), suggérant que le fonctionnement exécutif est un mécanisme par lequel le parentage sensible précoce sert de tampon au développement émotionnel à long terme. Les résultats mettent en lumière l'importance du parentage précoce et du fonctionnement exécutif dans le développement de symptômes d'anxiété et de dépression et suggèrent des cibles potentielles pour une intervention trans-diagnostique.