Epidemiology Branch, Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Branch, Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Res Dev Disabil. 2024 Nov;154:104848. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104848. Epub 2024 Sep 26.
Parental education is linked to child development and wellbeing, but unique and combined contributions of maternal and paternal education have rarely been studied.
This study assessed the individual and joint associations of maternal and paternal education on children's odds of a probable developmental delay.
Mothers (N = 3566) from the Upstate KIDS cohort study reported on theirs and the father's highest level of education and completed the Ages and Stages Questionnaires up to 7 times when the child was 4- to 36-months-old. A nonparametric constrained inference technique assessed the association between education and probable developmental delays.
Higher levels of maternal and paternal education were protective against child probable developmental delays in years 2 (18, 24 months; p-trends<.001) and 3 (30, 36 months; p-trends<.001), but not year 1 (4, 8, 12 months; p-trend=.486-.832). Trends held adjusting for parental age and race. When adjusting for the other parent's education, only maternal education had unique associations with delays. Among parents with the same or similar education levels, when both parents had one level higher education it was also protective.
Both maternal and paternal education may protect against children's developmental delays in toddlerhood, but maternal education may be particularly important.
父母的教育水平与儿童的发展和幸福感有关，但母亲和父亲教育的独特和综合贡献很少被研究。
本研究评估了母亲和父亲教育对儿童发生可能发育迟缓的几率的个体和联合关联。
来自 Upstate KIDS 队列研究的母亲（N=3566）报告了她们和父亲的最高教育水平，并在孩子 4-36 个月大时完成了最多 7 次的年龄和阶段问卷。非参数约束推理技术评估了教育与可能发育迟缓之间的关联。
母亲和父亲教育水平较高可预防儿童在第 2 年（18、24 个月；p-趋势<.001）和第 3 年（30、36 个月；p-趋势<.001）发生可能发育迟缓，但在第 1 年（4、8、12 个月；p-趋势=.486-.832）则不然。调整父母年龄和种族后趋势仍然存在。当调整另一家长的教育水平时，只有母亲的教育水平与发育迟缓存在独特的关联。在父母具有相同或相似教育水平的情况下，如果父母双方都接受了更高一级的教育，也具有保护作用。
母亲和父亲的教育都可能预防幼儿期儿童的发育迟缓，但母亲的教育可能尤为重要。
