Maternal mindfulness during pregnancy and infant socio-emotional development and temperament: The mediating role of maternal anxiety
Abstract
Background Accumulating evidence shows that maternal anxiety during pregnancy adversely affects child outcomes. The positive effects of maternal psychosocial factors during pregnancy on child outcomes are not yet studied. This prospective study addresses the association between maternal mindfulness during pregnancy and socio-emotional development and temperament in 10months-old infants. We also investigated whether this association was mediated by maternal anxiety.Method Mothers (N=90) provided information about mindfulness and anxiety at the beginning of the second trimester of pregnancy. Infant socio-emotional development (Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional; ASQ:SE) and temperament (Infant Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised; IBQ-R) were assessed at age 10months.Results Higher maternal mindfulness during pregnancy was associated with less infant self-regulation problems and less infant negative affectivity. Mediation analysis showed that maternal anxiety mediated the association between infant self-regulation problems and maternal mindfulness.Conclusion These results suggest that maternal mindfulness during pregnancy may have positive effects on infant development. This association may be mediated by reduced anxiety symptoms in pregnant women who score high on mindfulness. Additional replication studies are needed using objective measures of infant behavioural/emotional outcomes and mindfulness of the mother during child development.
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Only a few small studies have examined associations between levels of resilience (or related factors) and maternal depression and depressive symptoms or infant behavioral and developmental outcomes.
“To date, only a few small studies have examined associations between levels of resilience (or related factors) and maternal depression and depressive symptoms or infant behavioral and developmental outcomes [14–16].”
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“Antenatal maternal mindfulness has been associated with better self-regulation and lower levels of negative affect in 10-month-old infants (van den Heuvel, et al., 2015).”
- Authors
- van den Heuvel, M. I., Johannes, M. A., Henrichs, J., & Van den Bergh, B. R. H.
- Affiliations
- Tilburg University (NL)
- Venue
- Early Human Development
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-02
- Volume
- 91
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 103-108
- ISSN
- 0378-3782 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1973825058
- Cited by
- 105
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 7.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Early Human Development (publishedVersion)
- Research portal (Tilburg University) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Lirias (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- European Science Foundation
- European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (279281)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- pregnancy, maternal anxiety, infant temperament, negative affectivity, mediation, infant behavior
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Child Behavior Disorders, Child Development, Emotions, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Social Behavior, Temperament, Mindfulness
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