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Maternal stress and social support
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MATERNAL STRESSAND SOCIAL SUPPORT Keith A. Crnic & Mark T. Greenber9 This longitudinal investigation was designed to detail the relationships of maternal perceived l i f e stress and social support to maternal functioning and child development, and explicate both the breadth of such influences and their stability over time. Subjects were 52 mother-preterm and 53 motherfull-term infantpairs, carefully matched on background variables. Mother-infant pairs were assessed at six measurement intervals during the f i r s t two years off, infants' lives at l , 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 months. Measures of stress, social support and maternal attitudes were collected at l , 8, and 18 months; mother-infant pairs were observed in, interactions at 4, 8, 12, and 24 months, and infants received developmental assessments at 4, 12, and 24 months. No group differences were apparent across measure ment periods for the stress, support, and attitudinal measures, and data were pooled for subsequent analyses. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both stress and support variables significantly predicted maternal satisfaction wi th parenting, general l i f e satisfaction, and maternal interactive behavior when measured concurrently. Long-term predictions were generally non-significant. Maternal stress and support also predicted infant behavior, but only during early infancy. In each case, lower stress and greater support each predicted greater satisfaction and more positive behavioral interactions. Intimate support was generally the most powerful and consistent predictor of both the maternal and infant dependent measures.
MATERNAL STRESSAND SOCIAL SUPPORT Keith A. Crnic & Mark T. Greenber9 This longitudinal investigation was designed to detail the relationships of maternal perceived l i f e stress and social support to maternal functioning and child development, and explicate both the breadth of such influences and their stability over time. Subjects were 52 mother-preterm and 53 motherfull-term infantpairs, carefully matched on background variables. Mother-infant pairs were assessed at six measurement intervals during the f i r s t two years off, infants' lives at l , 4, 8, 12, 18, and 24 months. Measures of stress, social support and maternal attitudes were collected at l , 8, and 18 months; mother-infant pairs were observed in, interactions at 4, 8, 12, and 24 months, and infants received developmental assessments at 4, 12, and 24 months. No group differences were apparent across measure ment periods for the stress, support, and attitudinal measures, and data were pooled for subsequent analyses. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both stress and support variables significantly predicted maternal satisfaction wi th parenting, general l i f e satisfaction, and maternal interactive behavior when measured concurrently. Long-term predictions were generally non-significant. Maternal stress and support also predicted infant behavior, but only during early infancy. In each case, lower stress and greater support each predicted greater satisfaction and more positive behavioral interactions. Intimate support was generally the most powerful and consistent predictor of both the maternal and infant dependent measures.