Infant neurodevelopment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with maternal pandemic-related experiences, parenting stress, and self-efficacy.

BACKGROUND: Although pandemic-related experiences have been linked to the psychological well-being of mothers, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on infant neurodevelopmental outcomes have not been sufficiently studied. AIMS: To assess whether maternal COVID-19-related experiences (i.e., COVID-19-related health, risk, resource worries, and feelings of grief), parenting stress, and maternal self-efficacy are associated with infant neurodevelopment as measured by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition (ASQ-3) maternal report when infants were between 8 to 10 months of age. Furthermore, this study examined the moderating effect of maternal self-efficacy between maternal COVID-19-related experiences and infant neurodevelopment. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 122 women who were drawn from the Perinatal Experiences and COVID-19 Effects (PEACE) Study, with online surveys administered between November 2020 and August 2022. RESULTS: After controlling for maternal anxiety and depression symptoms and demographic factors, hierarchical regression analysis indicated that parenting stress showed no effect on ASQ-3 scores. However, more adverse COVID-19-related experiences and higher levels of maternal self-efficacy were associated with better infant neurodevelopment. Moreover, there was a significant interaction effect between maternal self-efficacy and COVID-19-related experiences on infant neurodevelopment. For mothers with moderate to high levels of self-efficacy, more adverse COVID-19-related experiences were associated with better infant neurodevelopment. For mothers with low levels of self-efficacy, more adverse COVID-19-related experiences were associated with poorer developmental outcomes in infants. CONCLUSIONS: Under adverse conditions, confidence in caregiving may afford more optimal infant neurodevelopment. Interventions aimed at fostering maternal self-efficacy and addressing specific stressors can be valuable in promoting positive developmental trajectories for infants born during the pandemic.

Examining the Perceptions Among Undergraduate Nursing Students Using Virtual Reality in a Community Course: A Mixed-Methods Explanatory Study.

PURPOSE: This study investigated undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of integrating virtual reality (VR) technology into a community nursing course, specifically home and environmental patient safety assessments. DESIGN: This study used a mixed-methods approach with an explanatory design. METHODS: Participants were recruited from a community health course. The students engaged in a VR simulation involving home visits using the vizHome platform. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the System Usability Scale (SUS). Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Quantitative data were collected through Qualtrics and secure Zoom connections for the interviews. The data were analyzed with SPSS and MAXQDA. FINDINGS: The results indicated that participants perceived VR as valuable and easy to use for learning home assessment skills. The System Usability Scale (SUS) score revealed room for improvement. Technical limitations were identified as challenges that must be addressed to enhance the user experience. CONCLUSION: Participants acknowledged VR's potential to supplement traditional learning methods, providing safe and realistic exposure to diverse home environments. While VR was seen as beneficial, it was not considered a replacement for actual home visits in community nursing education. CLINICAL EVIDENCE: This study provided clinical teaching evidence on the usability and student perceptions of VR in community courses.

Romantic attachment security buffers the effect of stress on anxiety in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background and objectives: The stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic spurred alarming levels of stress and anxiety in college students. It is important to identify factors that attenuate the negative effect of stress on anxiety. Framed by the attachment diathesis-stress process perspective, this study examined how the two dimensions of insecurity in romantic attachment-attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance-buffered the effect of stress on anxiety in a population of college students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design and methods: The study employed cross-sectional and correlation designs and used an online survey to gather self-report data from a sample of 453 college students. Data were collected from March 15, 2020, to February 16, 2021. Results: Anxiety, stress, and the two insecurity dimensions were all mutually correlated with one another. Multiple regression analysis revealed that as the level of attachment anxiety increased, the association of stress and anxiety turned stronger. Conclusions: The findings suggest that targeting attachment insecurity may prove to be fruitful when helping college students effectively regulate stress to lessen levels of anxiety.

