Parental stress predicts self-reported caregiver responsiveness in mothers of infants aged 0-12 months

Background: Previous research established the key role of caregiverresponsiveness in favorable infant development. This study examined psychologicaldeterminants of caregiver responsiveness in a non-clinical sample of mothers ofinfants in the first year of life.Method: We conducted an online survey including two measures of caregiverresponsiveness (Maternal Responsiveness Questionnaire and ParentalResponsiveness Scale), as well as measures of parental stress (Parental StressScale), depressive symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), and Big-Fivepersonality traits (International Personality Item Pool – Big Five Markers, 20-itemversion). The sample included 184 mothers, most of whom had higher education.Results: Parental stress was significantly directly associated with lower caregiverresponsiveness. Additionally, depressive symptoms partially mediated therelationship between parental stress and responsiveness. Effects of personality traits– namely emotional stability and intellect – were modest and significant only with oneof the two measures of caregiver responsiveness. We did not find any associationbetween caregiver responsiveness and infant age.Conclusions: Parental stress emerged as the most consistent predictor of caregiverresponsiveness, underscoring its central role in shaping parental behavior.Furthermore, our findings suggest that the role of parental personality in predictingcaregiver responsiveness may depend on how responsiveness is conceptualized.