ImpactofMaternalStress,Depression,andAnxietyonChildDevelopment
Eslainy Colon Mercy College
PSYN616Statistics&ResearchMethodology Prof. Kimberly Rapoza
March 23, 2023
Abstract
This paperreviewsthecurrentliteratureontheimpactofmaternalstress,depression,andanxiety on child development, with a particular focus on developmental outcomes in children based on maternal history. Studies have consistently shown that maternal mental health duringpregnancy and early childhood can have a negative impact on child development, including language development, socio-emotional development, and cognitive development. The paper discusses potential pathways by which maternal mental health influences child development, including prenatal programming, epigenetic modifications, and stress reactivity, and reviews potential moderating or exacerbating factors, including socio-economic status, parenting practices, and genetic factors. The paper proposes a quantitative researchprojecttoinvestigatetherelationship between maternal stress, depression, and anxiety and developmental outcomes in young adulthood and examines the implications of these findings for understanding the long-term effects of maternal mental health on child development. The findings of thisstudycouldinform interventions to support the mental health of mothers and promote positive developmental outcomes for their children.
Impact of Maternal Stress, Depression, and Anxiety on Child Development Maternalstress, depression, and anxiety during pregnancy and early childhood are widely
recognized as significant risk factors for problematic child development. Various factors, including maternal mental health status, socio-economic status, and environmental factors, can influence children’s developmental outcomes (Nunes Cauduroetal.,2019).There is growing evidence that maternal stress, depression, and anxiety can have a negative impact on child development, including language development, socio-emotional development, and cognitive development (De Oliveira et al., 2019; Nolvi et al., 2022). Furthermore, the long term effects of maternal stress, depression, and anxiety during the early years of child development may persist into adulthood, potentially impacting a range of outcomes, including mental health, academic achievement, andemployment opportunities (Eberle et al., 2021). In the United States, it is estimated that one in nine women experiences depression during pregnancy (Bauman et al., 2020). Furthermore, approximately 11-20% of women experience anxiety during pregnancy (Suzuki & Eto, 2020). Globally, the prevalence of antenatal depression isestimatedtobebetween10-20%(Insanetal., 2023). These estimates underscore the importance of understanding how maternal stress, depression, and anxiety can impact child development.Despite the growing body of researchon maternal mental health and child development, there are still gaps in our understanding of the complex relationships between these factors. For example, there is a need for more research on the specific mechanisms by which maternal stress, depression, and anxiety influence child development and the factors that may moderate or exacerbate these effects into adulthood
This research project aims to reviewthecurrentliteratureontheimpactof maternalstress,depression,andanxietyonchilddevelopment,withaparticularfocuson
on maternal history. By synthesizing and analyzing the existing literature, this paper will aim to identify critical gaps in our understanding of the relationships between maternal mental health and child development and to develop hypotheses for futureresearch.Thestudywillfocusonspecificdevelopmentaloutcomes,suchas language and socio- emotional development, and willaimtoidentifytheuniquecontributionsof maternal mental health to these outcomes.
This literature review will begin by providing an overview of the theoretical framework that supportsourunderstandingoftheimpactofmaternalstress,depression,andanxietyonchild development. It will then discuss the empirical evidence on the relationship between maternal mental health and child development, focusing onlanguagedevelopment.Next, we will review the potential mechanisms by which maternal mental health influences child development, including prenatal programming, epigenetic modifications, and stress reactivity. Finally, we will explore potential moderating or exacerbating factors, including socio-economic status, parenting practices, and genetic factors.
LiteratureReview Maternal Stress, Depression, Anxiety, and Developmental outcomes
The empirical evidence on the relationship between maternal stress, depression, anxiety, and development is complex and multifaceted. Studies have consistently shown found that maternal mental health during pregnancy and early childhood can have a negative impact on child development, including language development, socio-emotional development, and cognitive development (Lahti-Pulkkinen et al., 2020). For example, Urizar and Muñoz (2021) found that maternal depression during pregnancy was associated with lower language scores in childrenatage4.A study by van den Heuvel et al. (2021) also investigated the effect of maternal stress on language development in infants. They found that maternal stress was associated with reduced language development in infants, suggesting that maternal stress may have anegativeimpactonlanguage development AstudybyHenrichsetal.(2019)foundthatmaternalanxiety during
pregnancy was associated with higher emotionalandbehavioralproblemsinchildrenatage3.Similarly, a study by Sebők-Welker et al. (2023) found that maternal stress was associated with increased behavior problems in children aged 3-6 years…
Mechanisms of Influence
The mechanisms by which maternal stress, depression, and anxiety influence child development arecomplexandmultifaceted.AccordingtoLautarescuetal.,(2019),onepotential pathway is through prenatal programming, whereby maternal stress hormones alter the fetal hormonal environment and influence fetal development. According to Lautarescu et al., (2019), cortisol levels during pregnancy are associated with altered neural development in the fetus. Another potential pathway is through epigenetic modifications, whereby maternal stress, depression, and anxiety can alter gene expression patterns in the developing fetus (Nowak, et al., 2020), According to the findings of a study by Nowak and colleagues (2020), maternal depression experienced during pregnancy was connected with epigenetic alterations in genes that are related to stress reactivity in the child. Finally, maternal stress, depression, andanxietycaninfluencechilddevelopmentthroughtheirimpactonmaternal behavior (Zoubovsky et al., 2020). Maternal behavior can be affected by maternal stress, depression, and anxiety, leadingtochangesinparentingpracticesandinteractionswiththechild. This, in turn, can influence child development outcomes.
