3 research outputs found
Family meal environment differentially conditions the prospective association between early childhood screen time and key social relationships in adolescent girls
Background: Despite screen time recommendations, children are increasingly spending time
on electronic devices, rendering it an important risk factor for subsequent social and developmental
outcomes. Sharing meals could offer a way to promote psychosocial development. This study
examines the interaction between family meal environment and early childhood screen time on
key adolescent social relationships. Methods: Participants are 1455 millennial children (49% boys)
from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development birth cohort. Parents reported on child
screen use at ages 2 and 6 years and family meal environment quality at age 6 years. Parents and
children reported on parent–child relationships and peer victimization experiences, respectively,
at age 13 years. Sex-stratified multiple regression estimated the direct association between screen
time trends, family meal environment quality, and their interaction on later social relationship
outcomes. Results: For girls, when preschool screen time increased, sharing family meals in highquality environments was associated with more positive and less conflictual relationships with their
mothers, whereas meals shared in low- and moderate-quality environments were associated with
fewer instances of victimization by their peers. Non-linear associations were not significant for boys.
Conclusion: Capitalizing on family meal environment represents a simple/cost-efficient activity that
can compensate for some long-term risks associated with increased screen use, above and beyond
pre-existing and concurrent individual and family characteristics. Public health initiatives may benefit
from considering family meals as a complementary intervention strategy to screen use guidelines
Prospective associations between maternal depressive symptoms during early infancy and growth deficiency from childhood to adolescence
Maternal health represents an important predictor of child development; yet it often goes
unnoticed during pediatric visits. Previous work suggests that mental state affects parenting. The
relationship between infant exposure to maternal depressive symptoms suggests conflicting findings
on physical growth. Body mass index (BMI) has not been rigorously examined across development.
Using a prospective-longitudinal birth cohort of 2120 infants (50.7% boys), we estimated the prospective relationship between symptoms of maternal depressive symptoms at 5 months postpartum and
later BMI in typically developing children. We hypothesized that maternal depressive symptom
severity would predict later BMI through to adolescence. Mothers self-reported depressive symptoms at 5 months. Child BMI was measured by a trained research assistant at ages 6, 8, 10, 13, and
15 years. We estimated a series of sex-stratified regressions in which BMI was linearly regressed on
maternal symptoms, while controlling for potential pre-existing/concurrent individual and family
confounding factors. Boys born to mothers with more severe depressive symptoms at age 5 months
had a significantly lower BMI than other boys at subsequent ages. There were no such associations
observed for girls. Maternal depressive symptoms were prospectively associated with later BMI
for sons and not daughters, predicting risk of faltering in growth through to adolescence. Health
practitioners should routinely assess maternal psychological functioning during pediatric visits to
optimize parent and child flourishment