Maternal alexithymia and caregiving behavior: the role of executive functioning - A FinnBrain Birth Cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

The growing interest in parental cognition calls for research clarifying how cognition interacts with other parenting determinants to shape caregiving behavior. We studied the interplay between executive functioning (EF; cognitive processes that enable goal-directed thinking and behavior) and alexithymic traits (characterized by emotion processing/regulation difficulties) in relation to emotional availability (EA; the dyad's ability to share an emotionally healthy relationship). As EF has been reported to shape parents' ability to regulate thoughts and emotions during caregiving, we examined whether EF moderated the association between maternal alexithymic traits, and EA.

Methods

Among 119 mothers with 2.5-year-olds drawn from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort, EF was measu

SUBMITTER: Nordenswan E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11761824 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature