Maternal Prenatal Psychological Distress and Preschool Cognitive Functioning: the Protective Role of Positive Parental Engagement
Open accessAbstract
Considerable animal research and available human studies suggest that psychological distress experienced by mothers during gestation is associated with later neurodevelopmental deficits in offspring; however, little research has examined potential protective factors that might mitigate this risk. The current study examined the impact of maternal prenatal psychological distress during pregnancy on cognitive outcomes in preschoolers (ages 2.5-5 years) and positive parenting as a potential protective factor. Mother-child dyads (N = 162, mean child age = 44 months, 49 % female) were recruited from a longitudinal cohort of women who had previously participated in a study of maternal mood disorders during pregnancy. Maternal prenatal distress was assessed with multiple measures collected throughout pregnancy. During a follow-up visit, mothers were interviewed about their psychological symptoms since the birth of the child, parenting behaviors were recorded during a parent-child interaction, and children's cognitive abilities were measured using the Differential Ability Scales, 2nd Edition. Maternal prenatal distress significantly predicted lower general cognitive abilities; however, this relationship was strongest for children whose mothers exhibited low levels of positive engagement and not significant when mothers exhibited high levels of positive engagement. Results suggest that positive parental engagement can protect against the detrimental effects of maternal prenatal distress on preschoolers' cognitive abilities.
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Stress negatively impacts the development of the unborn child regarding cognitive and motor development and temperamental and behavioural measures.
“There is also evidence that stress negatively impacts the development of the (unborn) child regarding cognitive and motor development [7, 37, 72, 81 and temperamental and behavioural measures [29].”
From The effects of a music and singing intervention during pregnancy on maternal well-being and mother-infant bonding: a randomised, controlled study. (2021) · cites this paper as [72]
The Abstract and Results report an association between maternal prenatal distress and lower cognitive ability in preschool children. The study does not establish that stress causes this outcome, and the passages do not support the attributed claims about motor, temperamental, or behavioural development. No page numbers were available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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References 76 · Cited by 36
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- First MB Spitzer RL Gibbon M Williams JB 2002 Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders - patient edition New York New York State Psychiatric Institute
- Kline RB 2011 Principles and practice of structured equation modeling 3rd New York The Guilford Press
- Authors
- Schechter, J. C., Brennan, P. A., Smith, A. K., Stowe, Z. N., Newport, D. J., & Johnson, K. C.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Emory University (US)
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (US)
- University of Miami Health System (US)
- Corresponding author
- Schechter, Julia C.
- Venue
- Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
- Published
- 2016-05-06
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 249-260
- ISSN
- 0091-0627 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-2835
- PMC
- PMC5097892
- OpenAlex
- W2345486929
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 76
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 4.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- NARSAD Independent Investigator Award
- National Institutes of Health (RC1 MH088609)
- Specialized Center of Research on Sex and Gender Effects (MH68036)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH88609)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Infant Development and Preterm Care
- Keywords
- antenatal depression, positive parenting, parental engagement, child cognitive development, protective factors, mother-child interaction, neurodevelopmental risk
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Intelligence, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Stress, Psychological, Parenting
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