Effects of prenatal and postnatal maternal emotional stress on toddlers’ cognitive and temperamental development

Abstract Background Maternal stress is associated with impairments in the neurodevelopment of offspring; however, the effects of the timing of exposure to maternal stress on a child's neurodevelopment are unclear. Methods In 2010, we studied 225 mother-child pairs in Shanghai, recruiting mothers in mid-to-late pregnancy and monitoring offspring from birth until 30 months of age. Maternal stress was assessed prenatally (at 28–36 weeks of gestation) and postnatally (at 24–30 months postpartum) using the Symptom-Checklist-90-Revised Scale (SCL-90-R) and Life-Event-Stress Scale to evaluate mothers’ emotional stress and life event stress levels, respectively. Children's cognition and temperament were assessed at 24–30 months of age using the Gesell Development Scale and Toddler Temperament Scale, respectively. Multi-variable linear regression models were used to associate prenatal and postnatal stress with child cognitive and temperamental development. Results Maternal prenatal and postnatal Global Severity Index (GSI) of SCL-90-R were moderately correlated (ICC r =0.30, P Limitation Relatively small sample size. Conclusions Compared with postnatal exposure, children's cognitive development may be more susceptible to prenatal exposure to maternal emotional stress, whereas temperamental development may be more affected by postnatal exposure to maternal emotional stress compared with prenatal exposure.