Infant Behavior & Development最新文献

Objective

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between breastfeeding duration and neurodevelopment in children aged 2 to 3 years in a Chinese population.

Methods

This study was based on a cross-sectional survey. The data were from the National Nutrition and Health Systematic Survey for children in China which was conducted from 2019 to 2020. Characteristics of parents and children and the breastfeeding duration were obtained using interview-administered questionnaires. Children’s neuropsychological development was assessed by a trained child health care physician using the Child Psychological Development Scale. A multivariable linear regression model was used to analyze the association between breastfeeding duration and neuropsychological development.

Results

A total 1290 children aged 2–3 years were included in the present analysis. In multivariable linear regression models, after adjustment for potential confounders, children who were breastfed for 7–12 months had a 3.59-point increase in gross motor development (β = 3.59; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.23 to 6.34), a 3.73-point increase in fine motor development (β = 3.73; 95 % CI: 1.09 to 6.47), and a 2.87-point in language development (β = 2.87; 95 % CI: 1.12 to 5.31) compared with those who were never breastfed. Children who were breastfed for > 12 months had a 3.77-point increase in fine motor development (β = 3.77; 95 % CI: 0.98 to 6.86) compared with those who were never breastfed.

Conclusions

Longer breastfeeding duration was associated with increased gross motor, fine motor, and language scores in our study population. Mothers in China should be encouraged to initiate and continue breastfeeding.

This study investigated if non-nutritive suck (NNS) at 3 months is related to subsequent oral motor and motor skills using caregiver-reported scores on the Child Oral and Motor Proficiency Scale (ChOMPS) at 12 months in a cohort of 69 full-term infants and their caregivers. Longer NNS burst durations were associated with lower oral motor coordination and total ChOMPS scores. More NNS cycles per minute was associated with lower complex motor movement scores. More NNS bursts, cycles per burst, and cycles per minute were related with lower total ChOMPS scores. Early NNS outcomes can provide valuable insight in future neuromotor development.

In the current preregistered study, we tested n = 67 6-month-old Norwegian infants’ discrimination of a native vowel contrast /y-i/ and a non-native (British) vowel contrast /ʌ-æ/ in an eye-tracking habituation paradigm. Our results showed that, on a group level, infants did not discriminate either contrast. Yet, exploratory analyses revealed a negative association between infants’ performance in each experiment, that is, better discrimination of the native contrast was associated with worse discrimination of the non-native contrast. Potentially, infants in this study might have been on the cusp of perceptual reorganisation towards their native language.

Young infants can discriminate many non-native sounds, but the discrimination ability is thought to decrease within the first year of life due to perceptual attunement. However, most studies tested infants’ perception cross-sectionally, without examining within-group change. To this end, the current study tested German infants’ discrimination of the English /æ/-/ɛ/ contrast both cross-sectionally and longitudinally using the visual habituation technique. In Experiment 1, 96 German-learning infants were tested cross-sectionally at 5–6, 8–9 and 12–13 months. Linear mixed-effects models revealed that while the 5–6-month-olds did not discriminate the contrast, the 8–9- and 12–13-month-olds showed signs of discrimination only when they were habituated with /ɛ/, in line with previous findings suggesting that changes from central to peripheral vowels in the F1/F2 vowel space are more noticeable than in the reverse direction. Moreover, the 8–9-month-olds showed a novelty preference, while the 12–13-month-olds showed a familiarity preference. In Experiment 2, the infants tested at 5–6 months in Experiment 1 were tested again at 8–9 and 12–13 months. Fifteen infants completed the three experiments. Here, only the 12–13-month-olds discriminated the contrast by showing a novelty preference but only when habituated with /æ/. Overall, both experiments showed gradual development of discrimination ability across the first year, which challenges the assumptions of perceptual attunement. We propose that the perceptual sensitivity for a non-native vocalic contrast can improve during development. The change in perceptual asymmetry tells us that the direction of asymmetry is not universal and can be altered by linguistic experience. The change from novelty to familiarity preference may be due to the emerging preference for the more native-like vowel as well as the effect of repeating experiments with the same infants. In sum, our cross-sectional and longitudinal results overlap broadly, but the potential effect of repeating experiments must be considered when interpreting longitudinal studies.

Positive mother-infant interactions are important for infant development. Both mother and infant characteristics, such as maternal depression and infant temperamental negative affect are risk factors for adverse mother-infant bonding and infant outcomes. Although these predictors have been researched individually, limited studies have considered them in concert. This study aimed to examine the role of infant age (6-, 9- and 12-months), infant temperamental negative affect, and maternal depression on maternal and infant social positive engagement during the Still-Face procedure. Participants were 85 ethnically-varied mother-infant dyads (44 % girls). Mothers responded to questionnaires, prior to attending the laboratory for the Still-Face procedure (i.e., a task involving a social stressor). Results showed a significant moderating relationship between infant age, infant temperamental negative affect, and maternal depression on infant social positive engagement. For 12-month-old infants, higher infant temperamental negative affect was found to be compounded by greater maternal depression symptoms resulting in significantly lower social positive engagement following a social stressor. This relationship was not found for younger infants. No predictors were associated with maternal social positive engagement. Results from this study contribute to the literature on infant wellbeing. Results highlight the importance of interventions that aim to reduce maternal depression symptoms, especially, as maternal depression may disproportionately influence 12-month-old infants who have negative temperament.