Maternal antenatal anxiety, postnatal stroking and emotional problems in children: outcomes predicted from pre- and postnatal programming hypotheses

Abstract

BackgroundMothers' self-reported stroking of their infants over the first weeks of life modifies the association between prenatal depression and physiological and emotional reactivity at 7 months, consistent with animal studies of the effects of tactile stimulation. We now investigate whether the effects of maternal stroking persist to 2.5 years. Given animal and human evidence for sex differences in the effects of prenatal stress we compare associations in boys and girls.MethodFrom a general population sample of 1233 first-time mothers recruited at 20 weeks gestation we drew a random sample of 316 for assessment at 32 weeks, stratified by reported inter-partner psychological abuse, a risk indicator for child development. Of these mothers, 243 reported at 5 and 9 weeks how often they stroked their infants, and completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at 2.5 years post-delivery.ResultsThere was a significant interaction between prenatal anxiety and maternal stroking in the prediction of CBCL internalizing (p = 0.001) and anxious/depressed scores (p < 0.001). The effects were stronger in females than males, and the three-way interaction prenatal anxiety × maternal stroking × sex of infant was significant for internalizing symptoms (p = 0.003). The interactions arose from an association between prenatal anxiety and internalizing symptoms only in the presence of low maternal stroking.ConclusionsThe findings are consistent with stable epigenetic effects, many sex specific, reported in animal studies. While epigenetic mechanisms may be underlying the associations, it remains to be established whether stroking affects gene expression in humans.

Sex differences in the associations between vagal reactivity and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms

“…The study design has been previously described (Sharp, Hill, Hellier, & Pickles, 2015; Sharp et al., 2012; Tibu et al., 2014). Recruited from consecutive attendees at the 20‐week prenatal check, the full cohort of 1,233 primiparous mothers with a mean age of 26.8 years ( SD  = 5.8, range 18–51) were all women who gave birth to a live, singleton baby eligible for longitudinal follow‐up.…”

“…Within the intensively assessed stratified subsample, 51% were drawn from the women with high psychosocial risk and 49% from those with low psychosocial risk. The stratifier has proved effective in increasing risk within the high stratum being associated with prenatal risks (Sharp et al., 2015). In this study, the stratifier was associated with ODD symptoms yielding correlations at 2.5, 3.5, and 5 years of 0.18 ( p  = .006), 0.13 ( p  < .001) and 0.19 ( p  < .001), respectively.…”

Cord Blood DNA Methylation Biomarkers for Predicting Neurodevelopmental Outcomes

“…Both pre- and post-natal depression and anxiety were assessed, as well as maternal stroking at five and nine weeks of age, using the self-report Parent-Infant Caregiving Scale. Infants were followed postnatally, to assess infant emotionality using the Distress to Limitations Scale and the Infant Behavioral Questionnaire [72], as well as the Child Behavior Checklist at 2.5 years [73]. A sub-set of mothers and infants also provided saliva samples for targeted DNA methylation analysis of the NR3C1 gene at age 14 months.…”

“…A sub-set of mothers and infants also provided saliva samples for targeted DNA methylation analysis of the NR3C1 gene at age 14 months. High prenatal depression and anxiety scores, together with low stroking behavior in early life, were associated with worse infant negative emotionality [72] (Table 2), and child internalizing behaviors and anxiety and depression symptoms at age 2.5 years [73]. This relationship was not observed in infants of greater stroking mothers.…”

Hormone levels in neonatal hair reflect prior maternal stress exposure during pregnancy

“…First, it is often informative to assess cortisone in addition to cortisol when assessing hair (Ito et al, 2005; Keckeis et al, 2012). Second, a comprehensive panel is especially important when investigating prenatal stress, because it is known that other hormones synthesized by the adrenal and gonads can be affected (DiPietro et al, 2011; Kapoor and Matthews, 2008, 2011; Kim et al, 2015; Pepe and Albrecht, 1995; Sharp et al, 2014). For example, prenatal stress in some animal species has been shown to affect sexual differentiation by influencing the organizational actions of androgens and estrogens.…”