The toddler years are a watershed developmental period for emergence of emotional and behavioral regulation (i.e., self-regulation; SR), and the gradual transition from other-supported self-regulation to more autonomous forms of regulation. Negative emotional expression and delay of gratification are developmentally salient aspects of self-regulation, particularly since expectations for frustration tolerance and waiting increase during toddlerhood. As toddlers develop regulatory capacities, Maternal Regulatory Attempts (MRAs: the ways in which parents respond to toddlers’ expressions and behaviors) are thought to play an important role in self-regulatory development. While MRAs have been linked to SR in toddlers, the role of maternal Mind-Mindedness (MM), the tendency to interpret behaviors in context of the child’s mental life, has been neglected despite recent theoretical and empirical evidence for its regulatory effects. This study examined the role of MRAs, MM, and Toddlers’ Regulatory Strategies (TRS) on toddlers’ Expression of Negative Emotion (ENE: emotional regulation) and Delay of Gratification (DG: behavioral regulation) during a two-minute delay of gratification task. All study predictors (MRA, MM, and TRS) and study outcomes (ENE and DG) were observed and coded in twelve 10s intervals. A series of multilevel models with 10s-repeated measurement occasions nested within 134 mother-toddler dyads (67 girls; Mage = 25.77 months, SDage = 1.60) enrolled in the National Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, were used. Toddlers’ current interval ENE and DG were predicted from lagged (e.g., previous 10s interval) MRAs, lagged MM, and lagged TRS in random coefficient models. Findings provide evidence for effects of MRAs, specifically more robust effects of lagged maternal positive emotional reactions (e.g., laughs with child) on toddlers’ ENE, lagged maternal initiated distraction on DG, and lagged maternal negative emotional reactions (e.g., becomes upset herself) on both ENE and DG. Toddlers’ lagged independent and dependent use of non-verbal distractions and lagged mother-directed verbalizations of self-control (“I wait”) were related to lower ENE, while toddlers’ lagged independent use of verbal distractions and lagged mother-dependent physical comfort were related to higher ability to wait. Study results did not provide evidence for effects of lagged MM on ENE or DG, but can be used to inform future directions. Study findings provide evidence for contributions of caregiving context and point to important temporal contingencies and interactional effects to be considered in future investigations of MRAs, MM, and SR.
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