Despite rapidly growing research on parental influences on children's executive function (EF), the uniqueness and specificity of parental predictors and links between adult EF and parenting remain unexamined. This 13-month longitudinal study of 117 parent-child dyads (60 boys; M[subscript age] at Time 1 = 3.94 years, SD = 0.53) included detailed observational coding of parent-child interactions and assessed adult and child EF and child verbal ability (VA). Supporting a differentiated view of parental influence, negative parent--child interactions and parental scaffolding showed unique and specific associations with child EF, whereas the home learning environment and parental language measures showed global associations with children's EF and VA.