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The present study explored measurement invariance of the Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS; Parent & Forehand, 2017) across White, Hispanic, Black, and Asian American parents. Participants included 2,734 parents, 58% of whom were mothers. On average, parents were 36.32 years old (SD = 9.54); the parent sample was 66.9% White non-Hispanic, 10.1% Black, 5.3% Asian, and 17.7% Hispanic regardless of race. Child ages ranged from 3 to 17 years (M = 9.84, SD = 3.71), and 58% were identified as male. Parents completed a demographics questionnaire about themselves and their target child, and the 34-item MAPS. We explored measurement equivalence of the MAPS Broadband Positive and Negative parenting scales using item response theory to identify differential item functioning (DIF). Univariate analyses for Positive and Negative Parenting showed reliability was excellent. Twelve items assessing negative aspects of parenting exhibited bias by race/ethnicity. Specifically, when comparing racial and ethnic groups, three items had nonuniform DIF comparing Black and Asian participants, two items had nonuniform DIF comparing Black and Hispanic participants, and one item showed nonuniform DIF comparing Asian and Hispanic participants. When looking at Positive Parenting, no items showed evidence of DIF. Results from the present study suggest broadband Positive Parenting can be compared across ethnoracial groups, while findings raise concern about assessing Negative Parenting items when examining invariance across race and ethnicity. Findings from the present study imply that racial and ethnic comparisons are potentially invalid. These findings offer guidance for improving parenting assessment for racially/ethnically diverse populations.

Pregnancy and lactation can change the maternal nutrient reserve. Non-invasive, quantitative markers of maternal nutrient intake could enable personalized dietary recommendations that improve health outcomes in mothers and infants. Macular pigment optical density (MPOD) is a candidate marker, as MPOD values generally reflect carotenoid intake. We evaluated the association of MPOD with dietary and breastmilk carotenoids in postpartum women. MPOD measurements and dietary intake of five carotenoids were obtained from 80 mothers in the first three months postpartum. Breastmilk samples from a subset of mothers were analyzed to determine their nutrient composition. The association between MPOD and dietary or breastmilk carotenoids was quantitatively assessed to better understand the availability and mobilization of carotenoids. Our results showed that dietary α-carotene was positively correlated with MPOD. Of the breastmilk carotenoids, 13-cis-lutein and trans-lutein were correlated with MPOD when controlled for the total lutein in breastmilk. Other carotenoids in breastmilk were not associated with MPOD. Maternal MPOD is positively correlated with dietary intake of α-carotene in the early postpartum period, as well as with the breastmilk content of lutein. MPOD may serve as a potential marker for the intake of carotenoids, especially α-carotene, in mothers in the early postpartum period.

Severity of maternal childhood maltreatment has been associated with lower infant grey matter volume and amygdala volume during the first two years of life. A developing literature argues that effects of threat (abuse) and of deprivation (neglect) should be assessed separately because these distinct aspects of adversity may have different impacts on developmental outcomes. However, distinct effects of threat versus deprivation have not been assessed in relation to intergenerational effects of child maltreatment. The objective of this study was to separately assess the links of maternal childhood abuse and neglect with infant grey matter volume (GMV), white matter volume (WMV), amygdala and hippocampal volume. Participants included 57 mother-infant dyads. Mothers were assessed for childhood abuse and neglect using the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) questionnaire in a sample enriched for childhood maltreatment. Between 4 and 24 months (M age = 12.28 months, SD = 5.99), under natural sleep, infants completed an MRI using a 3.0 T Siemens scanner. GMV, WMV, amygdala and hippocampal volumes were extracted via automated segmentation. Maternal history of neglect, but not abuse, was associated with lower infant GMV. Maternal history of abuse, but not neglect, interacted with age such that abuse was associated with smaller infant amygdala volume at older ages. Results are consistent with a threat versus deprivation framework, in which threat impacts limbic regions central to the stress response, whereas deprivation impacts areas more central to cognitive function. Further studies are needed to identify mechanisms contributing to these differential intergenerational associations of threat versus deprivation.

Distinct neural effects of threat versus deprivation emerge by childhood, but little data are available in infancy. Withdrawn versus negative parenting may represent dimensionalized indices of early deprivation versus early threat, but no studies have assessed neural correlates of withdrawn versus negative parenting in infancy. The

Breastmilk provides key nutrients and bio-active factors that contribute to infant neurodevelopment. Optimizing maternal nutrition could provide further benefit to psychomotor outcomes. Our observational cohort pilot study aims to determine if breastfeeding extent and breastmilk nutrients correlate with psychomotor outcomes at school age. The breastfeeding proportion at 3 months of age and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 3–5 years of age were recorded for 33 typically developing newborns born after uncomplicated pregnancies. The association between categorical breastfeeding proportion and neurodevelopmental outcome scores was determined for the cohort using a Spearman correlation with and without the inclusion of parental factors. Vitamin E and carotenoid levels were determined in breastmilk samples from 14 of the mothers. After the inclusion of parental education and income as covariates, motor skill scores positively correlated with breastmilk contents of α-tocopherol (Spearman coefficient 0.88, p-value = 0.02), translutein (0.98, p-value = 0.0007), total lutein (0.92, p-value = 0.01), and zeaxanthin (0.93, p-value = 0.0068). Problem solving skills negatively correlated with the levels of the RSR enantiomer of α-tocopherol (−0.86, p-value = 0.03). Overall, higher exposure to breastfeeding was associated with improved gross motor and problem-solving skills at 3–5 years of age. The potential of α-tocopherol, lutein, and zeaxanthin intake to provide neurodevelopmental benefit is worthy of further investigation.

Multimodal brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide biomarkers of early influences on neurodevelopment such as nutrition, environmental and genetic factors. As the exposure to early influences can be separated from neurodevelopmental outcomes by many months or years, MRI markers can serve as an important intermediate outcome in multivariate analyses of neurodevelopmental determinants. Key to the success of such work are recent advances in data science as well as the growth of relevant data resources. Multimodal MRI assessment of neurodevelopment can be supplemented with other biomarkers of neurodevelopment such as electroencephalograms, magnetoencephalogram, and non-imaging biomarkers. This review focuses on how maternal nutrition impacts infant brain development, with three purposes: (1) to summarize the current knowledge about how nutrition in stages of pregnancy and breastfeeding impact infant brain development; (2) to discuss multimodal MRI and other measures of early neurodevelopment; and (3) to discuss potential opportunities for data science and artificial intelligence to advance precision nutrition. We hope this review can facilitate the collaborative march toward precision nutrition during pregnancy and the first year of life.

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