Predicting cognitive-language and social growth curves from early maternal behaviors in children at varying degrees of biological risk

Problems in peer relationships and low engagement in romantic relationships in preterm born adolescents: effects of maternal warmth in early childhood

This study examined whether maternal warmth in early childhood moderates the association between preterm birth and problems in peer relationships and low engagement in romantic relationships in adolescence. We studied 9193 individuals from the Millennium Cohort Study in the United Kingdom, 99 (1.1%) of whom were born very preterm (VPT; < 32 weeks of gestation) and 629 (6.8%) moderate-to-late preterm (MLPT; 32-36 weeks gestation). Maternal warmth was reported by the mothers when their children were 3 years old. Peer relationship problems were reported by both the participants and their mothers at 14 and 17 years. Further, participants reported their engagement in romantic relationships at 14 and 17 years. All outcome variables were z-standardized, and the moderation effect was examined via hierarchical linear regressions. Compared to full-term birth, both MLPT and VPT birth were associated with lower engagement in romantic relationships at 17 years of age (b = .04, p = .02; b = .11, p = .02, respectively), and VPT birth was associated with increased peer relationship problems at 14 (b = .29, p = .01) and 17 years of age (b = .22, p = .046). Maternal warmth in early childhood was similarly associated with lower peer relationship problems in MLPT, VPT and full-term born adolescents. However, there was no influence of maternal warmth on engagement in romantic relationships at 17 years of age. There is no major modifying effect of maternal warmth in early childhood on the association between PT birth and peer relationship problems and low engagement in romantic relationships at 14 and 17 years of ages.

Parenting Influences on Frontal Lobe Gray Matter and Preterm Toddlers' Problem-Solving Skills

Children born preterm often face challenges with self-regulation during toddlerhood. This study examined the relationship between prematurity, supportive parent behaviors, frontal lobe gray matter volume (GMV), and emotion regulation (ER) among toddlers during a parent-assisted, increasingly complex problem-solving task, validated for this age range. Data were collected from preterm toddlers (n = 57) ages 15-30 months corrected for prematurity and their primary caregivers. MRI data were collected during toddlers' natural sleep. The sample contained three gestational groups: 22-27 weeks (extremely preterm; EPT), 28-33 weeks (very preterm; VPT), and 34-36 weeks (late preterm; LPT). Older toddlers became more compliant as the Tool Task increased in difficulty, but this pattern varied by gestational group. Engagement was highest for LPT toddlers, for older toddlers, and for the easiest task condition. Parents did not differentiate their support depending on task difficulty or their child's age or gestational group. Older children had greater frontal lobe GMV, and for EPT toddlers only, more parent support was related to larger right frontal lobe GMV. We found that parent support had the greatest impact on high birth risk (≤27 gestational weeks) toddler brain development, thus early parent interventions may normalize preterm child neurodevelopment and have lasting impacts.

Parent-infant affect synchrony during social and solo play

While mother-infant affect synchrony has been proposed to facilitate the early development of social understanding, most investigations into affect synchrony have concentrated more on negative than positive affect. We analysed affect sharing during parent-infant object play, comparing positive and negative affect, to examine how it is modulated by shared playful activity. Mother-infant dyads (N = 20, average infant age 10.7 months) played together (social) or separately (solo) using an object. Both participants increased positive affect during social play as compared with solo play. Positive affect synchrony also increased during social play compared with solo play, whereas negative affect synchrony did not differ. Closer examination of the temporal dynamics of affect changes showed that infants' shifts to positive affect tended to occur contingently in response to their mothers', whereas mothers' shifts to negative affect followed their infants'. Further, during social play, positive affect displays were more long-lived while negative more short-lived. While our sample was small and from a homogeneous population (e.g. white, highly educated parents), limiting the implications of the findings, these results demonstrate that maternal active engagement in playful interaction with her infant affords, increases, and extends infant positive affect and parent-infant positive affect synchrony, providing insights into how the social context modulates infants' affective experiences. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Face2face: advancing the science of social interaction'.

Associations of Parental Distress and Behavior with School Readiness in Children Born Very Preterm

OBJECTIVE

Children born very preterm (VPT; gestational age [GA] <31 weeks) have robust school readiness difficulties relative to children born full-term (FT; GA ≥37 weeks). This study examined whether four aspects of parental well-being and behavior-distress, harshness, responsiveness and positive control, and cognitive stimulation-were linked to school readiness in a sample of children born VPT <31 weeks GA and whether these characteristics similarly impact VPT and FT children.

METHODS

Parents of 4-year-olds born VPT (n = 55) and FT (n = 38) reported on parental distress, behavior, and cognitive stimulation. Children's cognition, executive function, motor skills, preacademic abilities, and behavior were assessed via neuropsychological tests and parent-report questionnaires.

RESULTS

For both groups of children, higher psychological distress and harshness were associated with more behavior problems, and more cognitive stimulation was associated with higher scores on tests of cognitive, motor, and preacademic abilities. More parental distress was associated with lower cognitive ability only for children born VPT and more harshness was associated with lower preacademic skills only for children born FT.

CONCLUSIONS

Identifying modifiable family factors associated with school readiness in children born VPT is essential for informing family-based interventions to improve school readiness in this population. Findings suggest that distress, harshness, and cognitive stimulation may be reasonable targets for interventions to improve school readiness in children born VPT.

Relations between Positive Parenting Behavior during Play and Child Language Development at Early Ages

Parental behavior in interactions with children has been related to child language development. Our study contributes to the literature about relations between the characteristics of parent–child interactions during play and a child’s language development in typically developing children at early ages, with data from mothers and fathers from the same families in Spain. Our aim was to analyze the relation between positive parenting behaviors assessed with the Spanish version of the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO) and child language development assessed with the Bayley-III scales. We controlled for some sociodemographic variables. The participants were 90 children aged 15–31 months and their mothers and fathers. Bivariate analysis showed significant positive relations between mothers’ responsive, encouraging and teaching behaviors and a child’s language scores. Relations were found between fathers’ encouraging and teaching behaviors and a child’s language. Regression models indicate that maternal and paternal encouraging behaviors predicted 18% of the variability in the child’s receptive language, and maternal responsive and teaching behaviors predicted 16% of the variability in the child’s expressive language and total language scores. The study provides new data that support the relevance of positive parental behaviors to improve a child’s linguistic development.

