Prenatal maternal mood entropy is associated with child neurodevelopment.

Mariann A Howland,Elysia Poggi Davis,Hal S Stern,Michael Phelan,Laura M Glynn,Curt A Sandman,Tallie Z Baram

doi:10.1037/emo0000726

Abstract

Emerging evidence indicates that the predictability of signals early in life may influence the developing brain. This study examines links between a novel indicator of maternal mood dysregulation, mood entropy, and child neurodevelopmental outcomes. Associations between prenatal maternal mood entropy and child neurodevelopment were assessed in 2 longitudinal cohorts. Maternal mood was measured several times over pregnancy beginning as early as 15 weeks' gestation. Shannon's mood entropy was applied to distributions of mothers' responses on mood questionnaires. Child cognitive and language development were evaluated at 2 and 6-9 years of age. Higher prenatal maternal mood entropy was associated with lower cognitive development scores at 2 years of age and lower expressive language scores at 6-9 years of age. These associations persisted after adjusting for maternal pre and postnatal mood levels and for other relevant sociodemographic factors. Our findings identify maternal mood entropy as a novel predictor of child neurodevelopment. Characterizing components of maternal mood in addition to level of severity or valence may further our understanding of specific processes by which maternal mood shapes child development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Highlights

The effects of maternal mood and psychopathology on the developing child are welldocumented (Goodman et al, 2011; Kingston, Tough, & Whitfield, 2012; Martins & Gaffan, 2000)
Consistent with previous findings in the literature, higher levels of prenatal maternal negative mood were associated with lower cognitive development (BSID-II Mental Development Index (MDI)) scores at 2 years of age, r(110) = -.31, p = .001, and lower expressive language (EVT-2) scores at 6 –9 years of age, r(256) = -.15, p =
Higher prenatal maternal mood entropy was associated with lower cognitive development (BSID-II MDI) scores at 2 years of age, r(110) = -.37, p < .001, and lower expressive language (EVT-2) scores at 6 –9 years of age, r(256) = -.21, p =

Summary

Introduction

The effects of maternal mood and psychopathology on the developing child are welldocumented (Goodman et al, 2011; Kingston, Tough, & Whitfield, 2012; Martins & Gaffan, 2000). A broader literature indicates that intraindividual patterns in mood (e.g., its instability, variability) are quantifiable and meaningful components of mood (Ebner-Priemer, Eid, Kleindienst, Stabenow, & Trull, 2009; Eid & Diener, 1999; Jahng, Wood, & Trull, 2008; Thompson, Dizén, & Berenbaum, 2009), emotion regulation (Cole, Michel, & Teti, 1994; Thompson, 1994), and mental health (Broome, Saunders, Harrison, & Marwaha, 2015; Fernandez, Jazaieri, & Gross, 2016; Houben, Van Den Noortgate, & Kuppens, 2015; Koenigsberg, 2010) These aspects of mood dysregulation have been largely ignored when examining associations between maternal mood and fetal and child development. We expected to replicate established effects of maternal negative mood level, hypothesizing that maternal negative mood levels would be associated with lower cognitive and language development scores

Methods

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Conclusion