Joint and independent effects of maternal prenatal depression and SARS-CoV-2 exposure on infant cognitive and socioemotional development across the first postnatal year
Here we evaluate longitudinal neurodevelopmental trajectories across the first postnatal year in infants of mothers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during pregnancy. Ninety-three pregnant mothers were recruited beginning at the first peak of the pandemic in New York City, and were oversampled for SARS-CoV-2 exposure during pregnancy (n = 36 COVID-19 exposed mothers). At 6 months postpartum, infant attentional processing was measured remotely using an online webcam-linked eye tracker developed for infant remote research in the home environment. At 12 months, infant socioemotional development was evaluated through maternal-report using validated surveys. Results indicated that interactions between maternal depressive symptoms and SARS-CoV-2 exposure during pregnancy were linked with individual differences in infants’ attentional processing at 6 months of age. Specifically, in mothers reporting positive exposure to SARS-CoV-2, higher prenatal depressive symptoms were associated with attentional patterns characterized by increased orienting to salient stimuli, longer looking times, and lower levels of maternal-reported measures of attentional control. In turn, these attentional patterns subsequently predicted socioemotional competence at 12 months, over and beyond individual contributions of prenatal depression, SARS-CoV-2 exposure, or relevant infant or family characteristics. These findings provide preliminary evidence of phenotypic adaptations in attentional processing by infants of mothers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight infant attentional processing as a relevant early behavioral predictor of longitudinal developmental trajectories.