Cited by 38Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentBirth, Development, and Health

Prenatal maternal stress shapes children’s theory of mind: the QF2011 Queensland Flood Study

Simcock, G., Kildea, S., Elgbeili, G., Laplante, D. P., Cobham, V., King, S.·2017·Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

Abstract

Research shows that stress in pregnancy has powerful and enduring effects on many facets of child development, including increases in behavior problems and neurodevelopmental disorders. Theory of mind is an important aspect of child development that is predictive of successful social functioning and is impaired in children with autism. A number of factors related to individual differences in theory of mind have been identified, but whether theory of mind development is shaped by prenatal events has not yet been examined. In this study we utilized a sudden onset flood that occurred in Queensland, Australia in 2011 to examine whether disaster-related prenatal maternal stress predicts child theory of mind and whether sex of the child or timing of the stressor in pregnancy moderates these effects. Higher levels of flood-related maternal subjective stress, but not objective hardship, predicted worse theory of mind at 30 months (n=130). Further, maternal cognitive appraisal of the flood moderated the effects of stress in pregnancy on girls’ theory of mind performance but not boys’. These results illuminate how stress in pregnancy can shape child development and the findings are discussed in relation to biological mechanisms in pregnancy and stress theory.

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Crossref · 10.1017/s2040174417000186

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58 of 58 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Maternal stress in pregnancy can shape childhood outcomes in a range of developmental domains including temperament, cognition, language skills, and motor functioning.

    “Maternal stress in pregnancy can shape childhood outcomes in a range of developmental domains including temperament, cognition, language skills, and motor functioning [106,107].”

    From Stress and the HPA Axis: Balancing Homeostasis and Fertility. (2017) · cites this paper as [106]

  • Prenatal maternal stress can differentially affect outcomes for each sex beyond the neonatal period.

    “Studies also show that prenatal maternal stress can differentially affect outcomes for each sex beyond the neonatal period [106].”

    From Stress and the HPA Axis: Balancing Homeostasis and Fertility. (2017) · cites this paper as [106]

  • In the QF2011 Queensland Flood Study, higher subjective stress, but not objective hardship, predicted poorer theory of mind skills in 130 children at 30 months of age.

    “Higher subjective stress, but not objective hardship predicted poorer theory of mind skills in 130 children at 30 months of age.”

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Authors
Simcock, G., Kildea, S., Elgbeili, G., Laplante, D. P., Cobham, V., & King, S.
Affiliations
  • The University of Queensland (AU)
  • Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CA)
Corresponding author
King, S.
Venue
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
Published
2017-03-24
Volume
8
Issue
4
Pages
483-492
ISSN
  • 2040-1744 (ISSN-L)
  • 2040-1752
OpenAlex
W2599862544
Cited by
38
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
FWCI
3.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
University of Queensland
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
Keywords
prenatal stress, maternal stress, theory of mind, child development, 2011 Queensland floods, disaster stress, subjective stress, sex differences, cognitive appraisal, autism spectrum disorder, social cognition
MeSH terms
Adult, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Disasters, Female, Humans, Male, Pregnancy, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Queensland, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress, Psychological, Floods, Theory of Mind

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