Poverty reduction and childhood opportunity moves: A randomized trial of cash transfers to low-income U.S. families with infants.

Black and Hispanic children have a higher likelihood of experiencing neighborhood poverty than white children. This study uses data from the Baby's First Years (BFY) randomized trial to examine whether an unconditional cash transfer causes families to make opportunity moves to better quality neighborhoods. We use Intent to Treat linear regression models to test whether the BFY treatment, of receiving $333/month (vs. $20/month) for three years, leads to moves to neighborhoods of greater childhood opportunity. Overall, we find no relation between the BFY treatment and neighborhood opportunity across time. However, we find effect modification by maternal baseline health. High-cash receipt among mothers with poor health at baseline corresponds with moves to neighborhoods of greater childhood opportunity.

Mothers with low incomes view both individual and structural interventions as potentially helpful for supporting early child development.

Many developmental psychologists aspire to conduct research that informs interventions and policies to prevent income-related disparities in child development. Among growing researcher discussion about the value of interventions that target "structural" and resource-related correlates of income inequality and child development (e.g., housing, food, material goods, cash), rather than individual, person-centered correlates (e.g., parenting behaviors), the perspectives of mothers with low incomes may provide important context. 281 mothers with young children and low incomes rated various structural and individual interventions, framed as having minimal costs and entry barriers, for their perceived helpfulness. Analyses were pre-registered. Overall, mothers rated all interventions very highly, though they rated structural interventions as slightly more helpful than individual interventions. Mothers rated interventions they used in the past as less helpful than those they hadn't previously used. An exploratory qualitative analysis revealed mothers' desires for supports in other intervention domains beyond those addressed in our survey. Together, mothers' responses indicated that they did not see individual interventions as inherently unhelpful due to a focus on individual states, knowledge, and skills. Implications for developmental psychology and intervention science are discussed.

The effect of unconditional cash transfers on maternal assessments of children's early language and socioemotional development: Experimental evidence from U.S. families residing in poverty.

Economic disadvantage has often been associated with poorer performance on measures of early childhood development. However, the causal impacts of income on child development remain unclear. The present study uses data from the Baby's First Years randomized control trial to identify the causal impact of unconditional cash transfers on maternal reports of early childhood development. One thousand racially and ethnically diverse mothers residing in poverty were recruited from four U.S. metropolitan areas shortly after giving birth. Mothers were randomized to receive either a $333/month or $20/month unconditional cash transfer for the first several years of their child's life. Maternal reports of language and socioemotional development, concerns for developmental delay, and enrollment in early intervention services were collected annually at the time of the child's first, second, and third birthdays. In this registered report, we document no statistically detectable impacts of the high-cash gift on maternal reports of child development. We discuss the significance and implications of these findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Unconditional Cash and Breastfeeding, Child Care, and Maternal Employment among Families with Young Children Residing in Poverty.

Poverty interferes with parents' breastfeeding, child-care, and employment options and ability to meet their parenting goals. This study-the first randomized controlled trial of early childhood poverty reduction in the United States-investigates how increased economic resources affect 1,000 low-income US mothers' breastfeeding, child-care, and employment practices and the ability to meet their intentions for these practices in the first year of their infant's life. The likelihood and length of breastfeeding, use of nonparental child care, and maternal employment did not statistically differ among mothers who received a high ($333) or low ($20) monthly unconditional cash gift. The higher monthly cash gift, however, delayed the starting age of child care by almost 1 month and increased mothers' ability to meet their breastfeeding intentions reported at birth.

Child-directed speech in a large sample of U.S. mothers with low income.

Research on early language input and socioeconomic status typically relies on correlations in small convenience samples. Using data from Baby's First Years, this paper assesses the causal impact of monthly, unconditional cash transfers on child-directed speech and child vocalizations among a large, racially diverse sample of low-income U.S. mothers and their 1-year-olds (N = 563; 48% girls; 2019-2020). The monthly, unconditional cash transfers did not impact mothers' child-directed speech during a 10-min at-home play session (effect sizes range from -.08 to .02), though there was wide variability within this sample. Future work will assess the impact of the continued cash transfer on children's language input and development over time.

