Understanding links between maternal perinatal posttraumatic stress symptoms and infant socioemotional and physical health

Abstract

Maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are associated with adverse consequences for older children, but very few studies have examined links between perinatal maternal PTSS and infant outcomes. Trauma exposure and psychopathology, including PTSS, is often heightened for women during pregnancy through 1 year postpartum. Therefore, the perinatal period may be a critical time for understanding the risk maternal PTSS and other mental health factors pose to the socioemotional and physical health of infants. The present study explored the relation between maternal PTSS and infant socioemotional and physical health problems in a sample of racially and ethnically diverse mother-infant dyads (N = 295) assessed prenatally and at 12 months postpartum. This study also examined whether there are: (1) moderating effects of maternal depressive symptoms and parenting stress on these associations and (2) indirect effects of PTSS on infant outcomes through observed maternal sensitivity. Results indicated that postpartum depressive symptoms and parenting stress, rather than PTSS, were associated with greater infant socioemotional health problems. However, prenatal PTSS were associated with greater infant physical health problems when mothers also reported clinically significant levels of postpartum depressive symptoms. Maternal sensitivity was not associated with maternal PTSS, depressive symptoms, or parenting stress, nor was it related to infant socioemotional and physical health; thus, maternal sensitivity was not tested as an intermediary mechanism linking maternal mental health with infant outcomes. Implications for promoting maternal mental health in the perinatal period to bolster socioemotional and physical health of infants are discussed.

Early childhood trauma exposure and neurocognitive and emotional processes: Associations in young children in a partial hospital program

“…Demographics and family socioeconomic adversity Caregivers reported on their child's age, gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as on their own education level, employment status (not employed vs. employed), marital status (single vs. two-parent household), and family income. Consistent with prior research (e.g., Huffhines et al, 2022;Tyrka et al, 2015), indicators of socioeconomic risk (education ≤ high school diploma, nonemployment, single parenthood) were summed to provide a parsimonious assessment of family socioeconomic adversity (possible scores ranged from 0 to 3).…”

Factors Associated with Obstetric Violence Implicated in the Development of Postpartum Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review

“…PPD and PTSD are characterized by a refusal attitude for life and ambivalent behavioral, cognitive, and somatic disorders. In addition to the social and healthcare costs, both mental difficulties entail negative effects on the physical and emotional health of the woman, leading to maladaptation to motherhood and serious misalignments in the affective and physical development of the newborn [22][23][24]. It has been identified that PPD and PTSD can be activated one year after childbirth [18,23].…”