Relationships among Negative Emotionality, Responsive Parenting and Early Socio-cognitive Development in Korean Children

Transactional associations between infant negative emotionality and maternal sensitivity: Maternal emotion dysregulation as a moderator

The relations between maternal sensitivity and infant negative emotionality have been tested extensively in the previous literature. However, the extent to which these associations reflect unidirectional or bidirectional effects over time remains somewhat uncertain. Further, the possibility that maternal characteristics moderate the extent to which infant negative emotionality predicts maternal sensitivity over time has yet to be tested in cross-lag models. The goal of the present study is to address these gaps. First time mothers (N = 259; 50% White; 50% Black) and their infants participated when infants were 6, 14, and 26 months of age. Infant negative emotionality was assessed via maternal report and direct observation during standardized laboratory tasks, which were subsequently combined to yield a multimethod measure at each wave. Maternal sensitivity was observationally coded at each wave and mothers self-reported emotion dysregulation at 6 and 14 months. A random intercepts cross-lagged model with maternal emotion dysregulation specified as a moderator revealed that infant negative emotionality at 6 months was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity at 14 months, but only among mothers higher in emotion dysregulation. Higher maternal sensitivity was in turn associated with lower infant negative emotionality when infants were 26 months of age. The indirect pathway was significant, lending support for the transactional model. Implications for future research and prevention/intervention are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Responsive Caregiving and Opportunities for Early Learning Associated With Infant Development: Results From a Prospective Birth Cohort in China

BACKGROUND

Infant development shapes children's health into adulthood. Although providing responsive caregiving and opportunities regarding early learning for infants have received increasing attention from the international community, few studies have been published on these topics thus far. The purpose of the present study, then, was to explore the influences of responsive caregiving and the opportunities for early learning on infant development.

METHODS

Mother-child dyads (3,714 pairs) were recruited from the Shanghai Maternal-Child Pairs Cohort (Shanghai MCPC) for the present study, and the development of infants, responsive caregiving and opportunities for early learning were collected from three waves of follow-up (2-, 6-, and 12-month old) We used the cross-lagged model to analyze the longitudinal correlation between responsive caregiving or opportunities for early learning and development of infants. We used the generalized estimation equation (GEE) to evaluate the effect of responsive caregiving and opportunities for early learning on suspected developmental delay; we also conducted a hierarchical analysis to investigate the interaction between responsive caregiving or opportunities for early learning and annual family income.

RESULTS

There was a mutual prediction between responsive caregiving or opportunities for early learning and some developmental domains of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires, third edition (ASQ-3). Sustained high-exposure to responsive caregiving or opportunities for early learning significantly decreased the risk of suspected developmental delay in most domains of the ASQ-3. And For infants whose annual family income was < ¥200,000, sustained high-exposure (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 0.456, 95% CI, 0.325-0.638) and fluctuating-exposure (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 0.510, 95% CI, 0.414-0.627) to responsive caregiving significantly reduced the risk for suspected developmental delay.

CONCLUSION

Responsive caregiving or opportunities for early learning interacted with infant development. Infants' early access to adequate responsive caregiving and opportunities for early learning exerted a sustained and positive impact on infant development, and this effect is more pronounced in relative low-income families.