Maternal mindfulness during pregnancy and infant socio-emotional development and temperament: The mediating role of maternal anxiety

Abstract Background Accumulating evidence shows that maternal anxiety during pregnancy adversely affects child outcomes. The positive effects of maternal psychosocial factors during pregnancy on child outcomes are not yet studied. This prospective study addresses the association between maternal min...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Early human development 2015-02, Vol.91 (2), p.103-108
Main Authors: van den Heuvel, M.I, Johannes, M.A, Henrichs, J, Van den Bergh, B.R.H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Advanced Basic Science
Anxiety - complications
Anxiety - psychology
Child Behavior Disorders - etiology
Child Development
Emotions
Female
Foetal programming
Humans
Infant
Male
Maternal anxiety
Maternal mindfulness
Mindfulness
Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications - psychology
Self-regulation
Social Behavior
Temperament
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Background Accumulating evidence shows that maternal anxiety during pregnancy adversely affects child outcomes. The positive effects of maternal psychosocial factors during pregnancy on child outcomes are not yet studied. This prospective study addresses the association between maternal mindfulness during pregnancy and socio-emotional development and temperament in 10 months-old infants. We also investigated whether this association was mediated by maternal anxiety. Method Mothers ( N = 90) provided information about mindfulness and anxiety at the beginning of the second trimester of pregnancy. Infant socio-emotional development (Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional; ASQ:SE) and temperament (Infant Behaviour Questionnaire—Revised; IBQ-R) were assessed at age 10 months. Results Higher maternal mindfulness during pregnancy was associated with less infant self-regulation problems and less infant negative affectivity. Mediation analysis showed that maternal anxiety mediated the association between infant self-regulation problems and maternal mindfulness. Conclusion These results suggest that maternal mindfulness during pregnancy may have positive effects on infant development. This association may be mediated by reduced anxiety symptoms in pregnant women who score high on mindfulness. Additional replication studies are needed using objective measures of infant behavioural/emotional outcomes and mindfulness of the mother during child development.
ISSN:0378-3782
1872-6232
DOI:10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2014.12.003