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The Combined Contributions of Newborn Stress and Parenting Stress on Toddler Language Development.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bruce, M; Compton, AM; Maylott, SE; Zhou, AM; Raby, KL; Crowell, SE; Conradt, E
Published in: J Pediatr
July 2024

OBJECTIVE: To examine the longitudinal associations between newborn neurobehavioral stress signs, maternal parenting stress, and several indices of toddler language development. STUDY DESIGN: Participants include 202 mother-infant dyads (104 girls). We measured stress signs in neonates in the hospital at least 24 hours after birth using the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale. At 7 months, parenting stress (competence, attachment, and role restriction) was assessed using the Parenting Stress Index. At 18 months, mothers completed the Communicative Development Inventories, which measured toddler gesturing, expressive vocabulary, and receptive vocabulary. Longitudinal path modeling was used to estimate associations between neonatal stress signs, parenting stress, and toddler language, and a model was generated for each language outcome. Child sex, birth weight, and family income were included as covariates. RESULTS: Infants who exhibited greater neurobehavioral stress signs at birth produced significantly fewer social-communicative gestures at 18 months of age. Among infants whose mothers reported low (but not high) levels of parenting stress during the first postnatal year, newborn stress signs were negatively associated with 18-month-olds' receptive vocabulary size. Neither newborn stress signs nor parenting stress were significantly related to toddler expressive vocabulary size. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings uncover a negative association between newborn stress signs and toddler gesturing. Furthermore, our results suggest that caregiver stress and neonatal stress signs interact to predict toddler receptive vocabulary. Taken together, these results demonstrate that some neonates who exhibit increased neurobehavioral stress signs may be at heightened risk for experiencing language difficulties. These children may benefit from additional support in infancy.

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Published In

J Pediatr

DOI

EISSN

1097-6833

Publication Date

July 2024

Volume

270

Start / End Page

114006

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Stress, Psychological
  • Pediatrics
  • Parenting
  • Mothers
  • Mother-Child Relations
  • Male
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Language Development
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant
 

Citation

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ICMJE
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Bruce, M., Compton, A. M., Maylott, S. E., Zhou, A. M., Raby, K. L., Crowell, S. E., & Conradt, E. (2024). The Combined Contributions of Newborn Stress and Parenting Stress on Toddler Language Development. J Pediatr, 270, 114006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114006
Bruce, Madeleine, Anna M. Compton, Sarah E. Maylott, Anna M. Zhou, K Lee Raby, Sheila E. Crowell, and Elisabeth Conradt. “The Combined Contributions of Newborn Stress and Parenting Stress on Toddler Language Development.J Pediatr 270 (July 2024): 114006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114006.
Bruce M, Compton AM, Maylott SE, Zhou AM, Raby KL, Crowell SE, et al. The Combined Contributions of Newborn Stress and Parenting Stress on Toddler Language Development. J Pediatr. 2024 Jul;270:114006.
Bruce, Madeleine, et al. “The Combined Contributions of Newborn Stress and Parenting Stress on Toddler Language Development.J Pediatr, vol. 270, July 2024, p. 114006. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114006.
Bruce M, Compton AM, Maylott SE, Zhou AM, Raby KL, Crowell SE, Conradt E. The Combined Contributions of Newborn Stress and Parenting Stress on Toddler Language Development. J Pediatr. 2024 Jul;270:114006.
Journal cover image

Published In

J Pediatr

DOI

EISSN

1097-6833

Publication Date

July 2024

Volume

270

Start / End Page

114006

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Stress, Psychological
  • Pediatrics
  • Parenting
  • Mothers
  • Mother-Child Relations
  • Male
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Language Development
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infant