Positive parenting, parenting stress, and child self-regulation patterns differ across maternal demographic risk

We examined relations between positive parenting, parenting stress, and children's regulatory abilities across infancy and early childhood. First-time mothers and their infants (N = 682) were recruited prenatally. Mothers belonged to one of three potential demographic risk groups: adolescent mothers (AM), adult low-educated mothers (LEM), and adult high-educated mothers (HEM). Parent-child interactions were observed in the home and scored for positive parenting (at 4, 8, and 18 months) and child self-regulation (at 4, 8, 18, and 30 months). Parenting stress was measured by questionnaire at 6, 12, and 24 months. A multigroup cross-lagged panel model indicated different patterns of effects for adolescent and adult mothers: for AM, positive parenting and parenting stress were related early in infancy, but no relations emerged with regulation until 18 months. For LEM, parenting related to regulation only at later ages, and for HEM, positive parenting, parenting stress, and regulation were associated early in the infant's life but not later. Differing patterns of influence indicate, perhaps, the importance of considering demographic risk and timing of parenting in childhood in relation to child regulatory outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Parenting beliefs about attunement and structure are related to observed parenting behaviours

We compared self-reported parenting beliefs about caring for infants with observed parenting behaviours during play interactions between 32 parents and their infants. We measured parenting beliefs about the value of attunement and structure in caring for infants using the Baby Care Questionnaire (BCQ) (Winstanley & Gattis, 2013; Winstanley, Sperotto, Putnick, Cherian, Bornstein & Gattis, 2014). We used a micro-coding approach to distinguish between responsive parenting behaviours (maintaining infant attention) and demanding parenting behaviours (introducing or redirecting infant attention) (Landry, Garner, Swank & Baldwin, 1996). Attunement beliefs were positively related to responsive parenting behaviours and negatively related to demanding parenting behaviours. Structure beliefs were weakly related to demanding parenting behaviours. These results are an important first step toward identifying relations between self-reported parenting beliefs about attunement and structure and observed parenting behaviours.

Moderate low birth weight and socioemotional competence among children: The role of parenting factors in early childhood

BACKGROUND

Although the importance of birth weight for socioemotional trajectories among children has become a topic of growing interest for researchers, the majority of prior studies were limited to the more extreme subgroups of low birth weight children.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal associations among moderate low birth weight status, parenting factors, and socioemotional competence among at-risk children. This paper also examined the role of parenting factors as a moderator in the associations between birth weight and indicators of socioemotional competence at age 9.

METHODS

Participants include a subsample (N = 1809) of families participating in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national longitudinal birth cohort study. Birth weight and prenatal data were taken from medical records. Parenting factors were assessed during in-home assessments at ages 3 and 5. Teachers reported on externalizing behaviors and social skills at age 9. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the associations among study variables.

RESULTS

Overall, results indicate that moderate low birth weight was significantly associated with lower levels of teacher-reported socioemotional competence at age 9 even after accounting for a large battery of control variables. Results also showed that maternal warmth, but not parenting stress, moderated the longitudinal association between birth weight and indicators of socioemotional competence.

CONCLUSION

Findings highlight the importance of birth weight and positive parenting processes in socioemotional outcomes among children. The implications of these findings are discussed for targeting positive parenting interventions and developmental outcomes for at-risk children.

Exceeding expectations after perinatal risks for poor development: associations in term- and preterm-born preschoolers

OBJECTIVE

To define parenting/social characteristics associated with better-than-expected cognitive and motor outcomes in preschoolers at similar perinatal biological risk-level including various gestational ages at birth (GA) and perinatal complications.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective cohort study (n = 87) of children at four years, median GA 29 weeks (IQR 26, 38). Assessments included Differential Ability Scales, Movement Assessment Battery, parenting styles, and social risk scores. Perinatal risk factors were weighted based on regression models for each outcome; individual calculated risk scores became predictors to extract standardized residuals from the mean (>1 SD above mean = better-than-expected). Mixed-effect regressions examined associations between positive adaptation and parenting/social factors.

RESULT

Perinatal risk scores explained 21-53% outcome variability. Children across all GA displayed positive adaptation. Children of parents with higher authoritarian scores had higher odds of better-than-expected outcomes (OR 1.17, p = 0.0002).

CONCLUSION

Parental structure may promote positive adaptation at preschool age in children with perinatal risk factors for poor development, including extreme prematurity.

Parental voice - what outcomes of preterm birth matter most to families?

Neonatal follow-up studies traditionally report on long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes as a metric of success of neonatal intensive care. Research endpoints are also typically deficit-based, assessing whether disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, cognitive impairment, deafness or blindness, are present or not. These historical approaches have resulted in neonatal follow-up programs that narrowly focus on the early identification of neurodevelopmental problems, possibly to the detriment of other outcomes that matter to parents. This focus on neurodevelopmental disability may also contribute to the negative stereotypes associated with extreme preterm birth. In this article, we discuss parental perspectives regarding important long-term outcomes. We examine limitations with current definitions of outcomes and propose a strength-based approach to generate meaningful findings both for clinicians and families.

The effects of maternal smartphone use on mother-child interaction

This study assessed the effects of maternal smartphone use on mother-child interaction. Thirty-three Israeli mothers and their 24- to 36-month-old toddlers (16 boys) from middle-high socioeconomic status participated in three within-subjects experimental conditions: maternal smartphone use, maternal magazine reading, and uninterrupted dyadic free-play. The mothers produced fewer utterances, provided fewer responses to child bids, missed child bids more often, and exchanged fewer conversational turns with their children when engaged with a smartphone or printed magazines compared to uninterrupted free-play. The quality of maternal responsiveness was also decreased. These findings suggest maternal smartphone use compromises mother-child interaction, which given smartphone ubiquity in daily life may have negative effects on child development in various domains, including language, cognition, and socioemotional regulation.

Heterogeneity of the attentional system's efficiency among very prematurely born pre-schoolers

Very preterm birth increases the risk of ADHD as well as other neurodevelopmental disorders. Deficits within the attentional system were previously signaled in preterm children; however, studies lacked in consideration of an intragroup differentiation. Thus, this study aimed to verify whether deficits in the attentional mechanisms are inter-individually differentiated among very prematurely born children and if so, which biomedical and non-biomedical factors are associated with the profile of deficits within the attentional system. We tested the efficiency of attentional processes among 5-year-old children with the Attention Network Task - Child Version. The results have indicated that 26% of very preterm children presented with the suboptimal functioning of the attentional system (more than 1 SD below mean score of full-term children in attentional alerting and orienting), whereas 74% were characterized by the normal efficiency of attention. The profile of attentional deficits observed among very preterm preschoolers was associated with significantly lower birth weight and decreased family living standard. Very prematurely born children are thus a relatively heterogeneous group in terms of the efficiency of attentional system and deficits apply to only some of those children. Early developmental support aimed at enhancing attentional functioning should be addressed to children with lower birth weight in the first place.

