The influence of mothers' and fathers' sensitivity in the first year of life on children's cognitive outcomes at 18 and 36 months

BACKGROUND

There has been increasing interest in the relative effects of mothers' and fathers' interactions with their infants on later development. However to date there has been little work on children's cognitive outcomes.

METHODS

We examined the relative influence of fathers' and mothers' sensitivity during interactions with their children at the end of the child's first year (10-12 months, n = 97), on child general cognitive development at 18 months and language at 36 months.

RESULTS

Both parents' sensitivity was associated with cognitive and language outcomes in univariate analyses. Mothers' sensitivity, however, appeared to be associated with family socio-demographic factors to a greater extent that fathers' sensitivity. Using path modelling the effect of paternal sensitivity on general cognitive development at 18 months and language at 36 months was significantly greater than the effect of maternal sensitivity, when controlling for socio-demographic background. In relation to language at 36 months, there was some evidence that sensitivity of one parent buffered the effect of lower sensitivity of the other parent.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that parental sensitivity can play an important role in children's cognitive and language development, and that higher sensitivity of one parent can compensate for the lower sensitivity of the other parent. Replication of these findings, however, is required in larger samples.

The influence of different forms of early childcare on children's emotional and behavioural development at school entry

BACKGROUND

Over the past few decades there has been a dramatic increase in maternal employment and, as a result, an increase in the use of non-maternal childcare in the early years. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine, in a large representative English sample, the influence of different forms of childcare on children's behavioural and emotional development around the age of school entry.

METHODS

A sample of 991 families, originally recruited when the children were 3 months old, was assessed around school entry age at 51 months. The main outcome variable was the children's emotional and behavioural functioning, measured by questionnaire completed by both mothers and teachers. A range of repeated assessments were carried out at different time points, including direct observation of the quality of maternal caregiving and observations of the quality of non-parental care, and amount of time spent in different forms of care.

RESULTS

The strongest and most consistent influences on behaviour and emotional problems were derived from the home, including lower socio-demographic status, poorer maternal caregiving, parental stress/maternal mental health problems, as well as child gender (being a boy). Non-parental childcare had small effects on child outcome. One finding that did emerge was that children who spent more time in group care, mainly nursery care, were more likely to have behavioural problems, particularly hyperactivity.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that interventions to enhance children's emotional and behavioural development might best focus on supporting families and augmenting the quality of care in the home.

A comparison of father-infant interaction between primary and non-primary care giving fathers

BACKGROUND

This study examined the socio-demographic characteristics and attitudes of primary care giving fathers and non-primary care giving fathers and the quality of their interaction with their infants.

METHOD

Two groups of fathers of 11.9-month old infants were compared - 25 primary care giving fathers (20 h per week or more of sole infant care) and 75 non-primary care giving fathers - with regard to socio-demographic characteristics, attitudinal differences and father-infant interaction during play and mealtimes. The quality of father-child interaction in relation to the total number of hours of primary care provided by fathers was also examined.

RESULTS

Primary care giving fathers had lower occupational status and earned a smaller proportion of the family income but did not differ in educational level or attitudes compared with non-primary care giving fathers. There were no differences between the partners of the two groups of fathers on any variables, and their infants did not differ in temperament. Primary care giving fathers and their infants exhibited more positive emotional tone during play than non-primary care giving fathers, although fathers did not differ in responsivity. There were no differences between the groups during mealtimes. There was a positive association between total number of child care hours provided by all fathers and infant positive emotional tone.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary and non-primary care giving fathers were similar in many respects, but primary care giving fathers and their infants were happier during play. This suggests a possible link between the involvement of fathers in the care of their children and their children's emotional state. The finding of a trend towards increased paternal happiness with increased hours of child care suggests that there may also be a gain for fathers who are more involved in the care of their infants. Further research is needed to determine whether these differences ultimately have an effect on children's development.

Why do some fathers become primary caregivers for their infants? A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Despite recent advances, research on father-infant relations is still relatively lacking. One hitherto neglected area is the subjective experience of primary caregiving (PCG) fathers, including their reasons for taking on a PCG role.

METHOD

Twenty-five PCG fathers, defined as those providing sole child care for their 1-year-old infant for at least 20 waking hours a week, completed semi-structured interviews as part of a large two-centre English study of child care. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed using emergent theme analysis. Themes with a bearing on the fathers' explicit and implicit reasons for providing relatively high levels of sole child care were grouped using an iterative process of independent analysis, comparison and rechecking.

RESULTS

Reasons included mother's and father's employment situation and relative earning power, the absence of acceptable alternative child care, perceptions of societal values, maternal and paternal health, family history and ideological values. Flexibility of paternal employment, or its relative unimportance, and motivation or willingness on the part of the father to share in child care were invariably present. For some, the fact of one or other of their own parents having been emotionally distant or physically absent had led to a determination to do things differently with their own children. Fathers reported that they valued the increased time spent with their child, even if they had not been consciously motivated beforehand.

