Mother-child Dyads Research Articles

Association of gestational and childhood circulating C-peptide concentrations in the hyperglycemia and adverse pregnancy outcomes follow-up study.

This study examined the association of gravida C-peptide with progeny islet function and insulin sensitivity in the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome Follow-up Study (HAPO FUS). Pregnancy 3rd trimester oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), cord blood, and offspring OGTT glucose, C-peptide and insulin at age 10-14years were analyzed for 4,121 mother-child dyads. Gravida fasting and 1-hour C-peptide concentration correlations with cord blood and childhood C-peptide, insulin, insulinogenic index and insulin sensitivity, and insulin resistance [HOMA-IR]), were assessed by multiple linear regression. Maternal covariates included age, gestational age, BMI and glucose at OGTT; child covariates included age, sex, pubertal stage, BMI z score and glucose. Gravida fasting and 1-hour OGTT C-peptide was positively correlated with cord blood C-peptide, offspring OGTT C-peptide and insulin concentrations at fasting, 30min, 1-hour and 2-hour at 10-14years of age. Maternal fasting and 1-hour C-peptide concentrations were positively correlated with the insulinogenic index and HOMA-IR but inversely correlated with insulin sensitivity. Maternal C-peptide explained more variance than maternal glucose concentrations (3.0-17.9% vs 0.2-3.5%). The correlation between gravida and offspring C-peptide suggests that without crossing the placenta, insulin may influence the offspring pancreatic beta-cell development and insulin sensitivity.

Mother-child dyads living with HIV in the Western Cape, South Africa: Undetectable = Undetectable?

Globally, children living with HIV continue to lag behind UNAIDS targets for viral suppression (VS). Because studies with linked mother-child data are limited, we describe VS and associated factors among young children in a setting with early infant HIV testing (at birth, age 10 weeks and 6 months) and early protease inhibitor-based first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART). We analysed routinely collected mother-child data for children living with HIV born 2018-2022 in Western Cape province, South Africa (followed through mid-2023). We assessed associations between child and maternal viral load (VL) results at 12 and 24 months after child ART start using logistic regression, adjusted for child sex, birthyear, severity of child immunodeficiency at ART start, maternal age and timing of maternal HIV diagnosis. Among 2219 children living with HIV; 30% were diagnosed at birth (≤7 days), 41% before age 1 year (8-365 days) and 29% at age >1 year. Overall, 5% (n = 112/2219) of children died, a third of whom had not started ART; 90% of children (n = 1990) started ART, at median age 5 months (IQR 1-16). Median follow-up from ART start was 26 months (IQR 14-40). Among children with available VL at 12 months (n = 853/1582), 24 months (n = 614/1129) and 36 months (n = 350/658) after ART start, 36%, 43% and 48% were virally suppressed, respectively (VL<100 copies/ml). VS among children at 12 and 24 months was more likely if maternal VL was <100 versus ≥100 copies/ml at 12 months (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.5; 95% CI 1.9-6.5) and 24 months (aOR = 6.1; 95% CI 2.8-13.1) after child ART start. Children with no/mild versus advanced/severe immunodeficiency at ART start were more likely to achieve VS at 12 months (aOR = 2.3; 95% CI 1.3-4.2) but not at 24 months. Eligible children with missing VL at 24 months (39%) were more likely to have gaps in care of >6 months than those with VL≥100 or VL<100 copies/ml (84% vs. 28% vs. 14%, respectively; p<0.001). Less than half of children on ART achieved VS, and children were more likely to achieve VS if their mothers were also virally suppressed. Significant efforts are needed to support mother-child dyads to achieve optimal VS.

Maternal Emotional Availability Supports Child Communicative Development Regardless of Child Temperament-Findings From the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study.

The interplay of emotional availability (EA) and child temperament in association with early language development is understudied. We explored associations between maternal EA and infant communicative development and possible moderations by child temperament. Participants were 151 mother-child dyads from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. Path models of associations between 8-month maternal EA and 14-month communicative development and moderation by infant temperament traits were created using SEM. Results show that EA positively predicted a latent variable of communicative development at 14months. No direct longitudinal effect of EA on 30-month vocabulary was found. Child surgency/extraversion at 6 and 12months significantly predicted 14-month communicative skills. Temperament did not moderate the association between EA and communicative development. Findings underscore the additive role of maternal caregiving and early surgency/extraversion in predicting early communicative development. The emotional aspects of parenting should be acknowledged as contributors to early communicative development in future studies.

