Decades of research indicate that individuals exposed to childhood adversity are at risk for poor physical and mental health across their life span. More recently, intergenerational transmission of trauma and prenatal programming frameworks suggest an even longer reach for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), with consequences that extend to subsequent generations. Beyond the individual-level consequences typically observed by empirical studies of ACEs, mothers’ experiences of early adversity may also compromise the maternal–child dyadic relationship. We propose a conceptual model whereby mothers’ ACEs impact maternal–infant dyadic functioning and later biobehavioral health outcomes through heightened perinatal psychosocial risk. We provide support for the proposed paths and mechanistic processes in our model with data drawn from Las Madres Nuevas, a longitudinal study of low-income Mexican-origin families who participated in a series of home and laboratory visits from the prenatal period through early childhood. Higher ACEs exposure among Las Madres Nuevas participants was associated with numerous perinatal psychosocial risk factors, which predicted poorer mother–infant dyadic functioning. Compromised dyadic functioning during infancy was associated with later maternal mental health and child behavior problems. We conclude with discussion of prevention and treatment strategies that can buffer against proposed risk pathways, including perinatal assessment of maternal ACEs and psychosocial risk, perinatal treatment of maternal distress, and mother–infant therapy in the postpartum period. It is our hope that the proposed conceptual model will serve as a guide for future research to examine the lasting consequences of childhood adversities within and across generations among high-risk populations.

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According to polyvagal theory, rapid modulation of the vagal brake develops early in infancy and supports social interactions. Despite being viewed as a dynamic system, researchers typically assess vagal regulation using global measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; an index of vagal tone). This study sought to capture the dynamic property of RSA and evaluate individual differences in within-infant RSA responsivity during mother-infant interaction. RSA was evaluated in a sample of 135 6-month-old Mexican-American infants during a 5-min free play task. Mothers reported on their children's behavioral problems and competence at 18 months using the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment. Time-varying estimates of infant RSA during the interaction were obtained using a multiple window technique and spectrogram analysis. Using structural equation modeling, we evaluated whether within-infant SD of RSA predicted infants' behavioral problems and competence at 18 months, after adjusting for infants' mean RSA and covariates. Greater within-infant SD of RSA predicted more behavior problems at 18 months. This study demonstrates that assessing intra-individual variability in RSA, or the extent to which infants fluctuate around their average level of RSA during a task, enhances our ability to test polyvagal theory's central tenet: vagal regulation supports well-regulated social interaction. K E Y W O R D S infant, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, vagal functioning | 583 SOMERS Et al. biomarkers that either increase risk for poor socioemotional well-being or confer resilience among high-risk populations (Cicchetti & Toth, 2009; Sroufe, 2007). Although polyvagal theory posits that dynamic, moment-to-moment changes in vagal functioning support social engagement and behavioral regulation, the majority of empirical work testing these predictions has focused on global measures of vagal responsivity during stressful situations. According to polyvagal theory, withdrawal of the vagal brake modulates heart rate, allowing for increases in cardiometabolic output to support emotional and attentional demands from environmental stimuli. For example, the vagal brake is released during periods that require active regulatory coping, such as when one experiences pain or frustration. In contrast, activation of the vagal brake supports behaviorally calm states and social engagement during less stressful times. Despite theory-driven expectations about vagal regulation as it occurs within a task, on the time scale during which social processes unfold, vagal reactivity is typically calculated by subtracting average respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; the degree of change in heart rate during the respiratory cycle) during a resting task from average RSA during a challenge task, which precludes directly examining dynamic within-task vagal responsivity. Thus, common methodical approaches are ill-equipped to test a central tenet of polyvagal theory: rapid changes in vagal influences on cardiac output in response to environmental demands ...

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Socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods increase the risk for poor mental health among residents, yet protective factors may operate alongside risk. This study evaluated the influence of the prenatal neighborhood ethnocultural context on child behavior problems and maternal depressive symptoms. Prenatal maternal role expectations, prenatal culture-specific stress, and postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms were evaluated as mediators. Participants included 322 low-income, Mexican American mother-child dyads. Women (M age = 27.8) reported on proposed mediators, maternal depressive symptoms, and child behavior problems at 4.5 years. Neighborhood Latinx concentration was obtained from census data. Higher Latinx concentration predicted fewer maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems, mediated through role expectations and PPD symptoms. Results suggest prenatal neighborhood context to impact later maternal and child mental health.