Associations Between Maternal Stressful Life Events and Perceived Distress during Pregnancy and Child Mental Health at Age 4.

ABSTRACT: Accumulating evidence suggests that maternal exposure to objectively stressful events and subjective distress during pregnancy may have intergenerational impacts on children's mental health, yet evidence is limited. In a multisite longitudinal cohort (N = 454), we used multi-variable linear regression models to evaluate the predictive value of exposure to stressful events and perceived distress in pregnancy for children's internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and adaptive skills at age 4. We also explored two- and three-way interactions between stressful events, distress, and child sex. Both objective and subjective maternal stress independently predicted children's behavior, with more stressful events and higher distress predicting more internalizing and externalizing problems a

SUBMITTER: Rudd KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9395496 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature