Parental Sensitivity Modifies the Associations Between Maternal Prenatal Stress Exposure, Autonomic Nervous System Functioning and Infant Temperament in a Diverse, Low-Income Sample

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adler N ; Alkon A ; Bush NR ; Coccia M ; Epel ES ; Jones-Mason K ; Laraia B ; Melanie Thomas KC-P
• Description:
  Evidence suggests that adversity experienced during fetal development may shape infant physiologic functioning and temperament. Parental sensitivity is associated with child stress regulation and may act as a buffer against risk for intergenerational health effects of pre- or postnatal adversity. Building upon prior evidence in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of infants (M infant age = 6.5 months) and women of low socioeconomic status, this study examined whether coded parenting sensitivity moderated the association between an objective measure of prenatal stress exposures (Stressful Life Events (SLE)) and infant parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) or sympathetic (pre-ejection period; PEP) nervous system functioning assessed during administration of the Still-Face-Paradigm (SFP) (n = 66), as well as maternal report of temperament (n = 154). Results showed that parental sensitivity moderated the associations between prenatal stress exposures and infant RSA reactivity, RSA recovery, PEP recovery, and temperamental negativity. Findings indicate that greater parental sensitivity is associated with lower infant autonomic nervous system reactivity and greater recovery from challenge. Results support the hypothesis that parental sensitivity buffers infants from the risk of prenatal stress exposure associations with offspring cross-system physiologic reactivity and regulation, potentially shaping trajectories of health and development and promoting resilience. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Pregnancy Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Prenatal Programming Autonomic Nervous System Children DOHaD Parenting Prenatal Exposure Stress Temperament
• ISSN:
  1461-6734
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  487-523
• Volume:
  25
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069783
• Citation:
  Attach Hum Dev 2023 Oct; 25(5):487-523
• Contact Point Address:
  Karen Jones-Mason, Department of Psychiatry, Center for Health and Community, University of California, San Francisco, USA
• Email:
  karen.jones-mason@ucsf.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Attachment & Human Development
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0b4bd50832b9fcf0efe1e49edb7f6e88c39c397f4e464effa2606b654a5e5d2d7beb108731ad888d9de519369aaede0bce26c3941ebc6c4fd16b19f44e55cf10
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208139/cdc_208139_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.68 MB ]