Self‐control in early childhood: individual differences in sensitivity to early parenting

Objective This study extends existing research on the role of infant temperament as a moderator of the association between the quality of parent‐child relationships and children’s self‐control during the pre‐school years. In particular, we focus on the potential moderating role of a dimension of early infant temperament known as behavioural inhibition. Assumptions formulated within the diathesis‐stress, the vantage‐sensitivity and the differential susceptibility models of individual differences in environmental sensitivity are tested. Method Data are from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 18,552 infants born in the UK during 2000/01. Results The results show that the quality of both mother‐child and father‐child relationships are associated with children’s development of self‐control in early childhood. Additionally, individual differences in infant temperament moderate the association between mother‐child conflict and children’s development of self‐control. Specifically, high behavioural inhibition shows a vantage‐sensitivity pattern for mother‐child conflict. Conclusion Aspects of both mothers’ and fathers’ relationships with their young children independently predict variations in self‐control. This study also provides an initial indication that behavioural inhibition, a temperamental trait best‐known for being a risk factor for anxiety, may provide small benefits in relation to young children’s self‐control development.