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Xu M, Sun H, Liu A, Zhao X, Zhang Y, Guan H. Maternal parenting behavioural profiles and developmental outcomes in early years: a latent profile analysis in rural China. J Glob Health 2025; 15:04042. [PMID: 40353720 PMCID: PMC12068196 DOI: 10.7189/jogh.15.04042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2025] Open
Abstract
Background Parenting behavioural profiles differ across cultural, economic, and ethnic contexts. China, with one of the largest child populations worldwide, faces the challenge of poor developmental outcomes during early childhood in rural areas. Using a data-driven approach, we aimed to explore distinct parenting profiles, their corresponding developmental outcomes during early childhood, and the associated family risk factors. Methods We enrolled children and their caregivers from a national poverty-stricken county in China. We used the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development - Third Edition to measure their developmental outcomes by cognition, motor, and language, and we assessed their social-emotional development using the Chinese version of Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional, Second Edition. We used latent profile analysis to examine the patterns of parenting behaviour and examined the difference in developmental outcomes and familial risk factors via analysis of variance. Results We interviewed 260 children (mean age = 9.62, standard deviation (SD) = 3.76 months; 51.5% female) and their caregivers from a national poverty-stricken county in China. The two-profile solution best fitted the data and indicated two parenting style patterns: low human stimulation (HS) & low social support (SS) group (n = 61, 23.46%) and high HS & high SS group (n = 199, 76.54%). There was a significant difference in children's social emotional development (P = 0.013) and mothers' depression score (P = 0.046) between the two parenting behavioural patterns. Conclusions Our study provides evidence on maternal parenting behaviour, associated risks, and child development outcomes in rural China, with significant implications for further high-quality interventions in regions of comparable economic level, particularly in the rural areas of Western China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengxue Xu
- Nurturing Care Research and Guidance Center, Child Healthcare Center, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China
| | - Hongyi Sun
- Centre for Innovation in Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Aihua Liu
- Department of Integrated Early Childhood Development, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China
| | - Xuhang Zhao
- Centre for Innovation in Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Yuning Zhang
- Centre for Innovation in Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
- State Key laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Hongyan Guan
- Nurturing Care Research and Guidance Center, Child Healthcare Center, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China
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Xu X, Wang Z, Zhang W, Guo J, Wei W, Zhang M, Ding X, Liu X, Yang Q, Wang K, Zhu Y, Sun J, Song H, Shen Z, Chen L, Shi F, Wang Q, Li Y, Zhang H, Li D. Behavioral observation and assessment protocol for language and social-emotional development study in children aged 0-6: the Chinese baby connectome project. BMC Psychol 2024; 12:533. [PMID: 39367488 PMCID: PMC11451268 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-024-02031-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2024] [Accepted: 09/24/2024] [Indexed: 10/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The global rise in developmental delays underscores the critical need for a thorough understanding and timely interventions during early childhood. Addressing this issue, the Chinese Baby Connectome Project (CBCP)'s behavior branch is dedicated to examining language acquisition, social-emotional development, and environmental factors affecting Chinese children. The research framework is built around three primary objectives: developing a 0-6 Child Development Assessment Toolkit, implementing an Intelligent Coding System, and investigating environmental influence. METHODS Utilizing an accelerated longitudinal design, the CBCP aims to enlist a minimum of 1000 typically developing Chinese children aged 0-6. The data collected in this branch constitutes parental questionnaires, behavioral assessments, and observational experiments to capture their developmental milestones and environmental influences holistically. The parental questionnaires will gauge children's developmental levels in language and social-emotional domains, alongside parental mental well-being, life events, parenting stress, parenting styles, and family relationships. Behavioral assessments will involve neurofunctional developmental evaluations using tools such as the Griffiths Development Scales and Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Additionally, the assessments will encompass measuring children's executive functions (e.g., Head-Toe-Knee-Shoulder), social cognitive abilities (e.g., theory of mind), and language development (e.g., Early Chinese Vocabulary Test). A series of behavior observation. experiments will be conducted targeting children of different age groups, focusing primarily on aspects such as behavioral inhibition, compliance, self-control, and social-emotional regulation. To achieve the objectives, established international questionnaires will be adapted to suit local contexts and devise customized metrics for evaluating children's language and social-emotional development; deep learning algorithms will be developed in the observational experiments to enable automated behavioral analysis; and statistical models will be built to factor in various environmental variables to comprehensively outline developmental trajectories and relationships. DISCUSSION This study's integration of diverse assessments and AI technology will offer a detailed analysis of early childhood development in China, particularly in the realms of language acquisition and social-emotional skills. The development of a comprehensive assessment toolkit and coding system will enhance our ability to understand and support the development of Chinese children, contributing significantly to the field of early childhood development research. TRIAL REGISTRATION This study was registered with clinicaltrials.gov NCT05040542 on September 10, 2021.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinpei Xu
- Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhixin Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Weijia Zhang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiayang Guo
- School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei Wei
- Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Mingming Zhang
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xuechen Ding
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaohua Liu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qing Yang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Kaidong Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yitao Zhu
- School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jian Sun
- School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Haoyang Song
- United Imaging Intelligence Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhenhui Shen
- United Imaging Intelligence Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - Lei Chen
- United Imaging Intelligence Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - Feng Shi
- United Imaging Intelligence Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - Qian Wang
- School of Biomedical Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Advanced Medical Materials and Devices, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center, Shanghai, China
| | - Yan Li
- Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Han Zhang
- School of Biomedical Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Advanced Medical Materials and Devices, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China.
- Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center, Shanghai, China.
| | - Dan Li
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
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Wang L, Jiang D, Chen Y, Zhang S, Rozelle S. Paths of cognitive and social-emotional delays before age three in rural China: Predictive power on skills at preschool age. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0310016. [PMID: 39240865 PMCID: PMC11379282 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 08/22/2024] [Indexed: 09/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Cognitive and social-emotional development in the first three years of life is associated with later skills. However, little is known about the paths of developmental delays in both cognitive and social-emotional skills before age 3 or to what extent these paths predict later developmental outcomes. The aim of this study is to examine the associations between the different paths of developmental delays in both cognitive and social-emotional skills of children before age 3 and the levels of development of the children when they are preschool age. Using a longitudinal data collected at three time points from 1245 children and their caregivers in rural China, we identified four different paths of developmental delays in cognitive and social-emotional before age 3 and examined how these paths are associated with different levels of developmental outcomes at preschool age. We used a non-parametric standardization approach and an ordinary least squares model to perform our analyses. Findings show that rates of developmental delays in either cognitive or social-emotional domain or both domains are high at all different time points, ranging from 20% to 55% for cognitive delays and 42% to 61% for social-emotional delays. Over half of children experienced deteriorating levels of either cognitive or social-emotional development before age 3. A large share of children was found to be persistently delayed in either domain. Only a small share of children raised their levels of development in either domain before age 3. In addition, we identified certain socioeconomic status of the family that are associated with never or deteriorating path of child developmental delays. More importantly, we revealed that different paths of developmental delays before age 3 have predictive power on different levels of developmental outcomes at preschool age. Our results suggest that actions are needed at the earliest times to improve child development when children are still infants or toddlers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Wang
- International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Shaanxi, China
| | - Dingjing Jiang
- International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Shaanxi, China
| | - Yifei Chen
- International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Shaanxi, China
| | - Siqi Zhang
- Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Scott Rozelle
- Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
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Gou H, Yang Y. The relationship between video games and social-emotional delay in Chinese rural preschoolers: A comparison of five types of media video games and social-emotional delay. Child Care Health Dev 2024; 50:e13288. [PMID: 38837450 DOI: 10.1111/cch.13288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Revised: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent studies have revealed a negative relationship between children's digital media use and social-emotional development. However, few studies distinguish between different digital devices and the different functions they provide that may lead to different outcomes. METHODS This study explored the relationship between young children's time spent on various digital devices and their social-emotional delay based on a survey of 1182 preschoolers (3 to 6 years old) in rural China. Children's social-emotional delay was assessed through a validated screening tool (ASQ-SE II). RESULTS Children's time spent on television, computers, tablets, or smartphones was not associated with their social-emotional delay. However, their risk of social-emotional delay increased as their time spent on game consoles increased. This relationship was reflected in five of the seven behavioural areas of children's social-emotional development (i.e., self-regulation, compliance, affect, social communications, and interactions with people). Moreover, it did not vary between children with different socioeconomic statuses. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests a possible relationship between children's social-emotional delay and video games, which might need to be paid more attention to than other media types.
