Intergenerational Impact of Maternal Early Life Stress on Infant Development: Risk and Protective Factors From the BABIP Birth Cohort

Abstract

BackgroundMaternal early life stress may exert an intergenerational impact, leading to adverse infant outcomes. Recent studies suggest moderation of this impact by characteristics of the perinatal environment and physiology. In the Bogazici Mother Baby Relationship Project (BABIP) birth cohort from Istanbul, Turkey, we investigated the role of pregnancy-related worries, fetal bonding and cortisol awakening response as potential risk and protective factors on infant development. MethodsParticipants were pregnant women (N = 187) and their babies from BABIP birth cohort. Maternal early life stress, pregnancy-related worries and fetal bonding was measured by Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Cambridge Worry Scale, and Fetal Attachment Scale, respectively. Cortisol awakening response was measured from saliva samples collected during pregnancy as the difference between awakening and peak cortisol after awakening. Infant development was measured at 4 months after birth using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire. ResultsMaternal early life stress was associated with worse infant development at 4 months. This effect was exacerbated in mothers with high pregnancy-related worries (p <.05) and low fetal bonding (p <.01) during pregnancy. There was a trend for more pronounced effects for both factors in women with higher cortisol awakening response. There were no differences by infant sex. ConclusionThe results suggest that the intergenerational impact of maternal early life stress on infant development may be moderated by prenatal risk and resilience factors, suggesting that infant development is influenced by interactions between maternal early and prenatal environment and physiology. FundingBogazici University BAP #11662&18983&19357, TUBITAK #221K039 (EAD).