A dynamic perspective on depressive symptoms during the first year postpartum.

The current study used novel methodology to characterize intraindividual variability in the experience of dynamic, within-person changes in postpartum depressive (PPD) symptoms across the first year postpartum and evaluated maternal and infant characteristics as predictors of between-person differences in intraindividual variability in PPD symptoms over time. With a sample of 322 low-income Mexican-origin mothers (Mage = 27.79; SD = 6.48), PPD symptoms were assessed at 11 time points from 3 weeks to 1 year postpartum (Edinburgh Perinatal Depression Scale; Cox & Holden, 2003). A prenatal cumulative risk index was calculated from individual psychosocial risk factors. Infant temperamental negativity was assessed via a maternal report at the infant age of 6 weeks (Infant Behavior Questionnaire; Putnam et al., 2014). Multilevel location scale analyses in a dynamic structural equation modeling (Asparouhov et al., 2018) framework were conducted. Covariates included prenatal depressive symptoms. On average, within-mother change in depressive symptoms at one time point was found to carry over to the next time point. Nonnull within-mother volatility in PPD symptoms reflected substantial ebbs and flows in PPD symptoms over the first year postpartum. Results of the between-level model demonstrated that mothers differed in their equilibriums, carryover, and volatility of their PPD symptoms. Mothers with more negative infants and those with higher prenatal cumulative risk exhibited higher equilibriums of PPD symptoms and more volatility in symptoms but did not differ in their carryover of PPD symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Multilevel prenatal socioeconomic predictors of Mexican American children's cardiometabolic health in preschool and school age.

OBJECTIVE: Using a life course perspective, this longitudinal study examines the extent to which prenatal family- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic factors influence the cardiometabolic health of low-income Mexican American children. It was hypothesized that prenatal maternal residence in a more economically disadvantaged neighborhood and more family-level economic hardship would each be associated with higher adiposity and blood pressure (BP) at child age 4.5 years, and higher adiposity, BP, inflammation and a less healthy lipid profile at child age 7.5 years. METHOD: The sample consisted of 322 low-income, Mexican American mother-child dyads, 181 of whom completed the 7.5-year laboratory visit. Using maternal prenatal residence and U.S. census data, neighborhood concentrated disadvantage index was computed. RESULTS: Higher prenatal neighborhood concentrated disadvantage predicted higher 4.5-year adiposity in children, which, in turn, predicted higher adiposity, BP, and inflammation, and less healthy lipid profile (higher triglycerides, lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) at 7.5 years. Higher child 4.5-year BP was concurrently associated with higher adiposity and predicted higher 7.5-year BP. CONCLUSIONS: Extending previous work with this sample, the current study found associations between cardiometabolic risk indicators as early as preschool among Mexican American children. Furthermore, this study builds on existing literature by expanding our understanding of the effect of prenatal neighborhood concentrated disadvantage on cardiometabolic phenotypes during early childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms Among Mexican American Women: Exploring Multilevel Sociocultural Moderators.

Relative to empirical studies on risk factors, less research has focused on culturally based protective factors that reduce the impact of discrimination on mental health. The current prospective study evaluated two potential moderators of the effect of discrimination on depressive symptoms among Mexican American women: individually held familism values and neighborhood cultural cohesion. Mexican-origin women in the United States (N = 322; mean age = 27.8 years; 86% born in Mexico) reported on frequency of discrimination, depressive symptoms, familism, and neighborhood cultural cohesion. Independent models evaluated familism and neighborhood cultural cohesion as moderators of the effect of discrimination on subsequent depressive symptoms. More frequent discrimination predicted higher subsequent depressive symptoms. High familism buffered the harmful effect of discrimination on depressive symptoms, such that more frequent discrimination was associated with higher subsequent depressive symptoms only for women who reported average and low familism. Neighborhood cultural cohesion did not buffer the effect of discrimination on depressive symptoms.

Intergenerational Consequences of Maternal Childhood Maltreatment on Infant Health Concerns.

