Mothers' and fathers' sensitivity and children's cognitive development in low-income, rural families

Abstract

This study examines associations between maternal and paternal sensitive parenting and child cognitive development across the first 3 years of life using longitudinal data from 630 families with co-residing biological mothers and fathers. Sensitive parenting was measured by observational coding of parent-child interactions and child cognitive development was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence. There were multiple direct and indirect associations between parenting and cognitive development across mothers and fathers, suggesting primary effects, carry-forward effects, spillover effects across parents, and transactional effects across parents and children. Associations between parenting and cognitive development were statistically consistent across mothers and fathers, and the cumulative effects of early parenting on later cognitive development were comparable to the effects of later parenting on later cognitive development. As interpreted through a family systems framework, findings suggest additive and interdependent effects across parents and children.

Does maternal warmth moderate longitudinal associations between infant attention control and children's inhibitory control?

“…However, no studies to our knowledge have examined maternal warmth as a moderator of infant AC in the context of a genetically sensitive design. These findings corroborate what we know about maternal warmth, that it facilitates healthy cognitive and regulatory development (Cabrera et al, 2011;Kopp & Neufeld, 2003;Mills-Koonce et al, 2015). However, our study adds to previous work because we found that with below-average (for the sample) levels of maternal warmth, continuity between low AC during infancy and low IC at age 6 years remained moderately high.…”

“…The development of IC is shaped by genetic influences (Engelhart, Briley, Mann, Harden, & Tucker-Drob, 2015;Gagne & Saudino, 2016), early attention control (AC; Cuevas & Bell, 2014;Swingler, Perry, Calkins, & Bell, 2014), and early parenting (Bernier, Carlson, & Whipple, 2010). Specifically, warm parenting is hypothesized to shape early development by facilitating healthy cognitive and regulatory development (Cabrera, Fagan, Wight, & Schadler, 2011;Mills-Koonce et al, 2015) and may thus serve as a protective factor for children at risk for low IC. The extent to which associations between early AC and later IC can be modified by warm mothering is unknown, yet if moderation is present, it could have important implications for the development and timing of preventive interventions to promote IC in early childhood.…”

Evaluating Caregiver Sensitivity to Infants: Measures Matter

“…The putative significance of sensitivity is based on studies that have linked it to important psychosocial, cognitive, and physiological developmental outcomes (Bakermans‐Kranenburg, van IJzendoorn, & Juffer, ; Bernier, Carlson, & Whipple, ; Feldman, Eidelman, & Rotenberg, ; Hirsh‐Pasek & Burchinal, ; Lemelin, Tarabulsy, & Provost, ; Mesman, van IJzendoorn, & Bakermans‐Kranenburg, ). Research has further uncovered associations of caregiver sensitivity with specific aspects of child language and intellectual and academic development (Feldman et al., ; Hirsh‐Pasek & Burchinal, ; Lemelin et al., ; Nozadi et al., ; Paavola et al., ; Roger Mills‐Koonce et al., ; Vallotton, Mastergeorge, Foster, Decker, & Ayoub, ), associations that may not be quite so robust or unique as those reported for other aspects of child development (Page et al., ).…”

Longitudinal links between maternal factors and infant cognition: Moderation by infant sleep

“…These findings suggest that better sleep quality enables infants to take advantage of the developmental support provided by enriched environments. Although maternal education is merely a proxy for these types of enriched environmental experiences, robust evidence links maternal educational attainment with parental responsivity and learning stimulation, availability of learning materials, and time spent in play (e.g., Kalil, Ryan, & Corey, ; Zadeh, Farnia, & Ungerleider, ), which in turn are known to promote child cognitive development (e.g., Bradley & Caldwell, ; Mills‐Koonce et al, ).…”