Risk and protective factors in early child development: Results from the All Our Babies (AOB) pregnancy cohort.
Five daily minutes of parent play and community support can cancel the added risk of developmental delay that comes with maternal depression and poverty.
01Research in Context
What this study did
McDonald et al. (2016) followed a large group of Canadian moms and babies from pregnancy to the first birthday. They tracked everyday things like how often parents talked and played with their infants and what kind of help moms got from friends, family, and the community.
Doctors checked each baby for developmental delays at age one. The team then looked to see which daily habits and supports protected babies when moms also faced depression, money problems, or other stress.
What they found
One in six babies showed delays at twelve months. The surprise was that daily parent play and community support almost wiped out the risk tied to poor maternal mental health and low income.
In plain words: when parents spent a little time each day talking, singing, or reading, their babies did better—even when life was hard.
How this fits with other research
Klusek et al. (2015) reviewed nine tiny studies and also found that very early parent-led activities help at-risk infants talk and connect sooner. Sheila’s big cohort backs up those small trials with real-world numbers.
Wong et al. (2009) looked at the same kids eight years later. They saw that parents of children with delays talked less about feelings, and that gap predicted weaker social skills. Sheila’s finding gives the fix: start daily play before the first birthday.
Nahar et al. (2022) and Turk et al. (2010) show the flip side—when moms of autistic children get more support and feel more optimism, their own mental health improves. Sheila widens the lens: support helps both mom and baby, even before any diagnosis.
Why it matters
You can’t change a family’s income overnight, but you can coach parents to build five minutes of face-to-face play into every day. Sheila’s data say this single habit may shield infants from delay when maternal depression or stress is high. Use screening visits to model simple games like peek-a-book or pat-a-cake and to link moms to local parent groups—cheap steps with big payoff.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Understanding factors that protect against early developmental delay among children who are experiencing adversity can inform prevention and early intervention strategies. AIMS: To identify risk factors for development delay at one year and protective factors for developmental delay in 'at risk' environments (poor maternal mental health and socio-demographic risk). METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Data was analyzed from 3360 mother-child dyads who participated in the All Our Babies (AOB) pregnancy cohort. Participants completed four questionnaires spanning pregnancy to one year postpartum and provided access to medical records. Risk factors for developmental delay at age one were identified using bivariate methods and multivariable modeling. Protective factors for child development in 'at risk' family environments were identified using bivariate analyses. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: At one year, 17% of children were developmentally delayed, defined as scoring in the monitoring zone on at least 2 of the 5 developmental domains of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Prenatal depression, preterm birth, low community engagement, and non-daily parent-child interaction increased the risk of delay. Protective factors for children in 'at risk' environments included relationship happiness, parenting self-efficacy, community engagement, higher social support, and daily parent-child interaction. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The study results suggest that maternal and infant outcomes would be improved, even for vulnerable women, through identification and intervention to address poor mental health and through normalizing engagement with low cost, accessible community resources that can also support parent-child interaction.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.08.010