INTRODUCTION: Childhood maltreatment is a well-established risk factor for health problems in adulthood and may also have intergenerational consequences for infant health. Childhood maltreatment may confer risk for infant health by undermining caregiver capacities for sensitive and responsive caregiving. However, associations among childhood maltreatment, maternal sensitivity, and infant health are not well understood. These processes may be of particular importance among low-income and ethnic minority populations for whom disparities in maltreatment exposure and poorer health outcomes are well-established. METHOD: The current study drew data from a sample of low-income, Mexican American families to examine whether maternal childhood maltreatment would be associated with more infant health concerns, and whether lower maternal sensitivity would explain their associations. Data were collected from 322 mother-infant dyads during home visits completed during pregnancy and when infants were 12, 18, and 24 weeks old. RESULTS: Maternal childhood maltreatment exposure and lower maternal sensitivity were both associated with more infant health concerns. Maternal childhood maltreatment was not associated with maternal sensitivity. DISCUSSION: These findings highlight potential intergenerational consequences of maternal childhood maltreatment for infant health and underscore a need for evaluating pre- and postnatal mechanisms through which these effects may be perpetuated. Furthermore, results indicate that maternal sensitivity may represent a promising target for interventions seeking to counteract intergenerational transmission processes. Clarification about underlying risk processes and potentiating resiliency characteristics may elucidate ways to better support mothers and infants across the lifespan.

Childhood maltreatment is associated with a variety of health outcomes across an individual's lifespan and may have intergenerational consequences as well. The present study is among the first to investigate maternal co-regulatory behaviors (i.e., sensitivity) as a potential mechanism through which maternal exposure to childhood maltreatment may influence infant health concerns. Results suggest that both maternal childhood maltreatment history and sensitivity may shape infant outcomes before 24 weeks of age. Increasing understanding of the mechanisms through which maternal childhood maltreatment may exert cascades of influence on infant health may help to inform the development of early intervention services.

The Interdependent Nature of Mother's and Children's Temperament and Eating Behaviors on Weight.

OBJECTIVES: The family environment is an important contextual factor for parent and child weight within families. Using an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, the current study examined (1) the effect of child and mother temperament (i.e., negative affectivity, effortful control, and impulsivity) on mother and child weight, (2) the effect of mother eating behaviors on mother and child weight, and (3) how temperament might moderate the relationships between mother eating behaviors and mother and child weight. METHODS: The sample consisted of 220 mother-child dyads with children between 4 and 6 years of age (66.8% classified as low-, 25.9% middle-, and 5.5% high-income). Mothers completed questionnaires on their own temperament and eating behaviors as well as child temperament. Weight measures were assessed in the laboratory for both mother and child. RESULTS: Mother's negative affectivity and impulsivity were negatively related to mother's weight while children's impulsivity was positively related to children's and mother's weight. Mother's eating behaviors were also positively related to mother's weight. The interaction between child impulsivity and mother eating behaviors was significant; the association of mother eating behaviors with mother weight depended on child impulsivity. Specifically, when children had higher impulsivity, mothers had the highest weight. When children had average or lower impulsivity, mother weight was higher with higher endorsement of unhealthy eating behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that after adjusting for the interdependent nature of temperament traits and weight, child impulsivity is an important factor associated with current weight for both mothers and children. Results also provide important implications for the impact children can have on their mothers.

Association of BMI trajectories with cardiometabolic risk among low-income Mexican American children.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify distinct trajectories of BMI growth from 2 to 7.5 years and examine their associations with markers of cardiometabolic risk at age 7.5 years among a sample of low-income Mexican American children. METHODS: This longitudinal cohort study recruited 322 mother-child dyads to participate prenatally and at child age 2, 3, 4.5, 6, and 7.5 years. Child height/weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure were assessed at each time point. Blood was collected from child at 7.5 years. RESULTS: Covarying for birthweight, three BMI trajectories were identified: Low-Stable BMI (73% of the sample), High-Stable BMI (5.6% of the sample), and Increasing BMI over time (21.4% of the sample). The High-Stable and Increasing BMI classes had higher waist circumference and systolic blood pressure and lower HDL-c than the Low-Stable BMI class (ps < 0.05). Among children with BMIs below the 85th percentile, 16% had three or more cardiometabolic risk indicators. CONCLUSIONS: BMI classes were consistent with existing literature. For youth, standard medical practice is to examine cardiometabolic risk indicators when BMI is high; however, this practice would miss 16% of youth in our sample who exhibit cardiometabolic risk but do not screen in based on BMI. IMPACT: Research indicates Mexican American youth are at risk for cardiometabolic dysregulation relative to other ethnic groups, yet there is a paucity of longitudinal research. An Increasing BMI and a High-Stable BMI class were associated with larger waist circumference, higher systolic blood pressure, and lower HDL cholesterol than the Low-Stable BMI class. BMI trajectories in childhood predict cardiometabolic risk indicators. As the sole screener for deciding when to test cardiometabolic indicators, BMI alone will miss some children exhibiting cardiometabolic dysregulation.

