Poster #34 - Child Theory of Mind and Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Reactivity in the Context of Maternal Psychopathology: Results from a Longitudinal Study

• In Event: Poster Session 14

Abstract

It is well established that maternal mental health can exert a negative impact on child development (Slomian, 2019). For example, prenatal exposure to maternal depression is associated with altered autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning in response to stress in children (Bleker, 2020). Such findings are significant, as child ANS reactivity is associated with concurrent and later mental health outcomes (Mulkey & du Plessis, 2018). The potential role of moderators on the relations among maternal functioning, child ANS reactivity, and child mental health is less well understood. One potential moderator is child theory of mind (ToM) skills, i.e., the understanding of others’ mental states (Laranjo, 2010). ToM has been associated with psychopathology across child development (Brüne & Brüne-Cohrs, 2006). This study examined whether child ToM moderated the association between maternal psychological symptoms and child ANS reactivity. We hypothesized that greater ToM skills would buffer against the effects of maternal symptoms on child ANS reactivity.
In this longitudinal study, 771 mother-child dyads were enrolled in infancy, when mothers completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Spielberger State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) as measures of their own depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. When the child was age 3 years, parents completed the Children’s Social Understanding Scale (CSUS), a parent report measure of a child’s ToM abilities (Tahiroglu, 2014), and the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA), a measure of child emotional and behavioral functioning. Children’s heart rate and respiration were measured during a series of challenge and control trials to measure ANS stress reactivity, reflected in two derived respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) variables: An RSA emotional reactivity score was calculated by taking the difference between RSA scores during a neutral video and an emotional (fearful) video; greater positive scores indicating greater reactivity. An RSA recovery score was calculated by taking the difference between mean RSA scores during the first and last trials; greater positive scores reflect poorer recovery.
Statistical analyses were conducted in R Studio. Table 1 summarizes basic descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations among the main study variables. Consistent with prior literature, maternal depressive symptoms were associated with greater child dysregulation, r(147) = .19, p = .02, and poorer child RSA recovery, r(145) = .2, p = .02 (Figure 1). Contrary to our prediction, neither of the child RSA variable was correlated with child emotional and behavioral functioning. Greater ToM was associated with greater RSA reactivity, r(145) = -.23, p = .01, and lower dysregulation (i.e., trending significant: r(148) = -.15, p = .06). None of the moderated regression models were significant, suggesting that ToM did not buffer associations between maternal and child variables.
Together, the findings suggest that maternal well-being is linked with child development at the physiological and behavioral level. Although ToM did not moderate this association, it was associated with child outcomes. Findings may have been influenced by sample characteristics: The community sample was primarily of higher socioeconomic status, and mothers and children had low levels of reported psychopathology. Replication in at-risk or clinical samples is recommended.

Authors

• Anne Nields, Boston Children’s Hospital
  Presenting Author

• Virginia D Peisch

• Charles A. Nelson, Harvard Medical School

• Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Boston Children's Hospital