Effects of a monthly unconditional cash transfer starting at birth on family investments among US families with low income.

How does unconditional income for families in poverty affect parental investments for their young children? Mothers in four US metropolitan areas were randomized to receive a monthly unconditional cash transfer of either $333 per month (high) or $20 per month (low) for the first several years after childbirth. During the first 3 years, high-cash gift households spent more money on child-specific goods and more time on child-specific early learning activities than the low-cash gift group. Few changes were evident in other core household expenditures. Compared with low-cash gift families, high-cash gift families reported lower rates of public benefit receipt and fewer were residing in poverty, although mean income and wealth remain low for the majority of families by year 3. No statistically significant differences were evident in mothers' participation in paid work, children's time in childcare or mothers' subjective wellbeing.

Prenatal family income, but not parental education, is associated with resting brain activity in 1-month-old infants.

Childhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with disparities in development and health, possibly through adaptations in children's brain function. However, it is not clear how early in development such neural adaptations might emerge. This study examined whether prenatal family socioeconomic status, operationalized as family income and average years of parental education, prospectively predicts individual differences in infant resting electroencephalography (EEG; theta, alpha, beta, and gamma power) at approximately 1 month of age (N = 160). Infants of mothers reporting lower family income showed more lower-frequency (theta) and less higher-frequency (beta and gamma) power. These associations held when adjusting for other prenatal and postnatal experiences, as well as infant demographic and health-related factors. In contrast, parental education was not significantly associated with infant EEG power in any frequency band. These data suggest that lower prenatal family income is associated with developmental differences in brain function that are detectable within the first month of life.

Socioeconomic factors, sleep timing and duration, and amygdala resting-state functional connectivity in children.

Introduction: Reduced sleep health has been consistently linked with increased negative emotion in children. While sleep characteristics have been associated with neural function in adults and adolescents, much less is known about these associations in children while considering socioeconomic context. In this study, we examined the associations among socioeconomic factors, sleep duration and timing, and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of the amygdala in children. Methods: Participants were typically-developing 5- to 9-year-olds from socioeconomically diverse families (61% female; N = 94). Parents reported on children's weekday and weekend bedtimes and wake-up times, which were used to compute sleep duration and midpoint. Analyses focused on amygdala-anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) connectivity followed by amygdala-whole brain connectivity. Results: Lower family income-to-needs ratio and parental education were significantly associated with later weekday and weekend sleep timing and shorter weekday sleep duration. Shorter weekday sleep duration was associated with decreased amygdala-ACC and amygdala-insula connectivity. Later weekend sleep midpoint was associated with decreased amygdala-paracingulate cortex and amygdala-postcentral gyrus connectivity. Socioeconomic factors were indirectly associated with connectivity in these circuits via sleep duration and timing. Discussion: These results suggest that socioeconomic disadvantage may interfere with both sleep duration and timing, in turn possibly altering amygdala connectivity in emotion processing and regulation circuits in children. Effective strategies supporting family economic conditions may have benefits for sleep health and brain development in children.

Family socioeconomic status and adolescent substance use: The role of parent-adolescent brain similarity and parental monitoring.

Greater neural similarity between parents and adolescents may reduce adolescent substance use. Among 70 parent-adolescent dyads, we tested a longitudinal path model in which family economic environment is related to adolescent substance use, directly and indirectly through parent-adolescent neural similarity and parental monitoring. Neural similarity was measured as parent-adolescent pattern similarity in functional brain connectivity at Time 1. Parents reported socioeconomic status and parental monitoring at Time 1. Adolescents reported parental monitoring at Time 1 and substance use at Time 2. Higher family socioeconomic status was associated with greater neural similarity. Greater neural similarity was associated with lower adolescent substance use, mediated through greater adolescent-perceived parental monitoring. Parent-adolescent neural similarity may attenuate adolescent substance use by bolstering parental monitoring. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Fostering inclusion in EEG measures of pediatric brain activity.

