Association between parent-infant interactions in infancy and disruptive behaviour disorders at age seven: a nested, case–control ALSPAC study

Abstract

BackgroundEffective early intervention to prevent oppositional/conduct disorders requires early identification of children at risk. Patterns of parent-child interaction may predict oppositional/conduct disorders but large community-based prospective studies are needed to evaluate this possibility.MethodsWe sought to examine whether the Mellow Parenting Observational System (MPOS) used to assess parent-infant interactions at one year was associated with psychopathology at age 7. The MPOS assesses positive and negative interactions between parent and child. It examines six dimensions: anticipation of child’s needs, responsiveness, autonomy, cooperation, containment of child distress, and control/conflict; these are summed to produce measures of total positive and negative interactions. We examined videos from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) sub-cohort who attended the ‘Children in Focus’ clinic at one year of age. Our sample comprised 180 videos of parent-infant interaction: 60 from infants who received a psychiatric diagnostic categorisation at seven years and 120 randomly selected controls who were group-matched on sex.ResultsA negative association between positive interactions and oppositional/conduct disorders was found. With the exception of pervasive developmental disorders (autism), an increase of one positive interaction per minute predicted a 15% (95% CI: 4% to 26%) reduction in the odds of the infant being case diagnosed. There was no statistically significant relationship between negative parenting interactions and oppositional/conduct disorders, although negative interactions were rarely observed in this setting.ConclusionsThe Mellow Parenting Observation System, specifically low scores for positive parenting interactions (such as Responsiveness which encompasses parental warmth towards the infant), predicted later psychiatric diagnostic categorisation of oppositional/conduct disorders.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2431-14-223) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Mellow Parenting: systematic review and meta‐analysis of an intervention to promote sensitive parenting

“…We suggest that this has important implications for developing Mellow Parenting in routine practice. Mellow Parenting and other programmes involving parents and young children would benefit from a clear, standardized set of outcome measures focussed on tracking pre–post change in maternal (parental) mental health, indicators of child social, emotional, and linguistic development, and perhaps parent–infant interaction . As Mellow Parenting training is delivered through an international network of trainers, there is scope for developing a routine framework for this intervention.…”

“…Mellow Parenting and other programmes involving parents and young children would benefit from a clear, standardized set of outcome measures focussed on tracking pre-post change in maternal (parental) mental health, indicators of child social, emotional, and linguistic development, [37][38][39][40] and perhaps parent-infant interaction. 11 As Mellow Parenting training is delivered through an international network of trainers, there is scope for developing a routine framework for this intervention. A parallel example from clinical interventions in adult mental health is the increasing use of standardized outcomes in mentalization-based therapy.…”

“…[7][8][9][10] The combination of maternal mental health, optimal parent-child attachment, and parental sensitivity with contingent, developmentally appropriate parental responses to infant signals of distress or the need for stimulation have been shown to be important for the development of infant attachment security and optimal childhood psychological development. [11][12][13] Furthermore, the use of parenting interventions in vulnerable groups 14,15 has mixed effectiveness in reducing children's psychosocial problems.…”

Formula Milk Supplementation on the Postnatal Ward: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study

“…The longer the duration of breastfeeding, the increased protection against breast and ovarian cancer, and reduced post-menopausal hip fractures [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Emerging evidence suggests that breastfeeding positively impacts mother-baby relationships, bonding, and post-natal depression [ 28 , 29 , 30 ]. From an economic perspective, the improvements in child and maternal morbidity and mortality, plus reduced workforce productivity loss are estimated to be substantial [ 1 ].…”

Effects of parenting interventions for mothers with depressive symptoms and an infant: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…5 Longitudinal studies from many countries show that positive, consistent and supportive parenting predicts low levels of child problem behaviour and child abuse, and also predicts enhanced cognitive development. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Conversely, harsh inconsistent parenting predicts a broad range of poor child outcomes. 6,[13][14][15][16] Several studies have shown that increased levels of depressive symptoms in the parent are associated with less sensitive and harsher parenting behaviours.…”