Within-dyad bidirectional relations among maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems from infancy through preschool.

Although dyadic theory focuses on the impact of a mother's mental health on her own child and the impact of a child's mental health on their own mother, commonly used statistical approaches are incapable of distinguishing the desired within-dyad processes from between-dyad effects. Using autoregressive latent trajectory modeling with structured residuals, the current study evaluated within-dyad, bidirectional associations between maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems from child age 1-4.5 years among a sample of low-income, Mexican American women (N = 322, Mage = 27.8) and their children. Women reported on maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems during laboratory visits at child age 1, 1.5, 2, 3, and 4.5 years. Results provide novel evidence of child-driven bidirectional association between maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems at the within-dyad level as early as child age 1 year and within-person stability in child behavior problems emerging early in life.

Dispositional Active Coping Predicts Patterns of Adolescents' Cortisol Responsivity in the Context of School-related Stressors.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to examine the direct and conditional effects of active coping and prior exposure to school-related stressors on cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to an academically salient, social stress task. METHOD: Participants included N= 758 adolescents (50% male; M age = 12.03 years, SD = .49) enrolled in the 7th grade in Title 1 middle schools. Adolescents were predominantly ethnic minorities (62% Hispanic, 12% non-Hispanic White, 11% non-Hispanic Black, 7% Native American, and 8% "other"). Youth completed self-reported assessments of their dispositional use of active coping strategies, prior exposure to school hassles, pubertal status, medication use, and relevant demographic information. In addition, youth engaged in an academically salient group public speaking task adapted for adolescents and provided salivary cortisol sample pre-task, immediately post-task, 15-, and 30-minutes post-task. RESULTS: Results from piecewise latent growth curve modeling revealed that active coping independently predicted lower cortisol reactivity to the stress task. Furthermore, active coping was associated with slower cortisol recovery when adolescents reported not having experienced any school hassles in the past three months and faster recovery when having experienced several school hassles in the past three months. Results from multinomial logistic regressions revealed that greater use of active coping strategies was less likely to predict a hyper-reactive pattern of cortisol responding compared to other patterns. CONCLUSION: Findings provide support for active coping as a way to promote adaptive physiological responding to school-related stressors among ethnically diverse youth residing in low-income communities.

Prenatal Programming of Behavior Problems via Second-by-Second Infant Emotion Dynamics.

Fetal adaptations to prenatal maternal stress may confer high risk for childhood behavior problems, potentially operating via dynamic fluctuations in infants' emotions during mother-infant interactions. These fluctuations over time may give rise to behavior problems. Among a sample of 210 low-income mothers of Mexican origin and their 24-week-old infants, dynamic structural equation modeling was used to examine whether within-infant second-by-second emotion processes were predicted by maternal prenatal stress and predicted behavior problems at 36 and 54 months. The mean level around which infant negative affect fluctuated was related to prenatal stress, but not to childhood behavior problems. The volatility in infant negative affect, reflecting greater ebb and flow in infant negative affect during playful interaction, was predicted by prenatal stress and predicted enduring behavior problems in childhood. Results highlight a potential child-driven pathway linking prenatal exposure with childhood behavior problems via infant negative emotional volatility.

Resilience to early family risk moderates stress-affect associations: A 14-day ecological momentary assessment study.

BACKGROUND: Resilience in children with early family life adversity is linked with successful adulthood psychological outcomes. However, whether resilience influences daily emotional responses to stress remains unclear. This study examined whether resilience capacity in the context of early family risks predicts better daily stress and affect outcomes during a stressful transition. METHODS: International and interstate undergraduates (N = 98; aged 18-25 years) were grouped as Resilient (high family risk, high resilience), Vulnerable (high family risk, low resilience), or Control (low family risk, average anxiety and depression). Daily negative (NA) and positive affect (PA), perceived stress, and stressors were assessed 4-times daily across 14 consecutive days (4333 total surveys; 73.7% completion rate). Affect reactivity was operationalized as the NA and PA slopes on perceived stress from each survey. RESULTS: The Resilient group did not differ from the Control group on all outcomes. The Vulnerable group reported significantly higher number of stressors, perceived stress levels, NA, and NA reactivity than the Resilient and Control groups (all p < .001); as well as significantly lower PA (p = .024) and PA reactivity (p = .003) than the Control group. LIMITATIONS: Our findings are not generalizable to other populations and cannot determine causality. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that resilience capacity is protective against the effects of early family risks on a daily basis. However, significant findings were limited to emotional distress outcomes and not supported for PA, suggesting resilience capacity may attenuate emotional distress but not positive emotions in response to stress in emerging adults with family risk.

