Mothers’ and Infants' Characteristics at Infancy as Predictors of Perceived Social Competence at Childhood: A Comparison between Mothers of Twins and Singletons

Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1982; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2010) focuses on the role of primary caregivers in the development of a basic sense of security in infants, which impacts relationships and socioemotional development throughout life. Social competence is considered a key factor in children’s development. While many studies of this subject are cross-sectional or rely on short-term longitudinal data, we used a longitudinal design to examine the associations between mother and infant variables during infancy and children's social competence at the age of 7 as perceived by their mothers. Specifically, we examined the contribution of mothers' mental health in the perinatal period, mothers’ attachment orientation and optimism, and infant temperament at the age of 1 year old, comparing between mothers of twins and singletons. We also explored the moderating role of infant temperament in the association between the study variables and social competence. The study is part of the MOST (Mothers of Singletons and Twins) project, an ongoing large-scale longitudinal investigation in a large hospital in the center of Israel led by Prof. Orit Taubman – Ben-Ari. Mothers were recruited by hospital staff during their stay in the maternity ward and were contacted about a month later and asked to complete questionnaires for Phase 1. The participants completed additional questionnaires at child ages 1, 2, 4 and 7 (Phases 2-5). The sample for this study consisted of 317 Israeli mothers of either singletons or twins in Phases 1-5 of the study.

No differences were found between twins and singletons regarding social competence. However, mothers of singletons reported better mental health for themselves and slightly easier infant temperament in comparison to mothers of twins. In the regression model, infant temperament was the only significant predictor of children’s social competence. However, further analyses revealed that mothers’ mental health was associated with children’s social competence indirectly through mothers’ optimism — but only among children with more difficult infant temperaments. Whereas bivariate analyses indicated negative associations between children’s social competence and mothers’ attachment orientations (anxious and avoidant), these associations were not sustained in the multivariate regression model. The findings indicate the importance of maternal factors and infant temperament in shaping children’s social competence. Hence, further exploration of resources that can support mothers and infants during the critical perinatal period is crucial. These findings highlight the value of early identification of both risk and resilience factors in mothers and infants during the perinatal period. They suggest the need for development and implementation of interventions that support mothers’ mental health and optimism, and that consider the child’s temperament, in order to facilitate children’s social competence in the long term.