P1223 Maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and offspring’s risk of paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease - a cohort study

Abstract Background The association between maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and offspring’s risk of paediatric-onset inflammatory bowel disease (pIBD) is largely unknown. Therefore, we explored this link in mother-child dyads from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC). Methods The DNBC is a nationwide cohort of pregnant mothers from Denmark enrolled between 1996 and 2002. In gestational week 25, a food frequency questionnaire assessed maternal intakes of &amp;gt;360 foods during the previous four weeks. The foods were divided into 37 groups, and intakes of the food groups (g/day) were z-score normalised to make them comparable. K-means cluster analysis determined maternal dietary patterns by grouping mother-child dyads into mutually exclusive clusters based on maternal intakes of the 37 food groups. The children were followed from birth to their 18-year birthday through national patient registries using their personal identification number. Medical information from the registries was used to identify the children who developed pIBD, defined as ≤18 years of age when they received their first IBD diagnosis (n=182). Cox proportional hazards model analysed associations of maternal dietary patterns with offspring’s hazard ratios (HR) for pIBD, using the most common pattern as the reference. Analyses were adjusted for parental IBD diagnosis and maternal educational level, gestational weight gain, smoking, energy intake, nutritional supplement use, and antibiotics use. Results The study included 63,877 singleton mother-child dyads from the DNBC. K-means cluster analysis identified five dietary patterns among the mothers: a diverse dietary pattern (n=16,386), a Western-like dietary pattern (n=22,901), a plant-rich dietary pattern (n=17,541), an animal-based dietary pattern (n=4,473), and a non-recommended dietary pattern (n=2,576). Mothers with a diverse dietary pattern had high intakes of most food groups, especially meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, potatoes, desserts, and legumes. This dietary pattern reduced offspring’s risk of pIBD by 44% compared to the Western-like dietary pattern (HR 0.56; 95% CI: 0.35-0.91), which was attributed to a decreased risk of Crohn’s disease (HR 0.41; 95% CI: 0.22-0.76) but not ulcerative colitis (HR 0.73; 95% CI: 0.38-1.39). No associations with pIBD were found for the plant-rich, animal-based, and non-recommended dietary patterns compared to the Western-like dietary pattern (p &amp;gt; 0.05). Conclusion In this prospective cohort study, we found that adhering to a diverse diet during pregnancy, characterised by high intakes of various food groups, protects the offspring against pIBD. Future studies should explore whether specific food groups or nutrients drive this association.

P1245 Maternal intake of fish, dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and fish oil supplements during pregnancy and risk of early childhood Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the offspring

Abstract Background A key question remains unanswered: whether maternal consumption of fish and fish oil supplements during pregnancy is associated with the risk of early childhood inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in offspring. This association was examined in the present study. Methods Data from the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996–2002) were used, which collected maternal dietary data in early pregnancy using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), and data from the National Patient Registry to identify IBD cases. The study included mother-child dyads in which the mother had a singleton pregnancy, responded to the FFQ and demonstrated plausible energy intake and children under the age of 18 were considered. The exposure variables were assessed as tertiles of maternal intake of total fish (g/day), oily fish (g/day), lean fish (g/day), n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (g/day) from diet, and fish oil supplements (yes/no). Cox regression was used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with the first tertile [T (lower intakes)] as the reference. Analyses were adjusted for maternal educational level, gestational weight gain, alcohol intake, smoking, antibiotics, parental IBD, diet quality (Healthy Eating Index), and offspring antibiotic consumption. Results The study included data on 67,770 mother-child dyads, and, among the offspring, 192 cases of IBD [Crohn disease (CD), n= 106; ulcerative colitis (UC), n= 86] were identified. The mean intake (standard deviation [SD]) in g/d was 27.2 (±6.10) of fish, 14.7 (±3.79) of oily fish and 12.5 (±3.34) of lean fish. The mean (SD) intake of n-3 PUFA was 0.509 g/d (±0.40), and 5.9% of women consumed fish oil during pregnancy. High maternal intake (T3) of n-3 PUFA was associated with a 38% reduction in IBD risk (HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.38-0.98) in offspring, whereas average intake of oily fish reduced the risk of UC in offspring (p= 0.047). Average (T2) and high intakes of lean fish also reduced the risk of IBD, by 49% (HR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.33-0.77) and 35% (HR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.43-0.98), respectively. More specifically, an average intake of lean fish reduced offspring CD risk by 58% (HR: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.23-0.77). No association was found in relation to the other variables. Conclusion The type of fish consumed during pregnancy appeared to influence the risk of developing CD and UC differently. Our large-scale population study suggests that maternal consumption of oily fish is protective against the development of UC in offspring, while maternal consumption of lean fish is protective against development of CD in offspring. Overall, these results favor fish consumption in pregnancy.

