Maternal Anxiety during and after Pregnancy and Infant Temperament at Three Months of Age

ABSTRACT: The purpose of the current study was to explore associations between maternal anxiety and infant temperament. Participants (n = 60 women) completed measures of state and trait anxiety during the third trimester of pregnancy and again three months postpartum, as well as an assessment of infant temperament. Maternal trait anxiety predicted infant distress to novelty and limitations, and difficulty soothing. Antenatal state anxiety predicted less infant positive affect and lower attention-span. Postnatal state anxiety was related to infant activity level and distress to limitations. Results are discussed in terms of conceptual mechanisms that may underlie the complex inter-associations between different types of maternal anxiety and infant temperament. KEY WORDS: maternal anxiety, infant temperament, pregnancy, postpartum mood. INTRODUCTION There is a long history of research linking maternal psychological stress during pregnancy to negative outcomes in infancy (e.g., Davids & Devaut, 1962; Davids, Holden, & Gray, 1963; Farber, Vaughn, & Egeland, 1981; Ottinger & Simmons, 1964; Stott, 1973). Results from animal studies indicate that offspring of mothers subjected to stressful conditions during pregnancy cope less well in stressful situations (Weinstock, 1997), are at risk for depression and heightened anxiety (Weinstock, 2000) and tend to be fearful in new situations (Worlein & Sackett, 1995). In a recent review of the literature, Huizink, Mulder, and Buitelaar (2004) reported that animals exposed to prenatal stress have increased emotionality as well as delays in learning and neuromotor development. However, as compared to extant animal literature, less is known about the effects of prenatal stress on human infants and children (Huizink et al., 2004). There is growing evidence to suggest a relation between maternal anxiety experienced during pregnancy and a range of child outcomes (Bhagwanani, Seagraves, Dierker, & Lax, 1997; Buitelaar, Huizink, Mulder, Robles de Medina, & Visser, 2003; O'Connor, Heron, Golding, Beveridge, & Glover, 2002; O'Connor, Heron, Golding, Glover, & the ALSPAC Study Team, 2003; Singer, Davillier, Bruening, Hawkins & Yamashita, 1996; Van den Bergh & Marcoen, in press). The focus of the current study was on the relation between maternal anxiety and infant temperament. More specifically, we sought to explore the differential and unique associations between different types of maternal anxiety [i.e., prenatal state anxiety (also referred to as antenatal state anxiety), postnatal state anxiety, postnatal trait anxiety] and child temperament at three months postpartum. Theoretical Links Between Maternal Anxiety and Child Temperament There are numerous and somewhat diverse theoretical and conceptual approaches to the study of child temperament (Wachs & Kohnstamm, 2001). Temperament can be broadly defined as the physical basis for the affective arousal, expression, and regulation components of personality (Goldsmith, Buss, Plomin, & Rothbart, 1987). Child temperament is considered to have a biological foundation, to be genetically influenced, and to be relatively stable over time (Buss & Plomin, 1984; Rothbart & Bates, 1998). Several different theoretical explanations have been posited to account for the relation between antenatal maternal anxiety and child temperament. To begin with, mothers who tend to be anxious, stressed, and easily distressed may tend to have offspring with similar tendencies (Whaley, Pinto, & Sigman, 1999). For example, Goldsmith, Lemery, Buss, and Campos (1999) reported genetic influences on stranger distress in infants. In terms of more severe anxiety, hereditability estimates have been reported ranging from 19% to 30% for liability to the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Kendler, Neale, Kessler, Heath & Eaves, 1992). Interestingly, the genetic link between parental and child anxiety disorders seems to be more pronounced for mothers than fathers (McClure, Brennan, Hammen, & Le Brocque, 2001). …