Stress-sensitivity and reciprocal associations between stressful events and adolescent temperament

This study aimed to elucidate the longitudinal, bidirectional associations between stressful life events (SLEs) and adolescent temperament. Subsequently, the study investigated whether the effects of SLEs on future temperament were moderated by (a) a cumulative sensitivity gene index (b) the 5-HTTLPR (the polymorphism most consistently indicated as a sensitivity genotype) and (c) pre/perinatal risk. Data were used from TRAILS, a large population cohort of Dutch adolescents (n = 1475). Temperament was assessed at 11, 16 and 19 years. Data of SLEs that occurred between age 0–11, 11–16, and 16–19 were captured using interviews. The results indicated that SLEs and temperament traits are associated from childhood to adolescence and that the direction of the effects differed between temperament traits. Whereas SLEs were found to predict subsequent fear, SLEs were predicted by, but not predictive of, shyness and affiliation. For effortful control and frustration a fully reciprocal model was found. The cumulative sensitivity gene index, 5-HTTLPR and the pre/perinatal risk did not moderate the effects of SLEs on future temperament.     

Maternal postnatal psychiatric symptoms and infant temperament affect early mother-infant bonding

Postnatal mother-infant bonding refers to the early emotional bond between mothers and infants. Although some factors, such as maternal mental health, especially postnatal depression, have been considered in relation to mother-infant bonding, few studies have investigated the role of infant temperament traits in early bonding. In this study, the effects of maternal postnatal depressive and anxiety symptoms and infant temperament traits on mother-infant bonding were examined using both mother and father reports of infant temperament. Data for this study came from the first phase of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study (n = 102, father reports n = 62). After controlling for maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety, mother-reported infant positive emotionality, measured by infant smiling was related to better mother-infant bonding. In contrast, infant negative emotionality, measured by infant distress to limitations was related to lower quality of bonding. In regards to father-report infant temperament, only infant distress to limitations (i.e., frustration/anger) was associated with lower quality of mother-infant bonding. These findings underline the importance of infant temperament as one factor contributing to early parent-infant relationships, and counseling parents in understanding and caring for infants with different temperament traits.     

Perinatal depression influences on infant negative affectivity: Timing,severity, and co-morbid anxiety

Accumulating evidence suggests that antenatal depression predicts infants’ negative affectivity, albeit with variable effect sizes. With a prospective longitudinal design, we sought to explain that variability by addressing questions about timing of the depression across pregnancy and the early postpartum, the role of high symptom levels relative to diagnosed depression, comorbidity with anxiety, and the potential mediating role of neuroendocrine functioning. Primiparous women (n = 77) with histories of depression prior to pregnancy were assessed for cortisol levels monthly beginning by mid-pregnancy. Depression symptom levels and diagnostic status were similarly assessed monthly in pregnancy and also until infants reached three months of age, when mothers completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised to measure infant negative affectivity. Antenatal depression symptoms and infant negative affectivity were positively associated (r = .39). Controlling for depression symptom levels in other trimesters, only second trimester depression symptoms predicted higher infant negative affectivity (β = .44). With postpartum depression symptom levels in the model, only antenatal depression symptoms predicted infant negative affectivity (β = .45). In the context of depression, neither antenatal anxiety symptoms nor anxiety disorder diagnosis were associated with infant NA scores. The hypothesized role of elevated maternal cortisol as a mechanism for the association between antenatal depression and infant NA was not supported. Our findings contribute to efforts to more precisely identify infants of perinatally depressed mothers who are at greater risk for elevated negative affectivity, suggesting a window of vulnerability in mid pregnancy and the need for further study of potential mechanisms.     

Maternal prenatal stress and infant regulatory capacity in Mexican Americans

The early postpartum period lays important groundwork for later self-regulation as infants’ dispositional traits interact with caregivers’ co-regulatory behaviors to produce the earliest forms of self-regulation. Although emerging literature suggests that fetal exposure to maternal stress may be integral in determining child self-regulatory capacity, the complex pathways that characterize these early developmental processes remain unclear. The current study considers these complex, transactional processes in a low income, Mexican American sample. Data were collected from 295 Mexican American infants and their mothers during prenatal, 6- and 12-week postpartum home interviews. Mother reports of stress were obtained prenatally, and mother reports of infant temperament were obtained at 6 weeks. Observer ratings of maternal sensitivity and infant regulatory behaviors were obtained at the 6- and 12-week time points. Study results indicate that prenatal stress predicts higher levels of infant negativity and surgency, both of which directly or interactively predict later engagement in regulatory behaviors. Unexpectedly, prenatal stress also predicted more engagement in orienting, but not self-comforting behaviors. Advancing understandings about the nature of these developmental pathways may have significant implications for targets of early intervention in this high risk population.     

