Does early child negative emotionality moderate the association between maternal stimulation and academic readiness and achievement?

We investigated whether child temperament (negative emotionality, 5 months) moderated the association between maternal stimulation (5 months-2½ years) and academic readiness and achievement (vocabulary, mathematics, and reading). We applied structural equation modeling to the data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (N = 1121-1448; mostly Whites; 47% girls). Compared to children with low negative emotionality, those with high negative emotionality had higher levels of academic readiness (6 years) and mathematics achievement (7 years) when exposed to high levels of maternal stimulation (ß = 3.17, p < .01 and ß = 2.91, p < .01, respectively). The results support the differential susceptibility model whereby highly emotionally negative children were more susceptible to the influences of low and high levels of maternal stimulation in academic readiness and mathematics achievement's developments.

Prenatal Diet and Children's Trajectories of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms from 3 to 8 Years: The EDEN Mother-Child Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Maternal diet quality during pregnancy has been linked to offspring's physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan. However, few studies have examined its association with subsequent offspring's anxiety and depression issues. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between maternal prenatal dietary patterns and offspring's anxiety and depression symptoms from 3 to 8 years. METHODS: We used data from 1242 children enrolled in the French EDEN (Etude des déterminants pré- et postnatals précoces du développement et de la santé de l'enfant) birth cohort. Maternal third trimester dietary patterns-namely, "Healthy" (i.e., high intake in fruit, vegetables, fish, and whole-grain cereals) and "Western" (i.e., high intake in processed and snacking foods) patterns-were evaluated using a validated qualitative FFQ. Children's anxiety and depression symptoms (i.e., fears, worries, misery, nervousness, and somatic symptoms) were assessed by mothers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at ages 3, 5, and 8 years, from which trajectories were derived using group-based trajectory modeling. We used logistic regressions to analyze the associations between maternal dietary patterns and children's anxiety and depression symptom trajectories. RESULTS: We identified 2 trajectories of anxiety and depression symptoms from 3 to 8 years of age: low to moderate (n = 1058; reference group) and moderately high (n = 184). Maternal low adherence to the Healthy dietary pattern in the third trimester was significantly associated with moderately high children's anxiety and depression symptom trajectories from 3 to 8 years (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.40-2.51), in crude and adjusted analyses. The maternal Western dietary pattern was not significantly associated with anxiety and depression symptom trajectories. CONCLUSIONS: High maternal prenatal adherence to a Healthy dietary pattern was negatively related to anxiety and depression symptoms in children. As maternal diet is a key lifestyle factor, further research should investigate its association with subsequent offspring anxiety and depression symptoms in aiming to later inform prevention strategies focusing on pregnancy.

Pacific and English Language Fluency and Mental Disorder Symptom Indications Among Pacific Mothers in New Zealand: Findings From the Pacific Islands Families Study.

Within New Zealand (NZ), Pacific people experience higher prevalence of mental disorder than non-Pacific people. Bilinguals are believed to have psychological advantages over monolinguals, although the empirical evidence base is equivocal. A prospective cohort of Pacific mothers was studied at 6 weeks (n = 1272), 1-year (n = 1135), and 2-year (n = 1059) postpartum. At 6 weeks, 343 (27.0%) mothers were fluent in both Pacific and English languages, 519 (40.8%) only fluent in Pacific language(s), and 410 (32.2%) only fluent in English. Over assessment waves, 16.0%, 12.5%, and 8.7% of mothers had mental disorder symptom indications. In adjusted generalized estimating equation analysis, mothers speaking English only had odds of mental disorder symptom indication of 2.24 as compared to bilingual mothers, while those who spoke Pacific language(s) only had odds of 1.52. Supporting Pacific and English languages within NZ may confer mental health benefits to new Pacific mothers and potentially others.