Preschoolers’ emotion reactivity and regulation: Links with maternal psychological distress and child behavior problems

Maladaptive offspring emotion regulation has been identified as one pathway linking maternal and child psychological well-being in school-aged children. Whether such a pathway is present earlier in life still remains unclear. The present study investigated the role of preschoolers’ emotion reactivity and regulation in the association between maternal psychological distress and child internalizing and externalizing problems. Children’s emotion reactivity and regulation were assessed through both observed behavior and physiology. At 42 months of age, children (n = 251; 128 girls) completed a fear induction task during which their heart-rate variability was assessed and their behavior was monitored, and maternal self-reports on depressive mood and anxiety were collected. At 48 months mothers and fathers reported on their children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Higher maternal depressive mood was associated with lower child fear-related reactivity and regulation, as indexed by heart-rate variability. The latter mediated the association between higher maternal depressive mood and higher preschoolers’ externalizing problems. Overall, our findings support the role of preschoolers’ emotion reactivity and regulation in the relationship between maternal psychological distress and children’s socio-emotional difficulties. This role may also depend on the discrete emotion to which children react or seek to regulate as, here, we only assessed fear-related reactivity and regulation.

Maternal psychological distress, education, household income, and congenital heart defects: a prospective cohort study from the Japan environment and children’s study

Background The influence of maternal psychological distress on infant congenital heart defects (CHDs) has not been thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, there have been no reports on the combined effect of maternal psychological distress and socioeconomic status on infant CHDs. This study aimed to examine whether maternal psychological distress, socioeconomic status, and their combinations were associated with CHD. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study using data from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study, which recruited pregnant women between 2011 and 2014. Maternal psychological distress was evaluated using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale in the first trimester, while maternal education and household income were evaluated in the second and third trimesters. The outcome of infant CHD was determined using the medical records at 1 month of age and/or at birth. Crude- and confounder-adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between maternal psychological distress and education and household income on infant CHD. Results A total of 93,643 pairs of mothers and infants were analyzed, with 1.1% of infants having CHDs. Maternal psychological distress had a significantly higher odds ratio in the crude analysis but not in the adjusted analysis, while maternal education and household income were statistically insignificant. In the analysis of the combination variable of lowest education and psychological distress, the P for trend was statistically significant in the crude and multivariate model excluding anti-depressant medication, but the significance disappeared in the full model (P = 0.050). Conclusions The combination of maternal psychological distress and lower education may be a possible indicator of infant CHD.

Maternal caregiving ameliorates the consequences of prenatal maternal psychological distress on child development

Children exposed to prenatal maternal psychological distress are at elevated risk for a range of adverse outcomes; however, it remains poorly understood whether postnatal influences can ameliorate impairments related to prenatal distress. The current study evaluated if sensitivematernal care during the first postnatal year could mitigate child cognitive and emotional impairments associated with prenatal psychological distress. Prenatal maternal psychological distress was assessed via self-reports of anxiety, depression, and perceived stress for 136 mothers at five prenatal and four postpartum time points. Quality of maternal care (sensitivity to nondistress, positive regard, and intrusiveness reverse-scored) were assessed during a mother–child play interaction at 6 and 12 months. Child cognitive function and negative emotionality were assessed at 2 years, using The Bayley Scales and the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire. Elevated prenatal distress was associated with poorer child cognitive function and elevated negative emotionality. Children exposed to elevated prenatal maternal distress did not, however, display these outcomes if they received high-quality caregiving. Specifically, maternal care moderated the relation between prenatal psychological distress and child cognitive function and negative emotionality. This association remained after consideration of postnatal maternal psychological distress and relevant covariates. Sensitive maternal care was associated with altered offspring developmental trajectories, supporting child resilience following prenatal distress exposure.

Interactions of genetic variants and prenatal stress in relation to the risk for recurrent respiratory infections in children

Genetic variants may predispose children to recurrent respiratory infections (RRIs) but studies on genotype-environment interaction are rare. We hypothesized that the risk for RRIs is elevated in children with innate immune gene variants, and that prenatal exposure to maternal psychological distress further increases the risk. In a birth cohort, children with RRIs (n = 96) were identified by the age of 24 months and compared with the remaining cohort children (n = 894). The risk for RRIs in children with preselected genetic variants and the interaction between maternal distress during pregnancy and child genotype were assessed with logistic regression. The IL6 minor allele G was associated with elevated risk for RRIs (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.14–2.12). Overall, there was no interaction between maternal psychological distress and child genotype. Exploratory analyses showed that, the association between the variant type of IL6 and the risk for RRIs was dependent on prenatal exposure to maternal psychological distress in males (OR 1.96; 95% CI 1.04–3.67). Our study didn’t find genotype-environment interaction between prenatal maternal distress and child genotype. Exploratory analyses suggest sex differences in gene-environment interaction related to susceptibility to RRIs.

Maternal Psychological Distress, Education, Household Income, and Congenital Heart Defects: A Prospective Cohort Study from The Japan Environment and Children’s Study Running Title Maternal Psychological Distress and Congenital Heart Defects

Background: The influence of maternal psychological distress on infant congenital heart defects (CHDs) has not been thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, there have been no reports on the combined effect of maternal psychological distress and socioeconomic status on infant CHDs. This study aimed to examine whether maternal psychological distress, socioeconomic status, and their combinations were associated with CHD.Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study using data from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study, which recruited pregnant women between 2011 and 2014. Maternal psychological distress was evaluated using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale in the first trimester, while maternal education and household income were evaluated in the second and third trimesters. The outcome of infant CHD was determined using the medical records at 1 month of age and/or at birth. Crude and adjusted logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between maternal psychological distress and education and household income on infant CHD.Results: A total of 93,643 pairs of mothers and infants were analyzed, with 1.1% of infants having CHDs. Maternal psychological distress had a significantly higher odds ratio in the crude analysis but not in the adjusted analysis, while maternal education and household income were statistically insignificant. In the analysis of the combination variable of lowest education and psychological distress, the trend for p was statistically significant in the crude and adjusted analyses.Conclusions: The combination of maternal psychological distress and lower education may be a possible indicator of infant CHD.