title: Consistency of maternal cognitions and principles across the first five months following preterm and term deliveries.
abstract: The aims of this study were to examine and compare the development of parenting cognitions and principles in mothers following preterm and term deliveries. Parenting cognitions about child development, including thinking that is restricted to single causes and single outcomes (categorical thinking) and thinking that takes into account multiple perspectives (perspectivist thinking), have been shown to relate to child outcomes. Parenting principles about using routines (structure) or infant cues (attunement) to guide daily caregiving have been shown to relate to caregiving practices. We investigated the continuity and stability of parenting cognitions and principles in the days following birth to 5 months postpartum for mothers of infants born term and preterm. All parenting cognitions were stable across time. Categorical thinking increased at a group level across time in mothers of preterm, but not term, infants. Perspectivist thinking increased at a group level for first-time mothers (regardless of birth status) and tended to be lower in mothers of preterm infants. Structure at birth did not predict later structure (and so was unstable) in mothers of preterm, but not term, infants and neither group changed in mean level across time. Attunement was consistent across time in both groups of mothers. These results indicate that prematurity has multiple, diverse effects on parenting beliefs, which may in turn influence maternal behavior and child outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. Electronic address: avw30@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Winstanley
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Sperotto
authors.affiliation: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Putnick
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Health, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cherian
authors.affiliation: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bornstein
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. Electronic address: gattism@cardiff.ac.uk.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gattis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D007224:Infant Care / Q000523:psychology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000523:psychology*; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy
keywords: Caregiving; Cognitions; Infancy; Parenting; Prematurity; Principles