Bridging attachment theory and interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory in the strange situation procedure in a low-risk sample in Egypt.

This study is the first to explore the relation between children's attachment classifications, assessed by Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), and mothers' acceptance-rejection behaviors from the lens of Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory (IPARTheory). As a pilot study, the sample consisted of 23 Egyptian mother-child dyads. The mean age of children in the SSP was 18.6 months (SD=3.10). Mothers' acceptance-rejection behaviors were explored through the Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Control Questionnaire (PARQ/Control). The pilot study's findings revealed that maternal acceptance-rejection behaviors significantly differed across children's attachment classifications. The findings also shed light on gender differences in parenting, as mothers tended to show a higher level of hostility/aggression, undifferentiated rejection, and control with their daughters more than sons. This study is an important stepping-stone for attachment research in the Arab world. It highlights several cultural aspects to be taken into account for future research using the SSP in Egypt or any other Arab country.

Predictors of early childhood insomnia according to parent-rated degree of severity.

This study aimed to investigate child and maternal-related predictors of Early Childhood Insomnia (ECI) based on a parent-rated severity in a convenience sample of mother-infant dyads with ECI. We conducted a single-center, cross-sectional prospective study involving infants aged 6-36 months who attended the Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Outpatient Clinic at Marmara University Hospital, Istanbul, over 5 years for ECI. Infant sleep was evaluated by Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories were used to assess maternal depression and anxiety. Predictive factors for parent perceived ECI severity were examined by logistic regression models. Among 759 registered mother-child dyads, the mean age of the children at diagnosis was 15.5±7.5 months, and 56.7% were male. Overall, 76.5% of the mothers rated their child's sleep to be a serious problem. The odds of parent-reported serious sleep problems were increased in children who woke up often and spent longer in wakefulness. The strongest predictor of ECI severity was maternal sleep deprivation and having a former colicky infant. In addition, mothers scoring higher on maternal anxiety symptoms were more likely to rate their children's sleep as serious than women with lower anxiety scores. This study further underscored that heightened maternal sleep deprivation, elevated maternal anxiety symptoms, and previous exposure to a colicky infant were significant predictors of the perceived severity of ECI. Future research should explore interventions aimed at improving maternal well-being and infant sleep patterns to potentially mitigate the severity of ECI and its impact on family dynamics.

Maternal characteristics and their relation to early mother-child interaction and cognitive development in toddlers.

Early mother-infant interaction is believed to have a significant impact on the social, cognitive, and emotional development of children. These interactions are not only influenced by child and contextual factors but also by the mother's personality traits and strain. In this study, we investigated the relation between maternal factors such as personality, depressive symptoms, or experiencing of emotions, and (i) children's early cognitive development and (ii) interaction patterns in a sample of 116 mother-child dyads (mean child age = 18.63 months ± 6.42). Maternal factors were assessed using standardized questionnaires and toddlers' cognitive development was measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development. Interaction patterns were evaluated using the CARE-Index. The study found that children of mothers who scored higher in agreeableness, a personality trait reflecting compassion and cooperation, performed better in cognitive assessments. Additionally, mothers who placed significant importance on their bodily signals to assess their overall well-being had higher scores in the quality of interaction with their child. Statistical trends suggested that mothers with higher levels of conscientiousness, indicative of being organized and responsible, tended to be more responsive in the interaction with their infants, while those with higher levels of neuroticism, characterized by a tendency towards negative emotions, were more likely to have toddlers who inhibit their true negative affect. Finally, there was a trend indicating that maternal depression was associated with increased maternal controlling behavior towards toddlers. Overall, these findings show the intricate relation between maternal behavior and state with dyadic interaction quality. This should underline that optimal infant development is only possible if mothers are well supported especially if in need due to various burdens such as depressive symptoms.

