Relationships among caregiving, stress, and self-regulation in toddlers living in poverty.
Randi A Bates, Jodi L Ford, Laura M Justice and 3 others
PMID 35835016WHAT IT FOUND
Prolonged toddler stress did not explain how supportive mothering related to toddler self-regulation.
Supportive mothering was associated with better recovery from distress.
Key findings
01Prolonged toddler stress did not significantly mediate the relationship between emotionally supportive caregiving and any aspect of toddler self-regulation.
02Higher emotionally supportive caregiving predicted better toddler soothability, b = 0.90, p = .03, 95% CI [0.10, 1.69], partial correlation = .26.
03Toddler prolonged stress was not significantly correlated with any measure of self-regulation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was an observational, correlational study, so it cannot show that supportive caregiving causes better soothability. Toddler self-regulation was measured by maternal report, not direct observation. The hair analysis used 94 dyads, but only 71 child values and 75 mother values were valid. The hair subsample had fewer Black toddlers than the original study sample. It cannot show whether helping caregivers be more supportive would improve toddler recovery from distress.
Declared interests
The authors report no known conflicts of interest. The supplied text does not name a study sponsor.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that supportive caregiving causes better recovery from distress or that lower toddler stress improves self-regulation. The study was correlational, and prolonged stress did not mediate the relationship between caregiving and self-regulation.