Prenatal meditation influences infant behaviors

Meditation is important in facilitating health. Pregnancy health has been shown to have significant consequences for infant behaviors. In view of limited studies on meditation and infant temperament, this study aims to explore the effects of prenatal meditation on these aspects. The conceptual framework was based on the postulation of positive relationships between prenatal meditation and infant health. A randomized control quantitative study was carried out at Obstetric Unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong. 64 pregnant Chinese women were recruited for intervention and 59 were for control. Outcome measures were cord blood cortisol, infant salivary cortisol, and Carey Infant Temperament Questionnaire. Cord blood cortisol level of babies was higher in the intervention group (p < 0.01) indicates positive health status of the newborns verifies that prenatal meditation can influence fetal health. Carey Infant Temperament Questionnaire showed that the infants of intervention group have better temperament (p < 0.05) at fifth month reflects the importance of prenatal meditation in relation to child health. Present study concludes the positive effects of prenatal meditation on infant behaviors and recommends that pregnancy care providers should provide prenatal meditation to pregnant women.     

Longitudinal effects of preschool behavioral styles on early adolescent school performance

Early behavioral problems and temperament as well as student-teacher relationships each have been shown to be important predictors of school performance. This longitudinal study investigated the relations between children's preschool behaviors and their early adolescent student-teacher relationships and academic achievement. It was hypothesized that preschool behaviors would predict school performance in early adolescents. Results showed that children who were more prone to anxiety as preschoolers tended to have the highest grades as young adolescents. Additionally, children with poor student-teacher relationships, as characterized by dependent and conflictual relationships, had lower grades in school. Thus, in considering the importance of a “child×environment” model for school performance, it appears that it is both the child variable of anxiety and the perhaps environmental variable of student-teacher relationships that are related to school performance.     

The relationship between temperamental dimensions and inhibitory control in early childhood: Implications for language acquisition

The present study investigates the latent organization of inhibitory control in children aged between 2;3 and 3;0 years. In addition, it explores the relationships between temperament dimensions - social orientation, motor activity, and attention -, inhibitory control and language. One-hundred-twelve typically developing children were evaluated with tasks for inhibitory control and lexical skills, while ratings of temperament and language were collected from their caregivers. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis reveals that inhibitory control seems to be best described by a unitary dimension. A Structural Equation Model suggests that 78 % of the variance in vocabulary is explained by a model considering the language observed measures, the three temperamental dimensions, and inhibitory control and in which both temperamental attention and the latent dimension of inhibitory control are significantly related to vocabulary. In addition, inhibitory control does not mediate the relationship between temperament and language.     

Does preterm birth affect child temperament? A meta-analytic study

The present meta-analytic study was conducted to examine differences in temperament between preterm and full-term children, considering behavior style and psychobiological approaches. Moreover, we explored the potential moderators of the associations between prematurity and temperament. A systematic literature search was performed on PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL. Twenty-two studies were analyzed. Preterm children showed a higher Activity level as well as lower Attentional Focusing and Attention Span/Persistence, in comparison with their full-term counterparts. Extremely preterm children showed a higher Activity level than other preterm levels. These findings support the conclusion that preterm children present with a less regulated temperament relative to those born full term.     

Trauma symptoms,temperament traits,social support and the intensity of pain in a Polish sample of patients suffering from chronic pain

The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between the intensity of pain, treated as the explained variable, and the level of trauma symptoms, as appear in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), temperament traits postulated by the Regulative Theory of Temperament and aspects of social support among patients suffering from chronic pain (arthritis and low-back pain). To assess the intensity of pain among participants we used the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS-11). The level of trauma symptoms was assessed with the PTSD Factorial Version inventory (PTSD-F). Temperament was measured with the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour – Temperament Inventory (FCB-TI). Social support was tested with the Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS). The results of our study suggest that significant predictors of pain intensity among chronic pain sufferers were trauma symptoms. We also noticed that some temperament traits (i.e., emotional reactivity) increased the level of global trauma symptoms, which, in turn, intensified the level of pain. In addition, we showed that global trauma symptoms decreased the support participants actually received.