Preconception maternal posttraumatic stress and child negative affectivity: Prospectively evaluating the intergenerational impact of trauma.

The developmental origins of psychopathology begin before birth and perhaps even prior to conception. Understanding the intergenerational transmission of psychopathological risk is critical to identify sensitive windows for prevention and early intervention. Prior research demonstrates that maternal trauma history, typically assessed retrospectively, has adverse consequences for child socioemotional development. However, very few prospective studies of preconception trauma exist, and the role of preconception symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains unknown. The current study prospectively evaluates whether maternal preconception PTSD symptoms predict early childhood negative affectivity, a key dimension of temperament and predictor of later psychopathology. One hundred and eighteen women were recruited following a birth and prior to conception of the study child and were followed until the study child was 3-5 years old. Higher maternal PTSD symptoms prior to conception predicted greater child negative affectivity, adjusting for concurrent maternal depressive symptoms and sociodemographic covariates. In exploratory analyses, we found that neither maternal prenatal nor postpartum depressive symptoms or perceived stress mediated this association. These findings add to a limited prospective literature, highlighting the importance of assessing the mental health of women prior to conception and providing interventions that can disrupt the intergenerational sequelae of trauma.

The antecedents and consequences of adolescent fatherhood: A systematic review.

RATIONALE: Although several systematic reviews have addressed the antecedents and consequences of adolescent motherhood, none have examined adolescent fatherhood. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this systematic review were to identify evidence-based factors that increase the probability of adolescent fatherhood and to identify outcomes that differ between adolescent fathers compared to two other groups, namely adult fathers and non-father age peers. The current study used a theoretical framework, Parke's systems view, to guide the review. METHOD: The search strategy included a bibliographic search of PubMed and PsycINFO. To be included, publications had to be (a) peer-reviewed, (b) quantitative studies, (c) published in English, and (d) compare adolescent fathers (<20 years) to adult fathers (>19 years) or to non-father peers (13- to 19-years old). RESULTS: A total of 2869 unique published sources were screened and 39 met these inclusion criteria. More than half of the articles focused on antecedents (k = 24), with the most consistent evidence showing that adolescent fathers come from disadvantaged backgrounds characterized by single-parent households and low parental socioeconomic status. There is also evidence that adolescent fathers were disproportionately Black or Latino (vs. White), had lower academic competence, engaged in more delinquent behavior (e.g., vandalism), and had peers who engaged in more anti-social behaviors. Articles on the outcomes of adolescent fatherhood (k = 23) yielded consistent evidence that their offspring are at greater risk of being preterm or low birthweight and psychological disorders as compared to the offspring of adult fathers. CONCLUSIONS: Much of the literature was published prior to the year 2000, and methodological weaknesses are noted. Nonetheless, this review has implications for beginning to establish an evidence-based understanding of adolescent fathers. Future rigorous and theory-driven research can provide an even clearer picture and a basis for intervention.