The past two decades have seen a rapid increase in neuroscientific evidence being used to characterize how contextual, structural, and societal factors shape cognition and school readiness. Measures of functional brain activity are increasingly viewed as markers of child development and biomarkers that could be employed to track the impact of interventions. While electroencephalography (EEG) provides a promising tool to understand educational inequities, traditional EEG data acquisition is commonly limited in some racial and ethnic groups due to hair types and styles. This ultimately constitutes unintentional systemic racism by disproportionately excluding participants from certain racial and ethnic groups from participation and representation in neuroscience research. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of how cultural considerations surrounding hair density, texture, and styling consistently skew samples to be less representative by disproportionately excluding Black and Latinx participants. We also provide recommendations and materials to promote best practices.

Contraception use and satisfaction among mothers with low income: Evidence from the Baby's First Years study.

OBJECTIVES: Low income can lead to limited choice of and access to contraception. We examine whether an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) impacts contraceptive use, including increased satisfaction with and reduced barriers to preferred methods, for individuals with low income. STUDY DESIGN: Baby's First Years is a randomized control study of a monthly UCT to families with low incomes. The study enrolled 1000 mothers at the time of childbirth across four US sites in 2018-2019; 400 were randomized to receive a UCT of $333/mo and 600 were randomized to receive $20/mo for the first years of their child's life. We use intent-to-treat analyses to estimate the impact of the cash transfer on contraception use, satisfaction with contraception method, and barriers to using methods of choice. RESULTS: Over 65% of mothers reported using some type of contraception, and three-quarters reported using the method of their choice. We find no impact of the UCT on mothers' choice of, satisfaction with, or barriers to contraception. However, the cash transfer was associated with trends toward using multiple methods and greater use of short-term hormonal methods. CONCLUSIONS: We find high levels of satisfaction with current contraceptive use among mothers of young children with low income. Receipt of monthly UCTs did not impact contraception methods, perceived barriers to use, or satisfaction. Yet, 25% were not using the method of their choice, despite the provision of cash, indicating that this cash amount alone may not be sufficient to impact contraceptive use or increase satisfaction. IMPLICATIONS: Satisfaction with contraception use among low-income populations may be higher than previously documented. Nevertheless, provision of modest financial resources alone may not sufficiently address access, availability, and satisfaction for individuals with low-incomes of childbearing age. This suggests the importance of exploring how other nonfinancial factors influence reproductive autonomy, including contraceptive use.

Socioeconomic Disparities in Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Regulation and Prefrontal Cortical Structure.

Socioeconomic disadvantage during childhood predicts an increased risk for mental health problems across the life span. Socioeconomic disadvantage shapes multiple aspects of children's proximal environments and increases exposure to chronic stressors. Drawing from multiple literatures, we propose that childhood socioeconomic disadvantage may lead to adaptive changes in the regulation of stress response systems including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. These changes, in turn, affect the development of prefrontal cortical (PFC) circuitry responsible for top-down control over cognitive and emotional processes. Translational findings indicate that chronic stress reduces dendritic complexity and spine density in the medial PFC and anterior cingulate cortex, in part through altered HPA axis regulation. Socioeconomic disadvantage has frequently been associated with reduced gray matter in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral PFC and anterior cingulate cortex and lower fractional anisotropy in the superior longitudinal fasciculus, cingulum bundle, and uncinate fasciculus during middle childhood and adolescence. Evidence of socioeconomic disparities in hair cortisol concentrations in children has accumulated, although null findings have been reported. Coupled with links between cortisol levels and reduced gray matter in the PFC and anterior cingulate cortex, these results support mechanistic roles for the HPA axis and these PFC circuits. Future longitudinal studies should simultaneously consider multiple dimensions of proximal factors, including cognitive stimulation, while focusing on epigenetic processes and genetic moderators to elucidate how socioeconomic context may influence the HPA axis and PFC circuitry involved in cognitive and emotional control. These findings, which point to modifiable factors, can be harnessed to inform policy and more effective prevention strategies.

