Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
New researchNormal Variation in Early Parental Sensitivity Predicts Child Structural Brain Development
Section snippets
Method
The study was embedded within the Generation R Study, a prospective cohort investigating growth, development, and health from fetal life onward in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.25 Detailed measurements were obtained in a subgroup of children of Dutch national origin, meaning that the children, their parents, and their grandparents were all born in the Netherlands, to reduce confounding and effect modification.26 The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Erasmus Medical Center.
Results
The sample consisted of 50% girls. The average birth weight was 3,563 g (SD = 508 g). Children had an average score of 20.3 (SD = 14.5) on behavioral and emotional problems, and an average IQ of 106.3 (SD = 14.0). The mean ages of the mother and father at intake were 31.8 (SD = 3.7) and 33.8 (SD = 4.6), respectively. Of the parents, 60.7% had a high educational level.
Significant gender differences were found in brain volume at age 8 years. Girls had a smaller total brain volume (t189 = 4.29, p
Discussion
In this population-based study, the prospective relation between parental sensitivity and child brain structure in a low-risk sample was examined. We found that parental sensitivity in early childhood was positively associated with markers of more optimal brain development at age 8 years, including a larger total brain volume, larger gray matter volume, and thicker cortices in the precentral, postcentral, caudal middle frontal, and rostral middle frontal gyrus. The associations were similar for
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The first phase of the Generation R Study is financially supported by the Erasmus Medical Center, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw). The present study was additionally supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, grant 452-04-306, grant 453-09-003 [VIDI; VICI] to M.J.B.-K.; grant 017.106.370 [VIDI] to H.T.; SPINOZA prize to M.H.vIJ.) and ZonMw TOP (grant 40-00812-98-11021) to T.W. M.J.B.-K., H.T., F.C.V., and M.H.vIJ. are also members of the Consortium on Individual Development funded through the Gravitation program of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science and NWO (grant 024.001.003).
The Generation R Study is conducted by the Erasmus Medical Center with the Faculty of Social Sciences of Erasmus University and the Municipal Health Service Rotterdam. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of general practitioners, hospitals, midwives, and pharmacies in Rotterdam.
Disclosure: Dr. Verhulst has received remuneration as contributing author of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA). Drs. Kok, Bakermans-Kranenburg, Jaddoe, White, van IJzendoorn, Tiemeier, and Ms. Thijssen report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.