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 psychophysiological salience of past experiences of discrimination.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to test whether a discrimination recall task would elicit a significant parasympathetic response in multiracial undergraduate women. The study also investigated whether parasympathetic responsivity to the discrimination recall would be similar or different from that elicited by a widely used stress paradigm-the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and whether responses would differ for Black and White women. METHOD: Multiracial undergraduate women (n = 67; Mage = 19.4 years; 32% White, 22% Black) completed the TSST and a discrimination recall task. Parasympathetic activity was assessed using high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV). RESULTS: Women exhibited significant HF-HRV responsivity to the discrimination recall and showed smaller average decreases in HF-HRV to the discrimination recall than the TSST. However, whereas White women exhibited decreased HF-HRV in response to both tasks, Black women showed increased HF-HRV for the discrimination recall but decreased HF-HRV for the TSST. CONCLUSIONS: Findings complement a growing body of research suggestive that experiences of discrimination are psychophysiologically salient. Additionally, discriminatory experiences may elicit distinctive patterns of HF-HRV responsivity compared to generic social stressors. Efforts to elucidate the unique role of discrimination-specific HF-HRV responsivity may be critical for delineating discrimination-health linkages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Discrimination and depressive symptoms among Black and Asian American college students: Shared and group-specific processes of self-concept.

OBJECTIVES: Black and Asian American emerging adults are at higher risk of experiencing racial/ethnic discrimination and related distress. Racial/ethnic discrimination may increase vulnerability for depressive symptoms by diminishing individuals' positive self-concept. While low global self-esteem has been noted as a crucial process linking discrimination and depressive symptoms, it is unclear if it plays a unique role beyond other relevant aspects of one's self-concept: racial/ethnic private regard and centrality. Moreover, although different racial/ethnic groups are known to experience discrimination in distinctive ways, little is known about how relative processes of self-esteem and racial/ethnic identity may differ across these groups. We investigated the generalizability and specificity of discrimination to distress linkages across Asian and Black Americans. METHOD: Undergraduate Black (N = 109) and Asian American (N = 90) students self-reported racial/ethnic discrimination, depressive symptoms, and self-concept. RESULTS: Global self-esteem indirectly linked the association between discrimination and depressive symptoms among Black Americans beyond the effects of racial/ethnic identity. Only among Black Americans, discrimination was associated with lower private regard. CONCLUSIONS: Finding highlight group-specific processes underlying Black and Asian Americans' experiences of discrimination and depressive symptoms. Findings also demonstrate shared processes of discrimination-depressive symptoms linkage across groups and underscore the need to address the pervasive issues of racism and discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Birth and Beyond (BABY) study: protocol for a birth cohort study investigating the social and environmental determinants of pregnancy-related outcomes in Black American families.

INTRODUCTION: In the USA, Black birthing people and infants experience disproportionately worse pregnancy-related health outcomes. The causes for these disparities are unknown, but evidence suggests that they are likely socially and environmentally based. Efforts to identify the determinants of these racial disparities are urgently needed to elucidate the highest priority targets for intervention. The Birth and Beyond (BABY) study evaluates how micro-level (eg, interpersonal and family) and macro-level (eg, neighbourhood and environmental) risk and resiliency factors transact to shape birth person-infant health, and underlying psychobiological mechanisms. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The BABY study will follow 350 Black families (birthing parents, non-birthing parents and infants) from pregnancy through the first postpartum year, with research visits during pregnancy and at infant ages 6 and 12 months. Research visits comprise a combination of interview about a range of recent and life course stress and resiliency exposures and supports, psychophysiological (sympathetic, parasympathetic and adrenocortical) assessment and behavioural observations of parent-infant coregulatory behaviours. Spatial analyses are completed by mapping parent current and past residential addresses onto archival public data (eg, about neighbourhood quality and racial segregation). Finally, EMRs are abstracted for information about birthing parent relevant medical history, pregnancy conditions and infant birth outcomes. Analyses will evaluate the risk and resiliency mechanisms that contribute to pregnancy and birth-related outcomes for Black birthing people and their infants, and the protective role of individual, familial, cultural, and community supports. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The BABY study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at Albany Medical Centre. The study team consulted with local organisations and groups comprised of stakeholders and community leaders and continues to do so throughout the study. Research results will be disseminated with the scientific and local community as appropriate.

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).