Mapping the Influence of Infant-Parent Relational Quality on Life Course Relationships: A Scoping Review of Prospective Cohort Studies

This review is part of a series of scoping reviews of population-based cohort studies, designed to inform public health approaches to strengthening the relational ecology of early child development. Here, we scoped prospective cohort studies that have assessed the association between infant-parent relational health during the first years of life (from conception to age three years) and relationship quality across the life course. Studies were included if they explored predictor measurement of infant relational behaviors with their parent (e.g., attachment status) or parent relational behaviors with their infant (e.g., parental sensitivity), and a relational health outcome across the whole social ecology. A systematic search of the literature was conducted in September 2023. The search identified 15,454 articles, of which 108 studies were deemed eligible for inclusion. An additional nine articles were identified via citation searching resulting in 117 included studies. We examined associations across four developmental periods (early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, and adulthood), in a range of affiliative relationships, disaggregating outcomes in intra-familial and extra-familial relationships. Despite considerable variation in measurement and sampling, we found consistent evidence of enduring influence of infant-parent relationship quality for relational functioning well into adolescence. For some relationship forms, this extended into adulthood. Understanding the reach of early parent-infant relational quality onto life course relational outcomes has potential to inform public health policy settings.