Influence of adolescent maternal characteristics on infant development

Abstract

The present study proposed that several adolescent maternal variables would be associated with infant development. Using a sample of 71 adolescent mother-infant dyads, the study examined the relative influences of the adolescent's level of separation-individuation (Separation-Individuation Process Inventory), feelings of attachment towards the infant (Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale), and feelings of anxiety regarding separation (Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale) on infant mental and motor development (Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 2nd ed.). As it was assumed that the adolescent's perceptions of being parented would provide the foundation for each of these independent variables, this factor was also included (Parental Bonding Instrument). In the current sample, adolescent separation-individuation was the only maternal psychological variable to uniquely predict infant development, but only on the mental scale. Present findings highlight the importance of considering critical developmental processes of adolescence when exploring cognitive functioning and other outcomes in infants of adolescents. A number of possible mechanisms for the influence of separation-individuation are considered in the discussion.

Association between Prenatal and Postnatal Psychological Distress and Toddler Cognitive Development: A Systematic Review

“…Ten studies recruited community-based samples. Of the remaining three studies, one recruited adolescents [ 26 ], one included women attending an amniocentesis clinic [ 27 ] and one recruited women residing at a residential centre for infant difficulties [ 28 ]. We were unable to conduct a meta-analysis because of the wide diversity of toddler outcome measures (e.g., dichotomous and continuous measures) and missing data that could not be retrieved from study authors related to maternal exposure status.…”

“…Eight studies examined prenatal distress as the primary exposure [ 27 , 29 – 35 ], and six studied postnatal distress [ 26 , 28 , 30 , 36 – 38 ]. (Note.…”

“…Among the thirteen studies, three had overall quality ratings of strong [ 29 , 32 , 35 ], nine were rated as moderate [ 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 36 – 38 ], and one was weak [ 26 ] (Tables 1 and 2 ). Lower quality ratings were primarily due to attrition and not assessing potential confounders that, by definition, may be related to both maternal distress and cognitive development (e.g., prenatal smoking and alcohol use, breastfeeding) ( Table 2 ).…”

Development of Infant Positive Emotionality: The Contribution of Maternal Characteristics and Effects on Subsequent Parenting

“…Consistent with other investigations that have examined the influence of parental characteristics on children (e.g. Aiello & Lancaster, 2007;Azak, 2012;McGrath, Records & Rice, 2008), we addressed the impact of such attributes on infant emotionality as factors distinct from parenting behaviours. Nonetheless, future investigations should address the possibility of parenting effects account for some of the associations reported in this study.…”

The everyday concerns of mothers of young children and the motivation to seek ongoing parenting support from experts

“…Recent studies have considered issues such as mothers postpartum depression (Watt, Sword, Krueger, & Sheehan, 2002) and attachment style (Aiello & Lancaster, 2007). Symons (2001), for example, found that 'motherinfant dyads in emotional distress shortly after the birth of an infant had poorer relationship outcomes at 24 months of age than those not in distress ' (p. 116) and suggested that the inability of parents to regulate emotions might lead to issues with their young children.…”