Functional circuits of the human brain emerge and change dramatically over the second half of gestation. It is possible that variation in neural functional system connectivity in utero predicts individual differences in infant behavioral development, but this possibility has yet to be examined. The current study examines the association between fetal sensorimotor brain system functional connectivity and infant postnatal motor ability. Resting-state functional connectivity data was obtained in 96 healthy human fetuses during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Infant motor ability was measured 7 months after birth using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Increased connectivity between the emerging motor network and regions of the prefrontal cortex, temporal lobes, posterior cingulate, and supplementary motor regions was observed in infants that showed more mature motor functions. In addition, females demonstrated stronger fetal-brain to infant-behavior associations. These observations extend prior longitudinal research back into prenatal brain development and raise exciting new ideas about the advent of risk and the ontogeny of early sex differences.

The goal of this study was to evaluate whether there are sex differences in children’s vulnerability to caregiving risk, as indexed by trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms assessed from 2 to 18 months postpartum, and children’s rated attachment security in toddlerhood, adjusting for maternal social support and demographic risk. Analyses utilized longitudinal data collected for 182 African American mother-child dyads from economically diverse backgrounds. Participants were recruited at the time of the child’s birth and followed to 18 months postpartum. Results of conditional latent growth models indicated that an increasing rate of change in level of maternal depressive symptoms over time negatively predicted toddlers’ felt attachment security. Higher social support was associated with decreasing levels of maternal depressive symptoms over time, whereas higher demographic risk was associated with increasing levels of maternal depressive symptoms. A subsequent multi-group conditional latent growth model revealed that child sex moderated these associations. For male (but not female) children, a rapid increase in maternal depressive symptoms was associated with lower felt attachment security at 18 months. These findings suggest that boys, compared to girls, may be more vulnerable to early caregiving risks such as maternal depression, with negative consequences for mother-child attachment security in toddlerhood.

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Objective The study examined whether mother–child reciprocity across increasingly challenging contexts moderated the association between household chaos and early childhood behavior problems. Background Living in a chaotic household is associated with behavioral dysregulation in childhood. An important goal in discordant household contexts is to establish positive aspects of relationships that are associated with more favorable developmental outcomes. Method The study analyzed data from 127 mother–child dyads participating in the 3‐year visit in a study of primarily low‐income, African American/Black families in urban areas. Dyads were videotaped during three successive, increasingly challenging, interaction tasks. Multiple regression analyses examined household chaos, dyadic reciprocity, and the interplay of those as predictors of behavior problems. Results Greater household chaos was associated with more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Moderation analyses indicated that dyadic reciprocity during two challenging interaction tasks (but not during free play) attenuated the association between household chaos and internalizing problems. Conclusions Household chaos was not associated with internalizing problems among dyads who had a connected, supportive relationship in more challenging interactive contexts. Implications Improving shared positive affect and dyadic harmony in the parent–child relationship may help protect young children against the negative influence of chaotic contexts.