The present longitudinal study aims at investigating the interplay between child temperament, mother–child interaction quality and Theory of Mind (ToM) preschool age with regard to development problem behavior school in 115 participants. Maternal sensitivity temperament were assessed when children 4 years old. At 5 age, ToM was assessed. 8 Results showed that independently predicted by temperam...

Longitudinal data are used to examine whether effects of early child care are amplified and/or attenuated by later parenting. Analyses tested these interactions using parenting as both a categorical and continuous variable to balance power and flexibility in testing moderation. The most consistent finding was that maternal sensitivity during adolescence accentuated the association between child...

Two hundred and thirty-three 5-month-old infants and their mothers participated in a study designed to examine the influence of maternal sensitivity and infant neurophysiology, as well as interactions between these, on infants' regulatory behavior and reactivity to emotional challenge. Maternal sensitivity was measured during two mother-child free-play episodes prior to the challenge task. Infa...

Mothers (n = 92), fathers (n = 84), and their infants (60% male) participated in a longitudinal study of postpartum depression and maternal sensitivity. Mothers completed questionnaire measures of remembered parental acceptance, depressive symptoms, and infant distress to novelty and limits. Mothers and partners reported on marital aggression and avoidance. Maternal sensitivity was observed in ...

BACKGROUND The low expression polymorphism of the MAOA gene in interaction with adverse environments (G × E) is associated with antisocial behaviour disorders. These have their origins in early life, but it is not known whether MAOA G × E occurs in infants. We therefore examined whether MAOA G × E predicts infant anger proneness, a temperamental dimension associated with later antisocial behavi...

Gestational diabetes and obesity are the common metabolic abnormalities occurring during pregnancy. Decreased maternal pregravid insulin sensitivity (insulin resistance) coupled with an inadequate insulin response are the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of gestational diabetes. Insulin-regulated carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism are all affected to a variable d...

This study examined the role of maternal cognitive sets regarding infant gender on maternal response; participants were 69 mothers, each with a 6-month-old infant. Signal detection methodology was used to assess maternal sensory sensitivity and response bias to subtle changes in positive and negative infant facial expressions as a function of maternal self-efficacy, operationalized by low, mode...

This longitudinal investigation examined covariation among specific maternal behaviors and their differential prediction of children’s language comprehension across the transition to beginning speech. Forty mother-infant dyads were videotaped during free play in their homes when children were 9 and 13 months old. At each age, six maternal behaviors and children’s language comprehension were ass...

Previous research has established that maternal depression is a risk factor for a variety of negative developmental outcomes among infants and children. Although low levels of maternal sensitivity have been hypothesized to explain this risk, the biological mechanisms underlying the association between maternal depressive symptoms and low levels of maternal sensitivity have been largely underexp...