ArticleDevelopment and psychopathology2020
Prenatal maternal psychological distress and fetal developmental trajectories: associations with infant temperament.
Article in Development and psychopathology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Review on the Vagus Nerve and Autonomic Nervous System During Fetal Development: Searching for Critical Windows.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Hidden pandemic: COVID-19-related stress, SLC6A4 methylation, and infants' temperament at 3 months.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- What happens in vagus.Frontiers in neurology · 2026Review
- Impact of prenatal environmental exposure on offspring neurodevelopment and susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases: mechanisms and perspectives.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- The relationship between the timing of pregnancy discovery and prenatal attachment and distress: a case-control study.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2025Article
- Prenatal Maternal Mindfulness as a Predictor of Infant Emerging Effortful Control and Negative Affect.Mindfulness · 2025Article
- Prenatal Stress and Maternal Role in Neurodevelopment.Annual review of developmental psychology · 2024Article
- Mapping Early Brain-Body Interactions: Associations of Fetal Heart Rate Variation with Newborn Brainstem, Hypothalamic, and Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex Functional Connectivity.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- Impact of low-level prenatal alcohol exposure and maternal stress on autonomic regulation.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Treatment of depression during pregnancy: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Association of maternal exposure to Superstorm Sandy and maternal cannabis use with development of psychopathology among offspring: the Stress in Pregnancy Study.BJPsych open · 2023Article
- Adverse and Benevolent Childhood Experiences Predict Prenatal Sleep Quality.Adversity and resilience science · 2022Article
- Prenatal exposure to air pollution and maternal stress predict infant individual differences in reactivity and regulation and socioemotional development.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2022Article
- Effects of Maternal and Child Lifetime Traumatic Stress Exposures, Infant Temperament, and Caregiving Quality on Preschoolers' Executive Functioning.Developmental neuropsychology · 2022Article
- The influence of maternal anxiety and cortisol during pregnancy on childhood anxiety symptoms.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2022Article
- Fetal Congenital Cardiac and Vascular Disorders Associated with Sertraline Treatment during Pregnancy: Analysis of FAERS Data.BioMed research international · 2022Article
- Prenatal exposure to maternal psychological distress and telomere length in childhood.Developmental psychobiology · 2022Article
- Article
- The relationship between maternal-fetus attachment and perceived parental bonds in pregnant women: Considering a possible mediating role of psychological distress.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Exposure to prenatal maternal distress and infant white matter neurodevelopment.Development and psychopathology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
Associations between prenatal maternal psychological distress and offspring developmental outcomes are well documented, yet relatively little research has examined links between maternal distress and development in utero, prior to postpartum influences. Fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters are established indices of central and autonomic nervous system maturation and function which demonstrate continuity with postnatal outcomes. This prospective, longitudinal study of 149 maternal-fetal pairs evaluated associations between prenatal maternal distress, FHR parameters, and dimensions of infant temperament. Women reported their symptoms of psychological distress at five prenatal visits, and FHR monitoring was conducted at the last three visits. Maternal report of infant temperament was collected at 3 and 6 months of age. Exposure to elevated prenatal maternal psychological distress was associated with higher late-gestation resting mean FHR (FHRM) among female but not male fetuses. Higher late-gestation FHRM was associated with lower infant orienting/regulation and with higher infant negative affectivity, and these associations did not differ by infant sex. A path analysis identified higher FHRM as one pathway by which elevated prenatal maternal distress was associated with lower orienting/regulation among female infants. Findings suggest that, for females, elevated maternal distress alters fetal development, with implications for postnatal function. Results also support the notion that, for both sexes, individual differences in regulation emerge prenatally and are maintained into infancy. Collectively, these findings underscore the utility of direct assessment of development in utero when examining if prenatal experiences are carried forward into postnatal life.
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