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Neonatal Brain Volumes and Early Parenting Behavior as Mediators in Associations Between Prenatal Social Disadvantage
Shelby D Leverett1, Olivia Poolos2, Rebecca G Brady3
1Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Neurosciences Program, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
Insights
Prenatal social disadvantage (PSD) impacts child socioemotional development. Neonatal brain structure and early parenting mediate this, with parenting being a stronger target for intervention in externalizing behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Public Health
Background:
- Social disadvantage during pregnancy is linked to early socioemotional challenges.
- Understanding the mechanisms connecting prenatal social disadvantage (PSD) to these difficulties is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether neonatal brain volumes (BVs) and/or early parenting behaviors mediate the relationship between PSD and socioemotional problems.
- To identify key factors for early intervention strategies.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study recruiting pregnant women.
- Assessed PSD through material resource access.
- Measured neonatal brain volumes via MRI and observed parenting behaviors at 1 year.
- Evaluated child socioemotional problems at 2 years using parent reports.
Main Results:
- Greater PSD correlated with increased externalizing and dysregulation symptoms at age 2.
- Reduced neonatal BVs mediated the link between PSD and externalizing/dysregulation.
- Early parenting behaviors, especially nonsupportive parenting, also mediated the PSD-externalizing link.
- Nonsupportive parenting remained a significant mediator for externalizing behaviors, even when controlling for BVs.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal social disadvantage may lead to brain structural alterations at birth, increasing risk for socioemotional difficulties.
- Parenting behaviors are a significant mediator, particularly for externalizing problems, highlighting their importance as intervention targets.
Background:
Social disadvantage has been associated with early socioemotional difficulties. In this study, we examined mechanisms that relate prenatal social disadvantage (PSD) to the development of early socioemotional problems by testing whether these associations were mediated by 1) neonatal brain volumes (BVs) and/or 2) early parenting behaviors.
Methods:
Women were recruited early in their pregnancies and followed prospectively. PSD encompassed access to material (e.g., income-to-needs, health insurance, area deprivation, nutrition, education) resources during pregnancy. Shortly after birth, neonates underwent structural magnetic resonance scanning. Mother-child dyads returned for parenting observations at child age 1 year, and parents reported child socioemotional problems (Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment: externalizing, dysregulation, internalizing) at age 2 years (N = 267; 45% female). Simple and parallel mediation models were used to test hypotheses.
Results:
Greater PSD was associated with increased externalizing and dysregulation symptoms at age 2 years. PSD-associated reductions in neonatal BVs (cortical gray matter, white matter, total brain) mediated both PSD-externalizing and PSD-dysregulation associations. The PSD-externalizing association was additionally mediated by early parenting behaviors, particularly nonsupportive parenting behaviors. Thus, for externalizing symptoms, nonsupportive parenting behaviors and mediating brain metrics were examined simultaneously in parallel mediation models. Nonsupportive parenting remained a significant mediator, while neonatal BVs were no longer significant.
Conclusions:
PSD-associated brain structural alterations at birth may serve as early risk factors for the development of multidimensional socioemotional difficulties in toddlerhood. However, parenting emerged as a stronger mediator for externalizing problems, lending support to parenting behaviors as key intervention targets for the prevention of externalizing problems during early childhood.
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