Associations between technoference, quality of parent-infant interactions, and infants' vocabulary development

"Technoference" describes the distraction from interpersonal activities that can occur due to use of mobile screen devices. Focusing on parent-infant interactions, our study investigated the associations between potential sources of "technoference" and parental responsiveness, scaffolding and directiveness toward their infant, and coordinated joint attention (CJA). Previous research demonstrates that each of these dimensions is related to early language development. Potential sources of "technoference" employed in our study included the amount of time the parent spends on their mobile device per hour when with their infant; the number of audible notifications the parent receives per hour, the number of times per hour they check their device; and parents' score on the Distraction In Social Relations and Use of Parent Technology (DISRUPT) scale. We investigated associations between our measures of parental "technoference" and infants' language development, and whether parental responsiveness, scaffolding, directiveness or parent-infant CJA mediate associations between "technoference" and language. Frequency of audible notifications negatively predicted infant vocabulary, and this relationship was fully mediated by parental directiveness.

Technology-Assisted Parenting Interventions for Families Experiencing Social Disadvantage: a Meta-Analysis

Technology-assisted interventions have been identified as a means to increase accessibility and enhance engagement of parenting programs. The current meta-analytic review examines the effectiveness of these interventions in families experiencing social disadvantage. A literature search was conducted spanning March 2007-June 2019. Nine studies met inclusion criteria (total of 864 participants) which included an evaluation of a parenting intervention for families with at least one of the following demographic challenges, low socioeconomic status, single parenthood, and/or young parenthood. Interventions (or a component of the intervention) were delivered by computer, cell phone, smartphone, and/or tablet. Data were organized into three categories: parental psychological well-being (e.g., self-esteem, social support), parenting (e.g., observed or self-reported parenting behavior), and child behavior (e.g., disruptive behavior). Effect sizes (Hedges' g) were calculated and moderators (i.e., contact with an interventionist, intervention length, publication year, % female parents, mean parent age, parental education, % minority, and child age) were examined through Q-statistics and meta-regression, as appropriate. Intervention showed a near-significant impact on parental psychological well-being (g = .35, p = .051). Furthermore, interventions that did not include direct contact with an interventionist showed no evidence of effectiveness (g = - .02); interventions that incorporated contact were significantly more effective (g = .68). In addition, intervention length moderated intervention effectiveness; shorter interventions yielded greater improvements in well-being, compared with longer interventions. Interventions were also associated with significant improvements in parenting (g = .38) and child behavior (g = .39). These findings provide support for the use of technology-assisted parenting interventions in populations experiencing social disadvantage.

Social cognition following preterm birth: A systematic review

Social cognitive abilities are affected by preterm birth, but pathways to, and risk factors for this outcome are not well mapped. We examined direct assessment tasks including objective coding of parent-child play to chart social development in infancy and pre-school years. A systematic search and data-extraction procedure yielded seventy-nine studies (4930 preterm and 2109 term children, aged birth - five years), for inclusion. We detected a pattern of reduced social attention in the first 12 months of life with evidence of reduced performance in social cognitive tasks later in the preschool years. However, we did not identify a consistent, distinctive preterm social phenotype in early life. Instead, the interactive behaviour of preterm infants reflects factors from outside the social cognitive domain, such as attention, language, and socioeconomic status. By combining data across samples and measures we revealed the role of domain-general skills, which may in future prove fruitful intervention targets.

Eye-tracking for longitudinal assessment of social cognition in children born preterm

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Preterm birth is associated with atypical social cognition in infancy, and cognitive impairment and social difficulties in childhood. Little is known about the stability of social cognition through childhood, and its relationship with neurodevelopment. We used eye-tracking in preterm and term-born infants to investigate social attentional preference in infancy and at 5 years, its relationship with neurodevelopment and the influence of socioeconomic deprivation.

METHODS

A cohort of 81 preterm and 66 term infants with mean (range) gestational age at birth 28⁺⁵ (23⁺² -33⁺⁰ ) and 40⁺⁰ (37⁺⁰ -42⁺¹ ) respectively, completed eye-tracking at 7-9 months, with a subset re-assessed at 5 years. Three free-viewing social tasks of increasing stimulus complexity were presented, and a social preference score was derived from looking time to socially informative areas. Socioeconomic data and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning at 5 years were collected.

RESULTS

Preterm children had lower social preference scores at 7-9 months compared with term-born controls. Term-born children's scores were stable between time points, whereas preterm children showed a significant increase, reaching equivalent scores by 5 years. Low gestational age and socioeconomic deprivation were associated with reduced social preference scores at 7-9 months. At 5 years, preterm infants had lower Early Learning Composite scores than controls, but this was not associated with social attentional preference in infancy or at 5 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Preterm children have reduced social attentional preference at 7-9 months compared with term-born controls, but catch up by 5 years. Infant social cognition is influenced by socioeconomic deprivation and gestational age. Social cognition and neurodevelopment have different trajectories following preterm birth.

Maternal interactive beliefs and style as predictors of language development in preterm and full term children

Previous research has shown that the quality of mother-child interactions between pre-term children and their mothers tends to be poorer than that of full-term children and their mothers (Forcada-Guex, Pierrehumbert, Borghini, Moessinger & Muller-Nix, 2006). Mothers of pre-term children are less responsive and more intrusive in interactions with their children than mothers of full-term children (Forcada-Guex et al., 2006; Ionio, Lista, Mascheroni, Olivari, Confalonieri, Mastrangelo, Brazzoduro, Balestriero, Banfi, Bonanomi, Bova, Castoldi, Colombo, Introvini & Scelsa, 2017; Laing, McMahon, Ungerer, Taylor, Badawi & Spence, 2010). The current research explored differences between mothers of pre-term and full-term children in terms of interactive beliefs and style, and the potential for language development to be differentially predicted by maternal interactive beliefs and styles in pre-term versus full-term children. Independent t-tests were conducted to compare pre-term and full-term groups in relation to the measures of maternal interactive beliefs and styles. A series of multiple regression analyses were then performed separately for each group to examine the shared and unique contributions of maternal interactive beliefs and styles on full-term versus pre-term children's language development. The results showed that mothers of pre-term children were more intrusive-directive than mothers of full-term children; in contrast, mothers of full-term children were more responsive and supportive-directive in interactions with their children. Moreover, predictors of language development were different in full-term versus pre-term children; in full-term children, maternal supportive beliefs and responsiveness were significant predictors of language development evaluated by both the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development and the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory; in the pre-term group, maternal supportive and directive beliefs, as well as supportive and intrusive directiveness, were significant predictors, with the latter being negatively associated with language development indicators. This research can shed light on how to prevent language delay in children and improve mother-child interactions that contribute to language development, which may in turn improve language development in vulnerable children, children born pre-term in particular.

