Ecological Predictors of Maternal Nurturance to Distress and Beliefs About Infant Crying: Examining the Roles of Household and Neighborhood Resources

SYNOPSIS: Objective. Maternal nurturance to infant distress is associated with positive child developmental outcomes including greater attachment security, emotion regulation skills, and social and behavioral competencies. However, factors at multiple levels of parents’ environments may impede parents’ ability to respond sensitively to their infants’ distress. This study examined whether household-level burden (low maternal education, financial need) and neighborhood-level resources (distribution of educational, health/environmental, and socio/economic resources in a community) are associated with parents’ beliefs about infant crying and observed maternal nurturance to infant distress. Design. Ninety-nine mothers (M age = 28.99 years, SD = 5.41) of 6- to 12- month-old infants (42.4% female) completed questionnaires assessing household-level burden as well as the Infant Crying Questionnaire (ICQ) during a home visit. Mother-infant interactions were also filmed to assess maternal sensitivity to infant distress. Results. In separate models, higher household burden and reduced neighborhood resources were associated with increased maladaptive beliefs about infant crying and reduced nurturance to distress. When considered together, household burden was uniquely associated with maternal nurturance. Conclusions. Implications for intervention include considering efforts at both the household and neighborhood levels to address multi-systemic disparities that families experience in efforts to promote greater maternal nurturance.