Researcher(s)
- Olivia Szulc, Psychology, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Mary Dozier, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware
Abstract
Infant brains are highly plastic, susceptible to change due to the environment, such as parenting. Caretaking that responds to the child’s signals in an accurate, effective, and timely manner is referred to as sensitive parenting. A previous study has shown that parental sensitivity predicted hippocampus and amygdala volumes when children were 10 years old (Bernier et al., 2019). A separate study found that higher sensitivity was associated with smaller hippocampus and amygdala volumes at 6-months-old (Rifkin-Graboi et al., 2015). We hypothesized that maternal sensitivity, among a heterogeneous group of mothers using substances and those without known risk factors, is associated with smaller hippocampal & amygdala volume among 6-month-olds.
We explored this hypothesis among a sample of 38 infants who underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at the age of 6 months. Infants were also observed with their mothers in a free-play assessment, with the interactions coded for maternal sensitivity. Associations between maternal sensitivity and volumetric hippocampus and amygdala data were analyzed using a Pearson Correlation Test. We found that maternal sensitivity does not significantly associate with hippocampal & amygdala volume among 6-month-old infants, p values > .05.
Limitations include a relatively small and heterogeneous sample. Future directions could include exploring whether parental sensitivity predicts infant hippocampal and amygdala volume at 12 months of age.