THURSDAY, July 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Here’s more pressure for harried mothers — a sluggish response to baby’s coos and babbles might increase their risk of childhood psychiatric problems.

Moms who respond within one second of their baby’s vocalizations appear to lower the child’s risk of mental health problems by age 7, researchers reported July 1 in the journal PLOS One.

Specifically, for every 10% increase in the likelihood of a mom responding within a second, the child’s odds of a later psychiatric diagnosis decreased by 17%, researchers found.

The results “suggest a robust association between slow parental responses to their infants’ signals and later problems,” senior researcher Philip Wilson, an emeritus professor at the University of Aberdeen in the U.K., said in a news release.

For the new study, researchers analyzed videos of 158 mothers interacting with their 1-year-old infant while looking at a picture book. Audio from these videos was used to assess how quickly mothers responded to their children’s vocalizations.

In all, 55 of the children went on to receive at least one diagnosis of a mental health problem by age 7, researchers said.

Slow responses by moms were linked to a 21% increased risk of ADHD and a 20% increased risk of disruptive behavior disorders.

However, there was no link between a mom’s response and a child’s risk of autism or emotional disorders, researchers found.

The researchers pointed out it’s not clear that a mom’s delayed response is the reason why these kids developed mental health problems. More research is needed to verify the results and tease out the reasons behind the observed link.

“We don’t know yet whether the slow responses cause the problems, or whether there are other factors, such as genetic risk, which might explain our findings,” Wilson said.

“Importantly though, the work emphasizes the value of observing early parent-child interaction in assessing a child’s psychological vulnerability,” he noted.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has positive parenting tips for nurturing toddlers.

SOURCE: PLOS One, news release, July 1, 2026