Papers by Douglas M. Teti
Journal of Child and Family Studies, Jun 2, 2017
Journal of Affective Disorders, Oct 1, 2018
Background: Both perinatal depression and infant sleep problems are common concerns in many commu... more Background: Both perinatal depression and infant sleep problems are common concerns in many communities, with these problems often coinciding. Findings in this area conflict and much of the research relies on poor measures of sleep and/or depression. Adding to this complexity is the rise in antidepressant treatment for perinatal maternal depression and no previous study has examined the relationship between such exposure and infant sleep. Methods: This study draws on four waves of data (first and third trimesters, and six and 12 months postpartum) from 264 women in the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study, a prospective pregnancy cohort study of women recruited in first trimester in
Child Development Perspectives
Parents' executive functions (EFs), or cognitive skills facilitating thought and behavior man... more Parents' executive functions (EFs), or cognitive skills facilitating thought and behavior management, are meaningful correlates of parenting behavior. EFs are theorized to support parents in inhibiting reactive responses, managing information during parent–child interactions, and adapting to novel developmental demands. Less effective EFs associate with risk for harsh parenting and physical abuse, underscoring the importance of research on parental EFs in promoting healthy child development. Yet, despite the strong theory, findings are mixed and reveal only modest effect sizes in relations between EFs and parenting. One explanation may be a lack of ecological validity in measuring parental EFs. Traditional measures of adult EFs have been used, but these are decontextualized and do not reflect the cognitively and emotionally demanding nature of parenting. In this article, we argue that new and adapted measures are needed. We discuss the role of EFs in parenting, review measuremen...
Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association, 2021
The manner in which family contexts place constraints on the universality of theoretical predicti... more The manner in which family contexts place constraints on the universality of theoretical predictions has been of long-standing interest to developmental and family scientists. Current conceptualizations about family context, however, are evolving. Innovative thinking is emerging about how family contexts can be characterized, and there is growing appreciation that family contexts are dynamic, change across varying time scales, and that the manner in which they change impacts and alters trajectories of individual and family development. The present set of articles reflects these innovations and exemplifies how a systematic study of family context can further a richer and more comprehensive understanding of family life. We advocate a position in which the study of family context becomes a field of study in its own right and that approaching context and fit from a systems perspective will advance developmental and family science in exciting new directions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c)...
Multivariate Behavioral Research, 2019
Journal of Family Psychology, 2019
The present study examined both between- and within-person effects of maternal sleep patterns on ... more The present study examined both between- and within-person effects of maternal sleep patterns on quality of mothering at bedtime during infants' first 6 months. Participants included 142 mothers who reported on their daily fall asleep and wake times across seven consecutive days with a daily sleep diary when infants were 1, 3, and 6 months old. At each age point, maternal emotional availability during one night of infant bedtime was observed and scored by trained observers who were blind to maternal sleep patterns. Multilevel modeling revealed that mothers with irregular sleep patterns, especially later average fall asleep times and greater average variability in sleep period across three age points, showed poorer parenting quality with infants at bedtime than other mothers. In addition, both between- and within-person effects of maternal sleep on bedtime parenting quality changed with infant age. Compared to mothers' individual averages across 1, 3, and 6 months, maternal short average sleep period, increased variability in sleep period, and later fall asleep times predicted poorer bedtime parenting quality at 6 months, but not at 1 or 3 months. Results emphasize the importance of maternal sleep regulation and sleep hygiene for maternal parenting quality, especially as infants get older. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Developmental Review, 2019
Sleep patterns change dramatically across the earliest years of life and play an important role i... more Sleep patterns change dramatically across the earliest years of life and play an important role in children's daytime functioning. As a result, psychological research has taken an increasing interest in unpacking the many intrinsic (i.e., child characteristics) and extrinsic (i.e., environmental input) factors that influence children's sleep development. Considerably less attention has been given to understanding the transactional relationships among intrinsic and extrinsic factors, or to the underlying mechanisms, that both initiate and maintain individual differences in infant sleep development. In the current review, we begin by summarizing what is known about the development of sleep across the first two years of life, making explicit reference to the dualprocess model of sleep consolidation and regulation. Next, we synthesize existing literature on the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence the development of sleep consolidation and regulation in infants. Finally, we reconsider extant findings in the infant sleep literature using theories and concepts from developmental science, posing new hypotheses about the ways in which environmental input both shapes infant sleep patterns and modulates the effects of sleep on later developmental outcomes. We conclude with an examination of current challenges in this field and a suggested roadmap for future research.
