Associations between parental stress, parent-infant bonding, and infant neuromotor functioning

The young developing brain is very sensitive to many environmental influences, both positive and negative. Parental stress and parent-infant bonding have been shown to be associated with neurodevelopmental delays in toddlers. However, it is not known at what age these associations become relevant which we aim to study as early as three-months of age, paving the way for new intervention strategies.

This study included 339 parent-infant dyads or triads from the Dutch TRAILS-NEXT cohort. Parental stress and parent-infant bonding were assessed at three months of age using the 'Nijmeegse Ouderlijke Stress Index - Korte versie' (NOSI-K) and Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), respectively. Infant neurodevelopment was assessed using the General Movement Assessment (GMA), including the Motor Optimality score - Revised (MOS-R). Perinatal risk factors with known associations with infant neurodevelopment were included as potential confounders.

210 infant-mother dyads and 147 infant-partner dyads were included in the main analysis. Parental stress levels were elevated in 7 % of mothers and 18 % of partners, but no significant correlations were found between parental stress, bonding, and MOS-R scores. After adjustments for confounders, neither parental bonding nor stress showed significant relationships with general movement characteristics in regression analyses, suggesting that other factors may influence individual differences in early motor development.

Parental stress and parent-infant bonding were not associated with infant neurodevelopment at age of three months, suggesting a wider window of opportunity to intervene in case of parental stress or suboptimal parent-infant bonding.