The interactions between premature birth and the caregiving environment on infants' cognitive and social functioning were examined. Participants were 150 infants (83 preterm, 67 full-term) and their ...parents. When infants were 6 months old, parents reported on their levels of emotional distress, and triadic family interactions were filmed and coded. At 12 months of age, the infants' cognitive and social functioning was assessed. Prematurity moderated the effects of maternal (but not paternal) emotional distress and triadic interactions on infants' cognitive and social outcomes. Whereas for cognitive functioning the interactions were consistent with a diathesis–stress approach, for social functioning the interactions were consistent with a differential susceptibility approach. The differential effects of the caregiving environment between groups and outcomes are discussed.
Postpartum emotional distress is very common, with 10%–20% of postpartum women reporting depressive or anxiety disorders. Sleep is a modifiable risk factor for emotional distress that has a pivotal ...role in postpartum adjustment. The present study aimed to examine whether sleep duration and quality during pregnancy predict trajectories of emotional distress in the postpartum period. Participants were 215 women that were assessed from the third trimester of pregnancy to 18‐months postpartum. At all five time points (third trimester, 3‐, 6‐, 12‐, and 18‐months postpartum), measures of sleep duration and quality (measured by wake time after sleep onset; WASO) were derived from both actiography and diary‐based measures. Repeated measures of depression and anxiety symptoms were collected using self‐report measures. Results indicated four bivariate postpartum depression and anxiety growth trajectories, including (a) high comorbidity (5.4%); (b) moderate comorbidity (19.4%); (c) low anxiety and decreasing depression symptomology (18.6%); and (d) low symptomology (56.6%). Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that mothers with shorter sleep durations during pregnancy were more likely to belong to the high comorbidity or moderate symptoms classes compared to the low symptomology class. In addition, mothers with higher WASO (i.e. lower sleep quality) at 3‐months postpartum were more likely to belong to the moderate class compared to the low symptomology class. Given the potential negative implications of disrupted sleep in the perinatal period, the present study may inform future intervention studies that target sleep problems during pregnancy.
The COVID‐19 pandemic may impact the development of infants' social communication patterns with their caregivers. The current study examined continuity, stability, and bidirectional associations in ...maternal and infant dyadic Emotional Availability (EA) before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Participants were 110 Israeli mother‐infant dyads (51% girls) that were assessed prior to (Mage = 3.5 months) and during (Mage = 12.4 months) the pandemic. At both time points, mother‐infant interactions were observed during play (nonstressful context) and tasks designed to elicit infant frustration (stressful context). Maternal and child EA were coded offline. Maternal EA demonstrated no significant mean‐level changes from before to during the COVID‐19 pandemic, whereas infant responsiveness and involvement increased over time. Stability and bidirectional associations in EA differed by context and were evident only in the stressful context. Mothers' perceived levels of social support further moderated these associations. Specifically, infants' pre‐pandemic responsiveness and involvement predicted maternal EA during the pandemic only when mothers reported low levels of social support. Our findings suggest that maternal and child EA were not adversely impacted by the COVID‐19 pandemic. However, patterns of EA demonstrated moderate‐to‐no stability over time, suggesting considerable individual differences in trajectories of EA.
The current study examined the moderating role of infant sleep in the link between maternal factors (i.e., maternal education, depressive symptoms, sleep disturbance) and infant cognition. Data come ...from 95 African American parent–child dyads. At 3 months of age, infant sleep was objectively measured using videosomnography and actigraphy, from which measures of sleep regulation and consolidation were calculated. Mothers also self‐reported their level of education, depressive symptoms, and sleep quality. At 6 months of age, infants completed cognitive assessments, including a measure of general cognitive ability and observed attention behavior. Findings revealed that infant sleep quality interacted with maternal education and sleep disturbances to predict cognition. Specifically, the link between maternal education and infants’ attention behavior was significant and positive for infants with better regulated sleep, but not for infants with poorly regulated sleep. Similarly, the link between maternal sleep disturbance and infant cognition depended on infant sleep quality. For infants with poorer sleep consolidation, increased maternal sleep disturbance predicted poorer infant general cognitive ability. For infants with better sleep consolidation, maternal sleep disturbance was positively related to both general cognitive ability and attention behavior. These findings suggest that infant sleep quality moderates the impact of environmental factors on cognitive functioning.
Background
Deficits of inhibitory control in early childhood are linked to externalizing behaviors and attention problems. While environmental factors and physiological processes are associated with ...its etiology, few studies have examined how these factors jointly predict inhibitory control. This study examined whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) functioned as a mediator or moderator of both cumulative sociodemographic risk and parenting behaviors on inhibitory control during early childhood.
Methods
The sample included 206 children and their biological mothers. At 24, 30, and 36 months of child age dyads participated in a series of laboratory visits in which sociodemographic, parenting, and baseline RSA (RSAB) data were collected. Inhibitory control was assessed at 36 months using a gift‐wrap delay task.
Results
A series of structural equation models yielded no evidence that RSAB mediated the relations of risk or parenting and inhibitory control. RSAB moderated the effects of risk, such that high‐risk children with low RSAB performed more poorly on tasks of inhibitory control, while high‐risk children with high RSAB did not.
Conclusions
These results suggest that higher levels of RSAB may mitigate the influence of environmental risk on the development of inhibitory control early childhood.
