Early childhood represents a critical period for development, with experiences during this time being associated with outcomes across the lifespan. However, this period is also a time of particular vulnerability for parents, with disruptions in sleep, identity, and relationships contributing to an increased risk in the emergence or exacerbation of mental health difficulties. Establishing the factors which can be protective to both parents’ mental health and children’s development is important for identifying those at risk, facilitating early intervention and in turn, improving outcomes for families.
Section one presents a pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis on the relation between socioeconomic circumstances and postpartum anxiety. The results of the three-level meta-analysis suggest that living in lower socioeconomic circumstances is associated with greater levels of anxiety in the first year after childbirth, and this relation is stronger in high-income countries, potentially due to differences in postpartum support. No studies collected data in low income countries. It is recommended that future research investigates the relation between socioeconomic circumstances and postpartum anxiety in this underrepresented context, with the potential to clarify why differences exist across country income groups.
Section two presents the results of a longitudinal study of language development across the toddler and preschool years. Latent growth curve models and conditional process analysis tested hypothesised relationships between socioeconomic circumstances, parent psychological distress, parent responsiveness and language development. Household income was positively related to children’s receptive, but not expressive, language ability at 2.5 years. High parental responsiveness appeared to exacerbate the path from financial strain to vocabulary growth through parent distress, potentially due to parental burnout or distress altering the nature of responsive interactions. These findings lead to a number of recommendations for future research to further clarify the complex relationships between the family environment and language development.