Moderating or Exacerbating Factors
Severalfactorsmaymoderateorexacerbatetheimpactofmaternalstress,depression,and anxiety on child development. For example, socio-economic status has been identified as a potential moderator, with studies suggesting that the negative impact of maternal mental health on child development is alarming. Studies have found that the negative impact of maternal mentalhealthonchilddevelopmentisparticularlypronouncedforchildrenfromlower socio-economic backgrounds (Guhn et al., 2019). Some studies have also suggested that the negative impact of maternal stress, depression, and anxiety may be mediated by maternal sensitivity and responsiveness to the child’s needs. Maternal stress can lead to reducedmaternal sensitivity and increased negative parenting behaviors, which can, in turn, negatively affect the child’s emotional and behavioral development (Ahrnberg et al., 2021). One study found that maternal stress was indirectly related to child behavioral problems through maternal sensitivity (Eller et al., 2022). Another study found that maternal anxiety was associated with anincreased risk of insecure attachment in infants,butonlywhenmaternalsensitivitywaslow(Fuertesetal., 2020). Also,Whittenburgetal.(2022)foundthatmaternalwarmthandsensitivityduringinfancy can buffer the negative effects of maternal depression onachild’scognitivedevelopment.These findings suggest that maternal sensitivity may be essential in buffering the negative impact of maternal stress, depression, and anxiety on child development.
In addition to maternal sensitivity, other factors may also moderate the impact ofmaternal stress, depression, and anxiety on child development. For example, the child’s temperament and genetic predisposition may influence their susceptibility to the effects of maternal stress(reference). For example, one study found that children with difficult temperaments were morevulnerabletothenegativeeffectsofmaternaldepressiononemotionaldevelopmentthan
children with easy temperaments (Hentges et al., 2021). Another study found that the impactof maternal depression on child behavior was more substantial for children with a particular genotype associated with heightened sensitivity to stress (Hartman et al., 2019).
Purpose of Study
The literature suggests that maternal stress, depression, and anxietycannegativelyaffect socio-emotional development. However, the impact of maternal mental health on child development is complex and may be moderated by other factors, such as maternal sensitivity, child temperament, and genetics. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between maternal stress, depression, and anxiety and developmental outcomes in young adults. The study aims to fill a gap in the literaturebyexaminingthelong-termeffectsof maternal mental health on developmental outcomes in young adulthood.
Hypotheses: Based on the literature review, the following hypotheses are proposed for this study:
- Higherlevelsofretrospectively reported maternalstress,depression,andanxietyduringthefirstfiveyearsof the child’s life will be associated with poorer socio-emotional development in young
- Higherlevelsofretrospectively reported maternalstress,depression,andanxietyduringthefirstfiveyearsof the child’s life will be associated with poorer language development in young
The study will employ a quantitative research design and use regression analysis to test the hypotheses. The findingsofthisstudywillhaveimportantimplicationsforunderstandingthe long-term effects of maternal mental health on child development and for developing interventions to support the mental health of mothers and promote positive developmental outcomes for their children.
Method
Participants
Thestudywillincludeasampleof200participantsaged18-25fromavarietyof socio-economic backgrounds. The participants will be recruited from a variety of sources, including online advertisements,socialmedia,universitycampuses,andcommunitycenters.The proposed sample will include an equal number of male and female participants, and attempts will be made to stratify by socio-economic status, ethnicity, and age. Additionally, attempts will be made to recruit from both urban and rural locations. To ensure the accuracy of the data, participants will be asked to provide documentation of their age, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status.
Procedure
. Participants will be recruited through online advertisements, social media platforms, and university campuses Participants will be informed of the objectives, methods, and procedures of the study. They will then be asked to voluntarily provide informed consent to participate. All data collected will be kept confidential and used onlyforthepurpose of the study. Furthermore, participants willbeinformedoftheirrighttowithdrawfromthestudy at any point without penalty or prejudice. . Upon recruitment, participants will first be asked to com plete a demographic form asking about age, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. This information will be used to ensure, as much as is possible, that the sample is representative of the general population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. Byrecruitingadiversesample,theresultsofthestudy will be reliable and generalizable to the population as a whole.
Participants will be asked to complete an online survey and a series of questionnaires.The survey will include questions about demographic informationand maternalmentalhealthstatusduringpregnancyandearlychildhood.Thequestionnaireswill
include the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Parenting Stress Index. Additionally, participants will be asked to provide information regarding their child’s developmental outcomes, such as language development, socio-emotional development, and cognitive development. Further, the survey will also inquire about potential risk factors influencing the child’s development, such as exposure to parental stress,lackofaccesstohealth care and educationalresources,andfinancialstrain.Byprovidingthisinformation,thestudywill be able to gain a comprehensive understanding of the mother-child dyad, and the potential risk factors associated with the child’s development.
Measures
The study will usearangeofmeasurestoassesstherelationshipbetweenmaternalstress, depression, and anxiety and developmental outcomes in young adulthood.
Maternal Depression.TheBeckDepression Inventory-II (BDI-II) will be used to assess the severity of depressivesymptomsinparticipants. The BDI-II is a 21-item self-report questionnaire that is widely used to assess the presence and severity of depressive symptoms in adults. The questionnaire has demonstrated high levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability (Cole et al., 2014).
Maternal Anxiety. .The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI)willbeusedtoassesstraitandstateanxietyinparticipants.TheSTAIisa 40-item self-report questionnaire that is used to measure bothtrait(i.e.,generallevelofanxiety) and state (i.e., currentlevelofanxiety)anxietyinadults.
Additionally,theParentingStressIndex (PSI) will be used to assess levels of parenting stress. The PSI is a 120-item self-report questionnaire that is used to assess parenting stress in adults (Barroso et al., 2016).
Finally, a survey will be used to assess demographic information, socio-economic status, maternal mental health status, and the child’s developmental outcomes.
Apparatus and Materials
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