Is Neighborhood Nature an Ecological Precursor of Parenting Practices, Infant-Parent Bonding, and Infant Socioemotional Function?

Lærke Mygind*, Christopher Greenwood, Primrose Letcher, Suzanne Mavoa, Kate Lycett, Yichao Wang, Trine Flensborg-Madsen, Peter Bentsen, Jacqui A. Macdonald, Kimberly Thomson, Delyse Hutchinson, Craig A. Olsson, Peter G. Enticott

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

14 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Nurturing relationships are crucial for adaptive child development. The objectives of the study were to investigate whether nature availability was associated with early nurturing parenting practices, mother-infant bonding, and infant socioemotional function. Data were from the Australian Temperament Project (n = 809 infants to 515 parents residing in Victoria, Australia) and were linked cross-sectionally to residential greenness (i.e., Normalized Difference in Vegetation Index). There were no observable associations between residential greenness within a 1,600 m network radius and parenting practices, mother-infant bonding, or infant socioemotional function. The findings were largely corroborated by sensitivity analyses (i.e., NDVI within 100, 250, 500, and 1,000 m and distance to park). Shorter distances to a park were associated with less hostile parenting. More residential greenness (1,000 and 1,600 m) was associated with stronger father-infant bonding and more hostile parenting amongst the most stressed parents in exploratory analyses. Residential greenness might be a socioecological precursor for father-infant bonding.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEnvironment and Behavior
Volume55
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)278-306
Number of pages29
ISSN0013-9165
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.

Keywords

  • green space
  • infancy
  • social determinants of health
  • socioecology

Cite this