Infant Socio-Emotional Outcomes During the Transition to Parenthood: A Bioecological Model
Open Access
- Author:
- Trexberg, Kaitlin
- Graduate Program:
- Human Development and Family Studies
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 10, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Karen Bierman, Outside Unit & Field Member
Daniel Crowley, Major Field Member
Douglas Teti, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Gregory Fosco, Major Field Member
Damon Jones, Major Field Member
Heidemarie Laurent, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies - Keywords:
- Transition to parenthood
Infant
Bioecological Model
Income-to-needs ratio
Family Systems Framework
Maternal Depression
Coparenting
Emotional Availability
Negative Affect
Social Support
Socio-Emotional Outcomes - Abstract:
- The transition to parenthood is a critical period in individuals' lives that involves significant family adjustments and challenges. In their meta-analysis of effective early parenting programs, Mihelic and colleagues (2017) found that critical transitions such as parenthood, toddlerhood, and kindergarten (all occurring before a child is six years old) were the most effective times to support family and child early outcomes. Early socio-emotional adjustment is associated with repercussive longitudinal outcomes. Pre-kindergarten childhood socio-emotional adjustment has predicted adult mental health (Denham, 2006; Dodge et al., 2015; Jones et al., 2015; Taylor et al., 2017), substance abuse (Jones et al., 2015; Moffitt et al., 2011), and academic performance (Denham, 2006). This study examines infant socio-emotional outcomes during the critical transition to parenthood, utilizing a bioecological model of development and a family systems framework. Recognizing this transition as a period of increased vulnerability and stress, this dissertation investigates early child socio-emotional adjustment as informed by the bioecological model of development (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), family systems theory (Cox & Paley, 1997; Gavazzi & Lim, 2023), and empirical findings of studies examining parent and family adjustment during the transition to parenthood (Cowan & Cowan, 1995; Davila et al., 2009; Holmes et al., 2013; Kuersten-Hogan & McHale, 2021; Taraban & Shaw, 2018; Young et al., 2019). Using the Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) elements of the bioecological model (Tudge et al., 2009, 2016), the study investigates the developmental cascades of how maternal mental health, infant temperament, maternal social support, family financial strain, maternal parenting, and maternal coparenting perceptions interplay to shape early child socio-emotional adjustment during the second year of life. The study sample included 165 mothers and their infants from a larger NIH-funded and IRB-approved study (SIESTA – Study of Infants’ Emergent Sleep TrAjectories) of parenting, sleep, and infant development across the first two years of life. Infant externalizing symptoms and internalizing symptoms were assessed in the second year of life (18 and 24 months) via mother-report of two domains of the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA; Carter & Briggs-Gowan, 2000). Caregiving quality was measured at 12 months postpartum as either mother-rated coparenting (Coparenting Relationship Scale; CRS; Feinberg, Brown, & Kan, 2012) or observer-rated maternal emotional availability scales (EAS, Version 3; Biringen et al., 1998). Models also explored direct and indirect linkages of infant temperament (negative affect) at three months postpartum (Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised; IBQ-R, Gartstein & Rothbart, 2003), mother’s social support at one month (Interview Schedule for Social Interaction; ISSI; Henderson et al., 1980), mother’s depressive symptoms at six months (SCL-90-R; Derogatis, 1994), and family income-to-needs ratio measured at one month. Analysis included four total models, matching each caregiving environment (maternal coparenting quality and maternal emotional availability) at 12 months once to each child outcome (externalizing symptoms or internalizing symptoms) during the second year. These four final models were presented as serial multiple mediator models (Hayes, 2017), utilizing SEM and bias-corrected bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals based on 10,000 samples (Chernick & Labudde, 2009). Results revealed that maternal coparenting at 12 months negative predicted externalizing symptoms. Maternal social support at one month, infant negative affect at three months, and family income-to-needs ratio at one month consistently predicted maternal depressive symptoms at six months. Direct and indirect linkages were found between family income-to-needs at one month and child socio-emotional outcomes during the second year. Furthermore, only when maternal coparenting at 12 months was in the model did we see indirect linkages from maternal social support at one month, infant negative affect at three months, and family income-to-needs at one month to child externalizing symptoms in the second year. These results were not replicated with internalizing symptoms during the second year or when emotional availability at 12 months was included in the model. Overall, this study employed the first empirical examination of the bioecological model of the transition to parenthood as a means to explore child second-year socio-emotional adjustment through developmental cascades. This study found novel indirect pathways from family income-to-needs ratio at one month and child externalizing symptoms during the second year, infant negative affect at three months and child externalizing symptoms during the second year, and maternal social support at one month and child externalizing symptoms during the second year. These findings expand our understanding of how maternal depressive symptoms at six months and maternal coparenting perceptions at 12 months serve as mechanisms linking infant negative affect at three months, family income-to-needs at one month, and maternal social support at one month to second-year child externalizing symptoms. Interventions intent on addressing family-level changes and child outcomes during the transition to parenthood should consider the inclusion of maternal depressive symptoms and coparenting perceptions in conjunction with these exogenous variables. Our findings also recommend that interventions consider increases in early maternal social support, improved family financial well-being, and training around reactive infant temperament as valuable means to alter early child socio-emotional outcomes in the second year.