Mental health during early childhood is closely associated with the quality of social and family contexts. Infants with pediatric physiological regulation problems in areas of sleep, crying, and feeding frequently have mental health problems during early childhood. The study will examine how factors associated with poverty affect child mental health. The study will assess environmental risk factors and parent- child relationship problems to determine if they mediate the connection between infant regulation problems and later emotional, social, and behavioral problems. 300 infants will be evaluated for pediatric problems, environmental risk, and parent-child relationships and reexamined at 1, 2, and 4 years of age for mental health status. An environmental multirisk score will be calculated from factors associated with parenting behavior, parental childrearing values, parent mental health and eduction, marital satisfaction and structure, social support, stressful life events, neighborhood conditions, and family ethnic and economic status. Parent- child relationships will be scored on a dimension from mild perturbation to frank disorder. Mediator and moderator models will be tested to explain economic, social, and family effects on child outcomes. Graduate students will serve as research apprentices to enhance their research skills in an understudied area relevant to social work.
| Conway, Anne; McDonough, Susan C; Mackenzie, Michael et al. (2014) Maternal sensitivity and latency to positive emotion following challenge: pathways through effortful control. Infant Ment Health J 35:274-84 |
| Choe, Daniel Ewon; Sameroff, Arnold J; McDonough, Susan C (2013) Infant functional regulatory problems and gender moderate bidirectional effects between externalizing behavior and maternal depressive symptoms. Infant Behav Dev 36:307-18 |
| Rosenblum, Katherine L; McDonough, Susan; Muzik, Maria et al. (2002) Maternal representations of the infant: associations with infant response to the still face. Child Dev 73:999-1015 |