Unconditional Cash Transfers and Maternal Assessments of Children's Health, Nutrition, and Sleep: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Children experiencing poverty are more likely to experience worse health outcomes, including injury, chronic illness, worse nutrition, and poorer sleep. The extent to which poverty reduction improves these outcomes is unknown. Objective: To evaluate the effect of a 3-year, monthly unconditional cash transfer on health, nutrition, sleep, and health care utilization among children experiencing poverty who were healthy at birth. Design, Setting, and Participants: This longitudinal randomized clinical trial recruited 1000 mother-infant dyads between May 2018 and June 2019. Dyads were recruited from postpartum wards in 12 hospitals in 4 US cities: New York, New York; Omaha, Nebraska; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota. Eligibility criteria included an annual income less than the federal poverty line, legal age for consent, English or Spanish speaking, residing in the state of recruitment, and an infant admitted to the well-baby nursery who will be discharged to the mother's custody. Data analysis was conducted from July 2022 to August 2023. Intervention: Mothers were randomly assigned to receive either a high-cash gift ($333/mo, or $3996/y) or a low-cash gift ($20/mo, or $240/y) for the first several years of their child's life. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary preregistered outcomes reported here include an index of child health and medical care and child sleep disturbances. Secondary preregistered outcomes reported include children's consumption of healthy and unhealthy foods. Results: A total of 1000 mother-infant dyads were enrolled, with 400 randomized to the high-cash gift group and 600 to the low-cash gift group. Participants were majority Black (42%) and Hispanic (41%); 857 mothers participated in all 3 waves of data collection. We found no statistically detectable differences between the high-cash and low-cash gift groups in maternal assessments of children's health (effect size [ES] range, 0.01-0.08; SE range, 0.02-0.07), sleep (ES range, 0.01-0.10; SE, 0.07), or health care utilization (ES range, 0.01-0.11; SE range, 0.03-0.07). However, mothers in the high-cash gift group reported higher child consumption of fresh produce at child age 2 years, the only time point it was measured (ES, 0.17; SE, 0.07; P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, unconditional cash transfers to mothers experiencing poverty did not improve reports of their child's health, sleep, or health care utilization. However, stable income support of this magnitude improved toddlers' consumption of fresh produce. Healthy newborns tend to grow into healthy toddlers, and the impacts of poverty reduction on children's health and sleep may not be fully borne out until later in life. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03593356.

Associations between maternal stress and infant resting brain activity among families residing in poverty in the U.S.

Growing evidence suggests that maternal experiences of stress shape children's functional brain activity in the first years of life. Individuals living in poverty are more likely to experience stress from a variety of sources. However, it is unclear how stress is related to resting brain activity among children born into poverty. The present study examines whether infants born into households experiencing poverty show differences in brain activity associated with maternal reports of experiencing stress. The analytic sample comprised 247 mother-infant dyads who completed maternal questionnaires characterizing stress, and for whom recordings of infant resting brain activity were obtained at 1 year of age (M=12.93 months, SD=1.66; 50% female). Mothers (40% Black, non-Hispanic, 40% Hispanic, 12% White, non-Hispanic) who reported higher stress had infants who showed more resting brain activity in the lower end of the frequency spectrum (relative theta power) and less resting brain activity in the middle range of the frequency spectrum (relative alpha power). While statistically detectable at the whole-brain level, follow-up exploratory analyses revealed that these effects were most apparent in electrodes over frontal and parietal regions of the brain. These findings held after adjusting for a variety of potentially confounding variables. Altogether, the present study suggests that, among families experiencing low economic resources, maternal reports of stress are associated with differences in patterns of infant resting brain activity during the first year of life.

