Trait coping styles and the maternal neural and behavioral sensitivity to an infant

Abstract

During the postpartum period, new mothers experience drastic changes in their body, brain, and life circumstances. Stress from the emotional and physical demands of caring for an infant is associated with negative mood and parenting outcomes. The use of active coping strategies can increase mothers’ resilience during the postpartum period. However, little is known about the association between coping styles and maternal brain responses to infant cues. In the current study, we examined the associations among trait coping style, maternal brain responses, and behavioral sensitivity in a socioeconomically diverse sample of first-time mothers (N = 59). The use of more active trait coping strategies compared to passive coping strategies was associated with increased brain responses to infant cry sounds in brain regions that are critically involved in motivation and emotion regulation—substantia nigra, anterior cingulate gyrus, and inferior frontal gyrus. Increased brain activations in the midbrain and anterior cingulate gyrus were further associated with higher levels of maternal sensitivity observed during interactions with the infant. Thus, the findings provide support for mothers’ use of more active coping styles to promote neural and behavioral resilience for a positive transition to parenthood.

The importance of differentiating between cold and hot response inhibition in the parenting context, when examining associations with harsh parenting.

“…However, the current report was the first study to show that infant facial expressions and particularly infant negative emotional faces interfere with parents' RI and that this interference is unique to the infant context and cannot be generalized to adult facial expressions. Previous work reveals that compared to adults and older children, infants show more extreme levels of negative emotionality, both in duration and intensity (Chang et al, 2021) and studies on parent's neural response to infant cries reveal that infant cries elicit neural response patterns that support immediate caregiver responses (P. Kim et al, 2022;S. Kim et al, 2014;Lonstein et al, 2015).…”

“…Given compelling evidence for individual differences in RI interference under negative emotional conditions as well as its effective prediction of reactive aggression, it is surprising that this topic has not been examined in the infant parenting context. Previous work indicates that specific characteristics of infant face processing, such as attribution of importance, appropriateness, and reward or amygdala activation, are linked to biological bases and behavioral components of parenting (P. Kim et al, 2022;S. Kim et al, 2014;Lonstein et al, 2015).…”

Frustration responses of single and partnered mothers to prolonged infant crying.

“…For example, single mothers with more optimism, self-efficacy and self-esteem have better mental health and exhibit more positive parenting behaviors (Schofield et al, 2014). Resilience is therefore expected to decrease perceived stress in single mothers confronted with the challenges discussed above (Kim et al, 2022).…”