Parental Self-Efficacy in New Mothers Predicts Infant Growth Trajectories.
Jessica S Bahorski, Gwendolyn D Childs, Lori A Loan and 7 others
PMID 31170891WHAT IT FOUND
Mothers' confidence in parenting after birth went along with greater infant growth in weight relative to length in this low-income African American sample.
Nurses should not assume confidence means healthier growth.
Key findings
01Maternal parenting efficacy at infant age 3 months was associated with infant weight-for-length change after adjusting for birthweight.
02Mothers of infants with excessive growth reported parenting efficacy about three points higher than mothers of infants with slow growth.
03Breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices were not associated with infant weight-for-length change.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The analysis used 127 of the 217 dyads followed, because some infants lacked complete growth data at 3 or 12 months and one parenting efficacy score was missing. The study was a correlational secondary analysis, so it describes association rather than cause. Data were collected between 2003 and 2007, at least 12 years before the analysis. Birth length was not measured, so growth change from birth to 12 months could not be assessed. Parenting efficacy was first measured at 3 months, so changes during pregnancy or early postpartum were not known. The scale measured general parenting efficacy, not confidence specific to feeding or infant growth. Pregnancy factors such as gestational weight gain and gestational diabetes mellitus were not available. The sample was limited to first-time, low-income, African American mothers, and feeding practices were similar across many infants, so results may not apply to other groups.
Declared interests
The source data came from a study supported by NIH/NICHD RO1 HD042219. The supplied text does not report author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that helping mothers feel more competent causes faster infant growth or that high confidence is harmful. The study found an association in one low-income African American sample, did not measure feeding-specific confidence, and did not test cause.