Research article summary (published 30 Dec 2002):

The importance of parenting during early childhood for school-age development.

Full Abstract

This study reports on the relation of 4 patterns of responsive parenting across early childhood (birth-4 1.2 years) with children's rate of cognitive and social development through 8 years of age for a cohort of children born preterm and of very low birthweight and term. Consistent responsiveness across early childhood predicted faster rates of cognitive and social growth than did inconsistent or minimal responsiveness, particularly for preterm children. As parenting at 6 and 8 years did not alter this relation, results suggest that parenting across early childhood plays a unique role in children's development. We also examined whether mothers could be facilitated to use a set of responsive behaviors across infancy that increased children's learning. Compared to control mothers, mothers randomly assigned to receive the intervention displayed greater changes in behaviors that established a social learning context supporting infants' object exploration and vocalization of interests. This, in turn, resulted in greater changes in infants' cognitive and social skills. As in the 1st study, preterm infants appeared to benefit to a greater extent from this more responsive social learning context.

Author information

Author/s: Landry, Susan H (SH); Smith, Karen E (KE); Swank, Paul R (PR);

Affiliation: Division of Developmental Pediatrics, University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, 77303, USA. susan.landry(-atsign-)uth.tmc.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Comparative Study; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal: Developmental neuropsychology (Dev Neuropsychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-; vol 24 (issue 2-3) : pp 559-91

Dates: Created 2003/10/16; Completed 2003/12/17; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 14561562, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult Attention Child Child Development - physiology Child, Preschool Cluster Analysis Cognition - physiology Cohort Studies Female Humans Infant Infant, Newborn

Infant, Premature - growth & development; physiology; psychology Infant, Very Low Birth Weight - growth & development; physiology; psychology Intervention Studies Language Development Male Mother-Child Relations Outcome Assessment (Health Care) Parenting Questionnaires Reproducibility of Results Risk Factors Social Behavior

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