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Effects of maternal sensitivity on low birth weight children's academic achievement : a test of differential susceptibility versus diathesis stress

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Jaekel, Julia, Pluess, Michael, Belsky, Jay and Wolke, Dieter (2015) Effects of maternal sensitivity on low birth weight children's academic achievement : a test of differential susceptibility versus diathesis stress. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56 (6). pp. 693-701. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12331

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12331

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Abstract

Background:
Differential Susceptibility Theory (DST) postulates that some children are more affected – for better and for worse – by developmental experiences, including parenting, than others. Low birth weight (LBW, 1,500–2,499 g) may not only be a predictor for neurodevelopmental impairment but also a marker for prenatally programmed susceptibility. The aim was to test if effects of sensitive parenting on LBW and very LBW (VLBW, <1,500 g) versus normal birth weight (NBW, ≥2,500 g) children's academic achievement are best explained by a differential susceptibility versus diathesis-stress model of person-X-environment interaction.

Methods:
Nine hundred and twenty-two children ranging from 600 g to 5,140 g birth weight were studied as part of a prospective, geographically defined, longitudinal investigation of neonatal at-risk children in South Germany (Bavarian Longitudinal Study). Sensitive parenting during a structured mother–child interaction task was observed and rated at age 6 years. Academic achievement was assessed with standardized mathematic, reading, and spelling/writing tests at age 8 years.

Results:
Maternal sensitivity positively predicted the academic achievement of both LBW (n = 283) and VLBW (n = 202) children. Confirmatory-comparative and model-fitting analysis (testing LBW vs. NBW and VLBW vs. NBW) indicated that LBW and VLBW children were more susceptible than NBW to the adverse effects of low-sensitive, but not beneficial effects of high-sensitive parenting.

Conclusions:
Findings proved more consistent with the diathesis stress than differential-susceptibility model of person-X-environment interaction: LBW and VLBW children's exposure to positive parenting predicted catch-up to their NBW peers, whereas exposure to negative parenting predicted much poorer functioning.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics
Divisions: Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Mental Health and Wellbeing
Faculty of Science > Psychology
Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Birth weight, Low, Diathesis-stress model (Psychology)
Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ISSN: 0021-9630
Official Date: June 2015
Dates:
DateEvent
June 2015Published
30 September 2014Available
26 August 2014Accepted
Volume: 56
Number: 6
Number of Pages: 9
Page Range: pp. 693-701
DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12331
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany. Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)
Grant number: PKE24 (DFG), JUG14 (DFG), 01EP9504 (BMBF), 01ER0801 (BMBF)

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