Associations of rooming-in with maternal postpartum bonding: the impact of mothers' pre-delivery intentions

OBJECTIVE

Full rooming-in, that is, mother and baby staying together for 24 hours per day after birth in the hospital, has been suggested as beneficial for positive maternal bonding. However, it has never been studied directly. We aimed to examine the association of full versus partial rooming-in and maternal bonding to her infant during the post-childbirth hospital stay.

STUDY DESIGN

Longitudinal questionnaire study.

SETTING

Maternity ward of a large tertiary health care center in Israel.

PARTICIPANTS

The sample consisted of postpartum women (N = 293) in a maternity ward of a tertiary health care center who were fully or partially rooming-in.

MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS

Questionnaires were administered at two time points, immediately after childbirth (T1; days 1-4) and 2 months postpartum (T2). The Childbirth Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), breastfeeding questions, and the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) were administered at T1; the PBQ was repeated at T2. Regression analysis revealed that the rooming-in mode did not significantly predict bonding at 1-4 days postpartum. However, the rooming-in mode was a significant predictor of bonding at two months postpartum only for women who practiced the rooming-in mode they had initially planned (Beta = 0.12, p < .05), while controlling for other demographic as well as obstetric variables. Women who chose and practiced partial rooming-in manifested more bonding difficulties than those who chose and practiced full rooming-in. These distinctions in bonding were not manifested when including in the analysis women who partially rooming-in, but not in accordance with their intentions.

CONCLUSIONS

Mother-infant bonding may be optimally supported when women's pre-labor desires to participate in full rooming-in are fulfilled.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Hospital staff should be aware of the mothers' intentions regarding full rooming-in requests and make sincere efforts to accommodate and support their wishes.

The association of attachment style, postpartum PTSD and depression with bonding- A longitudinal path analysis model, from childbirth to six months

BACKGROUND

There is substantial evidence that postpartum depression (PPD) is associated with a poor mother-infant bond, however, fewer studies have examined the role of other postpartum psychopathologies such as birth-related PTSD or relevant trait variables such as adult attachment styles in the quality of the mother-infant bond.

METHODS

210 postpartum women were sampled in a maternity ward of a tertiary health care center. Participants completed questionnaires at three-time points. Demographics questionnaire and the Adult Attachment style scale were administrated at 1-4 days postpartum, the City Birth Trauma Scale and the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale two months postpartum and the Postpartum Bonding questionnaire at six months postpartum.

RESULTS

The associations between adult attachment styles and postpartum bonding were fully mediated by postpartum psychopathology. Avoidant attachment had indirect effects on bonding through general PTSD symptoms (Beta=0.05, p=.019) and PPD (Beta=0.06, p=.010). Anxious attachment also had indirect effects on bonding through general PTSD symptoms (Beta=0.04, p=.044) and PPD (Beta=0.10, p=.001). In contrast, birth-related PTSD symptoms were not associated with bonding. The model presented a good fit.

LIMITATIONS

Women sampled from one health-care center and self-report measures used.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that although birth-related PTSD symptoms may cause difficulties, importantly they may not be associated with bonding difficulties six months postpartum. Therefore, women could be reassured that their birth-related PTSD symptoms, may not impact on bonding. Consequently, if interventions are specifically aimed at improving the mother-infant bond, the general-related PTSD, PPD symptoms and insecure attachment styles should be the focus of treatment.

Intervención logopédica naturalista con familias de hablantes tardíos: efectos en el lenguaje infantil y en los intercambios adultos

El objetivo del presente artículo es valorar la eficacia de un programa de intervención logopédica de corte naturalista. Fueron seleccionadas 16 familias monolingües españolas con hijos/as hablantes tardíos/as de entre 24 y 29 meses de edad, y, posteriormente, asignadas a dos condiciones experimentales (intervención y control). Las familias pertenecientes al grupo de intervención se beneficiaron de un programa logopédico de intervención naturalista en el que las rutinas familiares se utilizaron para estimular el desarrollo comunicativo y lingüístico de los/as niños/as y para desarrollar estilos conversacionales ajustados a su nivel de comunicación y lenguaje. Con las familias del grupo control se empleó la estrategia “wait and see” (esperar y ver). Pasados cuatro meses de intervención naturalista, los resultados informaron de que las familias del grupo de intervención usaban más conductas ajustadas y sus hijos presentaban un vocabulario más extenso y producían más combinaciones de palabras frente al grupo control.

Foundations of attention sharing: Orienting and responding to attention in term and preterm 5-month-old infants

Attention is the gateway to perceptual, cognitive, and socioemotional development in humans. We observed 104 5-month-old term and preterm infants and their mothers in social interactions to address three questions about the role of maturation in orienting and responding to attention. We used a fine-grained coding system to allow parallel comparisons across infant and maternal orienting, and sequential analysis to evaluate infant and maternal responding to attention. Orienting and responding to attention differed for attention to people versus objects, as did the relations between maturity and attention. We conclude that maturity contributes to orienting and responding to attention and that orienting and responding to attention are specific rather than homogenous. We discuss the implications of these conclusions for future studies of how attention influences cognitive and communicative development.

Impact of mother-infant interaction on development during the first year of life: A systematic review

The objectives of this project were to systematically review the impact of mother-infant interaction on the development of infants 12 months or younger and determine factors that mediate this relationship and early development. We systematically reviewed the literature and identified 21 papers which fulfilled inclusion and exclusion criteria. The majority of the studies found significant association between mother-infant interaction and language, cognition, motor, and social development during the first year of life. Only seven studies assessed motor development and four studies found significant relationship between motor development and mother-infant interaction. Prematurity, infant age, multiples births, maternal anxiety, maternal opioid exposure, history of foster care, and criminal record were the only factors found to mediate the relationship between mother-infant interaction and social, cognitive, and language development. The quality of the interactions between a mother and infant can both positively and negatively influence cognitive, language, and social outcomes during the first year of life. Additional research is needed to determine the influence of mother-infant interaction on motor development. Future research is needed on the efficacy of interventions designed to alter mother-infant interaction with the ultimate goal of achieving positive developmental outcomes during the first year of life.

