Showing 1 - 2 of 2 Items
Do Infant Temperament Characteristics Predict Core Academic Abilities in Preschool-Aged Children?
Date: 2016-01-01
Creator: Maria A. Gartstein, Samuel P. Putnam, Rachel Kliewer
Access: Open access
- Examined relationships between temperament, measured via parent report at 4 months and structured laboratory observations at 12 months of age, and a school readiness battery administered at about 4 years of age (N =31). Scores on the School Readiness Assessment of the Bracken Basic Concept Scale (BBCS) were related to infant Positive Affectivity/Surgency (PAS), with infants described as demonstrating higher levels of PAS at 4 months of age later demonstrating greater school readiness in the domains of color, letter, and number skills. Regulatory Capacity/Orienting (RCO) at 4 months also predicted color skills, with more regulated infants demonstrating superior pre-academic functioning in this area. Analyses involving laboratory observations of temperament provided additional information concerning the importance of infant Positive Affectivity/Surgency, predictive of letter skills and overall school-readiness scores later in childhood. Results are discussed in the context of implications for theory and research, as well as early education settings.
Social support buffers the effects of maternal prenatal stress on infants' unpredictability
Date: 2021-06-01
Creator: Lea Takács, Jiří Štipl, Maria Gartstein, Samuel P. Putnam, Catherine, Monk
Access: Open access
- Objective: Exposure to stress in pregnancy has been shown to affect fetal development with short- and long-term physiological and behavioral consequences for the offspring. Although social support is known to lower perceived stress, no prior study has investigated the buffering role of social support in the context of prenatal stress effects on infant temperament. The aim of this study was to examine interactive effects of prenatal stress and social support on several dimensions of infant temperament at 9 months postpartum. Study design: A total of 272 mothers completed the Perceived Stress Scale and the Perceived Social Support Scale in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Infant temperament was assessed by mothers at 9 months postpartum using the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire. Linear regression models were performed to assess the effects of perceived stress, social support, and their interaction on infant temperament. Results: Prenatal stress interacted with social support, such that prenatal stress increased infant unpredictability when social support was below -0.5 SD. Conclusions: Prenatal stress was found to be a risk factor for infant temperamental unpredictability when combined with low social support perceived by the mother during pregnancy. Support of others, not previously examined in this context, can reduce the impact of prenatal stress.