The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between the amount of day care and the quality of mother-child relationship for babies around 12 months of age. It is important to...Show moreThe aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between the amount of day care and the quality of mother-child relationship for babies around 12 months of age. It is important to investigate this relationship as many more parents use daycare for young children nowadays than in the past. The sample of the current study was a semi-random selection from a larger longitudinal study. The participants consisted of 70 mothers between 25 and 44 years old (M = 32.9 years, SD = 3.9) and their babies who where around 12 months old (M = 378.9 days, SD = 12.8). Based on earlier research, it was predicted that fewer hours of day care would be associated with a more secure attachment relationship. In addition, it was predicted that this relationship would be moderated by the temperament and the gender of the child. Mothers where invited to participate in the Babylab at the Leiden University. The Strange Situation Procedure (Ainsworth, 1978) was used to assess attachment quality and temperament was measured by the Dutch version of the Infant Characteristic Questionnaire (Kohnstam, 1984). Contrary to our hypothesis, it was found that infants who spent more than 20 hours of day care were more securely attached than infants who had less than 20 hours of day care. This difference was found not to be moderated by the level of temperamental difficultness or the gender of the infant. In conclusion, the current study takes a more positive view on more hours of day care for babies around 12 months old. Future research should include factors, such as quality of daycare and caregiver sensitivity, to further clarify the relationship between attachment quality and amount of daycare usage.Show less
Er wordt in Nederland steeds meer gebruik gemaakt van kinderopvang. Door die toename fungeren pedagogisch medewerkers steeds vaker als medeopvoeders. Zij spelen een grote rol in de opvoeding en de...Show moreEr wordt in Nederland steeds meer gebruik gemaakt van kinderopvang. Door die toename fungeren pedagogisch medewerkers steeds vaker als medeopvoeders. Zij spelen een grote rol in de opvoeding en de ontwikkeling van kinderen en zij hebben mogelijk ook een rol in het wel of niet tot uiting komen van gedragsproblemen tijdens de kinderopvang. Daarom is in huidige onderzoek bekeken of de sensitiviteit van de pedagogisch medewerker samenhangt met gedragsproblemen van het kind tijdens de kinderopvang. De rol van welbevinden in deze samenhang werd op twee manieren getoetst, als mediator en als moderator. Verwacht werd dat er een samenhang zou worden gevonden tussen de sensitiviteit van de pedagogisch medewerker en gedragsproblemen bij het kind, waarbij meer sensitiviteit zou lei den tot minder gedragsproblemen. Welbevinden zou naar verwachting een verklarende variabele zijn in deze samenhang, een mediator. Ook werd verwacht dat het welbevinden van het kind een modererend effect zou hebben op de samenhang tussen de sensitiviteit va n de pedagogisch medewerker en gedragsproblemen van het kind, waarbij meer beleving van welbevinden de samenhang zou versterken en dus bij zou dragen aan minder gedragsproblemen. De steekproef bestond uit 79 jongens en 88 meisjes N 167) tussen de 10 en 4 8 maanden oud, met een gemiddelde leeftijd van 35 maanden M 35.23; SD 8.14). Er bleken geen significante resultaten uit de analyses en hierdoor zijn de gestelde hypotheses verworpen. Er blijkt geen samenhang tussen de sensitiviteit van de pedagogisch m edewerker en de gedragsproblemen van het kind tijdens de opvang. En de rol van welbevinden hierin kan niet worden bevestigd. Toekomstig onderzoek is nodig om de samenhang tussen sensitiviteit en gedragsproblemen tijdens de opvang verder te onderzoeken, ach terliggende verklaringen te toetsen en meer inzicht in de rol van welbevinden te verkrijgen.Show less
Introduction: Parental sensitivity has been shown to be important for a child’s healthy development. Most research on parenting has been conducted with mothers, with research on fathering lagging...Show moreIntroduction: Parental sensitivity has been shown to be important for a child’s healthy development. Most research on parenting has been conducted with mothers, with research on fathering lagging behind. In the present study, we, therefore, focused on fathers. It was examined whether the use of an intervention that stimulated physical contact, i.e., a baby carrier, would increase fathers’ sensitivity, and whether this association was mediated by testosterone. Method: Participants in this study were 38 men (Mean age = 34.60, SD = 5.02) who recently became fathers. Infant age ranged from 8 to 12 weeks old at the start of the intervention. Fathers were asked to use a baby carrier for 21 days. Sensitivity was observed before and after the intervention in a free play setting. Use of the baby carrier was measured with warmth sensors on the baby carrier. Testosterone levels are measured by taking saliva samples. Results: Men used the baby carrier on average 33 minutes per day. Results showed no relation between the use of the baby carrier (i.e. physical contact) and testosterone and no relation between testosterone and sensitivity. This means that the relationship between physical contact and sensitivity was therefore not mediated by testosterone. Conclusion: Low levels of baby carrier use may not be enough to increase sensitivity in fathers. In addition, future research could include a larger and more diverse sample to examine the relations between physical contact, testosterone and sensitivity.Show less
