Parenting Project
Dear Community Members,
We are writing to thank you for your continued support of the Parenting Project
at Eastern Michigan University. As we investigate the physical and psychological
changes that women experience before, during, and after pregnancy, we are developing a better understanding of how various factors affect the relationship
between mom and baby, as well as their physical and mental health.
Since our last newsletter, we have completed the one year post-partum interviews. Two year interviews are underway and project staff have enjoyed seeing
participants’ families grow! We are also busy sharing our study results; members
of the Parenting Project have travelled across the country and presented findings at local, regional, and international research conferences:
Eastern Michigan
University
Parenting Project
Fall 2010
Newsletter
NEW! We’re
ONLINE!
The EMU Parenting Project has recently
launched a new website!
Check it out at:
www.emich.edu/
psychology/parenting
The site includes valuable information including:
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Lab Contact Info
Referral List
Conference Posters
and Presentations
Conference Photos
Inside this issue:
Description of Sample 2
Dr. Alissa Huth-Bocks, Sarah, Erin, Kyle,
Lucy & Syreeta at a conference in Ann
Arbor
Melissa & Katherine at the Midwest
Graduate Research Symposium in Toledo
Findings
3
Findings
4
Findings
5
Project Info
6
Summary
6
Description of Sample
Where Participants Heard about the Study
Parenting Class,
2%
Word of Mouth,
10%
Donation
Centers, 5%
Subsidized/
Temporary
Housing Facility ,
7%
Head
Start/Daycare
Programs, 7%
CommunityBased Health
Clinics, 23%
WIC Program,
18%
Community
Baby Shower,
12%
Student Areas at
Local Colleges,
16%
Participant Characteristics
Some
Graduate
School, 9%
High School
Diploma or
less, 20%
Four Year
Degree,
14%
Race
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Page 2
Education
Some
College/
Trade
School, 57%
At the beginning of the study, Average Age: 26 (range= 18-42)
30% first-time mothers
Median monthly income: $1,500
88% receive services from WIC
90% have public health insurance
A majority of women receive food stamps and/or public cash assistance
Marital Status: 64% Single, 28% Married, 4% Separated, 4% Divorced
Parenting Project
Perception of Infant Emotion
Although associations between the perception of infant emotion and previous experiences of childhood
maltreatment have occurred in other research studies, our findings did not indicate such a relationship.
However, we found lower levels of maternal depression correlated with more positive appraisals of infant facial emotions. Women who felt less depressed reported
seeing more positive emotions in photographs of infants overall.
Interestingly, women who reported feeling more depressed also
used more words that fell into the categories of both “happy”
and “anger” to describe the infants’ expressions. This may illustrate a tendency for women who are depressed to attribute
strong, clear emotion labels to infant facial expressions that may
be more neutral or difficult to label. These findings indicate
that depressed mothers seem to read infant facial expressions
differently than non-depressed mothers.
Maternal Mental Health
Research indicates that whether or not a person develops mental health problems depends on various
factors. Our findings indicate that mothers who report more financial resources are less likely to develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress and post-partum depression. We found healthy adult romantic relationships were tied to lower levels of reported mental health symptoms. Specifically, mothers
who display less avoidance in their romantic relationships also endorsed fewer mental health problems.
In sum, women who have greater financial resources and healthier romantic relationships report less
mental health distress.
Infant Physical Health
In our study we have explored various health factors in relation to mothers’ self-esteem. We found that mothers’
health during pregnancy and delivery was not related to maternal self-esteem at three months post-partum. However,
infant complications, such as difficulty breathing and infections, were related to maternal self-esteem at three
months post-partum. We found that this association between infant complications and maternal self-esteem was
affected by maternal depression. Specifically, women who
reported infant complications and also reported low levels of depression at three months post-partum
felt better about themselves as mothers than women who reported infant complications and higher levels of depression. These findings indicate the importance of reducing both infant complications and
maternal depression in order to enhance how women feel about themselves as effective mothers.
