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Maternal warmth and toddler development: support for transactional models in disadvantaged families

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Abstract

Studies support cognitive and social domains of development as entwined in childhood, however, there is a paucity of investigation into the nature of the mother–child relationship within an interdependence framework. Furthermore, the focus on these processes within families from impoverished communities using frequent assessments in early childhood has been limited. Our objectives were to identify (1) the directional associations between toddler’s communication ability and social competence, (2) to establish whether the association between toddler’s communication ability and social competence is mediated by maternal warmth, and (3) to establish support for transactional models between toddlers’ outcomes and maternal warmth in disadvantaged communities in Ireland. Participants included 173 toddlers and their families enrolled in a prenatally commencing prevention programme. Toddler’s communication and social competence were assessed at 12, 18, 24 and 36 months and maternal warmth at 6 and 24 months. Cross-lagged models were estimated examining multiple paths of associations simultaneously. Direct and indirect paths of maternal warmth were also examined. Bi-directional associations were found between communication ability and social competence from 12 to 24 months but not thereafter. Maternal warmth did not significantly mediate these associations, however, support of a transactional model was found with social competence. The results support early positive associations between better communication ability and social competence in the first 2 years, however, they suggest that these associations are no longer present by the third year. The role of maternal warmth in fostering social competencies is important for toddlers and equally important is toddler’s level of social competence in eliciting increased maternal warmth.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Girard is supported by a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship; the research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013/under REA Grant Agreement No. [625014]. The data used in the current study was collected as part of the evaluation of the Preparing for Life programme, which was funded by the Northside Partnership through the Atlantic Philanthropies and the Irish Government’s Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Physiotherapy, and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Lisa-Christine Girard & Richard E. Tremblay

  2. Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Lisa-Christine Girard, Orla Doyle & Richard E. Tremblay

  3. UCD School of Economics, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Orla Doyle

  4. Research Unit on Children’s Psychosocial Maladjustment (GRIP), Université de Montreal, Montréal, Canada

    Richard E. Tremblay

  5. Department of Pediatrics and Psychology, Université de Montreal, Montréal, Canada

    Richard E. Tremblay

Authors
  1. Lisa-Christine Girard
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  2. Orla Doyle
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  3. Richard E. Tremblay
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Correspondence to Lisa-Christine Girard.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

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Fig. 3
figure 3

Sensitivity analysis. Cross-lagged model examining both direct and indirect paths of maternal warmth at 6 and 24 months (denoted as warmth) in the longitudinal bi-directional associations between communication ability (denoted by communicate) and social competence (denoted by competence) between 12 and 36 months (N = 142). Standard errors presented within brackets. Only significant paths are presented for visual simplicity. Treatment status (denoted by group) was controlled in the model but was not statistically significant

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Girard, LC., Doyle, O. & Tremblay, R.E. Maternal warmth and toddler development: support for transactional models in disadvantaged families. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 26, 497–507 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-016-0913-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-016-0913-7

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