Maternal childhood trauma and prenatal stressors are associated with child behavioral health
Short Summary: This study looked at how a mother's childhood trauma and stress during pregnancy affects her child's behavior at age 1. The study found that multiple types of maternal stress were associated with socioemotional-behavioral problems in children at age one. Importantly, findings also showed that maternal knowledge about child development can help protect against the negative effects of stress. This suggests that screening and early intervention for parents could help promote positive behavioral health in children.
Scientific Abstract: Maternal adversity and prenatal stress confer risk for child behavioral health problems. Few studies have examined this intergenerational process across multiple dimensions of stress; fewer have explored potential protective factors. Using a large, diverse sample of mother-child dyads, we examined associations between maternal childhood trauma, prenatal stressors, and offspring socioemotional-behavioral development, while also examining potential resilience-promoting factors. The Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning and Early Childhood (CANDLE) study prospectively followed 1503 mother-child dyads (65% Black, 32% White) from pregnancy. Exposures included maternal childhood trauma, socioeconomic risk, intimate partner violence, and geocode-linked neighborhood violent crime during pregnancy. Child socioemotional-behavioral functioning was measured via the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (mean age = 1.1 years). Maternal social support and parenting knowledge during pregnancy were tested as potential moderators. Multiple linear regressions (N = 1127) revealed that maternal childhood trauma, socioeconomic risk, and intimate partner violence were independently, positively associated with child socioemotional-behavioral problems at age one in fully adjusted models. Maternal parenting knowledge moderated associations between both maternal childhood trauma and prenatal socioeconomic risk on child problems: greater knowledge was protective against the effects of socioeconomic risk and was promotive in the context of low maternal history of childhood trauma. Findings indicate that multiple dimensions of maternal stress and adversity are independently associated with child socioemotional-behavioral problems. Further, modifiable environmental factors, including knowledge regarding child development, can mitigate these risks. Both findings support the importance of parental screening and early intervention to promote child socioemotional-behavioral health.
Authors: Ahmad SI, Rudd KL, LeWinn KZ, Mason WA, Murphy L, Juarez PD, Karr CJ, Sathyanarayana S, Tylavsky FA, Bush NR.