Maternal anxiety, exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic and socioemotional development of offspring

The COVID-19 pandemic context may predispose mothers to increased maternal psychopathology, which may be associated with offspring socioemotional development. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between prenatal anxiety and depression and exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic with offs...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: López Morales, Hernán, del Valle, Macarena, López, Marcela Carolina, Andrés, María Laura, García, Matías Jonás, Canet Juric, Lorena, Urquijo, Sebastian
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/228461
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/228461
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:COVID-19
PRENATAL ANXIETY
PRENATAL DEPRESSION
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5
Descripción
Sumario:The COVID-19 pandemic context may predispose mothers to increased maternal psychopathology, which may be associated with offspring socioemotional development. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between prenatal anxiety and depression and exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic with offspring socioemotional development, controlling for postnatal anxiety and depression. A total of 105 mother-child dyads were assessed in pre- and postnatal periods. Questionnaires were used to assess the impact of the pandemic, indicators of psychopathology, and the socioemotional development of the offspring. Results suggest that negative pandemic experiences are indirectly associated with offspring socioemotional development via prenatal maternal anxiety symptomatology and after controlling for postnatal anxiety and depression. These indicators predispose to emotional deficits and increase the risks of psychopathological and neurodevelopmental disorders. It is important to adopt health policies that provide timely assessment of development in early childhood to reduce the risks associated with these deficits.