Quality of Infant Care and Behavioural Characteristics in 2-4-Month-Old Infant

Abstract

The study aimed at assessing possible relationship between the quality of infant care and maternal reported behavioural features in 2-4-month-old infants. It comprised 250 randomly selected, apparently healthy infants (129 boys, 121 girls) from community setting who were singletons born in St. Petersburg in 1999-2000. Quality of infant care was estimated using the ROCESS (Paediatric Review of Children's Environment Support and Stimulation) inventory enabling to measure infant's developmental stimulation and organisation. Infant's behaviour was assessed using Early Infancy Temperament Questionnaire (EITQ) as a tool enabling to describe nine different aspects of infant temperament: activity, rhythmicity, approach, adaptability, intensity, mood, persistence, distractibility and threshold. Linear regression analysis found that infants from more organised environment presented with higher rhythmicity (more regular schedule for sleeping, bowel movements, feeding, etc.) (p < 0.0001; R 2 = 0.208). This association remained after adjustment has been made for such major potential confounders as infant's gender, weight at birth and at study, gestational age and age at study, Apgar score at 1 and 5 minutes, birth order, maternal age and education, maternal marital status, infant's feeding at birth and at study, infant-parents bed and room sharing during sleep, as well as to simultaneous effects of the above variables (p = 0.042). Even minor deficit in the quality of infant care, such as lower environmental organisation, may be associated with specific disadvantageous infant behavioural peculiarities featuring as lower rhythmicity, one of the contributors to so-called difficult temperament. Infants with parentally reported low rhythmicitiy and difficult temperament should be carefully considered for possible flaws in the quality of environmental organisation.