Infant neurodevelopment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with maternal pandemic-related experiences, parenting stress, and self-efficacy.

BACKGROUND: Although pandemic-related experiences have been linked to the psychological well-being of mothers, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on infant neurodevelopmental outcomes have not been sufficiently studied. AIMS: To assess whether maternal COVID-19-related experiences (i.e., COVID-19-related health, risk, resource worries, and feelings of grief), parenting stress, and maternal self-efficacy are associated with infant neurodevelopment as measured by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition (ASQ-3) maternal report when infants were between 8 to 10 months of age. Furthermore, this study examined the moderating effect of maternal self-efficacy between maternal COVID-19-related experiences and infant neurodevelopment. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 122 women who were drawn from the Perinatal Experiences and COVID-19 Effects (PEACE) Study, with online surveys administered between November 2020 and August 2022. RESULTS: After controlling for maternal anxiety and depression symptoms and demographic factors, hierarchical regression analysis indicated that parenting stress showed no effect on ASQ-3 scores. However, more adverse COVID-19-related experiences and higher levels of maternal self-efficacy were associated with better infant neurodevelopment. Moreover, there was a significant interaction effect between maternal self-efficacy and COVID-19-related experiences on infant neurodevelopment. For mothers with moderate to high levels of self-efficacy, more adverse COVID-19-related experiences were associated with better infant neurodevelopment. For mothers with low levels of self-efficacy, more adverse COVID-19-related experiences were associated with poorer developmental outcomes in infants. CONCLUSIONS: Under adverse conditions, confidence in caregiving may afford more optimal infant neurodevelopment. Interventions aimed at fostering maternal self-efficacy and addressing specific stressors can be valuable in promoting positive developmental trajectories for infants born during the pandemic.

Prenatal mental health and emotional experiences during the pandemic: associations with infant neurodevelopment screening results.

BACKGROUND: This study determined whether parental mental health and emotional experiences during the prenatal period were linked to infant developmental outcomes through the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) at 8-10 months. METHODS: Participants included 133 individuals who were living in the US and were pregnant or had given birth within 6 months prior to enrollment. Respondents were majority White with high education and income levels. Online surveys were administered from May 2020 to September 2021; follow-up surveys were administered from November 2020 to August 2022. RESULTS: Parent generalized anxiety symptoms were positively associated with infant communication (ß = 0.34, 95% CI [0.15, 1.76], p < 0.05), while parent-fetal bonding was positively associated with infant communication (ß = 0.20, 95% CI [0.05, 0.76], p < 0.05) and personal-social performance (ß = 0.20, 95% CI [0.04, 0.74], p < 0.05). COVID-19-related worry was negatively associated with infant communication (ß = -0.30, 95% CI [-0.75, -0.12], p < 0.05) and fine motor performance (ß = -0.25, 95% CI [-0.66, -0.03], p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Parent mental health and emotional experiences may contribute to infant developmental outcomes in high risk conditions such as a pandemic. IMPACT STATEMENT: Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection has been evaluated in relation to child outcomes, however, parent psychosocial experiences should not be overlooked when considering pandemic risks to child development. Specific prenatal mental health and pandemic-related emotional experiences are associated with infant developmental performance, as assessed by the Ages and Stages. Questionnaire (ASQ-3) at 8 to 10 months old. Findings indicate that parental prenatal anxiety and emotional experiences from the pandemic should be assessed when evaluating child developmental delays.

Deep biomarkers of aging and longevity: from research to applications.

Multiple recent advances in machine learning enabled computer systems to exceed human performance in many tasks including voice, text, and speech recognition and complex strategy games. Aging is a complex multifactorial process driven by and resulting in the many minute changes transpiring at every level of the human organism. Deep learning systems trained on the many measurable features changing in time can generalize and learn the many biological processes on the population and individual levels. The deep age predictors can help advance aging research by establishing causal relationships in non-linear systems. Deep aging clocks can be used for identification of novel therapeutic targets, evaluating the efficacy of the various interventions, data quality control, data economics, prediction of health trajectories, mortality, and many other applications. Here we present the current state of development of the deep aging clocks in the context of the pharmaceutical research and development and clinical applications.