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Being an Infant in a Pandemic: Influences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Infants, Toddlers and Their Mothers in a Clinical Population.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing lockdowns might have had a strong impact on mental health of mothers and their infants/toddlers. For example, families had to deal with health issues and social isolation, which might have affected mental health and parent-child interactions. The aim of this study is to evaluate differences in (1) infantile regulatory disorders, (2) maternal mental health, (3) the impact of maternal mental health on infantile regulatory disorders, and (4) alterations in the mother-child interaction for participants recruited before versus after the onset of the first German lockdown. For this reason, mother-child dyads have been divided into two groups and were compared by analyzing clinical interviews on psychopathology of mother and child (M.I.N.I. & DC:05) and mother-child-interactions (Emotional Availability Scales). Results showed that (1) differences in infantile sleeping disorders emerged (phi = 0.243; p = 0.016) compared to the pre-lockdown group, while (2) the occurrence of maternal panic and anxiety increased in the post-lockdown group (phi = 0.229; p = 0.022). Moreover, there was (3) an association for maternal panic and child's sleep disorder, and (4) specific associations with maternal non-hostility in the mother-child-interaction. In conclusion, the present study highlights the differences of maternal mental health occurrences and infants' regulatory problems, as well as the possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for infants. In the pre-lockdown group, maternal non-hostility might have acted as a promotive factor against regulatory disorders, while this mechanism was mitigated in the post-lockdown group.

SUBMITTER: Sprengeler MK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10742006 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Being an Infant in a Pandemic: Influences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Infants, Toddlers and Their Mothers in a Clinical Population.

Sprengeler Mona Katharina MK Mattheß Janna J Galeris Mirijam-Griseldis MG Eckert Melanie M Koch Gabriele G Reinhold Thomas T Berghöfer Anne A Fricke Julia J Roll Stephanie S Keil Thomas T Ludwig-Körner Christiane C Kuchinke Lars L von Klitzing Kai K White Lars Otto LO Schlensog-Schuster Franziska F

Children (Basel, Switzerland) 20231201 12

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing lockdowns might have had a strong impact on mental health of mothers and their infants/toddlers. For example, families had to deal with health issues and social isolation, which might have affected mental health and parent-child interactions. The aim of this study is to evaluate differences in (1) infantile regulatory disorders, (2) maternal mental health, (3) the impact of maternal mental health on infantile regulatory disorders, and (4) alterations in the ...[more]

PMID: 38136087

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Project description:ImportanceStress and viral illness during pregnancy are associated with neurodevelopmental conditions in offspring. Autism screening positivity for children born during the pandemic remains unknown.ObjectiveTo examine associations between prenatal exposure to the pandemic milieu and maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection with rates of positive Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised (M-CHAT-R) screenings.Design, setting, and participantsData for this cohort study were drawn from the COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes (COMBO) Initiative. M-CHAT-R scores obtained from children aged 16 to 30 months during routine clinical care at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City were abstracted from electronic health records (EHRs) for children born between January 2018 and September 2021 (COMBO-EHR cohort). Separately, the M-CHAT-R was administered at 18 months for children born between February 2020 and September 2021 through a prospective longitudinal study (COMBO-RSCH cohort). Prenatal pandemic exposure (birth after March 1, 2020) and maternal SARS-CoV-2 status during pregnancy was determined through EHRs. Data were analyzed from March 2022 to June 2024.ExposuresPrenatal exposures to the pandemic milieu and maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was rate of positive M-CHAT-R screenings. For all primary analyses, unadjusted χ2 tests and adjusted logistic regression models were performed.ResultsThe COMBO-EHR cohort included 1664 children (442 born before the pandemic and 1222 born during the pandemic; 997 SARS-CoV-2 unexposed, 130 SARS-CoV-2 exposed, and 95 with unknown SARS-CoV-2 exposure status), of whom 266 (16.0%) were Black, 991 (59.6%) were Hispanic, 400 (24.0%) were White, 1245 (74.8%) were insured through Medicaid, 880 (52.9%) were male, and 204 (12.3%) were born prematurely. The COMBO-RSCH cohort included 385 children (74 born before the pandemic and 311 born during the pandemic; 201 SARS-CoV-2 unexposed, 101 SARS-CoV-2 exposed, and 9 with unknown SARS-CoV-2 exposure status), of whom 39 (10.1%) were Black, 168 (43.6%) were Hispanic, 157 (40.8%) were White, 161 (41.8%) were insured through Medicaid, 222 (57.7%) were male, and 38 (9.9%) were born prematurely. Prenatal pandemic exposure was not associated with a higher positive M-CHAT-R screening rate in either the COMBO-EHR or COMBO-RSCH cohort. Prenatal exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with a lower rate of M-CHAT-R positivity in the COMBO-EHR cohort (12.3% [16 children] vs 24.0% [239 children]; adjusted odds ratio, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.22-0.68; P = .001), but no association was found in the COMBO-RSCH cohort (12.9% [13 children] vs 19.9% [40 children]; adjusted odds ratio, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.24-1.04; P = .07).Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study of 2 groups of children with prenatal pandemic exposure and/or exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, neither exposure was associated with greater M-CHAT-R positivity.

Dataset Information

Being an Infant in a Pandemic: Influences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Infants, Toddlers and Their Mothers in a Clinical Population.

Publications

Being an Infant in a Pandemic: Influences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Infants, Toddlers and Their Mothers in a Clinical Population.

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