Parenting and cognitive and psychomotor delay due to small-for-gestational-age birth.
To examine whether different dimensions of parenting at different ages help small-for-gestational-age (SGA) children 'catch-up' the normal children in cognition and psychomotor.



We analyzed data of 800 children born SGA and 3,000 children born appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth cohort. The Two Bag Task was used to measure 2-year or 4-year parenting dimensions. Children's reading, math, gross motor, and fine motor scores were assessed at 5 years. Multivariable linear regression models were fitted to test the interactions between SGA and 2-year or 4-year parenting dimensions on 5-year cognitive and psychomotor outcomes (dependent variables).



There were significant interactions between SGA and early parenting on 5-year reading, math, and fine motor scores. The gap between SGA and AGA children in 5-year fine motor score was attenuated to null [-0.25 (95% confidence interval, -0.41, -0.09) vs. 0.03 (-0.13, 0.20)] when 2-year parental sensitivity score increased from 1 standard deviation (SD) below mean (Mean - SD) to 1 SD above mean (Mean + SD). The gap between SGA and AGA children in 5-year fine motor [-0.28 (-0.44, -0.13) vs. 0.06 (-0.09, 0.22)] and math [-1.32 (-2.27, -0.37) vs. 0.20 (-0.77, 1.17)] scores was also attenuated to null when 4-year parental emotional support score increased from Mean - SD to Mean + SD. In contrast, the gap between SGA and AGA children in 5-year reading score increased from 0.49 (-0.90, 1.88) to -1.31 (-2.55, -0.07) when 4-year parental intrusiveness score increased from Mean - SD to Mean + SD. Similarly, the gap between SGA and AGA children in fine motor score increased with 4-year parental negative regard from 0.02 (-0.14, 0.18) to -0.23 (-0.38, -0.08).



Early high-quality parenting may buffer some adversity in long-term reading, math, and fine motor skills related to SGA birth, whereas low-quality parenting can amplify the adversity.
Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.|Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Xiuhong
X
Li
Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Rina D
RD
Eiden
Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Leonard H
LH
Epstein
Maternal and Child Health Program, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.|Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Edmond D
ED
Shenassa
Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.|Department of Cancer Prevention Research, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Chuanbo
C
Xie
Division of Behavioral Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Xiaozhong
X
Wen
D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age / Q000502:physiology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D016487:Parenting; D011932:Reading
Small-for-gestational-age; appropriate-for-gestational-age; children; cognition; parenting; psychomotor