Yifei Pei , Xuan Zhang , Cheng Yu , Yiping Xiao , Guoxiang Zhang , Fenglin Cao
{"title":"Association between psychological resilience during pregnancy and infants’ neuropsychological development","authors":"Yifei Pei , Xuan Zhang , Cheng Yu , Yiping Xiao , Guoxiang Zhang , Fenglin Cao","doi":"10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.09.027","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Adverse childhood experiences can have adverse health consequences for both mothers and their children. However, the effects of maternal psychological resilience as a positive factor in offspring development are unclear. This study therefore aimed to determine the association between maternal psychological resilience during pregnancy and the neuropsychological development of infants.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Among 346 mother-infant pairs, mothers were categorized into four groups based on ACE exposure and prenatal psychological distress. Linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations with infant outcomes.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Compared to the Resilient group, infants of mothers in the Non-resilient group and the group with psychological distress but no adversity had higher (less favorable) scores in Approach and Adaptability (β = 2.124–3.113, <em>ps</em> < 0.05). Infants of mothers in the Non-resilient group and those with psychological distress exhibited lower Gross and Fine motor skills scores (β = −0.23 to −2.41, <em>ps</em> < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the Resilient group and the group with neither adversity nor psychological distress.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>This indicates that psychological resilience during pregnancy may buffer the negative effects of mothers' adverse childhood experiences on healthy developmental outcomes in offspring. These results can help guide the development of early intervention strategies aimed at breaking the intergenerational perpetuation of risk.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16868,"journal":{"name":"Journal of psychiatric research","volume":"191 ","pages":"Pages 129-137"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of psychiatric research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395625005503","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Adverse childhood experiences can have adverse health consequences for both mothers and their children. However, the effects of maternal psychological resilience as a positive factor in offspring development are unclear. This study therefore aimed to determine the association between maternal psychological resilience during pregnancy and the neuropsychological development of infants.
Methods
Among 346 mother-infant pairs, mothers were categorized into four groups based on ACE exposure and prenatal psychological distress. Linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations with infant outcomes.
Results
Compared to the Resilient group, infants of mothers in the Non-resilient group and the group with psychological distress but no adversity had higher (less favorable) scores in Approach and Adaptability (β = 2.124–3.113, ps < 0.05). Infants of mothers in the Non-resilient group and those with psychological distress exhibited lower Gross and Fine motor skills scores (β = −0.23 to −2.41, ps < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between the Resilient group and the group with neither adversity nor psychological distress.
Conclusions
This indicates that psychological resilience during pregnancy may buffer the negative effects of mothers' adverse childhood experiences on healthy developmental outcomes in offspring. These results can help guide the development of early intervention strategies aimed at breaking the intergenerational perpetuation of risk.
期刊介绍:
Founded in 1961 to report on the latest work in psychiatry and cognate disciplines, the Journal of Psychiatric Research is dedicated to innovative and timely studies of four important areas of research:
(1) clinical studies of all disciplines relating to psychiatric illness, as well as normal human behaviour, including biochemical, physiological, genetic, environmental, social, psychological and epidemiological factors;
(2) basic studies pertaining to psychiatry in such fields as neuropsychopharmacology, neuroendocrinology, electrophysiology, genetics, experimental psychology and epidemiology;
(3) the growing application of clinical laboratory techniques in psychiatry, including imagery and spectroscopy of the brain, molecular biology and computer sciences;