Prenatal and Intrapartum Factors Associated With Infant Temperament: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Temperament involves individual variations in behavioural tendencies of emotional responses and reactions to stimuli after birth. Because ‘foetal programming' is a strong hypothesis in developing temperament, prenatal and intrapartum factors may be significant determinants of infant temperament. This systematic literature review aims to elucidate the evidence of prenatal and intrapartum predictors, including genetic, biological, environmental, socio-demographic, psychological, and obstetric factors of parents and their child.Methods: Relevant articles were searched using MEDLINE, PubMed, and SCOPUS. The inclusion criteria were (a) original research article, (b) written in English, (c) assessed the temperament of infants 12 months old or younger as an outcome variable, and (d) investigated prenatal and intrapartum factorial variables of infant temperament. Following the PRISMA guideline, the articles found in the three databases were screened and selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria before the final review.Results: Finally, 35 articles were reviewed. This systematic review identified a variety of prenatal and intrapartum factors that were significantly associated with infant temperament: (1) genetic and biological factors: certain genotypes, maternal cortisol and ACTH, and CRHs, (2) environmental factors: substance use such as tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs, (3) socio-demographic factor: lower-income, (4) psychological factors: depression or anxiety, eating disorders, personality types of mothers, and domestic violence, and (5) obstetric factors: foetal growth (birth weight), hypertension in mothers, nausea (emesis), and preterm birth.Conclusion: The findings support gene-environment interaction and biological mechanisms for developing infant temperament, suggesting the importance of ensuring a safe and comfortable environment for pregnant mothers, unborn infants, and families during pregnancy and delivery.

The Pandemial babies: effects of maternal stress on temperament of babies gestated and born during the pandemic

“…Although the association between prenatal anxiety and negative affect has been widely reported, that is not the case with respect to the previous literature on surgency, since some studies have found that it shows a negative association with both prenatal anxiety and negative affect (Enlow et al, 2017 ; Takegata et al, 2021 ). Conversely, our study supports the explanatory models that positively associate negative affect and surgency (Lin et al, 2014 ) as dimensions of infant regulatory capacity: high levels of both variables could imply a risk for regulatory capacity (Gartstein & Rothbart, 2003 ).…”

“…Several studies have already highlighted the effects of maternal stress, mainly during the second and third trimesters on infant temperament (Zijlmans et al, 2015 ). For example, prenatal anxiety and depression have been associated with negative maternal report of child effortful control (Miller et al, 2021 ), greater infant negative affect (Pluess et al, 2011 ), difficult temperament (Della Vedova, 2014 ), lower consolation and higher excessive crying (Takegata et al, 2021 ) and greater irritability, reactivity and stress propensity (Gentile, 2017 ). Overall, maternal anxiety and depression during pregnancy serve to increase the risk of having an infant who is less likely to express joy (e.g., smiling and positive affect); is experienced as "difficult" (e.g., crying / fussing excessively); and is more dysregulated or fearful (Erickson et al, 2017 ; Takegata et al, 2021 ; Zijlmans et al, 2015 ).…”

Infant Developmental Outcomes: Influence of Prenatal Maternal–Fetal Attachment, Adult Attachment, Maternal Well-Being, and Perinatal Loss

“…Infant development, conceptualized in terms of cognition, motor skills, language, socio-emotional skills, and adaptive behavior, lays the foundation for later outcomes in school [ 1 ], and even into adulthood [ 2 ]. Consistent with the biopsychosocial model [ 3 ], a range of prenatal factors related to the infant’s genetic make-up, environment, socio-demographics, obstetric factors and maternal psychology have been identified as influencing infant development [ 4 ]. Despite this, several promising factors are under-investigated, and particularly those related to the mother’s mental state, feelings of attachment to the unborn baby and others, and previous relational trauma experienced.…”

Maternal Mood and Perception of Infant Temperament at Three Months Predict Depressive Symptoms Scores in Mothers of Preterm Infants at Six Months

“…More and more studies point to preterm birth or its neurological complications as related to less optimal infant temperamental profile (Takegata et al, 2021), or even to "difficult" temperament (Washington et al, 1986;Larroque et al, 2005). Preterm birth is a multifold risk for child development (Wolke et al, 2019).…”