2025/05/01 by Molly F. Lazarus, Virginia A. Marchman, Heidi M. Feldman +2 · 1 voice · 2 citations
Health Professions · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · #Alternative medicine #Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues #Clinical psychology #Developmental psychology #Environmental health #Infant Development and Preterm Care #Infant Health and Development #Intervention (counseling) #Massage #Medicine #Nursing #Pathology #Pediatrics #Population #Psychiatry #Psychology #Skin care #Socioeconomic status
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/infa.70024
published in Infancy 30(3), e70024 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2025/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Infants from lower-socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds are at increased risk for compromised developmental outcomes compared to infants from higher-SES backgrounds. Features of caregiver-child interactions have been proposed as mechanisms through which SES-related factors are associated with child outcomes. This study assessed whether rates of tactile interactions between neonates and family members (skin-to-skin caregiving) served as a mechanism, that is, statistically mediated, SES-related developmental disparities in infants born preterm (n = 95). Infants from lower-SES backgrounds experienced less skin-to-skin care and scored lower on developmental assessments than infants from higher-SES backgrounds. Infants who experienced more skin-to-skin care had better outcomes than infants who experienced less skin-to-skin care. Critically, the direct association between SES and outcomes was significantly reduced after controlling for skin-to-skin care rates. Thus, SES-related disparities were linked to caregiving experiences as early as the neonatal period. Parallel analyses on non-skin-to-skin tactile care (swaddled holding, touch, and massage) revealed no associations, highlighting the specificity of skin-to-skin caregiving. These findings make substantial contributions to developmental theory and offer concrete and scalable recommendations for intervention.