Within-individual relationships between mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Although the importance of the dynamic intra-individual relationship between mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms has been widely recognized, the complex interplay between them is not well understood. Furthermore, the potential role of prenatal depressive symptoms and infant temperament in this relationship remains unclear. This study aims to examine the bidirectional influence of mother-to-infant bonding on postpartum depressive symptoms within individuals and to elucidate whether prenatal depressive symptoms and infant temperament would influence deviations from stable individual states. METHODS: Longitudinal data were collected from 433 women in early pregnancy. Of these, 360 participants completed the main questionnaires measuring impaired mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms at least once during the postpartum period. Data were collected at early and late pregnancy and several postpartum time points: shortly after birth and at one, four, ten, and 18 months postpartum. We also assessed prenatal depressive symptoms and infant temperament. A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model was used. RESULTS: Within-individual variability in mother-to-infant bonding, especially anger and rejection, significantly predicted subsequent postpartum depressive symptoms. However, the inverse relationship was not significant. Additionally, prenatal depressive symptoms and difficult infant temperament were associated with greater within-individual variability in impaired mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated that the within-individual relationship between mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms is likely non-bidirectional. The significance of the findings is underscored by the potential for interventions aimed at improving mother-to-infant bonding to alleviate postpartum depressive symptoms, suggesting avenues for future research and practice.

Increased resting-state activity in the cerebellum with mothers having less adaptive sensory processing and trait anxiety.

Child-rearing mothers with high levels of trait anxiety have a tendency for less adaptive sensory processing, which causes parenting stress. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this sensory processing and trait anxiety remain unclear. We aimed to determine the whole-brain spontaneous neural activity and sensory processing characteristics in mothers with varying parenting stress levels. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we assessed mothers caring for more than one preschool aged (2-5 years) child and presenting with varying levels of sensory processing, trait anxiety, and parenting stress. Spontaneous neural activities in select brain regions were evaluated by whole-brain correlation analyses based on the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF). We found significant positive correlations between levels of sensory processing with trait anxiety and parenting stress. Mothers having less adaptive sensory processing had significantly increased resting-state network activities in the left lobule VI of the cerebellum. Increased fALFF values in the left lobule VI confirmed the mediation effect on the relationship between trait anxiety and sensory processing. A tendency for less adaptive sensory processing involving increased brain activity in lobule VI could be an indicator of maternal trait anxiety and the risk of parenting stress.

The influence of cognitive load on maternal postural sway and heart rate in response to infant vocalizations.

Infants communicate their emotions to their caregivers through cries and laughter. Recent work suggests that adaptive parenting requires cognitive regulation of intuitive behaviors toward infants' signals. In this study, we examined the effects of cognitive regulation on mothers' unconscious behavioral and cardiac responses to infant cries and laughs. In all, 55 mothers took part in this study. To manipulate cognitive load, mothers were asked to memorize alphabet characters (two letters in the low cognitive load condition and eight in the high cognitive load condition). Then, they heard infant vocalizations (cries or laughs) for 6 s. During this time, we measured mothers' behavioral (center of pressure, an index of approach-avoidance behavior) and physiological (heart rate) responses. Regardless of vocalization type (infant cries or laughs), high cognitive load increased mothers' forward movement toward the infant sounds as well as mothers' heart rate. These findings advance our understanding of the link between executive function and maternal response to infant signals by utilizing postural and physiological measures of maternal response during memory tasks that require cognitive resources.

Effects of prenatal cannabis exposure on developmental trajectory of cognitive ability and brain volumes in the adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study.

Although cannabis use during pregnancy is increasing widely, the effects of cannabis on developmental trajectories, such as whether its effects during pregnancy remain the same between time points or gradually increase, are unclear. This study aimed to examine whether cannabis use during pregnancy affects the process of change in cognition and brain volume. Data from two-time points measured longitudinally were analyzed. We used data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study. Participants included 11,876 children aged 9-11 years participated at baseline, and 10,414 participated at 2-year follow-up from 22 sites across the United States. We explored the associations between prenatal cannabis exposure and cognitive abilities and brain volumes developmental trajectories. Among 11,530 children with valid data for prenatal cannabis exposure, 10,833 had no prenatal cannabis use, and 697 had cannabis use during their pregnancy. There was a significant interaction between time points and cannabis use during pregnancy on visuo-perceptual processing ability (b = -0.019, p = .009) and intracranial volumes (b = -6338.309, p = .009). We found that the effects of exposure to cannabis during pregnancy are not uniform at all times and may gradually become more apparent and magnified as development progresses.

