Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.
The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia.
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2024 Dec;27(6):1033-1041. doi: 10.1007/s00737-024-01473-x. Epub 2024 May 31.
Maternal perinatal social support is theorised to promote offspring social-emotional development, yet few studies have prospectively examined this relationship. Findings may inform preventative intervention efforts, to support a healthy start to emotional life.
This study examined whether maternal social support perinatally predicts infant social-emotional development at 12 months of age in two longitudinal cohort studies: The Australian Temperament Project (ATP) (n = 1,052 mother-infant dyads [653 mothers, M = 32.03, 88% Australian-born; 1,052 infants, 52% girls]) and The Triple B Pregnancy Cohort Study (Triple B) (n = 1,537 dyads [1,498 mothers, M = 32.53, 56% Australian-born; 1,537 infants, 49% girls]). Social support was assessed at pregnancy (third trimester) and eight-weeks post-birth. Infant social-emotional competencies (ATP: Brief Infant and Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA), Competencies Scale; Triple B: Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Social Emotional Scale) and problems (ATP: BITSEA, Problems Scale; Triple B: Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional Scale), were assessed at 12-months of age.
In ATP, social support was associated with lower offspring problems (pregnancy: β = -0.15; post-birth: β = -0.12) and greater competencies (pregnancy: β = 0.12; post-birth: β = 0.16) at 12 months. In Triple B, social support also predicted lower offspring problems (pregnancy: β = -0.11; post-birth: β = -0.07) and greater competencies (pregnancy: β = 0.07) at 12 months. Findings did not indicate an association between support at eight-weeks post-birth and subsequent competencies (β = 0.06).
Evidence suggests that perinatal social support promotes healthy infant social and emotional development. These results underscore the critical importance of social support for mothers transitioning into parenthood.
围产期母婴社会支持被认为可以促进后代的社会情感发展，但很少有研究前瞻性地检验这种关系。研究结果可能为支持健康的情感生活起点的预防干预措施提供信息。
本研究在两项纵向队列研究中，检验了母婴围产期社会支持是否预测 12 个月大婴儿的社会情感发展：澳大利亚气质项目（ATP）（n = 1052 对母婴组[653 名母亲，M = 32.03，88%为澳大利亚出生；1052 名婴儿，52%为女孩]）和三重 B 妊娠队列研究（Triple B）（n = 1537 对母婴组[1498 名母亲，M = 32.53，56%为澳大利亚出生；1537 名婴儿，49%为女孩]）。社会支持在妊娠（第三个孕期）和产后 8 周进行评估。婴儿社会情感能力（ATP：婴儿和幼儿社会情感简短评估（BITSEA），能力量表；Triple B：贝利婴幼儿发展量表-社会情感量表）和问题（ATP：BITSEA，问题量表；Triple B：年龄和阶段问卷：社会情感量表）在 12 个月时进行评估。
在 ATP 中，社会支持与后代问题减少相关（妊娠：β = -0.15；产后：β = -0.12），与能力增加相关（妊娠：β = 0.12；产后：β = 0.16）。在 Triple B 中，社会支持也预测了后代问题减少（妊娠：β = -0.11；产后：β = -0.07）和能力增加（妊娠：β = 0.07）。在产后 8 周的支持与随后的能力之间没有发现关联（β = 0.06）。
有证据表明，围产期社会支持促进婴儿健康的社会和情感发展。这些结果强调了社会支持对过渡到为人父母的母亲的至关重要性。