Maternal Emotion Coaching and Child Emotion Regulation: Within-Interaction Sequences in Early Childhood

AbstractEmotion socialization is a dynamic transactional process that unfolds at the moment during parent-child interactions. To better understand these transactions (both parent-driven and child-driven) in early childhood, we conducted a lag-sequential analysis examining sequential contingency between maternal emotion coaching and child emotion regulation at ages 3 and 4 years. Mother-child dyads in the southeastern United States (N = 208 for age 3 timepoint [101 boys, 107 girls] and 227 for age 4 timepoint [115 boys, 112 girls]) participated in a laboratory etch-a-sketch task, which was videorecorded and later observationally coded for maternal coaching of both positive and negative emotions and for child emotion regulation (indexed as compliance, engagement, and low frustration) at 30-s intervals. At age 3, we found two reciprocal sequences: (1) When mothers coached positive emotions, children were subsequently more likely to show compliance, and when children complied, mothers were subsequently more likely to coach their positive emotions; (2) when mothers coached negative emotions, children were subsequently more likely to display frustration, and when children showed frustration, mothers were subsequently more likely to coach their negative emotions. At age 4, we only found parent-driven, positive emotion–related sequences: when mothers coached positive emotions, children were subsequently more likely to show compliance and engagement. Findings shed light on the distinct functions of positive and negative emotions as well as the intricacy of dynamic emotion socialization transactions in relation to child emotion regulation during early childhood.

Neonatal Circulating Amino Acids and Lipid Metabolites Mediate the Association of Maternal Gestational Diabetes Mellitus with Offspring Neurodevelopment at 1 Year.

Background/Objectives: We aimed to identify neonatal circulating metabolic alterations associated with maternal gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and to explore whether these altered metabolites could mediate the association of GDM with offspring neurodevelopment. Additionally, we investigated whether neonatal circulating metabolites could improve the prediction of offspring neurodevelopmental disorders over traditional risk factors. Methods: The retrospective cohort study enrolled 1228 mother-child dyads in South China. GDM was diagnosed at 24-28 weeks of gestation. Neonatal circulating amino acids and lipid metabolites (carnitines) were measured from newborn heel blood 3-7 days postpartum. Offspring neurodevelopment was assessed at age 1 year using the Children Neuropsychological and Behavioral Examination Scale. Neurodevelopmental disorders were defined as developmental delay in any domain of the scale. Results: Twenty-one metabolites associated with GDM were identified, consisting of seven amino acids and fourteen carnitines. Among these metabolites, five (glycine, myristicylcarnitine, palmitoylcarnitine, octadecadienoylcarnitine, and 3-hydroxypalmitylcarnitine) mediated the negative association of GDM with offspring neurodevelopment at 1 year (mediation proportions: 3.91-10.66%). Furthermore, six metabolites (glycine, methionine, malonylcarnitine, isovalerylcarnitine, palmitoylcarnitine, and octadecadienoylcarnitine) significantly increased the predictive performance for offspring neurodevelopmental disorders at 1 year over five traditional risk factors including GDM, parity, infant sex, birth weight, and feeding patterns (area under curve: 0.762 vs. 0.718, p = 0.012). Conclusions: GDM was associated with a variety of amino acid and lipid metabolic alterations in neonatal circulation, among which certain metabolites mediated the association of GDM with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring. Moreover, some neonatal circulating metabolites may serve as potential biomarkers that improved the prediction of offspring neurodevelopmental disorders over GDM and other traditional risk factors.

Validation of an observational tool for assessing mother-child and father-child interactions in Mara, Tanzania.

A strong body of evidence has underscored the cross-cultural importance of nurturing parent-child relationships for promoting early child development outcomes. However, most research on parenting has predominantly relied on self-reported measures collected from mothers. Observational tools for assessing parent-child interactions from not only mothers but also fathers remains limited, especially in Majority World contexts. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of an observational tool for assessing mother-child and father-child dyadic interactions in rural Mara, Tanzania. Specifically, we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to determine the dimensionality of the measure, tested measurement invariance by parental gender, and assessed its predictive validity with early child development outcomes. We analyzed data from 1,690 parent-child dyads (927 mother-child dyads and 763 father-child dyads) with children under 2 years of age. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a two-factor model with good model fit and acceptable internal consistency and interrater reliability between trained coders. While the measure demonstrated configural invariance by parental gender, it did not meet the criteria for metric or scalar invariance, indicating that maternal and paternal scores cannot be directly compared. Nonetheless, regression analyses showed positive associations between mother-child and father-child interaction scores and children's later development. Our findings establish the reliability and predictive validity of this observational tool for assessing early parent-child interactions in rural Tanzania. Future research directions and methodological considerations for using this observational tool with both mothers and fathers in Majority World countries are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Three-year-old development: The relationship of child health and parenting stress to neurocognition.