Differential susceptibility effects of maternal sensitivity in childhood on small for gestational age adults' wealth

Being born small for gestational age (SGA) is considered a developmental vulnerability. Alternatively, SGA may be viewed as a marker for individual susceptibility to environmental experiences. The aim was to test if individuals born SGA are more susceptible to both negative and positive environmental experiences assessed by sensitive parenting in childhood compared with those born appropriate for gestational age (AGA). The target outcome was wealth in young adulthood. A total of 438 participants (SGA, n = 109; AGA, n = 329) were studied as part of the prospective Bavarian Longitudinal Study of neonatal at-risk children. Maternal sensitivity was observed during a standardized mother-child interaction task, and IQ was assessed with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children at age 6 years. At age 26, participants' wealth was assessed with a comprehensive composite score. Individuals born SGA were found to be more susceptible to the effects of sensitive parenting after controlling for gestational age and IQ at age 6 years. When maternal sensitivity was lower than average, SGA adults did worse than AGA adults, but when exposed to above-average maternal sensitivity in childhood, they obtained significantly higher wealth than their AGA peers by 26 years of age.

Stabilities of Infant Behaviors and Maternal Responses to Them

Consistency in the order of individuals in a group across substantial lengths of time-stability-is a central concept in developmental science for several reasons. Stability underscores the meaningfulness of individual differences in psychological phenomena; stability informs about the origins, nature, and overall developmental course of psychological phenomena; stability signals individual status and so affects the environment, experience, and development; stability has both theoretical and clinical implications for individual functioning; and stability helps to establish that a measure constitutes a consequential individual-differences metric. In this three-wave prospective longitudinal study (Ns = 40 infants and mothers), we examined stabilities of individual variation in multiple infant behaviors and maternal responses to them across infant ages 10, 14, and 21 months. Medium to large effect size stabilities in infant behaviors and maternal responses emerged, but both betray substantial amounts of unshared variance. Documenting the ontogenetic trajectories of infant behaviors and maternal responses helps to elucidate the nature and structure of early human development.

Maternal and Paternal Attachment Style and Chaos as Risk Factors for Parenting Behavior

Household chaos and insecure parental attachment styles are associated with lower quality parenting behaviors. However, there is a paucity of evidence regarding fathers' parenting behaviors, and no studies examine if chaotic home environments moderate the attachment style-parenting behavior relationship. Using data from both mothers and fathers of 742 children (40.5% African American) living in rural, low-resource communities, the current study examined the individual and joint effects of self-reported adult attachment style and two domains of household chaos on observed maternal and paternal parenting behaviors during structured play with their 58-month old child (49.6% female). Multivariate models revealed that, even after controlling for confounders, attachment insecurity predicted lower quality parenting behavior for mothers and fathers. Further, for both mothers and fathers, the disorganized domain of household chaos, representing environments high in noise, clutter and disorder, predicted less sensitive and more intrusive parenting behavior. Finally, for mothers with dismissive attachment styles, high levels of disorganization appeared to exacerbate caregiving difficulties; this moderating relationship was not evident for fathers. These findings suggest that the stress of a chronically disorganized family environment may impact the expression of mothers' insecure tendencies in the context of parenting, thereby intensifying less sensitive and more intrusive parenting behaviors.

Controlling Parenting Behaviors in Parents of Children Born Preterm: A Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

This meta-analysis tested whether parents of preterm-born children differ from parents of full-term-born children regarding controlling parenting.

METHODS

Databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Open Access Theses and Dissertations, and Elton B. Stephens Company were searched for cross-sectional and prospective longitudinal studies examining controlling parenting in preterm-born children.

RESULTS

The meta-analysis included 27 independent data sets, derived from 34 studies, with a total of 8053 participants-3265 preterm and 4788 full-term children. Parents of children born preterm were more controlling than parents of children born full-term (Hedges' g = 0.29; 95% confidence interval: 0.19-0.39; z = 5.48; p < 0.001). Heterogeneity analysis indicated significant variation in effects between studies (Q = 148.46, p < 0.001), but the effects were not moderated by gestational age, birth weight, child age, child gender, parental education, type of parenting assessment method (observational vs parental self-report), parenting dimension measured (behaviors vs attitudes), type of controlling parenting (intrusiveness vs others), study design (cross-sectional vs longitudinal), year of publication, or geographical setting of the studies (America vs Europe).

CONCLUSION

Findings suggest that parents of children born preterm are at higher risk for engaging in controlling parenting strategies, stressing the importance of psychosocial follow-up support for these parents.

Do Helpful Mothers Help? Effects of Maternal Scaffolding and Infant Engagement on Cognitive Performance

Infants are highly social and much early learning takes place in a social context during interactions with caregivers. Previous research shows that social scaffolding - responsive parenting and joint attention - can confer benefits for infants' long-term development and learning. However, little previous research has examined whether dynamic (moment-to-moment) adaptations in adults' social scaffolding are able to produce immediate effects on infants' performance. Here we ask whether infants' success on an object search task is more strongly influenced by maternal behavior, including dynamic changes in response behavior, or by fluctuations in infants' own engagement levels. Thirty-five mother-infant dyads (infants aged 10.8 months, on average) participated in an object search task that was delivered in a naturalistic manner by the child's mother. Measures of maternal responsiveness (teaching duration; sensitivity) and infant engagement (engagement score; visual attention) were assessed. Mothers varied their task delivery trial by trial, but neither measure of maternal responsiveness significantly predicted infants' success in performing the search task. Rather, infants' own level of engagement was the sole significant predictor of accuracy. These results indicate that while parental scaffolding is offered spontaneously (and is undoubtedly crucial for development), in this context children's endogenous engagement proved to be a more powerful determinant of task success. Future work should explore this interplay between parental and child-internal factors in other learning and social contexts.

