Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10012, USA.
New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 13;14(1):18766. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-68398-4.
Previous research has demonstrated a critical link between maternal mental health and infant development. However, there is limited understanding of the role of autonomic regulation in postpartum maternal mental health and infant outcomes. In the current study, we tested 76 mother-infant dyads from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds when infants were 3-months of age. We recorded simultaneous ECG from dyads while baseline EEG was collected from the infant; ECG heart rate variability (HRV) and EEG theta-beta ratio and alpha asymmetry were calculated. Dyadic physiological synchrony was also analyzed to better understand the role of autonomic co-regulation. Results demonstrated that lower maternal HRV was associated with higher self-reported maternal depression and anxiety. Additionally, mothers with lower HRV had infants with lower HRV. Maternal HRV was also associated with higher infant theta-beta ratios, but not alpha asymmetry. Exploratory analyses suggested that for mother-infant dyads with greater physiological synchrony, higher maternal HRV predicted increased infant theta-beta ratio via infant HRV. These findings support a model in which maternal mental health may influence infant neurophysiology via alterations in autonomic stress regulation and dyadic physiological co-regulation.
先前的研究表明，产妇心理健康与婴儿发育之间存在着至关重要的联系。然而，对于自主调节在产后产妇心理健康和婴儿结果中的作用，我们的了解有限。在当前的研究中，当婴儿 3 个月大时，我们对来自不同社会经济背景的 76 对母婴进行了测试。我们记录了母婴同时的心电图，同时从婴儿身上收集了基线脑电图；计算了心电图心率变异性（HRV）和脑电图 theta-beta 比和 alpha 不对称性。还分析了二元生理同步性，以更好地了解自主协调的作用。结果表明，较低的母亲 HRV 与较高的自我报告的母亲抑郁和焦虑有关。此外，HRV 较低的母亲的婴儿 HRV 也较低。母亲的 HRV 也与婴儿 theta-beta 比的增加有关，但与 alpha 不对称性无关。探索性分析表明，对于生理同步性更高的母婴对，较高的母亲 HRV 通过婴儿 HRV 预测婴儿 theta-beta 比的增加。这些发现支持了一种模型，即产妇心理健康可能通过自主应激调节和二元生理协调的改变来影响婴儿的神经生理学。
