Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40064329›Full record

ArticleJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2025

Interactions between infant characteristics and parenting factors rarely replicate across cohorts and developmental domains.

Robert Eves, Finiki Nearchou, Dieter Wolke, Michael Pluess, Sakari Lemola

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Anthropometric differences between twins at birth and their association with later cognitive performance.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Robert EvesDepartment of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-0476-1811
Finiki NearchouSchool of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0002-2018-9096
Dieter WolkeDepartment of Psychology, Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Group, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-0304-268X
Michael PluessDepartment of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Sakari LemolaDepartment of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.

Funding

Horizon 2020 Framework Programme COORDINATE 101008589UK Research and Innovation EP/X023206/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWhether, and how, infant characteristics and parenting quality interact is one of developmental psychology's key questions. However, whether specific interaction patterns replicate across cohorts or developmental outcomes is largely unknown. This study investigates whether infant characteristics and parenting quality are independent predictors (additive effects) of child outcomes or interact such that certain infants particularly suffer from poor parenting (diathesis stress), particularly benefit from good parenting (vantage sensitivity) or both (differential susceptibility).

methodsIndividual participant data from over 30,000 children from four prospective cohorts were pooled. Using a competitive-confirmatory approach of model evaluation, 16 possible permutations of infant characteristics (temperament and birthweight), parenting (maternal-reported stimulating and sensitive parenting) and later developmental outcomes (fluid and crystalised intelligence, internalising and externalising behaviour) were tested. The robustness of results was evaluated by subsequently varying analytic methods, using alternative parenting measures including observer reports and excluding covariates.

resultsAIC values in 10/16 analyses indicated infant characteristics acted independently of maternal-reported parenting for predicting developmental outcomes. Interaction patterns indicating diathesis stress (4/16), vantage sensitivity (2/16) or differential susceptibility (0/16) were rare or absent. However, diathesis-stress patterns were frequently found regarding birthweight and internalising behaviours, which were largely robust to methodological changes.

conclusionsDevelopmental outcomes are more consistently explained by additive effects rather than by interaction effects.

Indexed as

Birth WeightChild DevelopmentIntelligenceMother-Child RelationsParentingTemperamentAdultChild, PreschoolCohort StudiesFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleProspective StudiesbirthweightInteractionmoderationsensitivitysusceptibilitytemperamentvulnerability

Identifiers

PMID40064329
PMCPMC12267674

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.