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Research has shown mixed results regarding the association between women's postpartum depression and mother-infant interactions, suggesting that a woman's unique experience and context may moderate how depression shapes these interactions. We examined the extent to which a woman's comorbid anxiety, her exposure to adversity, and infant characteristics moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms of women and interactions with their infants at 6 (n = 647) and 12 months (n = 346) postpartum. The methods included standardized coding of mother-infant interactions and structural regression modeling. The results at 6 months of infant age indicated that infant male sex and infant negative affectivity were risk factors for mothers' depression being associated with less optimal interactions. At 12 months of infant age, two moderators appeared to buffer the influence of depression: a woman's history of trauma and infant preterm birth (≤37 weeks gestation). The results reinforce the salience of infant characteristics in the relationship between maternal depression and mother-infant interactions. The findings also suggest that experiences of trauma may offer opportunities for psychological growth that foster constructive management of depression's potential effect on mother-infant interactions. Further research is needed to clarify the underlying processes and mechanisms that explain the influence of these moderators. The ultimate goals are to reduce the risk of suboptimal interactions and reinforce healthy dyadic relations.

The impact of COVID-19 stressors on young children and families may differ based on pre-pandemic factors, including family race/ethnicity, financial stability, and pre-existing child developmental or social-emotional difficulties. The authors draw from their work with families with toddlers and preschool-aged children to explore experiences of the pandemic on families and how perceived stress has changed over time. They also demonstrate unique experiences of families by examining the impact of COVID-related stress across race. Addressing areas where additional supports are likely needed to support families with young children is a focus. [This article was co-written by the Michigan Collaborative for Infant Mental Health Research, University of Michigan.]

Background Home visiting programs are effective in improving maternal-child health, and higher therapeutic alliance is associated with improved program retention and outcomes. Black, single, low-income mothers have a higher risk for poorer health outcomes in pregnancy and postpartum and for early termination of therapeutic services. Objective To examine associations between clinician and client alliance and social, economic, and racial demographics. Methods Mothers (N = 71) who were pregnant or had an infant (age < 24 m) receiving Infant Mental Health (IMH) services through community health service agencies and their clinicians (N = 50) completed the Scale to Assess Therapeutic Relationships (clinicians: STAR-C, clients: STAR-P) at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12 months, and provided demographic information. Results Survival analysis showed those with higher alliance ratings, both client and clinician ratings, at the 3-month time-point were more likely to remain in treatment longer (for clients est = -1.67, p = .0017; for clinician est = -.75, p = .031). Controlling for clinician experience and frequency of reflective supervision, Black clinicians had higher alliance ratings than white clinicians, (b = 3.1 (1.6), p = .049). Neither clinician-client racial match nor client marital status predicted alliance. Black clinicians' ratings of alliance did not vary by client race, but white clinicians reported weaker alliance with their Black, relative to white, clients ([beta] = .40, p = .045). Conclusions Weaker alliance reported by white clinicians with Black clients, coupled with a lack of client-race related differences for Black clinicians, suggests white clinician racial bias may be important to consider in regards to program retention and health disparities., Author(s): Chioma Torres [sup.1] , Katherine L. Rosenblum [sup.2] [sup.4] , Jennifer M. Jester [sup.2] , Megan M. Julian [sup.2] , Larissa N. Niec [sup.3] , Maria Muzik [sup.2] [sup.4] [...]

The Baby Leadership Learning Collaborative (Baby LLC) initiative is a leadership group committed to bridging relationships across service sectors to promote infant-early childhood mental health and to break the multigenerational cycle of risk often associated with early adversity and trauma. Baby LLC has guided an early relational health focus within Rhode Island's Safe and Secure Baby Court (SSBC) and leverages the power of creative partnerships for the benefit of the baby. The authors describe efforts to enhance collaboration among the family court, child welfare, a local birthing hospital, family home visiting programs, and university-based clinical research programs to expedite, improve, and individualize services for vulnerable families so they are better able to maintain healthy relationships with their babies.

Maternal oxytocin is connected to aspects of parenting including sensitivity, warmth, positive affect, and affectionate touch. Oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) polymorphisms are associated with circulating oxytocin levels, altered brain activity, and parenting behaviors. This study aimed to replicate prior work on OXTRsingle-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs1042778 and rs53576 in relation to maternal sensitivity, explore associations with other aspects of parenting (i.e., negative parenting), evaluate observational and self-report measures of parenting in relation to OXTR SNPs, and examine whether childhood trauma exposure moderates the relation between OXTR SNPs and parenting. Mothers (N = 100) were observed during 2 teaching interaction tasks with their 7-month-old infant, completed questionnaire and interview measures related to parenting and trauma history, and provided saliva specimens to derive OXTRgenotypes. Mothers with OXTR rs1042778 TT genotypes demonstrated lower behavioral sensitivity, lower engagement, higher intrusiveness, and more frequent frightened/frightening behavior than mothers with TG or GG genotypes. Genotype interacted with childhood trauma history such that mothers who had experienced childhood trauma were more likely to demonstrate frightened/frightening behavior if they had the TT genotype on rs1042778 relative to the TG or GG genotype; however, small cell sizes for this interaction suggest replication is warranted. Contrary to expectations, mothers with the TT genotype on rs1042778 self-reported that they had less impaired bonding than mothers with TG or GG genotypes. Results are discussed with respect to prior work with oxytocin in lower versus higher risk samples, and the potential role of mothers' self-awareness in explaining discrepancies between results from observational versus self-report measures of parenting.

Military deployments can necessitate prolonged family separations. The strain of separation is particularly acute for very young children and their parents. Reunions bring joy as well as challenges. The authors draw from their work with military families with young children to explore experiences of separating and reconnecting and the supports that can help families as they reestablish relationships, roles, and routines. The accounts of military families offer a unique lens for examining the impact of family separations. They demonstrate that, even with careful planning and strong supports, the implications of separation are great and the process of reuniting is complex.

This study assessed the links between infant negative affect, parental reflective functioning (RF), and toddler behavior problems in a sample of 84 women and their infants. Mothers provided self-report demographic data and completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised during a home visit when the infant was 7 months old. They also completed the Child Behavior Checklist over the phone when their infant was 18 months old. During a lab visit when their infant was 16 months old, mothers participated in the Parent Development Interview-Revised Short Form, which was coded for RF. Results suggest that parental RF was not associated with infant negative affect or toddler behavior problems. However, infant negative affect correlated positively with toddler behavior problems and both correlated with cumulative sociodemographic risk. Results of a moderation analysis revealed that RF moderated the relationship between infant negative affect and toddler behavior problems, such that when parental RF was high there was a nonsignificant relationship between infant negative affect and toddler behavior problems.

The current study examined concurrent relationships between children's self-regulation, measured behaviorally and by parent-report, and children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The aim was to distinguish which components of self-regulation (attention vs. inhibitory control, "hot" vs. "cool" regulation) best predict dimensional symptomatology and clinical disorders in young children. The participants were 120 children, ages 4–8 years old. Results showed that greater parent-reported attention was associated with fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Behaviorally-measured hot inhibitory control related to fewer internalizing symptoms, whereas parent-reported inhibitory control related to fewer externalizing symptoms. Similar patterns emerged for clinical diagnoses, with parent-rated attention most strongly predicting disorders across domains. Results support prior evidence implicating self-regulatory deficits in externalizing problems, while also demonstrating that components of self-regulation are impaired with internalizing symptoms. Further, different sub-components of self-regulation relate to different dimensions of psychopathology in children. Interventions should target these areas in children at-risk for disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]