Parenting relationships as a moderator of how socioeconomic status and household chaos relate to children’s cognitive and socioemotional skills

Low socioeconomic status (SES) and high household chaos are adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that increase the risk of worse executive functioning (EF) and socioemotional (SE) development. EF and SE skills are foundational for lifelong success, but less is known about how positive childhood experiences (PCEs) such as parenting relationships may buffer the impact of ACEs on these important skills. This study examined how SES and household chaos related to EF and SE skills within the context of varying parenting relationships among a sample of 83 socioeconomically and racially/ethnically diverse 4- to 7-year-old children in the urban United States. SES was associated with children’s lab-based EF, but not survey-based EF or SE skills. Household chaos was related to children’s SE skills, with evidence of full mediation through parenting relationships, but was not related to children’s EF. Although we found evidence of moderation, none of the interactions was in the expected direction. Thus, this study failed to find evidence of parenting relationships as a PCE protective against risk from SES and household chaos for children’s EF and SE skills. However, parenting relationships were more strongly related to children’s survey EF and SE skills than either ACE, indicating the importance of fostering parenting relationships for children’s SE development across risk levels. Results increase our understanding of how positive and adverse childhood experiences relate to child development in a diverse sample and have implications for measurement approaches and family policy.