Maternal programming: Application of a developmental psychopathology perspective

Abstract

The fetal phase of life has long been recognized as a sensitive period of development. Here we posit that pregnancy represents a simultaneous sensitive period for the adult female with broad and persisting consequences for her health and development, including risk for psychopathology. In this review, we examine the transition to motherhood through the lens of developmental psychopathology. Specifically, we summarize the typical and atypical changes in brain and behavior that characterize the perinatal period. We highlight how the exceptional neuroplasticity exhibited by women during this life phase may account for increased vulnerability for psychopathology. Further, we discuss several modes of signaling that are available to the fetus to affect maternal phenotypes (hormones, motor activity, and gene transfer) and also illustrate how evolutionary perspectives can help explain how and why fetal functions may contribute to maternal psychopathology. The developmental psychopathology perspective has spurred advances in understanding risk and resilience for mental health in many domains. As such, it is surprising that this major epoch in the female life span has yet to benefit fully from similar applications.

Maternal Anxiety Symptoms and Self-Regulation Capacity Are Associated With the Unpredictability of Maternal Sensory Signals in Caregiving Behavior

“…Prenatal anxiety may also affect via psychological mechanisms by interfering prenatal parenting ( Dayton et al, 2010 ; Ahlqvist-Björkroth et al, 2016 ). Moreover, prenatal mood disturbances might interfere with the programming of parenting behavior ( Brunton and Russell, 2008 ; Hillerer et al, 2014 ; Glynn et al, 2018 ) leading to difficulties in adaptation to motherhood. One possible reason for the non-significant association between elevated postnatal anxiety symptoms (highest 10th percentile) and unpredictable care may be related to the small group sizes of those with elevated anxiety symptoms at the pre- and postnatal measurement points; this may have limited the power for group comparisons.…”

Associations between maternal depression and mother and infant oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR_rs53576) polymorphisms

“…One involves prenatal factors. The human placenta is made primarily of fetal tissue, which secretes hormones, including oxytocin, into the mother's body (Glynn, Howland, & Fox, ). In fact, a large fraction of OT circulating in the mother's body is of fetal/placental origin (Liu, ).…”

How stress can influence brain adaptations to motherhood

“…Moreover, this time period is when women express higher levels of motivation for positive health behaviors such as lower rates of substance use ( Hotham et al, 2008 ). Thus, the perinatal period has been identified as an important opportunity for interventions involving both neural and behavioral modifications that can have positive impacts on mothers and their infants ( Glynn et al, 2018 , Kim and Watamura, 2015 , Saxbe et al, 2018 ).…”