Does Mindful Parenting Mediate the Association between Maternal Anxiety during Pregnancy and Child Behavioral/Emotional Problems?

Abstract

Objectives Maternal anxiety during pregnancy is a risk factor for child behavioral/emotional problems. Knowledge about explanatory factors mediating this link is scarce. Maternal anxiety during pregnancy may be an indicator of adverse postnatal environmental conditions, including maternal anxiety and poor parenting, possibly affecting child behavior. This study investigated whether maternal anxiety and mindful parenting in early childhood mediate the association between maternal anxiety during pregnancy and child behavioral/emotional problems. Methods This study was based on a sample of 118 mother-child dyads who participated in a cohort study that followed participants from pregnancy until 4 years after birth. At 21 weeks' gestation and when the child was 4 years old, mothers completed questionnaires to assess state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and general anxiety (Symptom Checklist-90 anxiety subscale). At age 4 years, mothers reported mindful parenting (Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale) and child behavioral/emotional problems (Child Behavior Checklist). Results Maternal state anxiety during pregnancy was positively associated with child internalizing problems and negatively with mindful parenting. Maternal general anxiety during pregnancy was related with more child internalizing and externalizing problems but not with mindful parenting. The association between maternal state anxiety during pregnancy and child internalizing problems was sequentially mediated via concurrent maternal general anxiety and mindful parenting. Conclusions These findings suggest that maternal anxiety during pregnancy continues into early childhood and, because of this, it subsequently affects child internalizing behavior via poor mindful parenting. Replication studies are needed before developing interventions for tackling maternal anxiety during pregnancy and promoting mindful parenting.

Psychological flexibility and inflexibility as sources of resiliency and risk during a pandemic: Modeling the cascade of COVID-19 stress on family systems with a contextual behavioral science lens

“…For example, bolstering psychological flexibility has been shown to reduce work-related stress ( Wersebe, Lieb, Meyer, Hofer, & Gloster, 2018 ). Consistent with this, a growing number of studies have linked psychological flexibility in parents to more kind and compassionate family interactions (e.g., MacDonald, Hastings, & Fitzsimons, 2010 ; Wong, Mak, & Liao, 2016 ), more adaptive parenting practices (e.g., Burke & Moore, 2015 ; McCaffrey, Reitman, & Black, 2017 ; Moreira & Canavarro, 2017 ), and greater individual well-being for both children (e.g., Henrichs, van den Heuvel, Witteveen, Wilschut, & Van den Bergh, 2019 ) and for the parents themselves (e.g., Neff & Faso, 2015 ). To build on this work, the current study sought to apply this conceptual framework toward understanding the possible impact of COVID-19 on families during this worldwide crisis, positing that parental psychological flexibility might serve as a key source of resilience within families.…”

Maternal stress during pregnancy alters fetal cortico-cerebellar connectivity in utero and increases child sleep problems after birth

“…Third, it is difficult to disentangle contributions of the postnatal environment to child sleep problems. It is known that prenatal stress may affect maternal parenting 66 , which, in turn, can contribute to child sleep problems. However, the fact that maternal prenatal stress was found to impact functional connectivity of the fetal brain suggests that biological mechanisms are, at least, partly at play.…”

The Long-Term Impact of Maternal Anxiety and Depression Postpartum and in Early Childhood on Child and Paternal Mental Health at 11–12 Years Follow-Up

“…Not only maternal postpartum mental health but also maternal mental health in the childhood period affects child emotional functioning. Previous studies observed that maternal anxiety and depression in (early) childhood are associated with child emotional and behavioral problems (35,36). Both the postpartum period and the early childhood period are mentally demanding periods in a woman's life.…”