The importance of early life touch for psychosocial and moral development

One of the primary means of communicating with a baby is through touch. Nurturing physical touch promotes healthy physiological development in social mammals, including humans. Physiology influences wellbeing and psychosocial functioning. The purpose of this paper is to explore the connections among early life positive and negative touch and wellbeing and sociomoral development. In study 1, mothers of preschoolers (n = 156) reported their attitudes toward positive/negative touch and on their children's wellbeing and sociomoral outcomes, illustrating moderate to strong positive correlations between positive touch attitudes and children's sociomoral capacities and orientations and negative correlations with psychopathology. In study 2, we used an existing longitudinal dataset, with at-risk mothers (n = 682) and their children to test touch effects on moral capacities and social behaviors in early life. Results demonstrated moderate to strong relationships between positive/negative touch and concurrent child behavioral regulation and positive correlations between low corporal punishment and child sociomoral outcomes. In a third study with adults (n = 607), we found significant mediation processes connecting retrospective reports of childhood touch to adult moral orientation through attachment security, mental health, and moral capacities. In general across studies, more affectionate touch and less punishing touch were positively associated with wellbeing and development of moral capacities and engaged moral orientation.

Infants attend longer to controlling versus supportive directive speech

Directive communications play a critical role in infants' and young children's daily routines as they are regularly guided by close others. An extensive literature describes two ways of directing action: autonomy support and control. These motivational qualities are thought to be especially important to development as they shape well-being, learning, and exploration. The way in which such motivations are communicated through tone of voice may be especially important for preverbal infants, who respond to tone more than words. Currently, there is little understanding of what role these motivational qualities expressed through tone of voice play in directive speech. To fill this gap in our understanding, we conducted an experiment with 39 infants ranging in age from 9 to 12 months. Infants were presented with validated directive phrases previously recorded by current day-care staff members in autonomy-supportive or controlling tones. Results showed that infants attended longer to controlling tones than to autonomy-supportive tones, evidencing their ability to discriminate between motivational qualities at this early age. Implications for early learning and well-being are discussed.

Parents Influence the Visual Learning Environment Through Children's Manual Actions

The present research studied children in the second year of life (N = 29, M_age  = 21.14 months, SD = 2.64 months) using experimental manipulations within and between subjects to show that responsive parental influence helps children have more frequent sustained object holds with fewer switches between objects compared to when parents are either not involved or over-involved. Regardless of parental involvement, sustained holds were visually rich, based on the size, centeredness, and dominance of the held object relative to other objects. These findings are important because they suggest not only that the child's body creates visually rich scenes across play contexts but also that a responsive parent can increase the frequency of these visually rich and informative moments.

Effects of Gestational Age and Early Parenting on Children's Social Inhibition at 6 Years

Preterm birth (<37 weeks' gestation) has been associated with problems in social functioning. Whether social inhibition is specifically related to preterm birth and whether early parenting may protect against social inhibition difficulties is unknown. To explore effects of gestational age and early parent-infant relationships on social inhibition, 1314 children born at 26-41 weeks gestational age were studied as part of the prospective Bavarian Longitudinal Study. Early parent-infant relationship quality was assessed postnatally with the parent-infant relationship index. Social inhibition was assessed at age 6 years using an experimental procedure, in which nonverbal and verbal responses were coded into social inhibition categories (disinhibited, normally responsive, inhibited). Multinomial logistic regressions indicated that children with lower gestational age showed more socially disinhibited (nonverbal: OR = 1.27 [95% CI = 1.17-1.40], verbal: OR = 1.23 [95% CI 1.13-1.35]) and inhibited (nonverbal: OR = 1.21 [95% CI = 1.11-1.32], verbal: OR = 1.11 [95% CI = 1.01-1.21]) responses. Good early parent-infant relationships were associated with less verbal disinhibition (OR = 0.70 [95% CI = 0.52-0.93]). Findings suggest that children with lower gestational age are at greater risk to be both socially inhibited and disinhibited. Early parenting affected risk of abnormal social responses. Supporting early parent-infant relationships may reduce preterm children's risk for social difficulties.

Maternal Directives to Young Children who are Blind

The results of a detailed analysis of how mothers direct attention and play with their blind and sighted 18-month-old children found that the mothers of the blind children were no more directive than were the mothers of the sighted children, but that they made some use of directives that were particular to the needs of young blind children.

Assessment of Parent-Child Interaction Is Important With Infants in Rehabilitation and Can Use High-Tech or Low-Tech Methods

Parents are their infant's first teachers and play a very important role in early development. Early intervention strives to enhance infant participation in the family, and regulations require the engagement of families in assessment and intervention. Infants born preterm or with motor impairments demonstrate altered social engagements that can influence parent-child interaction and the efficacy of therapy services. However, in research focused on the efficacy of interventions or in clinical practice, therapists rarely assess or report on the quality of parent-infant interaction. Understanding these interactions can help determine what perceptual motor opportunities parents provide that can enhance learning. This Perspective article will: (1) present evidence on the need for early assessment and ongoing measurement of parent-infant interaction; (2) describe an example of each of 3 methods for assessment of parent-child interaction-low-tech, low-resource (Dyadic Mutuality Code), low-tech, high-resource (Parent Children Early Relational Assessment), and high-tech, high-resource (customized behavioral coding); (3) compare 3 approaches theoretically highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each assessment; and (4) reflect on the challenges and value of adding these measures to future research on the efficacy of interventions and clinical practice.

Demographic and Parental Factors Associated With Developmental Outcomes in Children With Intellectual Disabilities

The aim of the study was to examine the relation between demographic variables, parental characteristics, and cognitive, language and motor skills development in children with intellectual disabilities (ID). A sample of 89 children with ID, aged 20-47 months, completed the Bayley Scales of Infant Development to measure cognitive, motor, and linguistic development. Parents were administered questionnaires about demographic information and parental anxiety, depression, parental stress, conjugality and familial functioning. Parenting behaviors (affection, responsiveness, encouragement, and teaching) were observed using the Spanish version of PICCOLO (Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes). A bivariate analysis showed that cognitive development in infants was significantly related to the mother's and father's responsiveness, and to the father's teaching scores. Infant language development was related to a variety of maternal factors (educational level, anxiety, depression, maternal responsiveness) and to the father's teaching scores. None of the factors were statistically related to child motor development. A multivariate regression analysis indicated that children's cognitive development can be predicted by a linear combination of maternal responsiveness and paternal teaching scores. Language development can be predicted by a linear combination of maternal anxiety and responsiveness, and paternal teaching scores. The present study provides evidence of the importance of paternal involvement for cognitive and language development in children with intellectual disabilities, and contributes to the increasing literature about fathering. Gaining knowledge about parental contributions to children's development is relevant for improving positive parenting in early intervention programs.

Influence of Fathers' Early Parenting on the Development of Children Born Very Preterm and Full Term

OBJECTIVES

To examine factors associated with fathers' early parenting behaviors (including very preterm [VPT] birth, familial social risk, child sex, and child medical risk), and the relationship between fathers' early parenting behaviors and later child development.