A 14-day ecological momentary assessment study on whether resilience and early family risk moderate daily stress and affect on cortisol diurnal slope.

This study examined whether resilience capacity moderates the association of daily perceived stress and affect with cortisol diurnal slope among relocated emerging adults. Relocated undergraduates (N = 98; aged 18-25 years) were recruited from three groups: Resilient, Vulnerable, and Control. The Resilient group required Risky Family Questionnaire (RFQ) scores ≥ 29 and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) scores ≥ 3.6. The Vulnerable group required RFQ scores ≥ 29 and BRS scores ≤ 3. The comparison Control group required RFQ scores ≤ 21 and T-scores < 60 on PROMIS anxiety and depression symptoms. Mixed-effects models were used to test the unique associations of perceived stress, negative affect, and positive affect x group interactions (predictors) on diurnal cortisol slope (outcome) across 14 consecutive days. The Resilient group did not moderate the associations between daily stress or affect on cortisol diurnal slope. Instead, both the Resilient and Vulnerable groups with early family risk, showed a steeper diurnal slope unique to higher stress and a flatter slope unique to higher negative affect. Results suggest that riskier early family life was significantly associated with altered cortisol diurnal slope outcomes to stress (i.e., demand) and negative affect (i.e., distress). These associations were not attenuated by current resilience capacity.

Longitudinal associations between early child weight gain, parent feeding, child self-regulation, and later child body mass index.

BACKGROUND: Few longitudinal studies have examined associations of child weight trajectories, maternal demandingness and responsiveness during feeding, and child self-regulation. OBJECTIVE: We examined if child weight-for-length trajectories from 6 weeks to 2 years of age were associated with maternal demandingness and responsiveness at child age 3 years old, and if maternal feeding dimensions predicted child BMI trajectories from 4.5 to 7.5 years among Mexican American children from low-income families. Child self-regulation was evaluated as a potential mechanism linking maternal feeding with child BMI. METHOD: Child (N = 322) weight and length/height were assessed at 10 timepoints from 6 weeks through 7.5 years. Mothers completed the Caregiver Feeding Style Questionnaire when the child was 3 years of age. RESULTS: A steeper slope of weight-for-length z scores from 6 weeks to 2 years (indicating more rapid weight gain) was associated with less maternal demands during feeding at 3 years. More maternal demandingness at child age 3 years predicted lower child BMI at 4.5 years, but not trajectories from 4.5 to 7 years. Child self-regulation was not associated with child BMI from 4.5 to 7.5 years. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight how the relationship between mothers and children during feeding can be bidirectional and potentially influenced by the developmental stage.

Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Paternal Engagement, and Toddler Behavior Problems in Low-income Mexican-origin Families.

OBJECTIVE: Maternal postpartum depression (PPD) may influence fathers' engagement in childrearing; however, empirical studies have been equivocal as to whether these effects emerge in a compensatory (i.e., higher paternal engagement) or spillover (i.e., lower paternal engagement) manner. This study evaluated fathers' gender role attitudes as a moderator that shapes the association between maternal PPD and fathers' engagement during infancy, and also examined relations between father engagement and children's subsequent behavior problems. METHOD: In a prospective study of low-income, Mexican-origin families (N = 181 mothers and a subset of their partners, N = 92 fathers), maternal PPD symptoms and fathers' gender role attitudes were measured at 15-weeks postpartum, father engagement was measured at 21-weeks, and children's behavior problems were measured at 12 and 18 months. RESULTS: Higher maternal PPD symptoms were associated with lower father engagement and more child behavior problems when fathers endorsed more segregated gender role attitudes; however, this relation was not significant when fathers endorsed less segregated, more contemporary gender role attitudes. A mediational chain was evident, wherein the interaction of maternal PPD and fathers' gender role attitudes predicted paternal engagement, and lower paternal engagement subsequently predicted more child behavior problems at 12 months, which predicted more child behavior problems at 18 months. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest the effects of maternal PPD on children's behavior problems may operate via paternal engagement, which is affected by fathers' traditional gender role attitudes. The study highlights the importance of examining fathering and children's behavior using a cultural-contextual lens among underrepresented ethnic minority families.