Mental health and sleep quality of low-income mothers of one-year-olds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social restrictions created an unprecedented context for families raising young children. Although studies have documented detrimental effects of the pandemic on maternal well-being, less is known about how the pandemic specifically impacted low-income mothers. We examined depression, anxiety, and sleep quality among low-income mothers of one-year-olds during the early months of the pandemic using data from the Baby's First Years study. Focusing on the control group (n = 547), we compared mothers interviewed before March 14th, 2020 (n = 342) to mothers interviewed between March 14th and June 30th, 2020 (n = 205) to determine whether the pandemic was associated with differences in mental health and sleep quality. Mothers were recruited from four cities in the United States, and most of the sample identified as Hispanic (42.2%) or Black, non-Hispanic (38.6%). We found that mothers interviewed during the pandemic reported better mental health and sleep quality. While we cannot speak to longer-term impacts of the pandemic, it is possible low-income mothers experienced relief from daily stressors during the initial shelter-in-place orders, which may have led to improvements in well-being. These results have implications for understanding how complex life stressors influence mental health and sleep quality among low-income mothers raising young children.

La pandemia del COVID-19 y las subsecuentes restricciones sociales crearon un contexto sin precedentes para las familias que estaban criando niños pequeños. Aunque los estudios han documentado los efectos perjudiciales de la pandemia sobre el bienestar materno, menos se conoce acerca de cómo la pandemia específicamente tuvo un impacto sobre madres de bajos recursos económicos. Examinamos la depresión, ansiedad y calidad del sueño entre madres de bajos recursos económicos de niños de un año de edad durante los primeros meses de la pandemia usando datos del estudio Primeros Años del Bebé. Enfocándonos en el grupo de control (n = 547), comparamos las madres entrevistadas antes del 14 de marzo de 2020 (n = 342) con madres entrevistadas entre el 14 de marzo y el 30 de junio de 2020 (n = 205) para determinar si la pandemia se asociaba con diferencias en salud mental y calidad del sueño. A las madres se les reclutó en cuatro ciudades de Estados Unidos y la mayor parte del grupo muestra se identificaron como Hispanas (42.2%) o Negras no Hispanas (38.6%). Encontramos que las madres entrevistadas durante la pandemia reportaron mejor salud mental y calidad del sueño. A pesar de que no podemos hablar sobre el impacto a largo plazo de la pandemia, es posible que las madres de bajos recursos económicos experimentaran alivio en los factores diarios de estrés durante el inicial mandato de quedarse en su casa, lo cual pudiera haber llevado a mejoras en el bienestar. Estos resultados tienen implicaciones para comprender cómo los complejos factores de estrés influyen en la salud mental y la calidad del sueño entre madres de bajos recursos económicos que crían a niños pequeños.

La pandémie du COVID-19 et les restrictions sociales qui en ont découlé ont créé un contexte sans précédent pour les familles élevant de jeunes enfants. Bien que des études aient documenté des effets préjudiciables de la pandémie sur le bien-être maternel, on en sait moins sur la manière dont la pandémie a spécifiquement impacté les mères de milieux défavorisés. Nous avons examiné la dépression, l'anxiété, et la qualité du sommeil chez des mères de milieux défavorisés avec un enfant d'un an durant les premiers mois de la pandémie, en utilisant des données de l'étude Baby's First Years. Nous concentrant sur le groupe de contrôle (n = 547), nous avons comparé des mères interviewées avant le 14 mars 2020 (n = 342) à des mères interviewées entre le 14 mars et le 30 juin 2020 (n = 205) afin de déterminer si la pandémie était liée à des différences en santé mentale et en qualité de sommeil. Les mères ont été recrutées dans quatre villes des Etats-Unis et la plupart de l'échantillon s'identifiait comme Hispanique (42,2%) ou Noires, non hispaniques (38,6%). Nous avons trouvé que les mères interviewées Durant la pandémie faisaient état d'une meilleure santé mentale et d'une meilleure qualité de sommeil. Bien que nous ne puissions pas parler des impacts de la pandémie à long terme, il est possible que les mères de milieux défavorisés aient fait l'expérience d'un soulagement des facteurs de stress quotidiens durant la période initiale de confinement, ce qui pourrait avoir mené à des améliorations dans le bien-être. Ces résultats ont des implications pour la compréhension de la manière dont des facteurs de stress complexes influencent la santé mentale et la qualité du sommeil chez les mères de milieux défavorisés élevant de jeunes enfants.