This study examined parenting stress and child special healthcare needs to child neurocognitive development (NCD). This secondary analysis used data from the primary study, a longitudinal cohort study of mother-child dyads. Multivariable regression models examined the associations between parenting stress and child special healthcare needs with NCD. Mothers completed the Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form. The outcome, child NCD, was evaluated using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (Bayley-III) Cognitive and Language Scales. Covariates included maternal and child sociodemographic factors and maternal knowledge of child development, depression, and IQ. Of the 1040 mother-child dyads in this analysis, 171 (16.4%) mothers reported that their child had one or more special healthcare needs and reported higher levels of parenting stress (PS) compared to those not experiencing health needs. Models including clinically significant PS along with identified child health needs showed the effect of 0.515 reduction (CI=0.11, 0.92, p=.013) in Bayley-III Receptive Scaled scores. Clinically significant parenting stress and the presence of child special healthcare needs were associated with lower child NCD, specifically receptive communication skills. Healthcare providers, including pediatric nurses, should support NCD in young children by identifying children with special healthcare needs early on, recognizing and providing support to decrease parenting stress, and delivering needed medical and developmental support to young children and their families.

Baseline Nutritional Status of Mother-Child Dyads in Urban Slums: Pre-Intervention Analysis for a Nutrition Informatics Intervention

Background: Urban slums are critical for public health intervention due to high population density, poor living conditions, and limited healthcare access. This study examines baseline nutritional and lifestyle patterns among mother-child dyads in the urban slums of Uttar Pradesh. The dyads were recruited for Nutritional Assessment and Intervention Kiosk (NAIK), a Population Health Informatics platform to address double burden of malnutrition. Methodology: This cross-sectional, pre-intervention study involved 406 mother-child dyads with children aged 2-5 years. Data on socio-demographic variables, anthropometric measurements, nutrient intake and lifestyle patterns were collected. Descriptive statistics summarized baseline characteristics. Results: The demographic profile showed predominantly low-income mothers with 43.34% without primary education. The mean ages of mothers and children were 33.98 ± 5.9 years and 46.91 ± 10.89 months, respectively. The waist-to-hip ratio was 0.92 ± 0.76 indicating cardiovascular risk factors with significant maternal obesity (47.78%). Education of the mother was found to be significantly associated with Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) of the child. The findings highlight the overnutrition in mothers and nutrient inadequacy in children, influenced by inadequate dietary intake and unhealthy lifestyle. Conclusions: This paper will comprehensively overview baseline population status, setting the stage for further analysis and evaluation of the intervention.

The association between maternal depression and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and child sleep patterns at age 3years.

Childhood sleep problems are common and impact physical and emotional health. Prior work suggests that prenatal maternal depression and anxiety associate with disturbed child sleep in infancy. The current study evaluated whether these same associations extend to children at 3years of age, and if so, whether the timing of symptoms in pregnancy is relevant. This study included 490 mother-child dyads from the Ontario Birth Study. The dependent variables included child sleep latency, total sleep duration and nighttime awakenings at 3years of age assessed via maternal reports. The main independent variables were maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire at 12-16 and 28-32weeks of pregnancy. We used linear regressions to evaluate the predictive value of maternal symptoms on each sleep measure. After controlling for potential confounding variables including maternal depression and anxiety scores at the time of the sleep assessments, there was a robust association between maternal depressive symptoms at 28-32weeks of pregnancy and the number of child awakenings at age 3 (t=3.08, p=.002). No significant associations between maternal prenatal anxiety and child sleep patterns were found in the multivariate analyses. During weeks 28-32 of pregnancy, fetal exposure to maternal symptoms of depression associates with increased child awakenings at age 3years. These results were not attributable to reporting bias related to maternal affective symptoms at the time of the sleep assessments. These findings point to a possible fetal programming effect on sleep that continues into the pre-school years.