STUDY DESIGN

Participants were 81 VPT (born <30 weeks of gestation) and 39 full-term father-child dyads. Parenting behaviors (sensitivity, structuring, nonintrusiveness, nonhostility) were assessed at 12 months of corrected age using the Emotional Availability Scales, with scores ranging from 1 (low) to 7 (high). At 24 months of corrected age, child cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development were assessed. Results are presented as (regression coefficients; 95% CIs).

RESULTS

There was little evidence that VPT birth, familial social risk, or child medical risk were associated with fathers' parenting behaviors. Fathers of girls tended to be more sensitive (0.42; 0.18, 0.65), less intrusive (0.36; 0.04, 0.70), and less hostile (0.26; 0.01, 0.50) compared with fathers of boys. Higher structuring was associated with more optimal cognitive (3.29; 1.25, 5.34), and language development (4.69; 2.26, 7.14). Higher sensitivity was associated with more optimal language development 3.35 (0.95, 5.75), and more intrusive behavior was associated with more externalizing symptoms (-1.68; -3.06, -0.31).

CONCLUSIONS

Early parenting did not differ between fathers with VPT and full-term children, but fathers' parenting did vary according to child sex. Fathers' early parenting was associated with future neurodevelopment, reinforcing the need to support fathers' parenting, and include fathers in early intervention programs.

Audiovisual speech perception and language acquisition in preterm infants: A longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Preterm infants have a higher risk of language delay throughout childhood. The ability to integrate audiovisual speech information is associated with language acquisition in term infants; however, the relation is still unclear in preterm infant.

AIM AND METHODS

This study longitudinally investigated visual preference for audiovisual congruent and incongruent speech during a preferential looking task using eye-tracking in preterm and term infants at 6, 12, and 18 months of corrected age. The infants' receptive and expressive vocabulary at 12 and 18 months were obtained by parent report, using the Japanese MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory.

RESULTS

We found that preterm infants did not clearly show visual preference for the congruent audiovisual display at any age, whereas term infants looked at the congruent audiovisual display longer than the incongruent audiovisual display at 6 and 18 months. Preterm infants' receptive and expressive vocabulary scores were lower than those of term infants at 12 and 18 months. Furthermore, the proportion of looking time toward the congruent audiovisual display at 6 months was positively correlated with receptive vocabulary scores at 12 and 18 months for both groups.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that better audiovisual speech perception abilities are one factor that results in better language acquisition in preterm as well as term infants. Early identification of behaviors associated with later language in preterm infants may contribute to planning intervention for developmental problems.

Nurturing the preterm infant brain: leveraging neuroplasticity to improve neurobehavioral outcomes

An intrinsic feature of the developing brain is high susceptibility to environmental influence-known as plasticity. Research indicates cascading disruption to neurological development following preterm (PT) birth; yet, the interactive effects of PT birth and plasticity remain unclear. It is possible that, with regard to neuropsychological outcomes in the PT population, plasticity is a double-edged sword. On one side, high plasticity of rapidly developing neural tissue makes the PT brain more vulnerable to injury resulting from events, including inflammation, hypoxia, and ischemia. On the other side, plasticity may be a mechanism through which positive experience can normalize neurological development for PT children. Much of the available literature on PT neurological development is clinically weighted and focused on diagnostic utility for predicting long-term outcomes. Although diagnostic utility is valuable, research establishing neuroprotective factors is equally beneficial. This review will: (1) detail specific mechanisms through which plasticity is adaptive or maladaptive depending on the experience; (2) integrate research from neuroimaging, intervention, and clinical science fields in a summary of findings suggesting inherent plasticity of the PT brain as a mechanism to improve child outcomes; and (3) summarize how responsive caregiving experiences situate parents as agents of change in normalizing PT infant brain development.

Using pupil dilation, eye-blink rate, and the value of mother to investigate reward learning mechanisms in infancy

The brain is adapted to learn from interactions with the environment that predict or enable the procurement of rewards (Schultz, 2010). For infants, the main caregiver (often the mother) is most associated with primary biological rewards such as food and warmth, as well as the most likely provider of emotional and social rewards such as comfort and responsiveness. In this study we capitalize on the reward value of mother to examine reward learning mechanisms in infancy using multiple eye-tracking measures. Converging lines of research have demonstrated links between reward-related striatal dopamine activity and measurable changes in spontaneous eye-blink rate (EBR) and pupil dilation (Eckstein et al., 2017). We presented 7-month-old infants with video stimuli that parametrically increased in social-emotional value (male stranger, female stranger, mother) or in visual attention value (static image, slowed silent cartoon, dynamic cartoon). After establishing infants’ baseline responses to these stimuli, we paired the videos with arbitrary shape cues in an associative learning task. Infants showed superior learning from their own mother’s video and a heightened anticipatory arousal response to the mother-associated cue following learning. Both learning measures were predicted by infants’ baseline EBR to their mother’s video, providing the first evidence of reward learning and transfer in human infants.

How do maternal interaction style and joint attention relate to language development in infants with Down syndrome and typically developing infants?

Down syndrome (DS) is more detrimental to language acquisition compared to other forms of learning disability. It has been shown that early social communication skills are important for language acquisition in the typical population; however few studies have examined the relationship between early social communication and language in DS. The aim of the current study is to compare the relationship between joint attention and concurrent language skills, and maternal interactive style and concurrent language skills in infants with DS and in typically developing (TD) infants matched for mental age. We also investigated if these relationships differ between children with DS and TD children. Twenty-five infants with DS (17-23 months) and 30 TD infants (9-11 months) were assessed on measures of joint attention, maternal interactive style and language. The results indicated a significant positive relationship between responding to joint attention (RJA) and concurrent language for the DS group, and a significant positive relationship between maternal positive expressed emotion (PEEM) and concurrent language for the TD group. We hypothesise that different social-communication factors are associated with language skills in DS, at least between 17 and 23 months of age compared to TD infants of similar non-verbal and general language abilities.

MEDIATING ROLE OF MATERNAL SENSITIVITY: ENHANCING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN AT-RISK FAMILIES

Home-visiting programs have gained increasing importance in family-centered prevention and intervention. However, few studies have examined the mechanisms underlying early intervention treatment effects. The goal of this study is to analyze the mediating role of maternal sensitivity in enhancing language development with the home-visiting program Parents as Teachers (PAT). Data were collected and analyzed within the ongoing, long-term ZEPPELIN study, a randomized controlled trial with 251 participating at-risk families. Via longitudinal mediation analysis, we examined whether effects of the PAT on receptive and expressive language outcomes at 24 and 36 months were mediated by maternal sensitivity at 12 months. Within a moderated mediation framework, we investigated whether the level of family psychosocial stress affects this mediation. Results showed that intervention effects on language outcomes are mediated by maternal sensitivity-weakly and through specific pathways. Moderation and moderated mediation analyses indicated that effects of the PAT and also specific mediation effects increase with the level of psychosocial stress. Implications of the results for practice are discussed.