Longitudinal changes in attention bias to infant crying in primiparous mothers.

Introduction: Infant stimuli attract caregiver attention and motivate parenting behavior. Studies have confirmed the existence of attentional bias toward infant face stimuli; however, relatively little is known about whether attentional bias exists for infant cry stimuli, which are as important as faces in child-rearing situations. Furthermore, scarce longitudinal evidence exists on how attentional bias toward infant crying changes through the postpartum period. Methods: In the present study, we conducted an experiment to assess bias toward infant crying at two postpartum time points: at Time 1 (Mean = 75.24 days), 45 first-time mothers participated and at Time 2 (Mean = 274.33 days), 30 mothers participated. At both time points, the mothers participated in a Stroop task with infant crying and white noise as the stimuli. They were instructed to answer the color out loud as quickly and accurately as possible, while ignoring the sound. Four types of audio stimuli were used in this task (the cry of the mother's own infant, the cry of an unfamiliar infant, white noise matched to the cry of the mother's own infant, and white noise matched to the cry of an unfamiliar infant), one of which was presented randomly before each trial. Response time and the correct response rate for each condition were the dependent variables. Results: For response time, the main effect of familiarity was significant, with longer response times when the participant's infant's cry was presented. In addition, response times were lower at Time 2 than at Time 1 in some conditions in which crying was presented. Discussion: The results suggest that mothers may be less disturbed by infant crying as they gain more experience. Elucidating the characteristics of postpartum mothers' changes in cognitive performance related to infants' cries would be useful in fundamental and applied research to understand the process of parents' adaptation to parenting.

Validity and reliability of the Japanese versions of the coronavirus anxiety scale for adolescents and obsession with COVID-19 scale for adolescents.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused mental health issues in both adults and adolescents. The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS) questionnaires measure anxiety and persistent and disturbed thoughts (also known as obsessions) related to COVID-19. We developed Japanese versions of the CAS (i.e., CAS-JA) and OCS (i.e., OCS-JA) questionnaires to make them suitable for adolescents and validated the characteristics of these scales. Methods: Two online surveys were administered to high school students aged 15-18 years. A total of 263 students participated in the first survey and almost half of them participated in the second survey. In the first survey, participants responded to the CAS-JA, OCS-JA, generalized anxiety and obsessive-compulsive subscales of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS), and Kessler 6 Scale (K6). The SCAS and K6 were used to verify discriminant validity and inter-scale correlations. In the second survey, the participants completed the CAS-JA and OCS-JA again to verify test-retest reliability. We performed a confirmatory factor analysis and calculated the model fit indices. Additionally, we examined the internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and inter-item correlations of the CAS-JA and OCS-JA. Moreover, differences in CAS-JA and OCS-JA responses by gender and region of residence (state of emergency and non-emergency areas) were examined. Results: The results of the single-factor model confirmatory factor analysis of model fit indices were above the threshold. The required criteria for internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and discriminant and convergent validity were met in both the CAS-JA and OCS-JA. No statistically significant differences attributed to residence and gender were found in both questionnaires. Conclusions: The results indicate that the CAS-JA and OCS-JA questionnaires are useful in measuring COVID-19-related anxiety, and persistent and disturbed thoughts in Japanese adolescents.

Longitudinal impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of children in the ABCD study cohort.