Maternal Self-Efficacy Buffers the Effects of COVID-19-Related Experiences on Postpartum Parenting Stress.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of maternal self-efficacy (MSE) and perceived social support with parenting stress during the postpartum period during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether these two psychosocial factors account for variance in parenting stress in addition to the effects of COVID-19-related experiences and sociodemographic factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Online survey, the Perinatal Experiences and COVID-19 Effects (PEACE) study, launched in May 2020. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included 310 women who gave birth in the past 24 weeks. METHODS: The survey included self-report quantitative measures of MSE, social support, COVID-19-related experiences, parenting stress, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and a range of sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that MSE and social support were negatively associated with postpartum parenting stress in addition to the effects of COVID-19-related experiences, maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety, and a range of demographic factors. Furthermore, MSE interacted with COVID-19-related experiences such that higher levels of MSE mitigated the effects of COVID-19-related experiences on parenting stress. CONCLUSION: Our findings underscore the importance of protective factors at the individual and interpersonal levels and provide insights for prevention and intervention programs aimed at mitigating postpartum parenting stress during a wide-scale disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding to the pressing yet unrecognized needs of student-parents amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The urgent closures of campuses nationwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic have presented unforeseen challenges to college students, who already showed concerning rates of mental health conditions and suicidality. Among US college students, more than one in five are parents raising young children. Student-parents are faced with compounding struggles that substantially intersect with those of minority students, students from low-income backgrounds, and first-generation students. However, the challenges and unique needs of student-parents have not been sufficiently recognized by the college administrations. As higher education grapples with supporting students to navigate through the pandemic, reaching out to student-parents and prioritizing their needs is indispensable to assure their continued engagement and completion of studies. The authors offer recommendations for college administrations to help alleviate strains in student-parents amid the crisis and promote strengths and resilience in the short term and beyond.

Self-Harm and Suicidality in US College Students: Associations with Emotional Exhaustion versus Multiple Psychiatric Symptoms.

PURPOSE: This study aimed at describing self-harm and suicidality (SHS) in relation to unobserved heterogeneous groups of college students based on their psychiatric symptoms. SHS of each latent class were examined by race/ethnicity to inform risk factors relevant to subgroups of U.S. college population. METHODS: The participants (N = 42,779) were drawn from the Spring 2017 American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II (ACHA-NCHA II) Reference Group. Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted based on participants' reports of past-year psychiatric symptoms. The reported SHS were examined by the latent class of students and their race/ethnicity. RESULTS: LCA identified two latent classes: The Emotional Exhaustion (EE) class and the Multiple Psychiatric Symptoms (MPS) class. Within the EE class, Black students were at the greatest risk for exhibiting suicide intent and attempted suicide. Within the MPS class, Multiracial students showed the highest odds of self-harm and suicidal intent, and Black students showed the highest odds of attempted suicide, followed by Asians/Pacific Islanders. LIMITATIONS: The findings were based on a cross-sectional dataset that did not inform the temporal relations of psychiatric symptoms and SHS. CONCLUSIONS: Utilizing a person-centered latent class analysis, this study revealed that Black students were of the greatest concern for SHS among those who reported only common symptoms of emotional exhaustion. The findings highlight the importance of developing preventive and remedial models that address unique risk factors and mental health needs for various subgroups of U.S. college population.

Individual differences in attachment anxiety shape the association between adverse childhood experiences and adult somatic symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Although prior research has documented the link between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and somatic symptoms, it remains unclear why some individuals exposed to ACEs developed somatic symptoms while others did not. OBJECTIVE: Framed by a biopsychosocial perspective, this study investigated the role of attachment anxiety in the association between ACEs and somatic symptoms in adulthood. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: A total of 662 emerging adults attending college were recruited to respond to an online survey in a computer lab. METHOD: The computer-based survey included demographic form, the Adverse Childhood Experience Scale, the Experience in Close Relationship Scale-Short Form, and the Somatization Scale of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised for somatic symptoms. Multivariate regression analyses were used to examine the role of attachment anxiety in the association between ACEs and somatic symptoms. RESULTS: The results indicated that ACEs positively correlated with attachment anxiety and somatic symptoms; and attachment anxiety and somatic symptoms were positively correlated. Moreover, the results indicated a significant effect of interaction between ACEs and attachment anxiety on somatic symptoms, suggesting a moderating role of attachment anxiety. Subsequent simple slope test revealed that attachment anxiety intensified the strength of relation between ACEs and somatic symptoms; but when the level of attachment anxiety was low, ACEs and somatic symptoms were not related. CONCLUSION: Individual differences in attachment anxiety shape the association of adverse childhood experiences with somatic symptoms. Targeting and reformulating anxious working models of attachment may help ameliorate vulnerability to somatic symptoms in individuals exposed to ACEs.