The integrative model of family stress underlying Spanish and English vocabulary development in Mexican American children: Unique effects of financial and sociocultural hardships.

Early oral language development lays an essential foundation for academic and socioemotional competencies but is vulnerable to the impact of family stress. Despite robust evidence that family stress affects early oral language development in monolingual samples, little is known about whether the family stress processes affecting language acquisition are similar among dual language learners. Furthermore, although Mexican American families often face stressors related to their ethnic minority and immigrant status, no studies to date have tested whether exposure to sociocultural stressors may likewise have negative consequences for early language acquisition. The present study examined whether financial and sociocultural stressors were associated with maternal stress perception, parenting sensitivity, and child Spanish and English receptive vocabulary at child age 3 and 4.5 years. Participants included 322 low-income Mexican American mothers and their children followed from pregnancy through 4.5 years postnatal; most mothers preferred to speak Spanish (82%). Results of a path model indicated that links between family stress and child receptive vocabulary varied by language (Spanish or English) and stress type (financial or cultural). Specifically, Spanish acquisition was more closely related to the quality of mother-child interactions, whereas English acquisition was more susceptible to the direct impact of family stress. The consequences of family stress on children's vocabulary acquisition were evident earlier in development for Spanish than English, and appeared more pronounced for financial versus sociocultural stressors. Findings underscore a need to attend to the impact of poverty on children's Spanish and English language development in low-income, Mexican American children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Infant Temperament Profiles, Cultural Orientation, and Toddler Behavioral and Physiological Regulation in Mexican-American Families.

This study sought to (a) replicate infant temperament profiles from predominantly White samples in a sample of low-income, predominantly first-generation Mexican-American families, (b) investigate associations between infant temperament profiles and toddler behavioral and physiological regulation, and (c) explore whether mothers' cultural orientation would moderate those associations. Mothers and infants (n = 322; 46% male) were assessed during pregnancy and at infant ages 9, 12, and 24 months. Latent profile analysis yielded three temperament profiles that were consistent with those from extant research. Compared to the high positive affect, well-regulated profile, the negative reactive, low regulated profile was associated with poorer behavioral and parasympathetic (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia) regulation, but associations depended on mothers' Mexican and Anglo cultural orientation.

Socioemotional Mechanisms of Children's Differential Response to the Effects of Maternal Sensitivity on Child Adjustment.

OBJECTIVE: Children differ in the extent to which they reap the benefits of maternal sensitive care or suffer the adverse consequences of insensitive care, and these differences can be accounted for by biological characteristics. However, how susceptible children adapt to maternal sensitivity in ways that either maximize positive development or lead to maladjustment has yet to be determined. Here, we propose a novel model of socioemotional mechanisms by which the joint influences of maternal sensitivity and child biological characteristics influence child adjustment. DESIGN: We propose a theoretical model, in which children's vagal functioning and polymorphisms in serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) and dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) genes confer susceptibility to the effects of maternal sensitivity on internalizing, externalizing, prosocial and moral behavior via changes in interpersonal strategies for emotion regulation, the threat response system, and empathy. RESULTS: Theoretical and empirical support for the proposed mechanisms are provided. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed mechanistic model of susceptibility to maternal sensitivity offers a novel framework of for whom and how children are affected by early maternal care, highlighting multiple reciprocal, interacting influences across genes, physiology, behavior, and the environment.

Second-by-second infant and mother emotion regulation and coregulation processes.

