Maternal and paternal depression and anxiety and offspring infant negative affectivity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Maternal internalizing symptoms during pregnancy, specifically depression and/or anxiety, are commonly linked to negative affectivity (NA) in infant offspring. These links are commonly attributed to biological effects of the in utero environment on fetal development. However, research suggests that internalizing symptoms before and after pregnancy, as well as in fathers, may also be associated with NA in infant offspring. Such findings suggest greater complexity in transmission than can be explained by biological in utero programming alone. Further, infant NA is often treated as an homogenous construct, yet it covers a range of facets including fear, frustration, sadness, and slow recovery from distress that may each be differentially associated with parent internalizing distress. Here we aimed to (1) meta-analytically quantify associations between maternal and paternal internalizing symptoms and infant offspring NA, (2) examine how associations varied as a function of distinct phenotypic facets of NA, and (3) examine how associations varied by timing of parental symptoms (preconception, antenatal, postnatal) and infant age. Using random-effects meta-analysis, we found that maternal internalizing symptoms were positively associated with infant NA (r = 0.17 [95% CI 0.14, 0.21], 42 studies, 149 estimates). Preliminary evidence from studies of fathers likewise suggested a positive association with infant NA (r = 0.13 [95% CI 0.04, 0.22], 6 studies, 40 estimates). We observed associations with the global infant NA construct, as well as effect modification by infant NA facet (maternal r range .12 to .22; paternal r range .03 to.21). In mothers, there was no evidence of effect modification by timing of internalizing symptoms or infant age; in fathers, preliminary associations were larger for postnatal than antenatal symptoms. Further studies of preconception and paternal symptoms are now needed, and we suggest avenues for research to advance understanding of the relations between parent internalizing symptoms and infant NA.

Parental personality and early life ecology: a prospective cohort study from preconception to postpartum

“…Further, small standardised effects can correspond to meaningful real-life differences; for example, in fathers, the observed standardized beta of 0.18 corresponds to an AUD $12,488 increase in income for every standard deviation increase in emotional stability. Moreover, we found large effect sizes when considering a binary exposure of extreme versus normative personality trait levels, with effect sizes similar to those commonly observed for proximal and concurrent parental exposures 69 , 70 , a striking finding given our more distal assessment of personality up to 10 years preconception.…”

Prenatal substance exposure and maternal hostility from pregnancy to toddlerhood: Associations with temperament profiles at 16 months of age

“…Recent work in perinatology and developmental psychopathology converge on the suggestion that a mother’s emotional experience while pregnant and in the first years of life influences her child’s long-term development, including elevated risk for neurodevelopmental and behavioral problems from infancy to adolescence (see Van den Bergh et al, 2017 for review). For example, pre- and early postnatal maternal emotion marked by anxiety has been linked to infant negative affect and childhood internalizing symptoms (e.g., Lawrence, Creswell, Cooper, & Murray, 2020 ; Spry et al, 2020 ). These effects likely vary by the type, timing, and intensity of a pregnant woman’s pre- or postnatal emotional experience, which itself may be exacerbated by other stressors, such as substance use and poverty (e.g., Eiden et al, 2011 ).…”

The Mediating Role of Mindful Parenting in the Relationship Between Parental Anxiety and Youth’s Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties

“…One of the few longitudinal studies that analyzed this predictive path between parental anxiety and youth-internalizing symptoms reached the same conclusion (Johnco et al, 2021). Further research on paternal anxiety is necessary, as the vast majority of the samples included a higher percentage of mothers than fathers (Spry et al, 2020).…”

“…In recent years, studies have highlighted the importance of analyzing the effects of other psychological disorders, such as anxiety (Goodman, 2020). Parental anxiety is a predictor of a youth's internalizing symptoms (Spry et al, 2020). A meta-analysis has concluded that parental anxiety is a risk factor for youth in developing internalizing symptoms related to anxiety and depression disorders (Möller et al, 2016).…”