Briefly, in the female sample, greater - postnatal - than -
prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were significantly associated with greater right frontal activity (β = -0.262, p = 0.020, df = 72) and greater relative right frontal asymmetry in infants at 6 months of age (β = -0.426, p < 0.001, df = 72) after adjusting for post-conceptual age on the EEG visit day.
However, when controlling for monthly household income, regression analysis revealed that greater - postnatal - than -
prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with both greater left and right frontal activity at 6 months of age (FL: β = -0.186, p = 0.035, df = 125; FR: β = -0.241, p = 0.005, df = 125).
After adjusting for post-conceptual age on the EEG visit day, greater - postnatal - than -
prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were significantly associated with greater right frontal activity (Table 2, Fig 2b) and greater relative right frontal asymmetry in infants at 6 months of age (Table 2, Fig 2c).
Greater - postnatal - than -
prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were marginally associated (FA: β = -0.148, p = 0.098, df = 125) with greater relative right frontal asymmetry of infants at 6 months of age.
Moreover, greater - postnatal - than -
prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with lower right frontal FC in 18 month olds (β = -0.382, p = 0.002, df = 58), after adjusting for post-conceptual age on the EEG visit day.
Not exact matches
A series of randomized control trials of a nurse home visitation program show a range of positive effects on
maternal health, including decreases in
prenatal cigarette smoking, fewer hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, and fewer closely spaced subsequent pregnancies., A randomized control study of another program that works with a particularly high - risk population found that participant mothers showed significantly lower
depressive symptoms than those in the control group and were less likely to report feeling stressed a year after participation.
A series of randomized control trials of a nurse home visitation program show a range of positive effects on
maternal health, including decreases in
prenatal cigarette smoking, fewer hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, and fewer closely spaced subsequent pregnancies., A randomized control study of another program that works with a particularly high - risk population found that participant mothers showed significantly lower
depressive symptoms than those in the control group and were less likely to report feeling stressed a year after participation.
Prenatal Depressive Symptoms and Toddler Behavior Problems: The Role of
Maternal Sensitivity and Child Sex.
In line with previous research on the disadvantage of the incongruence of
prenatal and postnatal environments on early child development [25], we hypothesized that children whose mothers had elevated postnatal
maternal depressive symptoms when compared to that during pregnancy may show greater atypical frontal EEG activity and frontal functional connectivity and greater internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems.
However, limited research has examined the effects of congruence and incongruence between
prenatal and postnatal
maternal depressive symptoms on frontal EEG function and behaviors of children in the first 2 years of life.
However, increasing
maternal depressive symptoms from the
prenatal to postnatal period predicted greater right frontal activity and relative right frontal asymmetry amongst 6 - month infants but these finding were not observed amongst 18 - month infants after adjusted for post-conceptual age on the EEG visit day.
Despite strong associations between
prenatal and postnatal
maternal depression [24], not all mothers may experience the same course of
depressive symptoms prenatally and postnatally.
Although pre and post-natal
maternal depressive symptoms did not independently predict infant frontal function, our study demonstrated a prominent association of the change of
maternal depressive symptoms from the
prenatal to postnatal period with right frontal EEG activity and relative right frontal EEG asymmetry in 6 - month infants, that is, increasing
maternal depressive symptoms from the
prenatal to postnatal period predicted greater right frontal activity and relative right frontal asymmetry amongst 6 - month infants.
Subsequently increasing
maternal depressive symptoms from the
prenatal to postnatal period predicted lower right frontal connectivity within 18 - month infants but not among 6 - month infants after controlling for post-conceptual age on the EEG visit day.
Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms and spontaneous preterm births among African - American women in Baltimore, Maryland
Nevertheless, consistent with past research, our study revealed independent contributions of
prenatal and early postnatal
maternal depressive symptoms to internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 2 - years [24, 40, 41].
Neither
prenatal nor postnatal
maternal depressive symptoms independently predicted neither the frontal EEG activity nor functional connectivity in 6 - and 18 - month infants.
The Pearson's correlation between measures of
prenatal and postnatal EPDS scores was 0.600 (r = 0.600; p < 0.001, df = 201), however the severity of
maternal depressive symptoms was significantly greater during pregnancy than at early postnatal period (t = 3.587, df = 200, p = 0.000).
Furthermore, both
prenatal and postnatal
maternal depressive symptoms independently predicted children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors at 24 months of age.
Moreover, both
prenatal and early postnatal
maternal depressive symptoms independently predicted children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors at 24 months of age.
When including prenatally and postnatally depressed mothers with middle and upper SES, Lusby et al. (2014) found no association between postnatal
depressive symptoms and the frontal EEG asymmetry at 3 - and 6 - month infants after adjusting for
prenatal maternal depression [12].
Exposure to
maternal depressive symptoms, whether during the
prenatal period, postpartum period, or chronically, has been found to increase children's risk for later cognitive and language difficulties.
Greater severity of
maternal depressive symptoms independently predicted higher externalizing and internalizing scores at 24 months of age, after adjusting for
maternal ethnicity and
prenatal smoke exposure (Table 2).