Biobehavioral mechanisms underlying the association between maternal postnatal psychosocial distress and inhibitory control in preschoolers
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2019-06-22
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en
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Abstract
Accumulating evidence indicates that maternal distress affects child development, including
inhibitory control. Poor inhibitory control in early childhood is known to be a precursor for
the development of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Potential
mechanisms relating maternal distress to inhibitory control are unclear. Therefore, the goal of
this study is to examine two possible mechanisms for the association between maternal
distress and poor inhibitory control, namely maternal quality of caregiving and breast milk
cortisol. At 6 weeks of infant age, healthy mothers (N=77) filled in questionnaires on feelings
of anxiety, stress, and depressive symptoms. They also collected breast milk, and a 15-minute
mother-infant interaction was carried out. At 3 years of age, preschoolers’ inhibitory control
was measured with observational tasks, and a questionnaire was completed by mothers.
Results showed no relationship between maternal distress and preschoolers’ inhibitory
control. Results further showed that neither maternal quality of caregiving nor breast milk
cortisol mediated the relation between maternal distress and inhibitory control. Higher breast
milk cortisol, however, was related to lower reported inhibitory control. The current study
adds to the small but accumulating literature on the lactational programming hypothesis,
which states that mothers have the ability to postnatally shape their offspring’s development
through biologically active components in breast milk.
Keywords: maternal distress, breast milk cortisol, maternal caregiving quality, inhibitory
control, lactational programming
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen