Executive functioning (EF) is the cognitive processing of goal-oriented actions that are predictive of important life functioning skills. Middle childhood is an important time for academic achievement and social development. Positive and negative parenting practices were examined in the prediction of several child executive functioning outcomes in middle childhood, this thesis further examined whether early life socioeconomic status moderated such associations. This sample consisted of 708 twins (32% monozygotic, 36% same-sex dizygotic, and 32% opposite-sex dizygotic) with ethnically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds at two age points, 12 months old (M = 12.5 months, SD = 1.06) and 8 years old (M = 8.41, SD = .40).There was a significant negative main effect between negative parenting and CPT. Further, positive parenting interacted with SES to predict CPT and Digit Span Forward. A significant positive effect was identified between positive parenting and CPT in low SES families, but not high SES families. Interestingly, greater positive parenting was associated with lower Digit Span Forward in high SES families, but not low SES families. These findings suggest that while negative parenting was associated with worse EF across the entire sample, the relationship between positive parenting practices and executive functioning outcomes differed based on early life socioeconomic status. Future research should examine whether various domains of executive functioning may follow different developmental patterns.

A bilingual advantage has been found to exist within emotional intelligence (Yow & Markman, 2011; Alqarni & Dewaele, 2018; Taheri et al., 2019; Niedbala, 2021). However, emotional management is an aspect of emotional intelligence that has not been widely studied in relation to bilingualism. Here, we compare English-Spanish bilinguals and English monolinguals in their ability to manage emotion. Two parts of an untimed online survey were administered, consisting of the Situational Test of Emotional Management – Brief (STEM-B) and Language Assessment Scales (LAS). Our goal was to determine whether a bilingual advantage exists within the context of emotional management. The data show that bilinguals significantly outperform monolinguals in managing emotion. Further research should examine the bilingual advantage in emotional intelligence in an effort to understand the structures that subtend the association between language and emotional management.