Maternal Sensitivity, Infant Development, and Breastfeeding
Maternal sensitivity, or how a mother responds to their child’s emotions, has been associated with advances in infant cognitive development, along with healthy relationships, behaviors, and social/emotional skills later in life. Furthermore, maternal sensitivity may also teach a child critical lessons about their own emotional states and how to interact with others. While past studies have found that high maternal sensitivity is associated with increased infant cognitive development, they have overlooked the potential influence of other factors. In a 2022 study, researchers investigated how factors known to modify infant cognitive development and/or contribute to maternal sensitivity may influence the association between maternal sensitivity and infant cognitive development.
The researchers analyzed potential factors such as breastfeeding, postpartum depression, and maternal alcohol consumption. These factors have previously been associated with maternal sensitivity in different ways. For example, breastfeeding mothers have displayed greater activity in brain regions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after they heard their babies crying, but it is unclear whether highly sensitive mothers breastfeed, or if breastfeeding leads to more sensitive and responsive mothers. On the other hand, postpartum depression has been associated with decreased maternal sensitivity. As such, the researchers conducted a study of 6,950 mother-infant pairs to determine how breastfeeding and maternal depression contribute to maternal sensitivity.
The researchers utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a study conducted by the National Center of Educational Statistics (NCES) that examined factors influencing children’s development from birth to kindergarten. Measured with the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS), infant sex, birth weight, number of offspring, household income, maternal race/ethnicity, age, education, and family structure were all significantly associated with a higher maternal sensitivity score. The NCATS measured maternal behaviors from 50 items, ranging from sensitivity to cues (positioning the child safely), response to a child’s distress (soothing noises to children), cognitive growth fostering (using different phrases to describe activities to children), or socioemotional growth fostering (smiling/laughing at children).
The researchers analyzed potential factors such as breastfeeding, postpartum depression, and maternal alcohol consumption. These factors have previously been associated with maternal sensitivity in different ways. For example, breastfeeding mothers have displayed greater activity in brain regions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after they heard their babies crying, but it is unclear whether highly sensitive mothers breastfeed, or if breastfeeding leads to more sensitive and responsive mothers. On the other hand, postpartum depression has been associated with decreased maternal sensitivity. As such, the researchers conducted a study of 6,950 mother-infant pairs to determine how breastfeeding and maternal depression contribute to maternal sensitivity.
The researchers utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, a study conducted by the National Center of Educational Statistics (NCES) that examined factors influencing children’s development from birth to kindergarten. Measured with the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS), infant sex, birth weight, number of offspring, household income, maternal race/ethnicity, age, education, and family structure were all significantly associated with a higher maternal sensitivity score. The NCATS measured maternal behaviors from 50 items, ranging from sensitivity to cues (positioning the child safely), response to a child’s distress (soothing noises to children), cognitive growth fostering (using different phrases to describe activities to children), or socioemotional growth fostering (smiling/laughing at children).
Maternal sensitivity and breastfeeding are independent and distinct means of advancing a child's cognitive development.
Image Source: Wallace Chuck
Moreover, infant sex and birthweight along with breastfeeding and maternal sensitivity were associated with higher infant cognitive development. Overall, the researchers found a strong, positive association between maternal sensitivity and infant cognitive development, even when adjusted for other factors such as breastfeeding. Both breastfeeding and maternal sensitivity were positively associated with advancing infant cognition but were determined to be distinct factors not necessarily dependent on one another. This result is critical in developing policies to improve child health outcomes and guidelines for parenting young children.
The authors did note some limitations in their research. They did not include mother-infant pairs if they were missing maternal sensitivity or infant cognitive development data, which resulted in the exclusion of some pairs of lower income and ethnic minorities. Additionally, they used a self-reported measurement of depression, meaning mothers personally reported their own symptoms. This may have led to some bias in reporting since people tend to self-report their own symptoms inaccurately or even falsely.
The authors suggest that further research should assess high-risk situations in which the mother may have a history of mental illness or substance abuse issues, as this may influence maternal behavior and potentially the relationship between maternal sensitivity, breastfeeding, and infant cognitive development. They also suggest looking at data over a longer time period, or longitudinally, to investigate if maternal sensitivity and breastfeeding are still associated with positive cognitive development in older children.
Researchers, physicians, and parents can all benefit from understanding the independent roles of maternal sensitivity and breastfeeding in advancing cognitive development. Overall, these are valuable findings when assessing parenting interventions in infants as well as overall healthcare and childcare.
The authors did note some limitations in their research. They did not include mother-infant pairs if they were missing maternal sensitivity or infant cognitive development data, which resulted in the exclusion of some pairs of lower income and ethnic minorities. Additionally, they used a self-reported measurement of depression, meaning mothers personally reported their own symptoms. This may have led to some bias in reporting since people tend to self-report their own symptoms inaccurately or even falsely.
The authors suggest that further research should assess high-risk situations in which the mother may have a history of mental illness or substance abuse issues, as this may influence maternal behavior and potentially the relationship between maternal sensitivity, breastfeeding, and infant cognitive development. They also suggest looking at data over a longer time period, or longitudinally, to investigate if maternal sensitivity and breastfeeding are still associated with positive cognitive development in older children.
Researchers, physicians, and parents can all benefit from understanding the independent roles of maternal sensitivity and breastfeeding in advancing cognitive development. Overall, these are valuable findings when assessing parenting interventions in infants as well as overall healthcare and childcare.
Featured Image Source: Jonathan Borba
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