Infant neurodevelopment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with maternal pandemic-related experiences, parenting stress, and self-efficacy.
Early Hum Dev
; 193: 106018, 2024 Jun.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38703424
ABSTRACT
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.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Stress, Psychological
/
Child Development
/
Parenting
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Self Efficacy
/
COVID-19
/
Mothers
Limits:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Infant
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Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Early Hum Dev
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Estados Unidos
Country of publication:
Irlanda