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Exploring Perinatal Indicators of Infant Social-Emotional Development: A Review of the Replicated Evidence

Jennifer E McIntosh1,2,3, Craig A Olsson4,5,6, Melanie Schuijers4

  • 1La Trobe University, The Bouverie Centre, Bundoora, VIC, Australia. jenn.mcintosh@latrobe.edu.au.

Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review
|June 14, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Early infant social-emotional development is crucial. This review identifies key perinatal factors, like caregiving responsiveness and maternal mental health, that predict attachment security and behavioral regulation by mid-infancy.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Perinatal Health
  • Social-Emotional Development

Background:

  • Infant social-emotional development significantly impacts lifelong outcomes.
  • Existing screening tools often miss early infancy, creating a developmental assessment gap.
  • No systematic review has synthesized evidence on perinatal factors for early social-emotional markers.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine modifiable risk and protective factors during the perinatal window (pregnancy to 10 months postpartum).
  • To identify predictors for two key early social-emotional markers: attachment security and behavioral regulation in mid-infancy (12-18 months).

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of meta-analytic and longitudinal studies.
  • Searched six electronic databases (ERIC, PsycINFO, Medline Complete, Informit, Embase, Scopus).
  • Analyzed developmental relationships between perinatal exposures and infant social-emotional status at 12-18 months.

Main Results:

  • Identified 12 modifiable indicators across infant, caregiving, and contextual domains predicting social-emotional outcomes.
  • Key predictors included caregiving responsiveness, maternal mental health, couple relationship quality, and socioeconomic status (SES).
  • Perinatal factors closest to the infant showed the strongest associations; infant-specific factors (excluding medical risks) were less consistently predictive.

Conclusions:

  • Caregiving, maternal, and contextual factors in the perinatal period are vital for infant social-emotional development.
  • Findings support developing early screening tools for primary care and population health.
  • Understanding these modifiable factors can inform interventions to promote healthy infant social-emotional trajectories.

Keywords:
DevelopmentEmotionalInfantScreeningSocial

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