Journal
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL PEDIATRICS
Volume 41, Issue 6, Pages 452-460Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000804
Keywords
parenting; maternal sensitivity; infancy; health
Funding
- Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research VIDI grant [575-25-009]
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program [DGE 1322106]
- Sara van Dam Project Grant of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
- NIH Common Fund [DP2 MD013947]
- Early Career Research Fellowship from the Jacobs Foundation [2018-1288-07]
- Radboud University Excellence Professorship
- Jacobs Foundation Advanced Research Fellowship
- Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research VENI grant [016.195.197]
- VICI grant [016.Vici.185.038]
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Objective: Although ample evidence indicates that child health is compromised by early adversity (e.g., abuse and poverty), less is known about the contribution of parenting in low-stress contexts to child health, especially in infancy. This longitudinal study extends previous research on early adversity to ask the question: Does quality of parental care predict infant health in a low-risk community sample? Method: Participants were 187 healthy mothers and their full-term infants (86 girls) from the Netherlands, followed from birth to age 1. Home observations of mothers' behavior were conducted during a naturalistic task (bathing session) when infants were 5 weeks old. Trained researchers interviewed mothers about the infants' health and prescribed antibiotic use every month for 12 months. Infant health problems were categorized into 4 domains according to the International Classification of Primary Care to capture a range of outcomes: respiratory, digestive, skin, and general illnesses and symptoms. Results: Controlling for health-related covariates (e.g., maternal smoking and breastfeeding), maternal sensitivity predicted reduced rates of infant respiratory symptoms and skin conditions and marginally lower prescribed antibiotic use over the first year. Maternal behavior was unrelated to infant digestive and general illnesses. Conclusion: Even in the absence of adversity, quality of maternal care may have implications for the development of physical health, beginning as early as the first year of life. That such findings emerge in a low-risk sample helps rule out potential confounders and underscores the importance of parenting for physical and psychological health outcomes.
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