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Affiliation(s)
- He Gou
- School of Journalism and New Media, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yinglong Yang
- Guangming School of Journalism and Communication, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China
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Jia L, Zhang Z, Li R, Zha J, Fang P, He H, Wan Y. Maternal parenting stress and social-emotional problems of Chinese preschoolers: The role of the mother-child relationship and maternal adverse childhood experiences. J Affect Disord 2024; 350:188-196. [PMID: 38220112 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous research suggests that maternal parenting stress is a significant predictor of social-emotional problems in children. However, little is known regarding the mother-child relationship and the effect of maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on this association. METHODS Three waves of longitudinal panel data were collected from 2893 Chinese preschoolers with a follow-up interval of 6 months. The mothers of preschoolers were asked to complete anonymous questionnaires concerning demographic variables, maternal ACEs and parenting stress in Wave 1, mother-child relationships in Wave 2, and children's social-emotional problems in Wave 3. The parallel mediation model was conducted to analyze the mediating role of three dimensions of mother-child relationships, and the moderation model was conducted to examine the moderating role of maternal ACEs. RESULTS The results showed that maternal parenting stress predicted children's social-emotional problems directly or indirectly through the mother-child relationship, with an intimate mother-child relationship mediating this main effect negatively but a conflicted and dependent mother-child relationship mediating this main effect positively. In addition, moderating results indicated that the main effect of maternal parenting stress on children's social-emotional problems was more marked among participants with at least one maternal ACEs than those without maternal ACEs. Furthermore, the moderating effect was only detected in children whose mothers had a high school education or less. LIMITATIONS The subjectivity of mothers' reports may somewhat reduce the credibility due to the possible overestimation or underestimation of children's social-emotional problems. CONCLUSION These findings provide new evidence for the effects of maternal parenting stress on children's social-emotional development and highlight the need for more attention to children with mothers having ACE exposure, lower educational level and poor parent-child relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liyuan Jia
- Department of Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Anhui, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui, China
| | - Zhixian Zhang
- Department of Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Anhui, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui, China
| | - Ruoyu Li
- Department of Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Anhui, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui, China
| | - Jinhong Zha
- Department of Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Anhui, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui, China
| | - Peifei Fang
- Department of Physiology, Anhui Medical College, Anhui, China
| | - Haiyan He
- Wuhu Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning Service Center, Wuhu, China.
| | - Yuhui Wan
- Teaching Center for Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Anhui, China.
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Liu T, Zhou P, Zuo Z, Fan M, Yang Y. Mediating effects of parent-child dysfunctional interactions in the relationship between parenting distress and social-emotional problems and competencies. Infant Behav Dev 2024; 74:101899. [PMID: 37992457 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the association between parenting distress and four variables of young children's social-emotional problems and competencies: externalizing, internalizing, and dysregulation problems, and social-emotional competencies, and whether parent-child dysfunctional interactions mediated these associations. Participants were Chinese toddlers (N = 711) aged 24-36 months in family (44.3%) and center-based (55.7%) care. The results from structural equation modeling showed that parent-child dysfunctional interactions fully mediated the relationship between parenting distress and externalizing, and dysregulation problems, and social-emotional competencies, while partially mediated in the internalizing problems for both groups. Furthermore, multi-group SEM models showed the direct and indirect pathways differed between two groups. The research concludes that parent-child interaction plays a crucial role in mediating the relationship between parenting distress and young children's social-emotional problems and competencies. For families' choice of childcare, this study suggests early center-based services provided for toddlers exposed to family risk characteristics such as parents' poor mental health, and more importantly, low levels of parent-child interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting Liu
- Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, China; China Research Institute of Care and Education of Infants and Young Children, East China Normal University, China
| | - Ping Zhou
- School of Early Childhood Education, Changsha Normal University, China
| | - Zhihong Zuo
- Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, China; China Research Institute of Care and Education of Infants and Young Children, East China Normal University, China.
