Austin Marie-Paule, Christl Bettina, McMahon Cathy, Kildea Sue, Reilly Nicole, Yin Carolyn, Simcock Gabrielle, Elgbeili Guillaume, Laplante David P, King Suzanne
University of New South Wales, Australia; St John of God Healthcare, Australia.
St John of God Healthcare, Australia.
Infant Behav Dev. 2017 Nov;49:296-309. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2017.10.005. Epub 2017 Nov 2.
Prenatal maternal stress exposure has been linked to sub-optimal developmental outcomes in toddlers, while maternal emotional availability is associated with better cognitive and language abilities. It is less clear whether early care-giving relationships can moderate the impact of prenatal stress on child development. The current study investigates the impact of stress during pregnancy resulting from the Queensland Floods in 2011 on toddlers' cognitive and language development, and examines how maternal emotional availability is associated with these outcomes.
Data were available from 131 families. Measures of prenatal stress (objective hardship, cognitive appraisal, and three measures of maternal subjective stress) were collected within one year of the 2011 Queensland floods. Maternal emotional availability was rated from video-taped mother-child play sessions at 16 months: sensitivity (e.g., affective connection, responsiveness to signals) and structuring (e.g., scaffolding, guidance, limit-setting). The toddlers' cognitive and language development was assessed at 30 months. Interactions were tested to determine whether maternal emotional availability moderated the relationship between prenatal maternal stress and toddler cognitive and language functioning.
Prenatal stress was not correlated with toddlers' cognitive and language development at 30 months. Overall, the higher the maternal structuring and sensitivity, the better the toddlers' cognitive outcomes. However, significant interactions showed that the effects of maternal structuring on toddler language abilities depended on the degree of prenatal maternal subjective stress: when maternal subjective stress was above fairly low levels, the greater the maternal structuring, the higher the child vocabulary level.
The current study highlights the importance of maternal emotional availability, especially structuring, for cognitive and language development in young children. Findings suggest that toddlers exposed to higher levels of prenatal maternal stress in utero may benefit from high maternal structuring for their language development.
孕期母亲经历压力与幼儿发育结果欠佳有关，而母亲的情感支持与更好的认知和语言能力相关。早期的养育关系是否能缓和孕期压力对儿童发育的影响尚不清楚。本研究调查了2011年昆士兰洪水造成的孕期压力对幼儿认知和语言发育的影响，并探讨母亲的情感支持与这些结果之间的关联。
数据来自131个家庭。在2011年昆士兰洪水发生后的一年内收集了孕期压力的测量指标（客观困难、认知评估以及三项母亲主观压力测量指标）。通过对16个月时的母子玩耍视频进行评分来评估母亲的情感支持：敏感性（如情感联系、对信号的反应）和组织性（如搭建支架、指导、设定界限）。在30个月时评估幼儿的认知和语言发育情况。进行交互作用测试以确定母亲的情感支持是否缓和了孕期母亲压力与幼儿认知和语言功能之间的关系。
孕期压力与30个月时幼儿的认知和语言发育无关。总体而言，母亲的组织性和敏感性越高，幼儿的认知结果越好。然而，显著的交互作用表明，母亲组织性对幼儿语言能力的影响取决于孕期母亲主观压力的程度：当母亲主观压力高于相当低的水平时，母亲的组织性越强，孩子的词汇水平越高。
本研究强调了母亲情感支持，尤其是组织性，对幼儿认知和语言发育的重要性。研究结果表明，子宫内暴露于较高孕期母亲压力水平的幼儿可能会从母亲高度的组织性中受益于其语言发育。
