Understanding emotion dysregulation from infancy to toddlerhood with a multilevel perspective: The buffering effect of maternal sensitivity.

Challenges with childhood emotion regulation may have origins in infancy and forecast later social and cognitive developmental delays, academic difficulties, and psychopathology. This study tested whether markers of emotion dysregulation in infancy predict emotion dysregulation in toddlerhood, and whether those associations depended on maternal sensitivity. When children (N = 111) were 7 months, baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), RSA withdrawal, and distress were collected during the Still Face Paradigm (SFP). Mothers' reports of infant regulation and orientation and maternal sensitivity were also collected at that time. Mothers' reports of toddlers' dysregulation were collected at 18 months. A set of hierarchical regressions indicated that low baseline RSA and less change in RSA from baseline to stressor predicted greater dysregulation at 18 months, but only for infants who experienced low maternal sensitivity. Baseline RSA and RSA withdrawal were not significantly associated with later dysregulation for infants with highly sensitive mothers. Infants who exhibited low distress during the SFP and who had lower regulatory and orienting abilities at 7 months had higher dysregulation at 18 months regardless of maternal sensitivity. Altogether, these results suggest that risk for dysregulation in toddlerhood has biobehavioral origins in infancy but may be buffered by sensitive caregiving.

Unique Contributions of Maternal Prenatal and Postnatal Emotion Dysregulation on Infant Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia.

Prenatal intrauterine exposures and postnatal caregiving environments may both shape the development of infant parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity. However, the relative contributions of prenatal and postnatal influences on infant respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)-an index of PNS functioning-are relatively unknown. We examined whether prenatal and postnatal maternal emotion dysregulation, a transdiagnostic construct that spans mental health diagnoses, were independently related to infant RSA trajectories during a social stressor, the still-face paradigm. Our sample included 104 mothers and their 7-month-old infants. Maternal emotion dysregulation was measured with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and again at a 7-month postpartum laboratory visit. Infant RSA was recorded during the still-face paradigm. Only postnatal maternal emotion dysregulation was associated with infant RSA. Specifically, high postnatal emotion dysregulation was associated with a blunted (i.e., dampened reactivity and recovery) infant RSA response profile. Infant sex did not moderate the associations between maternal emotion dysregulation and infant RSA. Findings suggest that postnatal interventions to promote effective maternal emotion regulation may reduce risk for infants' dysregulated psychophysiological stress responses.

Prenatal paternal stress predicts infant parasympathetic functioning above and beyond maternal prenatal stress.

BACKGROUND: Paternal stress is often assessed by maternal report and is posited to influence infant development indirectly by contributing to a mother's stress and experiences during pregnancy. Far less is known about how direct effects of prenatal paternal stress, as described by fathers themselves, are related to an infant's physiological functioning. We assessed fathers' own experiences of stress and examined its direct impact on infant respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a biological index of self-regulation, at seven-month postpartum. METHOD: During the third trimester of pregnancy, the UCLA Life Stress Interview was conducted to assess chronic stress in mothers and fathers (N = 90). Infant baseline RSA and RSA reactivity in response to the Still-Face paradigm were assessed at seven-month postpartum. RESULTS: Infants of fathers with high prenatal stress showed lower baseline RSA, possibly reflective of poor infant psychophysiological regulation. The predictive role of paternal stress remained significant after controlling for maternal stress. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide emerging empirical evidence to support the influence of prenatal paternal stress on infant RSA, highlighting the important role of fathers for child development.

Maternal mindfulness during pregnancy predicts newborn neurobehavior.

Newborn neurobehavioral competencies portend a young child's abilities to modulate their arousal and attention in response to dynamic environmental cues. Although evidence suggests prenatal contributions to newborn neurobehavioral differences, no study to date has examined wellness-promoting traits, such as a pregnant woman's mindfulness, in this association. We examined whether a mother's mindfulness while pregnant related to neurobehavioral outcomes in her neonate, as well as whether maternal mindfulness moderated the link between prenatal maternal emotion dysregulation and newborn neurobehavior. Mothers (N = 162) reported on their mindfulness and emotion dysregulation while pregnant. Newborn arousal and attention were assessed at least 24 h after birth (M = 3.8 days, SD = 8.3) using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). Highly mindful pregnant women reported lower levels of emotion dysregulation. Newborns of highly mindful mothers exhibited higher levels of arousal (e.g., excitability, motor activity) but did not differ in regards to attention at birth. Maternal emotion dysregulation while pregnant was associated with blunted newborn attention, but only among mothers who were less mindful. Our findings suggest that a mother's mindfulness while pregnant may influence her fetus' neurobehavioral development in ways that are evident at birth.

Prenatal maternal transdiagnostic, RDoC-informed predictors of newborn neurobehavior: Differences by sex.

We examined whether Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)-informed measures of prenatal stress predicted newborn neurobehavior and whether these effects differed by newborn sex. Multilevel, prenatal markers of prenatal stress were obtained from 162 pregnant women. Markers of the Negative Valence System included physiological functioning (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA] and electrodermal [EDA] reactivity to a speech task, hair cortisol), self-reported stress (state anxiety, pregnancy-specific anxiety, daily stress, childhood trauma, economic hardship, and family resources), and interviewer-rated stress (episodic stress, chronic stress). Markers of the Arousal/Regulatory System included physiological functioning (baseline RSA, RSA, and EDA responses to infant cries) and self-reported affect intensity, urgency, emotion regulation strategies, and dispositional mindfulness. Newborns' arousal and attention were assessed via the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Network Neurobehavioral Scale. Path analyses showed that high maternal episodic and daily stress, low economic hardship, few emotion regulation strategies, and high baseline RSA predicted female newborns' low attention; maternal mindfulness predicted female newborns' high arousal. As for male newborns, high episodic stress predicted low arousal, and high pregnancy-specific anxiety predicted high attention. Findings suggest that RDoC-informed markers of prenatal stress could aid detection of variance in newborn neurobehavioral outcomes within hours after birth. Implications for intergenerational transmission of risk for psychopathology are discussed.

Intergenerational transmission of emotion dysregulation: Part II. Developmental origins of newborn neurobehavior.

We investigated whether neurobehavioral markers of risk for emotion dysregulation were evident among newborns, as well as whether the identified markers were associated with prenatal exposure to maternal emotion dysregulation. Pregnant women (N = 162) reported on their emotion dysregulation prior to a laboratory assessment. The women were then invited to the laboratory to assess baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and RSA in response to an infant cry. Newborns were assessed after birth via the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale. We identified two newborn neurobehavioral factors-arousal and attention-via exploratory factor analysis. Low arousal was characterized by less irritability, excitability, and motor agitation, while low attention was related to a lower threshold for auditory and visual stimulation, less sustained attention, and poorer visual tracking abilities. Pregnant women who reported higher levels of emotion dysregulation had newborns with low arousal levels and less attention. Larger decreases in maternal RSA in response to cry were also related to lower newborn arousal. We provide the first evidence that a woman's emotion dysregulation while pregnant is associated with risks for dysregulation in her newborn. Implications for intergenerational transmission of emotion dysregulation are discussed.