Anaemia, overweight and abdominal obesity in mothers and children are associated with the food environment in socially vulnerable areas of a northeastern Brazilian capital.

This study aimed to assess the association between community and consumer food environment (FE) measures and anaemia, overweight and abdominal obesity in mother-child dyads living insituations of social vulnerability. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 40 favelas in a capital city in the northeast of Brazil. The sample consisted of 1882 women and 665 children aged under 5 years. The community FE was assessed using a scale of perception of the availability of healthy food in the neighbourhood. Consumer FE was assessed by auditing 624 retail food stores using the AUDITNOVA instrument. This investigated various aspects of the food environment and evaluated the availability of 18 ultra-processed foods (UPF) most consumed by the Brazilian population available in these stores. The presence of overweight was assessed by measuring the weight and height of the mother and the child, and abdominal obesity was assessed by measuring the mother's waist circumference. The presence of anaemia in the mother and the child was assessed by measuring haemoglobin. Adjusted multilevel regression models were used to verify associations between the FE and malnutrition in mother-child dyads. Low perception of community FE was associated with higher risk of women being overweight (OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.05-1.73) and abdominally obese (OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.04-1.84); low health scores in food shops were associated with higher risk of abdominal obesity (OR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.01-1.79) and anaemia (OR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.02-1.98) in women and overweight in children (OR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.05-2.73); and the high availability of UPF in retail shops was associated with increased odds of overweight (OR: 2.64; 95% CI: 1.61-4.33) and anaemia (OR: 2.11; 95% CI: 1.38-3.02) in children by 164% and 111%, respectively. It was observed that less healthy food environments are associated with greater chances of anaemia, overweight and abdominal obesity in mothers and children under 5 years insituations of social vulnerability in Brazil.

Agreement and Discrepancies of Maternal- and Self-Reported Psychopathology in Emerging Adults

Collateral reports on psychopathology improve clinical care and research. Previous research showed moderate agreement between adults’ self- and collateral reports. Factors associated with discrepancies in different age groups, especially the crucial period of emerging adulthood, are yet to be investigated. We examined mother-child agreement and factors associated with discrepancies in N = 256 mother-child dyads with emerging adult children (M = 22.3 years) who participated in a longitudinal prevention study (18-year follow-up). Children completed self-report measures on psychopathology (Adult Behavior Checklist, ASR), current psychological distress, and two individual items regarding the mother-child relationship and frequency of contact. Mothers reported on their children’s psychopathology (Adult Behavior Checklist, ABCL) and their own psychological distress. Children and mothers completed a half-structured clinical interview on mental disorders. Agreement between ASR and ABCL was moderate to high (r = .48 to .53). Both reports significantly correlated with children’s diagnoses based on the clinical interview (r = .37 to .58). When children reported higher levels of psychopathology, higher levels of current psychological distress were associated with larger mother-child discrepancies. When mothers reported higher levels of child psychopathology, higher levels of maternal psychological distress, lower relationship quality, and higher frequency of contact were associated with larger discrepancies. Mother-child agreement in emerging adulthood is comparable to agreement in adolescence and adulthood. Factors associated with discrepancies differ for higher maternal- vs. self-reported psychopathology. Maternal psychological distress is more relevant for informant discrepancies than maternal mental disorder diagnoses. Longitudinal studies are needed to enhance the understanding of informant discrepancies.

Parent–child emotional availability, children's early emotional reflectivity skills, and social behavior in kindergarten

AbstractObjectiveThe study aims to explore a complex and multilayered dynamic, in which relationships within the family are associated with the child's relationships outside the family through the child's reflectivity.BackgroundAttachment theory posits that the mother's emotional availability toward her child influences the child's ability to understand and verbalize their own and others' feelings and that this ability is a strong predictor of children's social behavior. This remains relatively understudied during the kindergarten years.MethodThe sample included 146 kindergarten children (81 boys; mean age = 66.84 months). During a home visit, the mother–child dyad was filmed to assess emotional availability, and a researcher interviewed the child (through a storytelling procedure) to assess the child's reflectivity. Additionally, the child's main kindergarten teacher completed questionnaires reporting on the children's verbal abilities and social skills.ResultsWe found clear support for connections between the mother–child relationship quality, children's emotional reflectivity capabilities, and children's social behavior in kindergarten.ConclusionsThe findings highlight the importance of relationships within the family context and their contribution to children's early emotional skills and social behavior.ImplicationsThe study sheds light on children's emotional reflectivity and its associations with the parent–child relationship quality and kindergarten children's social skills. These associations can lead to more informed intervention programs and to emphasizing the advantages of using storytelling techniques to better understand children's emotional capacities.