Parental Rejection, Resilience, and Health-risk Behavior in Emerging Adults.

Objectives: In this study, we investigated the sex differences in the impact of perceived parental rejection on various health-risk behaviors and the moderation of resilience on the relations between perceived parental rejection and health-risk behaviors. Methods: Cross-sectional data of 730 college-attending emerging adults were analyzed with Poisson and negative binomial models. Results: Maternal rejection predicted drug use and aggressive behavior for men and binge drinking, drug use, and aggressive behavior for women; paternal rejection predicted drug use for women. Resilience buffered the negative association of maternal rejection to drug use and the relation of paternal rejection to aggressive behavior in men. Resilience enhanced the association between maternal rejection and drug use but buffered the association between paternal rejection and drug use in women. Conclusions: Parental rejection was associated with health-risk behavior, whereas resilience may attenuate such a relationship. Prevention and intervention programs should consider sex-specific needs.

Distressed yet empathically sensitive: Preschoolers' responses to infant crying.

Using a simulated long bout of progressively intense infant crying, this study demonstrated that preschoolers responded with infant-oriented empathic concern and helping actions despite evidence of self-focused distress. Preschoolers' helping actions were predicted by the interaction between empathic concern and cognitive inquiry.

Changes in empathy-related cry responding as a function of time: A time course study of adult's responses to infant crying.

Describing temporal relations between perceptual and emotional elements underlying responses to infant crying is important to our understanding of sensitive parenting. Prior research on adults' responses to infant crying has mostly relied on playback and snapshot approaches to obtaining recall of responses following exposure to relatively short cry stimuli. This study documented continuous temporal relations in the perception of the infant's distress and affect-related processes in response to a 4-min-long bout of crying. Three visual-analog slider scales were used to collect 90 participants' real-time responses on perceived aversiveness of the cry, empathic concern for the infant, and personal distress elicited by the cry, respectively. The results highlighted a moderating role of empathic concern at certain second in the relation between personal distress and empathic concern at the following second. In addition, personal distress moderated the relation between concurrent perceived aversiveness and empathic concern. The findings carry potentially important implications for cognitive and emotional regulation in adaptive parenting.

Empathy and distress: two distinct but related emotions in response to infant crying.

This study examined a largely overlooked, yet potentially important, association between empathy and distress in cry responding. The cry stimulus included a 1-min-long video clip of a 4-week-old, crying, male infant. Participants reported their dispositional empathy and distress, perceived aversiveness of the cry stimulus, response emotions, and intention to intervene with the crying infant. Empathy and distress covaried positively both in disposition and in cry responding. Response empathy and distress were related to their corresponding dispositional emotions, but response empathy was also related to dispositional distress. Perceived aversiveness interacted with response distress in predicting response empathy. Both response empathy and distress appeared to be important determinants of intention to intervene. Overall, empathy and distress in response to infant crying appeared more closely related than previously thought. Implications concerning the regulation of emotions in cry responding are discussed.

Infants' expressive behaviors to mothers and unfamiliar partners during face-to-face interactions from 4 to 10 months.

Changes in the organization of infant looking, facial expressions, and vocalizations were examined over age (4, 7, and 10 months) and with different social partners. Although infants at all ages accompanied smiling with looking at both mothers and unfamiliar partners, 7- and 10-month infants accompanied vocalization with looking only when they were with mothers. Seven- and 10-month-olds vocalized with unfamiliar partners only when they were smiling at the same time. When mothers stopped talking, infants reduced smiling significantly at all ages, yet vocalized more at 10 months. In the second half of the first year, there are fundamental changes in the coordination of infant expressive behaviors that reveal a keen attunement to variations in maternal behavior and the familiarity of social partners.