The Effect of a U.S. Poverty Reduction Intervention on Maternal Assessments of Young Children's Health, Nutrition, and Sleep: A Randomized Control Trial.

Importance: Children experiencing poverty are more likely to experience worse health outcomes during the first few years of life, including injury, chronic illness, worse nutrition, and poorer sleep. The extent to which a poverty reduction intervention improves children's health, nutrition, sleep, and healthcare utilization is unknown. Objective: To determine the effect of a 3-year, monthly unconditional cash transfer on health, nutrition, sleep, and healthcare utilization of children experiencing poverty who are healthy at birth. Design: Longitudinal randomized control trial. Setting: Mother-infant dyads were recruited from postpartum wards in 12 hospitals in four cities across the U.S. Participants: 1,000 mothers were enrolled in the study. Eligibility criteria included: an annual income below the federal poverty line, being of legal age for consent, speaking English or Spanish, residing in the state of recruitment, and having an infant admitted to the well-baby nursery with plans to be discharged to the custody of the mother. Intervention: Mothers were randomly assigned to receive either a high-cash gift ($333 per month, or $3,996 per year; n=400) or a low-cash gift ($20 per month, or $240 per year; n=600) for the first several years of their child's life. Main Outcomes and Measures: Pre-registered maternal assessments of the focal child's health, nutrition, sleep, and healthcare utilization were collected at children's ages 1, 2, and 3. Results: Enrolled participants were majority Black (42%) and Hispanic (41%). 857 mothers participated in all three waves of data collection. We found no statistically detectable differences between the high-cash and low-cash gift groups in maternal assessments of children's overall health, sleep, or healthcare utilization. However, mothers in the high-cash gift group reported higher child consumption of fresh produce compared with mothers in the low-cash gift group at age 2, the only time point it was measured (ß=0.17, SE=0.07, p=0.03). Conclusions and Relevance: In this RCT, unconditional cash transfers to mothers experiencing poverty did not improve their reports of their child's health, sleep, or healthcare utilization. However, stable income support of this magnitude improved toddler's consumption of fresh produce. Healthy newborns tend to grow into healthy toddlers, and the impacts of poverty reduction on children's health and sleep may not be fully borne out until later in life. Trial Registration: Baby's First Years (BFY; ID NCT03593356) https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03593356?term=NCT03593356&draw=2&rank=1.

Assessment of Neurodevelopment in Infants With and Without Exposure to Asymptomatic or Mild Maternal SARS-CoV-2 Infection During Pregnancy.

Importance: Associations between prenatal SARS-CoV-2 exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes have substantial public health relevance. A previous study found no association between prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection and parent-reported infant neurodevelopmental outcomes, but standardized observational assessments are needed to confirm this finding. Objective: To assess whether mild or asymptomatic maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection vs no infection during pregnancy is associated with infant neurodevelopmental differences at ages 5 to 11 months. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study included infants of mothers from a single-site prospective cross-sectional study (COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes [COMBO] Initiative) of mother-infant dyads and a multisite prospective cohort study (Epidemiology of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Pregnancy and Infancy [ESPI]) of pregnant individuals. A subset of ESPI participants was subsequently enrolled in the ESPI COMBO substudy. Participants in the ongoing COMBO study were enrolled beginning on May 26, 2020; participants in the ESPI study were enrolled from May 7 to November 3, 2021; and participants in the ESPI COMBO substudy were enrolled from August 2020 to March 2021. For the current analysis, infant neurodevelopment was assessed between March 2021 and June 2022. A total of 407 infants born to 403 mothers were enrolled (204 from Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, New York; 167 from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City; and 36 from the University of Alabama in Birmingham). Mothers of unexposed infants were approached for participation based on similar infant gestational age at birth, date of birth, sex, and mode of delivery to exposed infants. Exposures: Maternal symptomatic or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. Main Outcomes and Measures: Infant neurodevelopment was assessed using the Developmental Assessment of Young Children, second edition (DAYC-2), adapted for telehealth assessment. The primary outcome was age-adjusted standard scores on 5 DAYC-2 subdomains: cognitive, gross motor, fine motor, expressive language, and receptive language. Results: Among 403 mothers, the mean (SD) maternal age at delivery was 32.1 (5.4) years; most mothers were of White race (240 [59.6%]) and non-Hispanic ethnicity (253 [62.8%]). Among 407 infants, 367 (90.2%) were born full term and 212 (52.1%) were male. Overall, 258 infants (63.4%) had no documented prenatal exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection, 112 (27.5%) had confirmed prenatal exposure, and 37 (9.1%) had exposure before pregnancy or at an indeterminate time. In adjusted models, maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy was not associated with differences in cognitive (ß = 0.31; 95% CI, -2.97 to 3.58), gross motor (ß = 0.82; 95% CI, -1.34 to 2.99), fine motor (ß = 0.36; 95% CI, -0.74 to 1.47), expressive language (ß = -1.00; 95% CI, -4.02 to 2.02), or receptive language (ß = 0.45; 95% CI, -2.15 to 3.04) DAYC-2 subdomain scores. Trimester of exposure and maternal symptom status were not associated with DAYC-2 subdomain scores. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, results of a novel telehealth-adapted observational neurodevelopmental assessment extended a previous finding of no association between prenatal exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection and infant neurodevelopment. Given the widespread and continued high prevalence of COVID-19, these data offer information that may be helpful for pregnant individuals who experience asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Relations among Socioeconomic Status, Perceived Stress, and the Home Language Environment.

