Zhou Anna M, Gao Mengyu Miranda, Ostlund Brendan, Maylott Sarah E, Molina Nicolette C, Bruce Madeleine, Raby K Lee, Conradt Elisabeth, Crowell Sheila E
Department of Psychology, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Department of Psychology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, National Virtual Simulation Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, UT, China.
Dev Psychopathol. 2024 Sep 20:1-13. doi: 10.1017/S0954579424001305.
Prenatal maternal anxiety is considered a risk factor for the development of child internalizing problems. However, little is known about potential mechanisms that account for these associations. The current study examined whether prenatal maternal anxiety was indirectly associated with toddler internalizing problems via prenatal maternal physiology and infant negative affectivity. We examined these associations in a longitudinal study of 162 expectant mothers from their third trimester until 18 months postpartum. Path analyses showed that higher prenatal anxiety was associated with higher infant negative affectivity at 7 months, which in turn was associated with higher toddler internalizing problems at 18 months. Prenatal anxiety was not indirectly associated with child outcomes via baseline or task-evoked respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in response to an infant cry while pregnant. However, pregnant women with greater decreases in task-evoked RSA had toddlers with greater internalizing problems, which was mediated by infant negative affectivity at 7 months. Findings suggest that prenatal anxiety and RSA reactivity to an infant cry may be independent risk factors for the development of infant negative affectivity, which in turn increases risk for toddler internalizing problems. These findings contribute to a growing literature on mechanisms that underlie intergenerational transmission of internalizing problems.
产前母亲焦虑被认为是儿童内化问题发展的一个风险因素。然而，对于解释这些关联的潜在机制知之甚少。当前研究考察了产前母亲焦虑是否通过产前母亲生理状况和婴儿消极情感性与幼儿内化问题存在间接关联。我们在一项对162名准妈妈从孕晚期直至产后18个月的纵向研究中考察了这些关联。路径分析表明，较高的产前焦虑与7个月大婴儿较高的消极情感性相关，而这又与18个月大幼儿较高的内化问题相关。产前焦虑并非通过孕期对婴儿哭声的基线或任务诱发呼吸性窦性心律不齐（RSA）与儿童结局存在间接关联。然而，任务诱发RSA下降幅度较大的孕妇所生幼儿的内化问题较多，这是由7个月大婴儿的消极情感性介导的。研究结果表明，产前焦虑和对婴儿哭声的RSA反应性可能是婴儿消极情感性发展的独立风险因素，进而增加幼儿内化问题的风险。这些研究结果为关于内化问题代际传递潜在机制的文献增添了内容。