A large longitudinal study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in children is limited. This large-scale longitudinal observational study examines the pandemic's effects on children's mental health while considering the effects of parental care styles. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study is a large-scale, longitudinal multicenter study in the United States. Of the 11,875 children aged 9-12 years in its database, 4702 subjects were selected for this study. The child behavior checklist and parental monitoring questionnaire (PMQ) were used to assess children's mental health and parental support styles, respectively. Data collected before and during the pandemic were compared. Withdrawn/depressed and attention problems significantly worsened during compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic (p < 0.001, withdrawn/depressed; 53.4 ± 5.7 to 53.7 ± 5.9, attention problems; 53.4 ± 5.4 to 53.6 ± 5.6). However, the T scores are in the normal range both before and during the crisis. Simple slope analysis found withdrawn/depressed problems and aggressive behavior worsened when the PMQ was 1 SD below the mean, and rule-breaking behavior was improved when the PMQ was 1 SD above the mean. While the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated children's depressive symptoms and attention issues, the effects may be minor. Additionally, parental involvement serve as a protective factor for the child's mental health even during the pandemic.

Epigenetic Clock Deceleration and Maternal Reproductive Efforts: Associations With Increasing Gray Matter Volume of the Precuneus.

Reproductive efforts, such as pregnancy, delivery, and interaction with children, make maternal brains optimized for child-rearing. However, extensive studies in non-human species revealed a tradeoff between reproductive effort and life expectancy. In humans, large demographic studies have shown that this is the case for the most part; however, molecular marker studies regarding aging remain controversial. There are no studies simultaneously evaluating the relationship between reproductive effort, aging, and brain structures. We therefore examined the associations between reproductive efforts (parity status, number of deliveries, motherhood period, and cumulative motherhood period), DNA methylation age (mAge) acceleration (based on Horvath's multi-tissue clock and the skin & blood clock), and the regional gray matter volumes (obtained through brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using voxel-based morphometry) in 51 mothers aged 27-46 years of children in early childhood. We found that increasing reproductive efforts were significantly associated with decelerated aging in mothers with one to four children, even after adjusting for the confounding effects in the multiple linear regression models. We also found that the left precuneus gray matter volume was larger as deceleration of aging occurred; increasing left precuneus gray matter volume, on the other hand, mediates the relationship between parity status and mAge deceleration. Our findings suggest that mothers of children in early childhood, who have had less than four children, may benefit from deceleration of aging mediated via structural changes in the precuneus.

Longitudinal Study of Maternal Beliefs About Infant Crying During the Postpartum Period: Interplay With Infant's Temperament.

Infant crying is an important signal for their survival and development, and maternal beliefs about crying predict responsiveness to crying. Most studies have considered caregivers' reactions to crying to be fixed, and it is unclear how they change with their caregiving experience. Additionally, it has recently been suggested that there is a bidirectional relationship between changes in mothers' beliefs about crying and infants' temperament. This study examined that relationship using a longitudinal study design. Maternal beliefs about crying and infant temperament of 339 Asian first-time mothers (mean age = 28.7 years, SD = 4.1) were measured at 1-month intervals over 4 months. There were 289 participants in Wave 2, 240 in Wave 3, and 164 in Wave 4. Prior to the main survey, we conducted a pre-survey to confirm the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Infant Crying Questionnaire. The results showed that parent-oriented beliefs, which focus on the caregiver rather than the crying infant, increased in mothers who had infants aged 3 months or older at Wave 1. We also found that the process of change in maternal beliefs was not uniform, and that infants high on surgency predicted changes in maternal beliefs about infant crying. Longitudinal studies of caregivers' changes, such as the present study, are expected to contribute to understanding the co-development of caregivers and infants.

RETRACTED: Epigenetic modification of the oxytocin gene is associated with gray matter volume and trait empathy in mothers.

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). The Editor has concluded that the acceptance of this article was partly based upon the positive advice of an unreliable reviewer report. The report was provided to the journal by a reviewer suggested by the authors, and there were inappropriate communications between the authors and reviewer during the peer-review process. The Editor has therefore concluded that the review was not appropriate or independent. This manipulation of the peer-review process represents a clear violation of the fundamentals of peer review, our publishing policies, and publishing ethics standards. Apologies are offered to the readers of the journal that this deception was not detected during the submission process.

Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Parenting Stress Across Asian Countries: A Cross-National Study.