A systematic review of parent-infant interaction in infants at risk of autism

Social communicative precursors to autism spectrum disorder may influence how infants who are later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder interact with their social partners and the responses they receive, thus bidirectionally influencing early social experience. This systematic review aimed to identify a developmental timeline for parent-infant interaction in the first 2 years of life in at-risk infants and in emergent autism spectrum disorder, and to examine any parent-infant interaction associations with later social-communicative outcomes. In total, 15 studies were identified investigating parent-infant interaction in infants at familial autism risk (i.e. with an older sibling with autism spectrum disorder). Starting from the latter part of the first year, infants at risk of autism spectrum disorder (and particularly infants with eventual autism spectrum disorder) showed parent-infant interaction differences from those with no eventual autism spectrum disorder, most notably in infant gesture use and dyadic qualities. While parental interactions did not differ by subsequent child autism spectrum disorder outcome, at-risk infants may receive different 'compensatory' socio-communicative inputs, and further work is needed to clarify their effects. Preliminary evidence links aspects of parent-infant interaction with later language outcomes. We discuss the potential role of parent-infant interaction in early parent-mediated intervention.

Interpersonal violence during pregnancy: Enduring effects in the post-partum period and implications for the intergenerational transmission of risk

Women are at greater risk of exposure to interpersonal violence during pregnancy. The influence prenatal violence has on children’s behavioral adjustment is generally understood to stem from its impact on mothers, but there is a dearth of prospective research to test these models. The current study evaluated the influence of interpersonal violence during pregnancy on children’s behavioral adjustment in toddlerhood through the mother’s mental health and parenting in infancy. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study on the transition to motherhood ( N = 682). Mothers reported on their experiences of violence during pregnancy, depression at 6 months, and their children’s behavior at 24 months. Warm, responsive behavior was coded at 8 months. Prenatal experiences of violence predicted toddlers’ aggression/defiance toward mothers through maternal depressive symptoms and parenting in infancy. There were no effects on the toddlers’ aggression toward their peers. Interpersonal violence in pregnancy was linked to aggression/defiance toward mothers in early childhood via cascading negative effects on maternal depressive symptoms and parenting.

Training of parental scaffolding in high-socio-economic status families: How do parents of full- and preterm-born toddlers benefit?

BACKGROUND

Preterm children have an increased risk regarding self-regulation development. Given the strong link between parenting behaviour (i.e., scaffolding and sensitivity) and children's self-regulation, parental training presents a promising way to counteract the negative consequences of preterm birth.

AIMS

We explored the effectiveness of parental training by comparing a basic scaffolding training and a combined scaffolding/sensitivity training to an active treatment-control group (stress management). Basic and combined treatments should increase parents' domain-specific self-efficacy (DSSE) and beliefs on parental co-regulation and the promotion of learning (BCL) more than the control treatment should. No such differences were expected for parents' domain-general self-efficacy (DGSE). We examined whether parents of preterm and full-term children benefitted equally from training conditions.

SAMPLE(S)

A total of 87 parents of full-term and 35 parents of preterm toddlers (24-36 months of age, corrected for prematurity) participated.

METHODS

Based on a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test follow-up design, parents were randomly assigned to treatments. A multimethod approach was applied, including self-report, parent-child interactions, and standardized behavioural tasks. The presented study is limited to questionnaire data on parents' DGSE, DSSE, and BCL.

RESULTS

An overall increase resulted from pre- to post-test and/or follow-up. Parents' BCL changed significantly stronger in the combined training than in the control group. Parents of preterm and full-term children benefitted equally from basic and combined training.

CONCLUSIONS

The combined training enhanced BCL among parents of full-term and preterm children the most. If such training also yields improvement on the behavioural level, this finding will advance preterm aftercare.

Maternal communicative behaviours and interaction quality as predictors of language development: findings from a community-based study of slow-to-talk toddlers

BACKGROUND

Identifying risk and protective factors for language development informs interventions for children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Maternal responsive and intrusive communicative behaviours are associated with language development. Mother-child interaction quality may influence how children use these behaviours in language learning.

AIMS

To identify (1) communicative behaviours and interaction quality associated with language outcomes; (2) whether the association between a maternal intrusive behaviour (directive) and child language scores changed alongside a maternal responsive behaviour (expansion); and (3) whether interaction quality modified these associations.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Language skills were assessed at 24, 36 and 48 months in 197 community-recruited children who were slow to talk at 18 months. Mothers and 24-month-olds were video-recorded playing at home. Maternal praise, missed opportunities, and successful and unsuccessful directives (i.e., whether followed by the child) were coded during a 10-min segment. Interaction quality was rated using a seven-point fluency and connectedness (FC) scale, during a 5-min segment. Linear regressions examined associations between these behaviours/rating and language scores. Interaction analysis and simple slopes explored effect modification by FC.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

There was no evidence that missed opportunities or praise were associated with language scores. Higher rates of successful directives in the unadjusted model and unsuccessful directives in the adjusted model were associated with lower 24-month-old receptive language scores (e.g., unsuccessful directives effect size (ES) = -0.41). The association between unsuccessful directives and receptive language was weaker when adjusting for co-occurring expansions (ES = -0.34). Both types of directives were associated with poorer receptive and expressive language scores in adjusted models at 36 and 48 months (e.g., unsuccessful directive and 48-month receptive language, ES = -0.66). FC was positively associated with 24-, 36- and 48-month language scores in adjusted models (e.g., receptive language at 24 months, ES = 0.21, at 48 months, ES = 0.18). Interaction analysis showed the negative association between successful directives and 24-month receptive language existed primarily in poorly connected dyads with low FC levels.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

These findings illustrate the effects of the combined interaction between different maternal communicative behaviours and features of the interaction itself on child language development, and the need to consider both in research and practice. Whilst more intrusive directives were associated with poorer language scores, this association attenuated when adjusting for co-occurring responsive expansions, and the association was strongest for children in lower quality interactions. This work may inform clinical practice by helping clinicians target the most appropriate communicative behaviours for specific mother-child dyads.