The effect of predictability in maternal care on child development and self-regulation during early years

• In Event: 1-206 - Early life exposure to unpredictable maternal signals influences child development: A cross species approach.

Integrative Statement

Abstract

Maternal sensory signals and affective behavior in early life play a crucial role in programming the structure and function of the developing brain. The higher degree of predictability of maternal signals during this period has assumed to be one important protective factor in the development of child’s emotional regulation (Davis et al, 2017; Baram et al. 2012). The aim of this study is to assess whether the predictability of maternal caretaking behavior at 8 months predicts child’s self-regulation capacity at 12 and 24 months and child’s cognitive development and behavior at 30 months.
The study is a part of FinnBrain study. http://www.utu.fi/en/units/finnbrain/Pages/home.aspx Turku Cohort: Study participants included 126 mother-infant dyads that are a subset of the large FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study and its Focus Cohort, a nested case-control population (Karlsson et al., 2018). The Focus Cohort is comprised of mothers with high or low psychological distress based on self-report measures collected during gestational weeks 14, 24 and 34. Women with at least two positive screens for distress (i.e., twice by the same instrument or once in two different instruments) were identified as high prenatal psychological distress. Maternal prenatal distress was assessed using the questionnaires of EPDS, SCL-90 anxiety subscale and PRAQ-R2. The degree of predictability of maternal sensory signals was measured using entropy rate derived from behavioral coding of a play interaction of mother and child. Mothers were video-recorded interacting with their infants in a 10-minute free play episode at 8 months. Child’self-regulation was assessed using the dimension of regulation and orientation from IBQ-R questionnaire at 12 months and the dimension of effortful control from ECBQ questionnaire at 24 months. Variable of effortful control was used as a categorical variable (high reactivity vs low reactivity). Child’s cognitive development and behavior was assessed using the Intergrowth21/INTER-NDA protocol (Chatfield et al., 2013) at 30 months. This protocol includes tests for cognitive, language, and motor skills and experimenter and parent rating of behavior, attention, and social-emotional development.
Findings showed that lower predictability (continuous variable) associated with child’s lower regulation and orientation (continuous variable) at 12 months and with child’s low effortful control (categorical variable) at 24 months after controlling the effects of maternal distress and the significant covariates (See Table 1.). Preliminary findings (n=99) showed also that lower predictability in maternal care at 8 months associated with higher parent-reported child’s hyperactivity at 30 months (r= .215, p = .031). Furthermore, lower predictability had nearly significant correlation with lower cognitive total score (r=-.19, p=.064) and with poorer receptive language (r=-.19, p=.064). The full data of 30 months will be complete for more detailed analyses during autumn 2018.
Our findings suggest that predictability of maternal care influence the maturation of developing brain involved especially in the regulation of emotion and behavior.

Group Authors

Study group of FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Institute of Clinical Medicine & Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Finland

Authors

• Riikka Korja, University of Turku, Finland
  Presenting Author

• Saara Nolvi, University of Turku, Finland
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elysia Poggi Davis, University of Denver, University of California-Irvine
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eija Sinerva, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eeva-Leena Kataja, University of Turku, Finland
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hakanen Hetti, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Institute of Clinical Medicine & Department of Psychology, University of Turku
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eeva Holmberg, The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku; Department of Psychology, University of Turku
  Non-Presenting Author

• Linnea Karlsson, University of Turku, Finland
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hasse Karlsson, University of Turku, Finland
  Non-Presenting Author