Background: In a previous study, we demonstrated that the accumulation of parenting stress during prolonged school closures and restrictions on daily activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan indicates the need for mental health intervention for parents at higher risk of parenting stress. However, few studies have focused on parenting stress in other Asian countries, although they have experienced higher numbers of infections. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether parenting stress among caregivers increased across Asia due to school closures and restrictions on activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine whether there were any country-specific, cross-country, or cross-regional risk factors for increased parenting stress. Methods: We conducted an online survey immediately after the number of new cases in India significantly increased (September-November 2020). We measured parenting stress, anxiety, and fear associated with the COVID-19 crisis, as evaluated by the Parenting Stress Index, Short-Form (PSI-SF), and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), across three Asian countries-India (n = 142), Malaysia (n = 69), and Japan (n = 182)-in addition to the United States (n = 203). We also investigated whether respondents had adverse childhood experiences (ACE) as a risk factor for parenting stress. Results: For all countries, we found significant increases in participants' current parenting stress levels, compared to what they recalled regarding their lives before COVID-19-related restrictions and school closures were enacted. Textual analysis qualitatively identified common terms related to parenting stress across all countries. We also found a statistical model that indicated ACE in parents was a critical risk factor for higher parenting stress via increasing anxiety and fear related to the pandemic. Conclusion: These results indicate the need to improve the mental health of caregivers who are at risk for higher levels of parenting stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Asian countries as well as Western countries. These results indicate that there is a need to improve the mental health of caregivers who are at risk for higher levels of parenting stress during the COVID-19 pandemic globally.

A multi-modal MRI analysis of brain structure and function in relation to OXT methylation in maltreated children and adolescents.

Child maltreatment dysregulates the brain's oxytocinergic system, resulting in dysfunctional attachment patterns. However, how the oxytocinergic system in children who are maltreated (CM) is epigenetically affected remains unknown. We assessed differences in salivary DNA methylation of the gene encoding oxytocin (OXT) between CM (n = 24) and non-CM (n = 31), alongside its impact on brain structures and functions using multi-modal brain imaging (voxel-based morphometry, diffusion tensor imaging, and task and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging). We found that CM showed higher promoter methylation than non-CM, and nine CpG sites were observed to be correlated with each other and grouped into one index (OXTmi). OXTmi was significantly negatively correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) in the left superior parietal lobule (SPL), and with right putamen activation during a rewarding task, but not with white matter structures. Using a random forest regression model, we investigated the sensitive period and type of maltreatment that contributed the most to OXTmi in CM, revealing that they were 5-8 years of age and physical abuse (PA), respectively. However, the presence of PA (PA+) was meant to reflect more severe cases, such as prolonged exposure to multiple types of abuse, than the absence of PA. PA+ was associated with significantly greater functional connectivity between the right putamen set as the seed and the left SPL and the left cerebellum exterior. The results suggest that OXT promoter hypermethylation may lead to the atypical development of reward and visual association structures and functions, thereby potentially worsening clinical aspects raised by traumatic experiences.

Relationship between oxytocin and maternal approach behaviors to infants' vocalizations.

Infants communicate their emotions to caregivers mainly through vocalizations. Research has shown that maternal oxytocin levels relate to adaptive parenting; however, little empirical research exists regarding the effects of endogenous oxytocin levels on maternal responses to infant vocalizations. Thus, in this study, we examined the relationship between mothers' salivary oxytocin levels, subjective feelings, and behavioral response to infants' emotional vocalizations. Additionally, we examined the relationship between psychological traits and maternal behavioral responses to infant vocalizations. In this study, 39 mothers were asked to stand on a balance board while listening to infant vocalization stimuli, to measure movements of their center of pressure, an index of approach-avoidance behavior. Sixty infant vocalizations (laughter, crying, and neutral) were presented for 6 â€‹s each. Afterwards, participants were asked to rate their subjective responses to each stimulus (not aroused - aroused, displeased - pleased, not urgent - urgent, and healthy - sick). Maternal oxytocin levels were negatively correlated with anterior movement of the center of pressure in response to infants' crying and babbling vocalizations, though no relationship was found between maternal approach-avoidance behavior toward infant laughter and oxytocin levels. This study indicated that maternal approach behavior toward infant vocalizations varies as a function of maternal endogenous oxytocin and the type of infant vocalization.

Maternal childhood adversity, OXTR genotype and cognitive load impact on perceptual and behavioral responses to infant crying.

