Maternal Attitudes and Knowledge of Child-Rearing: Associations with Family and Child Outcomes

TLDR

The study prospectively followed a low‑birthweight, preterm cohort to assess how maternal knowledge of child development and child‑rearing concepts influence home‑environment quality and child cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Maternal knowledge at 12 months was linked to better home‑environment quality, fewer child behavior problems, and modestly higher 36‑month IQ, while maternal traits predicted knowledge and behavior; birthweight generally did not predict knowledge, and subgroup analyses showed similar patterns, except neonatal health status predicted cognitive outcomes in African‑American children at 24 and 36 months.

Abstract

A prospective, longitudinal study of a low birthweight, preterm cohort examined the effects of maternal knowledge of child development and concepts of child rearing on the quality of home environment and on child cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Measures of maternal knowledge at 12 months were found to be significantly associated with the quality of the home environment, the number of child behavior problems, and to a small but significant extent child Stanford-Binet IQ at 36 months. Maternal characteristics were associated with both maternal knowledge and maternal behavior. Child characteristics, including birthweight, were not associated with maternal knowledge or concepts of development for most of the cohort. Subgroup analyses by race/ethnicity revealed a similar pattern of results. However, a measure of neonatal health status was shown to be significantly associated with cognitive outcome in the African-American subgroup at 24 and 36 months.