The Role of Self-Regulatory Skills in the Relation Between Household Chaos and Harsh Caregiving Behaviours

The use of harsh caregiving behaviour is related to a range of negative outcomes on the development of children. Therefore, it is important to get a more thorough understanding of the determinants of such caregiving behaviours. Researchers have consistently found an association between high levels of environmental chaos in the household and negative parenting behaviours. However, this relation has never been investigated in an experimental setting before so no causal inferences could be made. Therefore, the present study used an experimental within-subjects design to investigate whether (observed) harsh caregiving behaviour is predicted by an (experimentally manipulated) chaotic home environment. In addition, self-regulatory skills, measured with a delay discounting task and a Go/Nogo task, were examined as a potential moderator in this relation. A total of 96 women aged between 18 and 25 years participated in the two lab-visits. The laboratory (furnished like a living room) was...Show moreThe use of harsh caregiving behaviour is related to a range of negative outcomes on the development of children. Therefore, it is important to get a more thorough understanding of the determinants of such caregiving behaviours. Researchers have consistently found an association between high levels of environmental chaos in the household and negative parenting behaviours. However, this relation has never been investigated in an experimental setting before so no causal inferences could be made. Therefore, the present study used an experimental within-subjects design to investigate whether (observed) harsh caregiving behaviour is predicted by an (experimentally manipulated) chaotic home environment. In addition, self-regulatory skills, measured with a delay discounting task and a Go/Nogo task, were examined as a potential moderator in this relation. A total of 96 women aged between 18 and 25 years participated in the two lab-visits. The laboratory (furnished like a living room) was calm and organized in the neutral condition, and chaotic and unorganized in the chaos condition. Contrary to what was hypothesized, results of the multilevel analysis showed no causal relation between chaos and harsh caregiving in the present study. Also, no moderating effect of self-regulatory skills on the relation between environmental chaos and harsh caregiving behaviours was found. Possible explanations for not finding the expected results and directions for future research are addressed in the discussion.Show less

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The Role of Self-Regulatory Skills in the Relation Between Household Chaos and Harsh Caregiving Behaviours