The crying of infants elicits aversive feelings and poses a risk for child abuse. Maternal childhood maltreatment can have negative parenting ability consequences and interact with the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) single nucleotide polymorphism (rs53576) to predict maternal response to infant distress stimuli. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of individual vulnerability differences to situational cognitive load in parenting situations. The current study, in which 124 mothers participated in a standardized infant vocalization paradigm, examined three-way interaction on subjective empathy, behavior intention, and handgrip force response to a crying infant. Participants were asked to squeeze a handgrip dynamometer at maximal and half strength while memorizing a meaningless alphabet syllable as the cognitive load manipulation. Significant interactions were also observed between OXTR rs53576, childhood adversity, and cognitive load when predicting excessive force and harsh response intention on hearing a crying infant. These findings suggested that, as the G allele carriers of OXTR rs53576 appear to be susceptible to the effects of severe childhood adversity, inter- and intra-individual approaches are needed when assessing maternal responses to infant stimuli.

Differential Effects of Infant Vocalizations on Approach-Avoidance Postural Movements in Mothers.

Infant vocalization plays a pivotal role in communicating infant mood to parents and thereby motivating parenting responses. Although many psychological and neural responses to infant vocalization have been reported, few studies have examined maternal approach-avoidance behavior in response to infant vocalization. Thus, this research sought to determine how infant emotional vocalization affects maternal behavior. Twenty mothers participated in this behavioral study, all of whom had infants of 24 months old or less. In the experiment, they stood on a Balance Board that collected real-time data regarding center of pressure (COP), while listening to a series of infant vocalizations including cry, laugh, and babbling. They then listened to the same vocalizations for a second time and rated their felt emotions in response to each vocalization. The participants demonstrated significant postural movements of approaching in response to cry stimuli or to stimuli regarded as highly urgent. In contrast, they demonstrated postural movement of avoidance in response to laugh vocalization. These findings suggest that parenting behavior in response to infant emotional vocalization is regulated not by the pleasant-unpleasant axis but by the urgency of the stimulus.

Would situational stress be harmful for anyone? The influence of situational factors and trait empathy on women's response to infant crying.

Individual differences in responsiveness toward infant crying are well understood. Little research, however, has examined the effects of situational risk factors (e.g., social stress, cognitive load) and possible interactions between situational and dispositional factors on response toward infant crying. This study examined if trait empathy (conceptualized as empathic concern; EC, and personal distress; PD) moderate situational factors' relationship with people's intentions in response to infant crying. Social stress was manipulated using the Trier Social Stress Test. Cognitive load was manipulated by requiring participants to keep syllable-strings of either two or eight syllables in mind while listening to an infant crying. Participants responded to question items examining their caregiving and neglect intentions in response to the crying stimulus. Multilevel regression analyses demonstrated that trait empathy (empathic concern in particular) was strongly associated with neglect intention under cognitive load. Participants with high EC showed strong neglect intention with increasing cognitive load. Furthermore, results also showed that social stress increased neglect intentions and reduced care intentions; these effects were more remarkable among participants with both low EC and low PD. These results suggest that dispositional factors moderate situational factors' effect on response to infant crying.

The Influence of Cognitive Load on Empathy and Intention in Response to Infant Crying.

Many studies have explored risk factors for child maltreatment, but little research has focused on situational risk factors such as cognitive load, which involves within-individual fluctuation. The current study sought to determine whether cognitive load led to within-individual changes in intention in response to infant crying. The study also sought to ascertain whether state empathy, empathic concern (EC), and personal distress mediated or moderated this relationship. Sixty-six participants completed a memory task (remembering meaningless, two- or eight-letter, English alphabet string), during which they were required to keep these letters in mind while hearing infant crying (or a tone). Subsequently, participants rated questions concerning state empathy and intention in response to the crying (i.e., intentions involving caregiving, neglect, or physical abuse). Results showed that cognitive load reduced caregiving intention and increased intention to perpetrate neglect. In addition, EC mediated the relationship between cognitive load and intention to provide care or perpetrate neglect. Moreover, cognitive load interacted with state empathy to predict intention to provide care or perpetrate neglect. These findings highlighted the importance of focusing on situational cognitive risk factors for child maltreatment and elucidated the role of state empathy as a mediator or moderator in child maltreatment research.