Infant Temperament and Maternal Sensitivity Interact to Shape Early Cognitive Development: Test of Differential Susceptibility

• In Event: Investigating Cognitive and Social Correlates of Temperament in Infancy and Childhood

Abstract

Caregiver sensitivity to infants’ needs provides a stimulating interactive context and supportive emotional climate for children and shapes early cognitive development (Malmberg et al., 2015). However, the differential susceptibility theory (Belsky, 2005) suggests that the magnitude of caregiver influences may vary depending on infant temperament, or constitutional differences in reactivity and regulation (Rothbart & Bates, 2006). For instance, infants with high negative reactivity have been found to exhibit poorer developmental outcomes than their low reactive counterparts in the context of low caregiver sensitivity, but better developmental outcomes in the context of high caregiver sensitivity (Slagt et al., 2016).
Most research investigating the contributions of temperament to cognitive development has examined individual differences in temperament using a dimensional approach (negative reactivity, effortful control, surgency). However, this approach does not capture the dynamic ways in which temperament dimensions may interactively shape adjustment. Given these limitations, scholars are employing typological approaches that consider how co-occurring temperament dimensions jointly influence children’s behavior and outcomes (Planalp & Goldsmith, 2020). This research has consistently yielded four infant temperament profiles: high positive affect, high regulated (HPHR); low positive affect, low regulated (LPLR); negative reactive, low regulated (NRLR); and reactive, high regulated; three of which have been replicated in a sample of low-income, Mexican American infants (Lin et al., 2021). The current study draws data from the same sample of low-income Mexican American families (N=190), and extends extant literature by investigating the degree to which profiles of infant temperament may likewise confer differential susceptibility to the promotive effects of caregiver sensitivity on cognitive development.
Infant temperament and maternal sensitivity were assessed at 12 months via the IBQ-R-SF questionnaire and video recorded mother-child interaction tasks using the Coding Interactive Behaviors system. Child cognitive development was assessed at 24-months via the Bayley Scales of Infant & Toddler Development-Third Edition. Posterior probabilities of classification in each of the three temperamental profiles (HPHR; n=126; NRLR; n=38; LPLR; n=26) were obtained using Latent Class Analyses, and were recorded for subsequent analyses. HPHR was the most common profile (66%), and was treated as the reference group.
Results of a regression model with cognitive development regressed on maternal sensitivity, temperamental profiles, their interactions, and covariates indicated that only the maternal sensitivity by temperament interaction was significant. Simple slope analyses revealed that infants with LPLR had the strongest cognitive performance when maternal sensitivity was high, but the weakest cognitive performance when maternal sensitivity was low (Figure 1).
Taken together, Mexican American infants with low positive affectivity and regulation may be more susceptible to the negative and positive impact of low maternal sensitivity on early cognitive development relative to their expressive, and well-regulated peers. Infant temperament styles may represent one promising mechanism for identifying infants who may benefit from caregiver interventions that promote cognitive development.

Authors

• Laura Welch, State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany)
  Presenting Author

• Anna J Yeo, State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany)

• Betty Lin, State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany)

• Nancy A Gonzales, Arizona State University

• Linda J. Luecken, Arizona State University

• Keith A Crnic, Arizona State University