| Institution: | 1. Pediatric Neurology & Developmental Medicine, University Children's Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;2. Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Department of Psychiatry, Center for Women's Mood Disorders, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA;3. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;4. Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;5. Department of Psychiatry, Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA |
| Abstract: | This study examines the interplay between maternal depression/anxiety and infant temperament's developmental trajectory in 1687 Swedish-speaking mother–infant dyads from Uppsala County (2009–2019), Sweden. The sample includes a high proportion of university-educated individuals and a low share of foreign-born participants. Maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale during gestational weeks 17 and 32 and postpartum at week 6. Multinomial regression explored associations between maternal variables and infant temperament trajectories at 6 weeks, 12 months, and 18 months. Prenatal anxiety is associated with the high-rising infant difficult temperament trajectory, while prenatal depression/anhedonia is associated with the stable-medium trajectory, attenuated postpartum. Associations between infant temperament and maternal mood depended on timing (pre/postpartum) and symptom type (depression/anhedonia vs. anxiety). |