This study examines the links between online maternal mentalization during mother–infant interaction, maternal sensitivity, and family triadic interaction while considering the cumulative role of two ...stressful contexts (cumulative stressful contexts): premature birth (a child‐driven stressful context) and household chaos (an environment‐driven stressful context). Two moderation models were tested on a sample of 134 families with 6‐month‐old infants (77 low‐risk preterm, 57 full‐term). Cumulative stressful contexts mitigated the relations between maternal mentalization and behavior, such that online maternal mentalization during mother–infant interaction was related to both maternal sensitivity and the quality of family triadic interaction under low cumulative stressful contexts, but not under high cumulative stressful contexts. Implications for understanding the influence of online maternal mentalization on maternal sensitivity and the family triad are discussed.
Previous studies that examined the links between media use and children's attention abilities have yielded inconclusive findings. In the current study, we aimed to move beyond the focus on isolated ...aspects of media use to a comprehensive assessment of both direct and indirect media use and practices in early childhood. Drawing from the cumulative risk literature, we examined whether cumulative media use is related to children's subsequent attention abilities. Participants were 199 mothers of toddlers (60% male) who completed questionnaires assessing various aspects of children's media use, as well as children's focused attention abilities at three time points: 18 months (T1), 22 months (T2), and 26 months (T3) of age. Cumulative media use scores were computed based on four indicators: (1) child average daily screen time; (2) household background television; (3) maternal use of media to regulate child distress; and (4) maternal use of mobile devices while spending time with the child. An autoregressive cross-lagged (ARCL) path model controlling for child sex, maternal education, and general parenting practices showed that cumulative media use at 18 months negatively predicted children's focused attention at 22 months. Moreover, there was a significant negative indirect effect from cumulative media use at 18 months to focused attention at 26 months via focused attention at 22 months. Finally, the cumulative media index appeared to be a better predictor of focused attention than any of the singular media use indicators. Children's focused attention did not predict subsequent cumulative media use across time, providing no evidence for bidirectional links. Findings suggest that exposure to multiple (rather than single) aspects of media use is related to decreased subsequent focused attention abilities during toddlerhood. Family media plans that designate media-free time and increase parental awareness to media use habits in the household should therefore be encouraged.
The current study compares sleep variables obtained from videosomnography, actigraphy, and sleep diaries, three of the most common sleep assessment methods used in infant sleep studies. Using a ...sample of 90 African American 3-month olds, we compare correlations and discrepancies for seven sleep variables across each of the three pairs of assessment methods for one night of a week-long sleep study. These seven variables are indicative of sleep schedule (e.g. sleep onset time, rise time), duration (e.g. sleep period, sleep time, wake time), and fragmentation (e.g. night wakings, longest sleep period). We find that across all sleep assessment methods, correlations are highest for variables indicative of sleep schedule, and lowest for variables indicative of sleep fragmentation. Comparing the magnitude and significance of the discrepancies, we find that actigraphy and sleep diaries significantly overestimate sleep period duration and underestimate the number of night waking episodes, compared with videosomnography. Actigraphy and sleep diaries were more concordant with one another than with videosomnography. Epoch-by-epoch analyses indicated that actigraphy had low sensitivity to detect wakefulness, compared with videosomnography. Contrary to our hypothesis, the discrepancies between sleep assessment methods did not vary widely based on infant sleep location (own room vs. parent's room) or sleep surface (own bed vs. parent's bed). Limitations and implications of these findings for future research are discussed.
This study examined the direct and interactive effects of infants' respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) during the first 6 months of life in the prediction of ...children's sleep problems at age 18 months. Participants included 156 children and their mothers who were followed from 3 to 18 months of age. At ages 3 and 6 months, infants' cardiac activity was recorded at rest and during the still-face paradigm, a mother-child social challenge task, and estimates of infant baseline RSA (RSAB) and RSA withdrawal (RSAW) were calculated. Mothers reported about their depressive symptoms at 3, 6, and 18 months, and about infants' sleep problems at age 18 months. Less RSAW and higher levels of MDS predicted more sleep problems at age 18 months. Additionally, RSAB moderated the link between MDS and children's sleep problems such that MDS were related to more sleep problems only for infants with high levels of RSAB. Results illustrate the importance of RSA as both a direct predictor and a moderator of maternal influences in the prediction of early sleep problems.
This study investigated the interaction between children's parasympathetic functioning and maternal sensitive parenting behaviors during infancy and toddlerhood in the prediction of children's ...executive functions (EF) at the age of 5 years. Participants included 137 children and their mothers who were followed from the age of 3 months to 5 years. Children's cardiac activity was recorded at rest at multiple times from ages 3 to 36 months, and estimates of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; a measure of parasympathetic functioning) were calculated. Sensitive parenting was assessed during a mother–child play task at ages 6, 12, 24, and 36 months, and 5 years. Children completed age appropriate EF tasks at the age of 5 years. The link between sensitive parenting during toddlerhood (ages 24 and 36 months) and children's later EF was moderated by children's RSA such that this positive link was evident only among children who had low levels of baseline RSA, and not among those who had high levels of baseline RSA. These findings were obtained while controlling for concurrent sensitive parenting and maternal and child verbal abilities. Results from this study provide evidence for the significant role of biopsychosocial processes in early childhood in the development of EF.
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