Peggy MacLean

Association of maternal scaffolding to maternal education and cognition in toddlers born preterm and full term.

Parental behaviour described as ‘scaffolding’ has been shown to influence outcomes in at‐risk children. The purpose of this study was to compare maternal verbal scaffolding in toddlers born preterm and full term.

Early working memory in children born with extremely low birth weight: assessed by object permanence.

Object permanence is considered the earliest method for assessing working memory. Factors affecting object permanence performance in a sample of two hundred and thirty-three 18- to 22-month olds born with extremely low birth weight were examined. It was hypothesized that object permanence would be directly related to emotional and attention regulation, that children with lower birth weight and higher illness severity would have more difficulty on the object permanence task, and that no ethnic/racial differences would be found, as this is considered a culturally unbiased task. Attainment of object permanence had a significant positive association with emotional and attention regulation, even after controlling the medical severity and socioeconomic factors. More girls than boys passed the object permanence items. There was no ethnic/racial difference on object permanence. Our findings indicate that object permanence may be a culturally fair way of assessing development, and emotional and attention regulation are potential avenues of intervention for such skill.

Mother–infant mutual eye gaze supports emotion regulation in infancy during the Still-Face paradigm

This study was designed to examine the sequential relationship between mother-infant synchrony and infant affect using multilevel modeling during the Still Face paradigm. We also examined self-regulatory behaviors that infants use during the Still-Face paradigm to modulate their affect, particularly during stressors where their mothers are not available to help them co-regulate. There were 84 mother-infant dyads, of healthy full term 4 month old infants. Second-by-second coding of infant self-regulation and infant affect was done, in addition to mother-infant mutual eye gaze. Using multilevel modeling, we found that infant affect became more positive when mutual gaze had occurred the previous second, suggesting that the experience of synchronicity was associated with observable shifts in affect. We also found a positive association between self-regulatory behaviors and increases in positive affect only during the Still-Face episode (episode 2). Our study provides support for the role of mother-infant synchronicity in emotion regulation as well as support for the role of self-regulatory behaviors in emotion regulation that can have important implication for intervention.

Comparison of Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Development in Toddlers Born Very Low Birth Weight and Full-term

Research suggests that regional structural differences can be associated with the neurodevelopmental impairments faced by children born very low birth weight. However, most studies have used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) during the neonatal period or during adolescence. The current study used structural MRI to examine relationships between regional volume differences in toddlers (18—22 months adjusted age) born very low birth weight (n = 16) and full-term (n = 10) and neurodevelopmental outcomes, including cognition, language, and early executive functioning. Compared with the full-term group, the very low birth weight group had larger third ventricles and smaller cerebral white matter, thalamus, hippocampus, cerebellum white matter, and anterior cingulate volume. Additionally, a significant interaction was found between language and early executive function scores and cerebral white matter volumes between groups, suggesting that young children born very low birth weight can have different trajectories in the growth and development of overall brain structure.

Early working memory and maternal communication in toddlers born very low birth weight.

Aim: Early working memory is emerging as an important indicator of developmental outcome predicting later cognitive, behavioural and academic competencies. The current study compared early working memory in a sample of toddlers (18–22 months) born very low birth weight (VLBW; n = 40) and full term (n = 51) and the relationship between early working memory, mental developmental index (MDI), and maternal communication in both samples.

Comparing emotional reactivity and regulation in infants born ELGA and VLGA

Emotional reactivity and regulation behaviors were compared in infants born extremely low gestational age (ELGA) and very low gestational age (VLGA) during the still-face procedure. Infants born ELGA demonstrated greater emotional reactivity and displayed less frequent gaze avoidance, more frequent gestures, and more self-comforting behaviors.

Perinatal Medical Variables Predict Executive Function within a Sample of Preschoolers Born Very Low Birth Weight

The goal was to identify perinatal predictors of early executive dysfunction in preschoolers born very low birth weight. Fifty-seven preschoolers completed 3 executive function tasks: Dimensional Change Card Sort-Separated (inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility), Bear Dragon (inhibition and working memory), and Gift Delay Open (inhibition). Relationships between executive function and perinatal medical severity factors (gestational age, days on ventilation, size for gestational age, maternal steroids, and number of surgeries) and chronological age were investigated by multiple linear regression and logistic regression. Different perinatal medical severity factors were predictive of executive function tasks, with gestational age predicting Bear Dragon and Gift Open; and number of surgeries and maternal steroids predicting performance on Dimensional Change Card Sort-Separated. By understanding the relationship between perinatal medical severity factors and preschool executive outcomes, we can identify children at highest risk for future executive dysfunction, thereby focusing targeted early intervention services.

Maternal touch and infant affect in the Still Face Paradigm: A cross-cultural examination

Touch between mother and infant plays an important role in development starting from birth. Cross-cultural differences surrounding rearing practices have an influence on parent-infant interaction, including types of touch used and the development of emotional regulation. This study was designed to investigate maternal touch and infant emotional regulation in infant-mother dyads from Ecuador (n=25) and Hispanic dyads from the United States (US) (n=26). Mothers and their 4-month-old full-term infants participated in the Still Face Paradigm. Second-by-second coding of maternal touch and infant affect was completed. Overall the analyses showed that Ecuadorian mothers used more nurturing and accompaniment touch and less attention seeking touch than US Hispanic mothers during the pre-stressor (baseline) episode. Lagged multilevel models were used to investigate the effect of the different types of touch on infant emotional regulation in the groups for the episodes. The data suggest that playful touch had a significant increase in infant affect, whereas accompaniment and attention-seeking touch had a significant decrease in infant affect. Overall, this study provides support for the role of touch in mother-infant synchronicity in relation to infants emotional regulation. Identifying touch that is more calming is important to foster emotional regulation in infancy, which can have important implications for development.

Comparison of Cerebral Volume in Children Aged 18-22 and 36-47 Months Born Preterm and Term

Studies investigating differences in regional brain volumes in children born preterm and term during early childhood are limited. Neuroimaging could help understand patterns of deficit in children born preterm and target areas of development associated with these regions. The goal of this study was to identify differences in regional brain volume at 2 different ages using magnetic resonance imaging in preterm and term children. Magnetic resonance imaging and developmental testing occurred in children 18 to 22 months old (16 preterm and 10 term children) and 36 to 47 month old (12 preterm and 10 term children). There were significant differences between the 4 groups in the parietal region, cerebral white matter, third ventricle, and lateral ventricle. Correlations between regional cerebral volume and developmental testing were explored for the third and lateral ventricles. Our findings indicate that in young children differences in regional cerebral volume are due to both maturation and prematurity.

Personality Profiles of Intimate Partner Violence Offenders With and Without PTSD

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious forensic and clinical problem throughout the United States. Research aimed at defining and differentiating subgroups of IPV offenders using standardized personality instruments may eventually help with matching treatments to specific individuals to reduce recidivism. The current study used a convenience sample of court-ordered IPV offenders to explore whether the presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can reliably differentiate this population in terms of personality characteristics and clinical symptoms. Profile analysis showed meaningful differences between PTSD (n = 22), non-PTSD (n = 43), and nontrauma (n = 13) groups on a variety of Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory and Personality Assessment Inventory personality and clinical scales. The PTSD group reported significantly less IPV than the non-PTSD and nontrauma groups, as well as endorsing greater overall distress, greater symptoms of anxiety, and greater symptoms of depression across instruments. Implications for assessment are discussed.