Early medical risks to language development in extremely preterm infants.

Objective: To study the mechanistic role of neonatal morbidities on language performance in extremely preterm (EP) infants.

Study Design: We conducted secondary analyses on EP infants born at a single tertiary care center, investigating whether neonatal morbidities mediated associations between gestational age and language performance at 18-26 months corrected age.

Results: Infants born at 25-26 weeks (n = 298) outperformed those born at 22-24 weeks (n = 177) in expressive communication, receptive communication, composite language, and cognition.

Playful activities mitigate relations between parental mental health difficulties and child verbal outcomes.

This study examined the role of parental involvement in the home learning environment in the association between parental mental health and child cognitive performance. In a sample of 174 three- to five-year-old children (52% female, 97% White, 7% Hispanic, 2019-2022), playful activities moderated the relation between parental general depression and child verbal reasoning and acquired verbal knowledge. However, there was no evidence that parental involvement moderated the association between parental mental health and child spatial reasoning.

Parent mental health and child behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: Child behavior, which encompasses both internalizing and externalizing behaviors, is associated with many outcomes, including concurrent and future mental health, academic success, and social well-being. Thus, understanding sources of variability in child behavior is crucial for developing strategies aimed at equipping children with necessary resources. Parental mental health (PMH) difficulties and preterm birth may be risk factors for child behavior (CB) problems.

Comparing Face-to-Face and Online Data Collection Methods in Preterm and Full-Term Children: An Exploratory Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the landscape for children's daily lives and the landscape for developmental psychology research. Pandemic-related restrictions have also significantly disrupted the traditional face-to-face methods with which developmental scientists produce research. Over the past year, developmental scientists have published on the best practices for online data collection methods; however, existing studies do not provide empirical evidence comparing online methods to face-to-face methods.

Maternal depressive symptoms and maternal child-directed speech: A systematic review.

Background: Up to 1 in 5 children are exposed to maternal depressive symptoms. Children exposed to maternal depressive symptoms have poorer language skills than children not exposed to maternal depressive symptoms. Due to the crucial role of children's language skills in school readiness and academic achievement, it is imperative to understand the factors that underlie the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and children's language skills.

Association between perinatal depression and risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among children: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: Perinatal depression has previously been identified as a risk factor for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the offspring. Population-based studies utilizing diagnosis data are needed to better understand the relationship between these two variables. The objective of this study was to examine the association between perinatal depression and the risk of ADHD among children born during a 5 or-more-year follow-up period.

Maternal depression and breastfeeding in home visitation.

Background: Home visitation is a popular mechanism for supporting parents and their young children. Breastfeeding is often promoted by home visitors due to its health benefits. However, maternal depression may interfere with breastfeeding.