In young children obesity prevalence has increased over the last few decates (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2017; Hurley, Cross, & Hughes, 2011). It is therefore important to understand the...Show moreIn young children obesity prevalence has increased over the last few decates (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2017; Hurley, Cross, & Hughes, 2011). It is therefore important to understand the factors that influence food intake of young children to prevent obesity at a young age. In this research we have looked at one factor that might influence childs food intake: the responsive reaction to stop feeding when the child feels full (after the first few times of eating solid food, between 4 to 6 months old) and its relationship with the childs BMI (at the age of two). It is hypothesised that if the mother is less responsive towards the cues of satiety of the child, the childs own satiety recognition will develop poorly, leading the child to over-eat and therefore increasing the risk of a high BMI. We compare observed responsive reactions (Responsiveness to feeding cues scale, Hodges et al., 2013) with self-reported reactions (Infant Feeding Style Questionnaire, Birch et al., 2001) to explain why researchers in earlier studies failed to find a clear relationship between responsive reactions and the BMI. Other factors that influence BMI, namely the temperament of the child and the education level of the mother, are taken into account. No relationships were found between the two types of measuring instruments of responsiveness, between the responsiveness and the BMI of the child and between the satiety recognition of the child and the BMI of the child, but there is a relationship between temperament of the child and the BMI of the child. Further research is necessary to understand how responsiveness relates to obesity in combination with other obesity risk factors and protective factors.Show less
Aim: Weight problems are increasingly common in young children. To develop a healthy eating behavior and, in the long term, a healthy weight, children depend on the parents feeding style. Therefore...Show moreAim: Weight problems are increasingly common in young children. To develop a healthy eating behavior and, in the long term, a healthy weight, children depend on the parents feeding style. Therefore, the current study investigated whether the Video-Feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting – Feeding Infants (VIPP-FI) is an effective intervention to reduce pressuring during mealtimes and to stimulate healthy weight of children. Furthermore, it is examined whether there is a (mediated) relation between pressuring, the satiety responsiveness, and the child’s weight. Method: 109 mother-child pairs were included, 54 (49.5%) mother-child pairs participated in the VIPP-FI group, and 55 (50.5%) mother-child pairs participated in the control group. Pressuring to eat was measured with the Infant Feeding Style Questionnaire (IFSQ), the satiety responsiveness with the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ-T), and the weight-for-length SDS with TNO’s growth calculator. All three were measured before the intervention (4-6 months) and after the intervention (18 months). Results: Before and after the intervention, the results showed that there was no difference in pressuring, both for mothers who participated in the VIPP-FI group and for mothers who participated in the control group. Moreover, for both groups, there was no difference in the weight of children over time. Finally, no direct and mediated relation has been found between pressuring and the weight of children. However, a negative relation has been found between the satiety responsiveness and the weight of children. Conclusion: Contrary to the expectations, no effect of the VIPP-FI on the weight of children has been found. Future studies should include a more objective method to measure several components of the feeding style to obtain the entire effectiveness of the VIPP-FI. Secondly, the use of multiple measurement moments (up to 36 months) is important, so this way it can be investigated whether the relations are predictive.Show less
Gender socialization is an important theme in the field of educational sciences and could play a role in the gender development of a child. The current research is designed to gain insight into the...Show moreGender socialization is an important theme in the field of educational sciences and could play a role in the gender development of a child. The current research is designed to gain insight into the behaviour that parents show when they play with their child with gender stereotyping toys that "match" with the child's gender or not. The main question is: “Do fathers and mothers differ in their first reaction to toys during free play in a gender-conforming or gender-non-conforming situation with their son or daughter in the age of 4 to 6?” For this study 144 parents were videotaped in a free play situation with their child. The parent-child dyads received a box with gender-non-conform toys followed by a box with gender-conform toys to play with. The order in which mother or father first played with the child was counterbalanced. They were given 5 min. to play with each box. The positive initial reaction of parents to the toys was measured via video-observations. Mothers had a more positive initial reaction to toys than fathers regardless of the child's gender. In addition, parents' responses (both mothers and fathers) were generally more positive in gender-conforming play situations than in gender-nonconforming play situations. In conclusion, parents did apply gender socialization in gender stereotyping play situations because they responded less positively to toys that do not "match" with the gender of the child, but they did not treat girls and boys differently.Show less
