Prenatal exposure to maternal depression and cortisol influences infant temperament.

By Elysia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn, C. Dunkel Schetter, C. Hobel, A. Chicz–DeMet, Curt A. Sandman. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2007

653 citations recorded by the source corpus.

BACKGROUND Accumulating evidence indicates that prenatal maternal and fetal processes can have a lasting influence on infant and child development. Results from animal models indicate that prenatal exposure to maternal stress and stress hormones has lasting consequences for development of the offspring. Few prospective studies of human pregnancy have examined the consequences of prenatal exposure to stress and stress hormones. METHOD In this study the effects of prenatal maternal psychosocial (anxiety, depression, and perceived stress) and endocrine (cortisol) indicators of stress on infant temperament were examined in a sample of 247 full-term infants. Maternal salivary cortisol and psychological state were evaluated at 18-20, 24-26, and 30-32 weeks of gestation and at 2 months postpartum. Infant temperament was assessed with a measure of negative reactivity (the fear subscale of the Infant Temperament Questionnaire) at 2 months of age. RESULTS Elevated maternal cortisol at 30-32 weeks of gestation, but not earlier in pregnancy, was significantly associated with greater maternal report of infant negative reactivity. Prenatal maternal anxiety and depression additionally predicted infant temperament. The associations between maternal cortisol and maternal depression remained after controlling for postnatal maternal psychological state. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that prenatal exposure to maternal stress has consequences for the development of infant temperament.

Subfields: Behavioral Neuroscience, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c34261ed940d0ad3b4e0e3ac1ba0cb01b2275df9

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Citations in the corpus

Foundations for Young Adult Success: A Developmental Framework (2015, background): “Neural circuits for responding to stress and threats are particularly susceptible to early experiences (Davis et al., 2007; Huizink, Robles de Medina, Mulder, Visser, & Buitelaar, 2003; Weinstock, 2005).”
The long-term behavioural consequences of prenatal stress. (2008, positive): “, 2002), or also by increases in salivary cortisol (Davis et al., 2007).”
Beyond diathesis stress: differential susceptibility to environmental influences. (2009, result): “Consider in this regard research showing (a) that maternal stress during pregnancy predicts difficult temperament at 3 months of age (Huizink, de Medina, Mulder, Visser, & Buitelaar, 2002); (b) that stressful life events during pregnancy predict toddler fearfulness at age 17 months (Bergman, Sarkar,”
The Timing of Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Cortisol and Psychosocial Stress is Associated with Human Infant Cognitive Development (2010, methodology): “Scores on the CES-D during pregnancy are associated with birth outcome and infant development (Davis et al., 2007; Lundy et al., 1999).”
Prenatal developmental origins of behavior and mental health: The influence of maternal stress in pregnancy. (2017, neutral): “, 2013), or non-significant associations (Baibazarova et al., 2013a; Bergman et al., 2010a; Davis et al., 2007; Davis et al., 2011; Davis et al., 2017; Davis and Sandman, 2010; Harville et al., 2009; Hompes et al., 2012; Salacz et al., 2012; Voegtline et al., 2013; Werner et al., 2013).”