Top

Published in:

01-02-2010 | Review Article

A systematic review of the effects of postnatal maternal anxiety on children

Authors: Cristie Glasheen, Gale A. Richardson, Anthony Fabio

Published in: Archives of Women's Mental Health | Issue 1/2010

Abstract

Several decades of research have focused on the impact of exposure to postnatal depression on children, while anxiety has been largely overlooked. Estimates of the prevalence of postnatal maternal anxiety (PMA) range from 3% to 43%, suggesting PMA may be an important risk factor for adverse outcomes in children. This review summarizes what is known about the effects of PMA exposure on children and makes recommendations for future research. A systematic search of Ovid MEDLINE® and PsychINFO® through 2008 identified 18 studies that evaluated child outcomes associated with PMA exposure. Identified studies covered three domains: somatic, developmental, and psychological outcomes. The strongest evidence for an adverse effect of PMA exposure is in somatic and psychological outcomes; the evidence for an effect of PMA on child development is inconclusive. Methodological differences among the studies make comparisons difficult and there are a number of common limitations that challenge the validity of these studies.

Achenbach TM (1991a) Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist 4–18 and 1991 profile. University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, Burlington

Achenbach TM (1991b) Manual for the Teacher’s Report Form and 1991 profile. University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, Burlington

Akman I, Kuscu K, Ozdemir N, Yurdakul Z, Solakoglu M, Orhan L et al (2006) Mothers’ postpartum psychological adjustment and infantile colic. Arch Dis Child 91(5):417–419CrossRefPubMed

Andrews G, Sanderson K, Slade T, Issakidis C (2000) Why does the burden of disease persist? Relating the burden of anxiety and depression to effectiveness of treatment. Bull World Health Organ 78(4):446–454PubMed

Ayers S (2001) Assessing psychopathology in pregnancy and postpartum. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol 22(2):91–102CrossRefPubMed

Barnes LB, Harp D, Jung WS (2002) Reliability generalization of scores on the Spielberger State–Trait Anxiety Inventory. Educ Psychol Measur 62(4):603–618CrossRef

Barnett B, Parker G (1986) Possible determinants, correlates and consequences of high levels of anxiety in primiparous mothers. Psychol Med 16(1):177–185CrossRefPubMed

Barnett B, Schaafsma MF, Guzman AM, Parker GB (1991) Maternal anxiety: a 5-year review of an intervention study. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 32(3):423–438CrossRefPubMed

Bates JE, Freeland CA, Lounsbury ML (1979) Measurement of infant difficultness. Child Dev 50(3):794–803CrossRefPubMed

Birtchnell J, Evans C, Kennard J (1988) The total score of the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index: a useful and valid measure of psychoneurotic pathology. Br J Med Psychol 61(Pt 3):255–266PubMed

Brouwers EP, van Baar AL, Pop VJ (2001) Does the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale measure anxiety? J Psychosom Res 51(5):659–663CrossRefPubMed

Carey WB (1963) Maternal anxiety and infantile colic. Is there a relationship? Clin Pediatr 7(10):590–595CrossRef

Carey WB, McDevitt SC (1978) Revision of the Infant Temperament Questionnaire. Pediatrics 61(5):735–739PubMed

Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R (1983) A global measure of perceived stress. J Health Soc Behav 24(4):385–396CrossRefPubMed

Coplan R, O’Neil K, Arbeau KA (2005) Maternal anxiety during and after pregnancy and infant temperament at three months of age. J Prenat Perinat Psychol Health 19(3):199–215

Coulthard H, Harris G (2003) Early food refusal: the role of maternal mood. J Reprod Infant Psychol 21(4):335–345CrossRef

Cox JL, Holden JM, Sagovsky R (1987) Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Br J Psychiatry 150:782–786CrossRefPubMed

Davis E, Snidman N, Wadhwa P, Glynn L, Schetter C, Sandman C (2004) Prenatal maternal anxiety and depression predict negative behavioral reactivity in infancy. Infancy 6(3):319–331CrossRef

Dawson G, Ashman SB, Carver LJ (2000) The role of early experience in shaping behavioral and brain development and its implications for social policy. Dev Psychopathol 12(4):695–712CrossRefPubMed

de Weerth C, Buitelaar JK (2005) Physiological stress reactivity in human pregnancy—a review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 29(2):295–312CrossRefPubMed

Diener M, Goldstein L, Mangelsdorf S (1995) The role of prenatal expectations in parent’s reports of infant temperament. Merill-Palmer Quarterly 41(2):172–190

Frankenburg WK, Fandal AW, Thornton SM (1987) Revision of Denver Prescreening Developmental Questionnaire. J Pediatr 110:653–657CrossRefPubMed

Galler JR, Harrison RH, Ramsey F, Forde V, Butler SC (2000) Maternal depressive symptoms affect infant cognitive development in Barbados. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 41(6):747–757CrossRefPubMed

Galler JR, Harrison RH, Ramsey F, Butler S, Forde V (2004a) Postpartum maternal mood, feeding practices, and infant temperament in Barbados. Infant Behav Dev 27(3):267–287CrossRef

Galler JR, Ramsey FC, Harrison RH, Taylor J, Cumberbatch G, Forde V (2004b) Postpartum maternal moods and infant size predict performance on a national high school entrance examination. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 45(6):1064–1075CrossRefPubMed

Goodman R, Scott S (1999) Comparing the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist: is small beautiful? J Abnorm Child Psychol 27(1):17–24CrossRefPubMed

Griffiths R (1954) The abilities of babies. University of London Press, London

Heron J, O’Connor TG, Evans J, Golding J, Glover V (2004) The course of anxiety and depression through pregnancy and the postpartum in a community sample. J Affect Disord 80(1):65–73CrossRefPubMed

