Does Positive Thinking in Pregnancy Boost Children's Maths Skills?

[Andy]

More quality research from Bristol.

A new study published by Frontiers in Psychology has found that pregnant mothers with an internal locus of control (ie, who believe in a connection between their actions and what happens to them) were more likely to have a child who was good at maths and science.

Prof Jean Golding, lead author of the research and founder of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, also known as the Children of the 90s study) said in a media release: "If our findings, that mothers' attitudes and behaviours can have an effect on their child's academic abilities, can be replicated it would suggest that more efforts should be made to increase the opportunities for mothers to feel that their behaviours will have a positive outcome for themselves and their children. It would help future generations raise healthy, confident and independent children."

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/908848

 

[obeat]

In my family there are 3 girls.2 of us are very good at mathematics and 1 is awful. This means that Mum was only positive in 2 pregnancies and didn't give a damn in the third!!!!

 

[inox]

I'm....??! What a stupid study, it's totally meaningless. They didn't control for, among other things:

" We did not allow for concurrent social circumstances as we wished to concentrate on factors that could be changed for mothers to become less external and more internal."

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00194/full

Have lots of data on things like diet, library/books etc - that accounts for most of the differences.

A lack of "locus of control" here would very likely be linked to poor economical situation, family support etc. But lets focus on "personality"

 

[Unable]

Mothers get the blame again! Way to make expectant mums paranoid!

“But you MUST think positively, my dear or the baby will never be able to do his sums.”
As the rent man bangs on the door, the credit card bill comes in, and she throws up again due to morning sickness.

Yeah, that research is “really” gonna help her.

 

[NelliePledge]

Wot no shopping bag?

 

[Cheshire]

Well, the authors' mothers did a poor job during pregnancy at expecting them to be logical and rigourous ...

 

[chrisb]

…..but does it help with negative numbers?

 

[Wonko]

…..but does it help with negative numbers?

Probably only with imaginary ones.

 

[BruceInOz]

Probably only with imaginary ones.

I think we're touching on something complex here.

 

[large donner]

How do they know that a baby who is good at maths in the womb isn't making the mother positive?

 

[Wonko]

How do they know that a baby who is good at maths in the womb isn't making the mother positive?

An almost total lack of questionnaires submitted, correctly filled in, by said feteuses would suggest that the correlation works the way they suggest.

Maybe.

In some imaginary place where psychologists may be from.

 

[Arnie Pye]

We did not allow for concurrent social circumstances as we wished to concentrate on factors that could be changed for mothers to become less external and more internal.

This is what sprung to mind when I read this :

 

[Amw66]

Is there something in the water?
Between NHS diagnosis errors ( nurse with cervical cancer,) , Oliver MaGowan' s death due to administering a drug staff were told not to administer, CFS resesrch generally from this location , and now this ?

It' s as if this area exists in some parallel universe...