Sleep Medicine, 2018
Sleep quality in early life has implications for individual and family well-being . Parenting in ... more Sleep quality in early life has implications for individual and family well-being . Parenting in the early months may be highly influential on infant sleep patterns and trajectories. This study used observational and survey data to investigate how sleeping arrangement and two types of nighttime interventions at one and three months (non-distressinitiated and distress-initiated) are associated with infants' sleep development across the first 9 months. Distress-initiated interventions were identified as parents' responses to infants' distress signals whereas non-distress initiated interventions were identified as parents' behaviors in response to non-distressed vocalizations or while infants were asleep. Analysis from 107 families revealed that infant night wakings decreased over time as expected. The link between early nondistress initiated interventions and rate of change in infant night wakings was significantly moderated by sleep arrangement such that solitary sleeping infants who experienced higher levels of non-distress-initiated interventions showed a less steep decline across time in infant night wakings compared to solitary infants who experienced low levels of non-distress-initiated interventions. Results also showed that higher levels of distress-initiated interventions at 1 and 3 months were associated with a steeper decrease in infant night wakings for both solitary and cosleeping infants. Importantly, these findings were not replicated when parental interventions as predictors of infant sleep were examined at later points in the first year. Results inform conceptualizations of parenting competence in infant sleep contexts during the first few months of life and how best to promote infant sleep regulation across the first year.
Parenting, 2017
SYNOPSIS Objective. The goals of the current article were to test the presence of an association ... more SYNOPSIS Objective. The goals of the current article were to test the presence of an association between mothers’ neural activity (measured by frontal cortical alpha asymmetry) and their specific emotions (measured by observed facial expressions) in response to infant distress and the moderation of this relation by mothers’ appraisal processes (measured by sense of parenting efficacy). Design. Mothers of 5- to 8-month-olds (n = 26) watched videos of their own infants expressing distress while their brain activity was recorded via electroencephalogram and their facial expressions were videotaped for later microcoding. Mothers also completed a questionnaire measure of parenting efficacy. Results. Greater neurophysiological withdrawal in response to infant distress videos, indexed by frontal alpha asymmetry, was associated with longer sad and tense expressions in mothers with average or below average parenting efficacy, but not in those with above average efficacy. Conclusions. Previous research showing that patterns of parents’ brain activity in response to child stimuli are associated with parenting behavior often interpret results in relation to parental emotion, but rarely measure specific concurrent emotions. The current study helps fill this gap in the literature by showing that maternal neurophysiological withdrawal (together with parenting efficacy) was associated with simultaneously measured facial expressions of negative emotion in response to infant distress stimuli.
Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, 2017
Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Childhood Development, 2008
Postpartum depression in mothers is common and can have insidious effects on mothers and their ch... more Postpartum depression in mothers is common and can have insidious effects on mothers and their children, particularly if the depression persists beyond the early postpartum period. Infants of depressed mothers are at significantly elevated risk for irritability and withdrawal, insecure attachment, attentional deficits, and developmental delay in the achievement of basic cognitive milestones such as object permanence.? Rates of psychiatric disturbance among older children of depressed mothers are as much as four to five times those among children of nondepressed mothers, and children whose mothers are depressed are also at risk for poor academic performance, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, substance abuse, and delinquency. Depression can seriously compromise parenting quality. Depressed mothers are likely to hold negative, unfavorably views of their children and of themselves as parents, and mothers’ negative affective biases may promote tendencies to attribute negative intentions and motives to their children’s behavior. In turn, depressed parenting is less warm, attuned, and responsive than nondepressed parenting. Individual differences in depressed parenting are evident, however, and appear to be associated with differences in child temperament and, more broadly, with the quality of ‘fit’ between a mother’s condition, child characteristics, and the family environment. Fortunately, depression is a highly treatable condition, and depressed mothers can make use of both pharmacological and support-based ‘talking’ therapies.? Pediatricians, who may be among the first health professionals to identify postpartum depression, can play an important role in referring affected mothers to appropriate mental health facilities.
Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1993
Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 1992
ABSTRACT Studied child- and parent-focused parenting stress in 71 clinically depressed and 53 non... more ABSTRACT Studied child- and parent-focused parenting stress in 71 clinically depressed and 53 nondepressed mothers of infants 3 to 13 months old. Depressed mothers reported more parenting stress and daily hassles, less marital harmony, and less social support than nondepressed mothers, and they were rated as less competent with their infant. Mothers of temperamentally difficult infants reported greater stress, and depressed women with difficult infants were highest in child-focused stress. In hierarchical multiple-regression analyses predicting child-focused stress, infant difficulty was the only significant predictor for depressed women, but nondepressed women's child-focused stress was predicted by both the demographic composite and infant difficulty. The depressed group's parent-related stress was predicted by depression level, infant temperament, and marital discord, but for nondepressed mothers, only the demographic factors and infant temperament were significant predictors. Depressed women reporting greater child- and parent-focused stress were independently rated as less competent parents than those under less stress.
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2006
The present study examined predictive linkages between cumulative psychosocial and medical risk, ... more The present study examined predictive linkages between cumulative psychosocial and medical risk, assessed neonatally, and infant development and parenting stress at 4 months of infant corrected age. Predominantly low-income, African-American mothers and their preterm infants served as participants. Cumulative psychosocial risk predicted early mental, but not motor development, while cumulative medical risk predicted both mental and motor development. Cumulative psychosocial risk, but not medical risk, predicted parenting stress. Few studies of preterm infants have reported links between cumulative psychosocial risk and infant development at such an early age, nor has earlier work found associations between cumulative psychosocial risk and mothers' perceptions of parenting. Results support the premise that early intervention should target both the medical and psychosocial needs of low-income families with preterm infants, and that addressing psychosocial stressors shortly after birth may improve developmental outcomes in infancy.
International Journal of Behavioral Development, 1988
This study compared mothers, fathers, and firstborn siblings on several types of experiences crea... more This study compared mothers, fathers, and firstborn siblings on several types of experiences created for infants during dyadic play, and examined the relationship of these experiences to infant cognitive level. Seven experiences were coded from videotapes of 69 infants in dyadic play with mothers and firstborns at 12 months, and with mothers, fathers, and firstborns at 18 months. Mothers and fathers were more alike than different in the amounts of play experiences they created, and infants experienced a more linguistically and intellectually enriched environment with parents than with firstborns. Predictive, bidirectional relationships from 12 to 18 months were found between mother-created object play and infants' sophistication of solitary object play. In addition, infants' level of play at 12 months related to firstborn-created language mastery experiences at 18 months. No predictive relationships were found for infant cognitive level as measured by the Bayley MDI. Results...
Infant Behavior and Development, 1987
Abstract Infant-sibling communication and its relationship to birth-spacing and linguistic and in... more Abstract Infant-sibling communication and its relationship to birth-spacing and linguistic and intellectual development were examined. Forty-four dyads of siblings spaced 16 years apart were visited when the infants were 12, 121/2, 171/2, and 18 months old. Measures ...
Infant Behavior and Development, 1986
Abstract This longitudinal study examined various intellectual and social experiences older sibli... more Abstract This longitudinal study examined various intellectual and social experiences older siblings create for or with their infant siblings, and how these experiences relate to sibling status variables and infant cognitive level. Eleven categories of firstborn-created intellectual and social experiences were coded from free play of 69 infant-sibling dyads when infants were 12 1 2 and 17 1 2 months old. Infant cognitive level was assessed with the Bayley MDI and from the developmental level of infant solitary play. Results suggested that infants of widely spaced dyads experience a more intellectually and socially stimulating environment than infants of closely spaced dyads. No relationships were found between infant cognitive level and any firstborn-created experience or age-spacing. These results were discussed in light of additional findings relating variations in sibling age-spacing to variations in household structure in middle-class, two-parent families.
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Papers by Douglas M. Teti