CONCLUSIONS

Fathers describe a wide range of reasons for becoming primary caregivers for their infant, and generally experience themselves as being actively involved in that decision. If fathers are to take an increasing role in child care, societal values and financial pressure may need to be addressed.

The influence of maternal depression, caregiving, and socioeconomic status in the post-natal year on children's language development

BACKGROUND

Post-natal depression is common and has been associated with adverse effects on children's later emotional and behavioural development. The evidence for effects on children's cognitive development is unclear but this could potentially be a major public health issue. The aim was to examine whether maternal depression and maternal caregiving during the first year of life are associated with children's subsequent language development.

METHODS

One thousand two hundred and one women were recruited from antenatal and post-natal baby clinics in two areas in England, and followed up until their babies were 3 years. Mothers and children were assessed by questionnaire, interview and home observation; 999 children's language was assessed at 36 months, although 55 were excluded principally because they had been exposed to insufficient English.

RESULTS

In bivariate analyses maternal depressive symptomatology in the post-natal year but not at 36 months was associated with poorer child language at 36 months; maternal caregiving, was positively associated with language. Structural Equation Modelling revealed that depression was associated with poorer caregiving but was not independently associated with language. Higher quality caregiving at 10 months was associated with better language. When the sample was split by socioeconomic factors the effects of depression on caregiving were stronger in the less advantaged group. In both groups poorer quality early caregiving predicted lower language outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Post-natal depression had a negative effect on caregiving, which in turn affected language; post-natal depression did not have an additional direct effect on language. Socioeconomic factors moderated the effects of depression on caregiving. When targeting interventions at mothers with post-natal depression, it may be strategic to focus on lower socioeconomic groups at higher risk.

Improving readability of an evaluation tool for low-income clients using visual information processing theories

Literacy is an issue for many low-income audiences. Using visual information processing theories, the goal was improving readability of a food behavior checklist and ultimately improving its ability to accurately capture existing changes in dietary behaviors. Using group interviews, low-income clients (n = 18) evaluated 4 visual styles. The text plus color photographs style was preferred over the other 3 visual styles: text only, text plus black and white line drawings, and text plus gray-scale photographs. Employing cognitive interviewing in an iterative process, clients (n = 25) recommended simplifying text for 10 items, modifying content for 15 of 16 visuals, and replacing text with visual content for 7 of 16 items. Professional staff (n = 7) and educators (n = 10) verified that visuals and revised text accurately reflected the content of each item. Clients reported that the revised checklist captured their attention, added pleasure to the evaluation process, improved their understanding of the behaviors in question, and facilitated comprehension of text. Readability scores improved by more than 2 grades. This process can be duplicated by others interested in enhancing the quality of existing evaluation tools.

Exhibiting eugenics: response and resistance to a hidden history

Human Plants, Human Harvest: The Hidden History of California Eugenics is the first-ever exhibition on the history of eugenics in California. The disappearance of this history for half a century, and the consequent absence of a "collective menory", were the primary factors determining the exhibit's sttrcture and content. Responses to the exhibit confirmed that most visitors "never knew" about this history. The exhibit is described in some detail, with selected imagery from the exhibit reproduced. After the initial exhibition, responses of other museums and foundation officials revealed a continuing resistance to this history being publicly displayed, though the sources of resistance varied.

Critical periods in childhood learning

The human body is born with 'hard wiring' that leads the baby to pay attention to certain things in the environment, especially the communications of caregivers. These inborn predispositions are gradually shaped by the environment of the family, a 'curriculum for babies' which is rich on communication and making sense of the world. Day care and nursery education can complement and enhance the child's learning, especially if they are of high quality. Research has shown again and again that early learning has lasting effects on development although they are rarely irreversible.

Validational data on the Warwick Symbolic Play Test

This paper examines the validity of a recently developed test of symbolic play. The Warwick Symbolic Play Test (WSPT) was administered to 60 normal children, 30 girls and 30 boys aged 3-6 years. In addition the children's expressive and receptive language skills were assessed using the Renfrew Action Picture Test and the British Picture Vocabulary Scale respectively. Significant correlations were found between scores obtained on the play test and both language measures. Exploratory statistics indicated that, when age was taken into account, partial correlations between play and language remained moderate. Further analysis of the results also suggested that the relationship between play and language ability as measured by the tests was stronger for the younger children in the sample than for the older children. These results suggest that the WSPT may indeed be a useful assessment instrument, in conjunction with measures of functional play, for assessment of language ability, diagnosis and possible treatment of language disorders, especially for children under the developmental age of 5 years.