Context-appropriate infant physiological functioning may support emotion regulation and mother-infant emotion coregulation. Among a sample of 210 low-income Mexican-origin mothers and their 24-week-old infants, dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM) was used to examine whether within-infant vagal functioning accounted for between-dyad differences in within-dyad second-by-second emotion regulation and coregulation during free play. Vagal functioning was captured by within-infant mean and variability (standard deviation) of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during free play. Infant emotion regulation was quantified as emotional equilibria (within-person mean), volatility (within-person deviation from equilibrium), carryover (how quickly equilibrium is restored following a disturbance), and feedback loops (the extent to which prior affect dampens or amplifies subsequent affect) in positive and negative affect during free play; coregulation was quantified as the influence of one partner's affect on the other's subsequent affect. Among infants with lower RSA variability, positive affect fluctuated around a higher equilibrium, and negative affect fluctuated around a lower equilibrium; these infants exhibited feedback loops where their positive affect dampened their subsequent negative affect. As expected, infants with higher mean RSA exhibited more volatility in positive affect, feedback loops between their positive and negative affect, and stronger mother-driven emotion coregulation. The results highlight differences in simultaneously occurring biological and emotion regulation.

Within-mother variability in vagal functioning and concurrent socioemotional dysregulation.

During dyadic interactions, well-regulated autonomic responses may support and be supported by socioemotional regulation, whereas autonomic responses that are inappropriate for the social context may be linked with socioemotional dysregulation. We evaluated women's parasympathetic and socioemotional responses during playful interaction with their 24-week-old infants, hypothesizing that insufficient or excessive variability in second-by-second vagal functioning would be associated with concurrent socioemotional dysregulation. Among a sample of 322 low-income, Mexican origin mothers (Mage  = 27.8; SD = 6.5 years), variability in second-by-second vagal functioning was indexed by within-mother standard deviation (SD) in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during a 5-min unstructured play task. A latent construct of socioemotional dysregulation was identified using factor analyses. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate linear and quadratic relations between within-mother SD of RSA and concurrent socioemotional dysregulation. Analyses revealed a positively accelerated relationship between within-mother SD of RSA and concurrent maternal socioemotional dysregulation during play with her infant. Within-mother SD of RSA during a non-interactive baseline task was not related to maternal dysregulation. The results illustrate mothers' dynamic autonomic and socioemotional responses are intertwined during real-time interactions with her infant and lend support for the discriminant validity of within-mother SD of RSA during free play.

Prenatal Neighborhood Ethnocultural Context and the Mental Health of Mothers and Children in Low-Income Mexican American Families.

Socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods increase the risk for poor mental health among residents, yet protective factors may operate alongside risk. This study evaluated the influence of the prenatal neighborhood ethnocultural context on child behavior problems and maternal depressive symptoms. Prenatal maternal role expectations, prenatal culture-specific stress, and postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms were evaluated as mediators. Participants included 322 low-income, Mexican American mother-child dyads. Women (Mage  = 27.8) reported on proposed mediators, maternal depressive symptoms, and child behavior problems at 4.5 years. Neighborhood Latinx concentration was obtained from census data. Higher Latinx concentration predicted fewer maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems, mediated through role expectations and PPD symptoms. Results suggest prenatal neighborhood context to impact later maternal and child mental health.

A prenatal programming perspective on the intergenerational transmission of maternal adverse childhood experiences to offspring health problems.

Decades of research indicate that individuals exposed to childhood adversity are at risk for poor physical and mental health across their life span. More recently, intergenerational transmission of trauma and prenatal programming frameworks suggest an even longer reach for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), with consequences that extend to subsequent generations. Beyond the individual-level consequences typically observed by empirical studies of ACEs, mothers' experiences of early adversity may also compromise the maternal-child dyadic relationship. We propose a conceptual model whereby mothers' ACEs impact maternal-infant dyadic functioning and later biobehavioral health outcomes through heightened perinatal psychosocial risk. We provide support for the proposed paths and mechanistic processes in our model with data drawn from Las Madres Nuevas, a longitudinal study of low-income Mexican-origin families who participated in a series of home and laboratory visits from the prenatal period through early childhood. Higher ACEs exposure among Las Madres Nuevas participants was associated with numerous perinatal psychosocial risk factors, which predicted poorer mother-infant dyadic functioning. Compromised dyadic functioning during infancy was associated with later maternal mental health and child behavior problems. We conclude with discussion of prevention and treatment strategies that can buffer against proposed risk pathways, including perinatal assessment of maternal ACEs and psychosocial risk, perinatal treatment of maternal distress, and mother-infant therapy in the postpartum period. It is our hope that the proposed conceptual model will serve as a guide for future research to examine the lasting consequences of childhood adversities within and across generations among high-risk populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).