Kabir K, Sheeder J, Kelly LS (2008) Identifying postpartum depression: are 3 questions as good as 10? Pediatrics 122(3):e696–e702CrossRefPubMed

Kagan J, Snidman N (1991) Temperamental factors in human development. Am Psychol 46(8):856–862CrossRefPubMed

Kuo WH, Wilson TE, Holman S, Fuentes-Afflick E, O’Sullivan MJ, Minkoff H (2004) Depressive symptoms in the immediate postpartum period among Hispanic women in three U.S. cities. J Immigr Health 6(4):145–153CrossRefPubMed

Masi G, Millepiedi S, Mucci M, Poli P, Bertini N, Milantoni L (2004) Generalized anxiety disorder in referred children and adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 43(6):752–760CrossRefPubMed

Matthey S, Barnett B, Howie P, Kavanagh DJ (2003) Diagnosing postpartum depression in mothers and fathers: whatever happened to anxiety? J Affect Disord 74(2):139–147CrossRefPubMed

McMahon C, Barnett B, Kowalenko N, Tennant C, Don N (2001) Postnatal depression, anxiety and unsettled infant behaviour. Aust NZ J Psychiatry 35(5):581–588CrossRef

Morissette SB, Tull MT, Gulliver SB, Kamholz BW, Zimering RT (2007) Anxiety, anxiety disorders, tobacco use, and nicotine: a critical review of interrelationships. Psychol Bull 133(2):245–272CrossRefPubMed

Muthén B (2004) Latent variable analysis: growth mixture modeling and related techniques for longitudinal data. In: Kaplan D (ed) Handbook of quantitative methodology for the social sciences. Sage, Newbury Park, pp 345–368

Nagin DS (1999) Analyzing developmental trajectories: a semiparametric, group-based approach. Psychol Methods 4(2):139–157CrossRef

Nicol-Harper R, Harvey AG, Stein A (2007) Interactions between mothers and infants: impact of maternal anxiety. Infant Behav Dev 30(1):161–167CrossRefPubMed

Oberklaid F, Sanson AV, Prior M (1986) The development of Australian normative data for infant temperament. Aust Paediatr J 22(3):185–187PubMed

O’Connor TG, Heron J, Golding J, Beveridge M, Glover V (2002) Maternal antenatal anxiety and children’s behavioural/emotional problems at 4 years. Report from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Br J Psychiatry 180:502–508CrossRefPubMed

O’Connor TG, Heron J, Golding J, Glover V (2003) Maternal antenatal anxiety and behavioural/emotional problems in children: a test of a programming hypothesis. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 44(7):1025–1036CrossRefPubMed

Pesonen A, Raikkonen K, Strandberg T, Jarvenpaa A (2005) Continuity of maternal stress from the pre- to postnatal period: association with infant’s positive, negative, and overall temperamental reactivity. Infant Behav Dev 28:36–47CrossRef

Ramchandani PG, Stein A, Hotopf M, Wiles NJ (2006) Early parental and child predictors of recurrent abdominal pain at school age: results of a large population-based study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 45(6):729–736CrossRefPubMed

Rothbart M (1981) Measurement of temperament in infancy. Child Dev 52:569–578CrossRef

Rothbart MK, Ahadi SA, Hershey KL, Fisher P (2001) Investigations of temperament at three to seven years: the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire. Child Dev 72(5):1394–1408CrossRefPubMed

Seckl JR, Holmes MC (2007) Mechanisms of disease: glucocorticoids, their placental metabolism and fetal ‘programming’ of adult pathophysiology. Nat Clin Pract Endocrinol Metab 3(6):479–488CrossRefPubMed

Slykerman RF, Thompson JM, Clark PM, Becroft DM, Robinson E, Pryor JE et al (2007) Determinants of developmental delay in infants aged 12 months. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 21(2):121–128CrossRefPubMed

Speilberger CD (1977) State–Trait Anxiety Inventory: self-evaluation questionnaire. Consulting Psychologists, Palo Alto

Spielberger C, Gorsuch R, Lushene R, Vagg P, Jacobs G (1983) Manual for the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory: STAI. Mindgarden, San Diego

Susman EJ, Schmeelk KH, Ponirakis A, Gariepy JL (2001) Maternal prenatal, postpartum, and concurrent stressors and temperament in 3-year-olds: a person and variable analysis. Dev Psychopathol 13(3):629–652CrossRefPubMed

Watson D, O’Hara MW, Simms LJ, Kotov R, Chmielewski M, McDade-Montez EA et al (2007) Development and validation of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS). Psychol Assess 19(3):253–268CrossRefPubMed

Wenzel A, Haugen EN, Jackson LC, Robinson K (2003) Prevalence of generalized anxiety at eight weeks postpartum. Arch Womens Ment Health 6(1):43–49CrossRefPubMed

Zung WW (1971) A rating instrument for anxiety disorders. Psychosomatics 12(6):371–379PubMed

Title: A systematic review of the effects of postnatal maternal anxiety on children
Authors: Cristie Glasheen
Gale A. Richardson
Anthony Fabio
Publication date: 01-02-2010
Publisher: Springer Vienna
Published in: Archives of Women's Mental Health / Issue 1/2010
Print ISSN: 1434-1816
Electronic ISSN: 1435-1102
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-009-0109-y

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

A systematic review of the effects of postnatal maternal anxiety on children

Abstract

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2010

Women-specific mental disorders in DSM-V: are we failing again?

Postpartum depression: a disorder in search of a definition

R. Nonacs: A deeper shade of blue

Hormone-specific psychiatric disorders: do they exist?

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder: out of the appendix

Classification of mental health disorders in the perinatal period: future directions for DSM-V and ICD-11