Maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety is associated with child executive function at 6–9 years age
Open accessAbstract
Because fetal brain development proceeds at an extremely rapid pace, early life experiences have the potential to alter the trajectory of neurodevelopment, which may increase susceptibility for developmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. There is evidence that prenatal maternal stress and anxiety, especially worries specifically related to being pregnant, influence neurodevelopmental outcomes. In the current prospective longitudinal study, we included 89 women for whom serial data were available for pregnancy-specific anxiety, state anxiety, and depression at 15, 19, 25, 31, and 37 weeks gestation. When the offspring from the target pregnancy were between 6 and 9 years of age, their executive function was assessed. High levels of mean maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety over the course of gestation were associated with lower inhibitory control in girls only and lower visuospatial working memory performance in boys and girls. Higher-state anxiety and depression also were associated with lower visuospatial working memory performance. However, neither state anxiety nor depression explained any additional variance after accounting for pregnancy-specific anxiety. The findings contribute to the literature supporting an association between pregnancy-specific anxiety and cognitive development and extend our knowledge about the persistence of this effect until middle childhood.
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Long-term neurodevelopmental impairments of the offspring include cognitive, language, social-emotional, learning and memory, and behavioral problems, as well as neuropsychiatric dysfunction.
“In addition, the long-term neurodevelopmental impairments of the offspring include a spectrum of cognitive, language, social-emotional, learning and memory, and behavioral problems, as well as neuropsychiatric dysfunction [13, 24, 26, 34, 40–46].”
From Brain structural and functional outcomes in the offspring of women experiencing psychological distress during pregnancy (2024) · cites this paper as [44]
The Results (page unavailable) associate maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety with poorer conflict processing in girls and poorer sequential-memory performance in boys and girls. The Introduction (page unavailable) discusses possible susceptibility to neuropsychiatric disorders, but the paper does not establish the claimed spectrum of language, social-emotional, and behavioral problems in offspring. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPrenatal maternal psychological distress has enduring consequences on long-term neurobehavioral development in the offspring, partially through altered brain structure and circuitry.
“Prenatal maternal psychological distress has been shown to have enduring consequences on long-term neurobehavioral development in the offspring [13, 24, 26, 34, 40–46], partially through altered brain structure and circuitry [118, 119].”
From Brain structural and functional outcomes in the offspring of women experiencing psychological distress during pregnancy (2024) · cites this paper as [44]
The Results report that higher pregnancy-specific anxiety was associated with less efficient conflict processing at ages 6–9, particularly in girls. This supports a lasting neurobehavioral association, but the observational finding does not establish the claimed consequences as causal. The altered-brain-structure and circuitry clause is attached to different citations, not this source. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredElevated levels of maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety are associated with child executive function, including lower inhibitory control in girls and lower visuospatial working memory performance in both boys and girls.
“In addition, elevated levels of maternal pregnancy-specific anxiety are also associated with child executive function, including lower inhibitory control in girls and lower visuospatial working memory performance in both boys and girls [44].”
From Brain structural and functional outcomes in the offspring of women experiencing psychological distress during pregnancy (2024) · cites this paper as [44]
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References 101 · Cited by 289
- Authors
- Buss, C., Davis, E. P., Hobel, C. J., & Sandman, C. A.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Buss, C.
- Venue
- Stress
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2011-10-13
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 665-676
- ISSN
- 1025-3890 (ISSN-L)
- 1607-8888
- PMC
- PMC3222921
- OpenAlex
- W2097236372
- Cited by
- 289
- References
- 101
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 14.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Stress (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH091351, MH-091351)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS-41298;, R01NS041298)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD028413, HD 51852, R01HD051852, HD-28413)
- 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 › Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects
- Keywords
- pregnancy-specific anxiety, inhibitory control, visuospatial working memory, prenatal stress, state anxiety, maternal depression, fetal brain development, cognitive development, sex differences, middle childhood
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Mothers, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Prospective Studies, Sex Characteristics, Executive Function
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