Maternal psychological distress and appraisal of parenting experience predict social-emotional development of Kenyan infants
Publication Date
2018-08-03Author
Sarah E Watts, Paul Oburu, Suncica Lah, Paul Rhodes, Caroline J Hunt
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Show full item recordAbstract/ Overview
This study investigated whether higher maternal psychological distress,
lower provision of psychosocial stimulation and a negative appraisal of
parenting experience were associated with lower cognitive, motor,
social-emotional and adaptive behaviour development in children under
3 years of age in Kenya. A cross-sectional design was used, with 81
caregiver–child dyads recruited through convenience sampling. The
mean age of these infants was 8.5 months (SD = 5.6 months, range 23
days to 25.5 months). Higher maternal psychological distress was
associated with lower social-emotional development, but not cognitive,
motor and adaptive development of a child. Psychosocial stimulation
provided by mothers was not related to any developmental outcomes.
Maternal psychological distress and appraisal of parenting experience
were significant, unique predictors of child social-emotional
development. Findings suggest that interventions designed to promote
social-emotional development of young children in Kenya should target
maternal mental health and enhance confidence and experience of
parenting.
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- Department of Psychology [203]