Parenting Project
Page 3
Infant Social-Emotional Outcomes
Social-emotional well-being in infants at three months of age was related to social-emotional well-being
in infants at one year of age. Additionally, we found that different maternal risk factors, such as abusive relationships and mental health symptoms influenced infants’ social-emotional problems. For example, lower maternal self-esteem and higher parenting stress influenced infant social-emotional difficulties during the first year of life. These results suggest it is very important to reduce mothers’ distress in order to improve infant well-being.
We found that a mother’s ability to promptly and accurately respond to her baby’s needs (maternal sensitivity)
and the relationship between mom and baby (infant attachment) were both associated with infant socialemotional outcomes.
As expected, our study also found that less
exposure to domestic violence was related
to healthier infant social-emotional development.
Child Abuse Potential
Findings suggest that having more social support and
less child abuse potential during pregnancy is related to
more emotional and verbal responsitivity (warmth, sensitive parenting, positive affection) toward their infants 12 months post-partum.
Page 4
Findings indicate important correlations
between education, mental health, and substance use during pregnancy. Women who
reported low levels of depression and/or
anxiety endorsed less substance use during
pregnancy. Next, child abuse potential was
lowest in mothers who reported having
more education, lower levels of depression
and anxiety, and less substance use during
pregnancy. It is important to remember
the importance of these prenatal factors
because of their long-term implications on
infant health.
Parenting Project
Relationships, Parenting, and Infant Outcomes
Several factors seem to affect maternal sensitivity, which refers to a mother’s ability to accurately
and promptly respond to her baby’s needs. Our findings indicate that a woman’s comfort in personal relationships is associated with higher levels of maternal sensitivity. Additionally, women who report accepting and encouraging relationships with their own parents also display greater levels of maternal
sensitivity. Conversely, women who report more signs of discomfort in current relationships tend to be
less sensitive to their babies’ cues, especially if they also reported childhood maltreatment. These
findings highlight the importance of assessing for the quality of current and parental relationships and
past experiences of harmful relationships in order to help mothers improve their abilities to be sensitive caretakers. Additionally, our findings underscore the importance of maternal sensitivity on infant
development; mothers who displayed higher levels of sensitivity were also more likely to have infants
with healthier social and emotional outcomes at one year post-partum.
Alissa, Erin, Kyle, Syreeta, & Lucy at
SRCD Conference in Denver, Colorado
Parenting Project Fall 2010 Newsletter
Melissa & Katherine
win 2nd place in
Toledo, Ohio
Syreeta at EMU’s Graduate
Research Fair
Page 5
Eastern Michigan University
Parenting Project
Dr. Alissa Huth-Bocks
537 Mark Jefferson
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Ana at EMU’s 2009 Graduate Research Fair
Phone: 734-487-2238
E-mail: ahuthboc@emich.edu
Jess, Brianna, Maegan, and Angie at EMU’s 2009
Undergraduate Research Symposium
Summary of Findings
The Parenting Project is making important discoveries concerning the physical
and mental health of both mothers and their infants. Thanks to our wonderful
recruitment sites and participating families, we are gaining a better understanding of how to improve interventions and public resources to help address
the needs of mothers and families in our community. Based on our study results, it will continue to be important to focus services on assessing and improving maternal mental health, ensure that community resources are both
available and accessible, and continue to educate mothers about healthy prenatal and parenting practices. As our findings demonstrate, parenting skills
are very important to infants’ social and emotional health. There is a need to
implement clinical interventions during and after pregnancy for at-risk mothers
to support the mother-infant relationship. As we continue to learn about
healthy parenting and family relationships, we are excited to pass this knowledge on to the community.
“We are gaining a
better
understanding of
how to improve
interventions and
public resources to
help address the
needs of mothers
and families in our
community.”
Looking Ahead...
The Parenting Project has recently gained approval to continue our study! We will continue to keep in
touch with participants so that we can conduct additional interviews as their children turn three years
old. We are looking forward to continuing the study and greatly appreciate all of our participating
mothers and children!
Parenting Project Fall 2010 Newsletter
Page 6