title: Effects of maternal sensitivity on low birth weight children's academic achievement: a test of differential susceptibility versus diathesis stress.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.|Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jaekel
authors.affiliation: Biological and Experimental Psychology Division, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pluess
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Belsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.|Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolke
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility / Q000523:psychology*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight / Q000523:psychology*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000523:psychology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Differential susceptibility; academic achievement; diathesis stress; low birth weight; maternal sensitivity