| | - Meng Fan
- Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, China
| | - Yaoxuan Yang
- Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, China
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Ding K, Li C, Li Y, Li H. Partner's emotions are associated with preschoolers' prefrontal activation under joint attention: An fNIRS evidence. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14398. [PMID: 37486036 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Emotions and joint attention are highly associated and mutually influenced during preschool, the critical period for early emotional and cognitive development. However, few studies have explored the neuropsychological mechanism of joint attention with preschoolers and their partners under different emotions. This study has examined the prefrontal activation under a comprehensive emotional joint attention task in 45 preschoolers (25 boys, Mage = 58 ± 9.02 months) to compare the different influences of partners' positive, neutral, and negative emotions. Analysis of the functional near-infrared spectroscopy data indicated that the participants' prefrontal activation triggered by joint attention in positive and negative emotions was significantly higher than in neutral emotions. Moreover, their brain synchronization intensity was significantly higher in positive emotions of joint attention than in negative emotions. These findings advance our understanding of the neural mechanism of early childhood emotional processing under joint attention and provide a neural perspective to explain the effects of different emotions on preschoolers' social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keya Ding
- Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chuanjiang Li
- College of Child Development and Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yanwei Li
- College of Preschool Education, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing, China
| | - Hui Li
- Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
- Faculty of Education and Human Development, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, China
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Xu K, Geng S, Dou D, Liu X. Relations between Video Game Engagement and Social Development in Children: The Mediating Role of Executive Function and Age-Related Moderation. Behav Sci (Basel) 2023; 13:833. [PMID: 37887483 PMCID: PMC10604845 DOI: 10.3390/bs13100833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The global proliferation of video games, particularly among children, has led to growing concerns about the potential impact on children's social development. Executive function is a cognitive ability that plays a crucial role in children's social development, but a child's age constrains its development. To examine the association between video game engagement and children's social development while considering the mediating role of executive function and the moderating role of age, a questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 431 parents. The results revealed a negative relation between video game engagement and social development in children, with executive function found to mediate this relation fully. Additionally, the negative association between video game engagement and executive function became more pronounced as children grew older. In light of these findings, it is advisable to adopt proactive strategies to limit excessive video game use, consider the developmental characteristics of children at different ages, and prioritize the promotion of executive function to facilitate social development among children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Xu
- College of Preschool Education, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China; (K.X.); (S.G.)
| | - Shuliang Geng
- College of Preschool Education, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China; (K.X.); (S.G.)
| | - Donghui Dou
- School of Sociology and Psychology, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China;
| | - Xiaocen Liu
- College of Preschool Education, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China; (K.X.); (S.G.)
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Yakupova V, Suarez A. Parental burnout, depression and emotional development of the preschoolers. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1207569. [PMID: 37408967 PMCID: PMC10318402 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1207569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Parental burnout is becoming more and more prevalent in the world, mainly incultures with high demands towards parents. Parental burnout is distinctive from depression and might have its unique influence on child development, which isunder current international research. This work contributes to the understanding of parental burnout, maternal depression and child emotional development(specifically emotion comprehension) interrelations. Additionally, we explored whether there are differences in the effects of parental burnout and depressionon boys and girls. Methods To analyse the emotional development of the preschoolers, the Russian version of the Test of Emotional Comprehension (TEC) was used. We used the Russian version of the Parental Burnout Inventory (PBI) to analyse the level of PB and the Russian version of Beck depression Inventory (BDI) to assess participants' depression level. Results Parental burnout positively correlates with child emotional comprehension skills, specifically understanding of external causes (B = 0.20, CI: 0.03; 0.37) and mental causes of emotions (B = 0.22, CI: 0.05; 0.40). This effect is gender dependent and is significantlyhigher for girls (B = 0.54, CI: 0.09; 0.98). The effect of maternal depression on emotion comprehension skills is also gender dependent: total scores on emotioncomprehension tasks are significantly higher for daughters of mothers with depression (B = 0.59, CI: 0.001; 1.18). Discussion Maternal depression and parental burnout might provoke development of extra sensitivity and self-regulation strategies in girls.
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