While socioeconomic disparities in the home language environment have been well established, the mechanisms explaining these disparities are poorly understood. One plausible mechanism is heightened stress. The current study investigated whether maternal perceived stress was 1) associated with measures of the home language environment, and 2) mediated the relation between socioeconomic disparities and the home language environment. Data from three independent studies were analyzed, which together comprised 322 mother-child dyads. Two studies included mothers and their six- to twelve-month-old infants (N = 227). The third included mothers and their five- to nine-year-old children (N = 95). Mothers reported their educational attainment, income, and stress. Language Environment Analysis (LENA) measured the home language environment. As has been previously reported, socioeconomic disparities were observed in adult words and conversational turns. Stress did not mediate these associations, nor was it associated with adult words or conversational turns. Alternate mechanisms for future exploration are discussed.

Unconditional Cash and Family Investments in Infants: Evidence from a Large-Scale Cash Transfer Experiment in the U.S.

Economists have limited causal evidence on how families receiving unconditional income would spend those funds. We examine financial and time investments in infants among families living in poverty from a large-scale, multi-site randomized controlled study of monthly unconditional cash. We find increased spending on child-specific goods and mothers' early-learning activities with their infants. The marginal propensity to consume child-focused items from the cash transfer exceeded that from other income, consistent with the behavioral cues in the design. We find no statistically detectable offsets in household earnings or impacts on pre-registered outcomes related to expenditures, labor supply, childcare or subjective well-being.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on infant development and maternal mental health in the first 2 years of life.

We investigated how exogenous variation in exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic during the first year of life is related to infant development, maternal mental health, and perceived stress. Ninety-three socioeconomically diverse pregnant women were recruited before the pandemic to participate in a longitudinal study. Infants ranged in age at the beginning of lockdown (0-9.5 months old), thus experiencing different durations of pandemic exposure across the first year of life. The duration of pandemic exposure was not associated with family demographic characteristics, suggesting it captured exogenous variability. We tested associations between this exogenous variation in pandemic exposure and child and family outcomes. We also examined whether mother-reported disruptive life events were correlated with child and family outcomes. We found no association between duration of pandemic exposure in the first year of life and infant socioemotional problems, infant language development, or maternal mental health and perceived stress symptoms, at 12 or 24 months. However, we found that self-reported exposure to pandemic-related disruptive life events predicted greater maternal depression, anxiety, and perceived stress at 12 months, and greater depression and anxiety at 24 months. Socioeconomic status did not moderate these associations. These findings suggest cautious optimism for infants raised during this period.