Affection and Sensitivity Help Babies' Brains Grow

Parenting is one of the most meaningful roles we can undertake as we are shaping the future mental health of our children. Today I want to share two longitudinal studies that underscore the profound influence of early parental behaviors on children's long-term development.

The first one, by Maselko et al.,¹ highlights the lasting impact of early parental affection on mental health 30 years later, and the second, by Kok et al.,² brings to our attention the relationship between parental sensitivity and brain development.

The study by Maselko and colleagues objectively assessed mother-infant interactions at eight months and followed up with the participants into adulthood.

Based on the observations of the dyad’s interaction, researchers classified them by the levels of affection they directed towards their infants. There were three categories: low, normal and high affection. The study found that the last category – high levels of maternal affection, which scientists described as mothers providing caressing and extravagant amounts of affection – at eight months was associated with significantly lower levels of anxiety in adulthood.

A few years later, out came the study by Kok and colleagues, which was able to take a look into the brains of children as they grew and related it to early parental sensitivity.

Parental sensitivity was observed during video-recorded interactions in infancy at one year, and in preschool at three and four years of age. Results showed that higher levels of parental sensitivity were linked to larger total brain volume at eight years of age. Moreover, parental sensitivity predicted the child’s brain volume independent of head size during infancy, so it is unlikely that underlying biological vulnerabilities could explain the association.

What does this mean for real-life parenting?

It means that nurture and responsiveness hugely benefit babies and you can start right away by:

• Providing nurturing presence: Spend meaningful time with your baby to promote bonding and emotional connection. This can include singing, reading books, chatting with your baby, and lots of joyful touch.
• Offering co-regulation in moments of stress: Pay attention to your baby’s cues and respond promptly and appropriately when you see your baby is distressed.
• Building your capacity to co-regulate: Parenting can be challenging. Don’t hesitate to seek support and include daily practices to increase your emotional resilience such as breathwork, mindfulness and movement.

Early parental sensitivity – characterized by responsiveness to a child’s needs and emotions – is critical for healthy brain development and future mental health.

By fostering environments that support parental sensitivity, we can promote healthier, more resilient people and communities. As parents and professionals, we have the opportunity to make a lasting impact on future generations by embracing and promoting nurturing – or as researchers showed, even extravagantly nurturing – parenting practices.