Parent-child relationship quality buffers the association between mothers' adverse childhood experiences and physiological synchrony.

Family environment plays a critical role in shaping stress response systems. Concordance between mothers' and children's physiological states, specifically their Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA), reflects dyadic co-regulation. Negative or weakened RSA synchrony during interactions is linked to various psychosocial risks, but existing research has focused on risks in the mother or child as opposed to the dyad. This study examined the association between maternal-child RSA synchrony and maternal ACEs, given documented associations with offspring RSA, as well as more proximal documented risks, including maternal psychopathology and children's early adversity and psychopathology. Given that sensitive parent-child relationships are a powerful source of resilience, we tested whether parent-child relationship quality buffered associations between maternal ACEs and RSA synchrony. In a community sample of mother-child dyads experiencing high sociodemographic risk and oversampled for exposure to adversity, mothers (n = 123) reported on their ACEs (43.1% ≥4), their 3-5-year-old children's exposure to violence, and psychological symptoms. Dyads completed a puzzle task while EKG was recorded, from which maternal and child RSA was derived; parent-child relationship quality during interactions was coded observationally. Multilevel models examined within-dyad mother-child RSA synchrony across the interaction and between-dyad predictors of synchrony. Parent-child relationship quality and maternal ACEs co-contributed to offspring and dyadic physiology. Maternal ACEs predicted dampened RSA in the child and dampened RSA synchrony in the dyad, only among dyads with low observer-rated parent-child relationship quality during the interaction. In other words, high-quality parent-child relationship quality buffered the association between maternal ACEs and dampened offspring and dyadic physiology. Results suggest that mothers' early adversity may disrupt physiological regulation at both the individual child and dyadic level. High-quality parent-child relationships mitigated this effect.

Executive function in young children with and without global developmental delays: Association with mastery motivation and developmental abilities

Executive functions (EF) affect child competencies across domains in early childhood. Thus, this study examined: 1) the EF differences between young children with global developmental delays (GDD) and those with typical development (TD); 2) the relationship between mastery motivation (MM) and EF; 3) the association between developmental abilities and EF in both groups. Participants included 26 mother-child dyads of preschoolers with GDD (age 24-55 months) and 26 sex- and mental-age-matched dyads of TD preschoolers (age 15-29 months). Child developmental abilities were assessed using the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers. Mothers rated child EF and MM using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function and the Revised Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaires. Independent-t test (p <.008, 2-tailed) and hierarchical regressions were used to examine association (p <.05, 2-tailed). GDD group showed higher EF difficulties compared to their TD counterparts (t = 4.05– 5.48, p <.001). Additionally, higher child MM, developmental ability, and mother’s perceived child ability are significantly associated with overall EF. Therefore, early childhood practitioners should coach parents to observe their child’s MM and to identify the child ability to enhance EF in young children. This study provides preliminary evidence linking MM, EF, and child abilities in early childhood.

Exploring the cross-cultural validity of attachment theory: a study of Egyptian mother-child dyads using the Strange Situation Procedure

ABSTRACT Given the dearth of literature on attachment theory in the Arab world, this study explores the cross-cultural validity of attachment theory within an Egyptian sample of 60 mother-child dyads through the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). The study examines the applicability of attachment theory’s universality, normativity, and secure base hypotheses, as well as the prevalence and manifestations of insecurity in an Egyptian sample. The findings supported attachment theory’s universality, normativity and secure base hypotheses, while simultaneously pointing towards cultural variations in attachment manifestations. Specifically, this study found that all children were classifiable according to the ABC classification system, and that secure attachment was the most prevalent within the sample. Additionally, trends of exploration and crying highly aligned with Ainsworth’s findings in the Baltimore study, supporting the secure base phenomenon within this Egyptian sample. Nevertheless, resistant attachment was more common than avoidant attachment, which differs from the global prevalence. Resistant attachment also primarily took the form of inconsolability rather than anger.