Impact of Hurricane Harvey related maternal perinatal psychopathology on infant socioemotional outcomes

• In Event: Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Burgeoning evidence suggests exposure to prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) has long lasting effects on socioemotional outcomes in children, but underlying mechanisms in the intergenerational transmission of risk are unclear. Early measures of temperament may be an indicator of children’s susceptibility or risk of developing later psychopathology. Previous literature has examined additive and interactive effects between PNMS and maternal psychopathology on infant temperament, however, to our knowledge, indirect effects have not been investigated. Development of maternal psychopathology may be a mechanism by which PNMS exposure influences children’s temperament and subsequent risk of later psychological problems. The objective of this study was to examine the indirect effect of disaster-related objective hardship and maternal psychopathology on infant temperament outcomes (negative affect, effortful control, surgency), following exposure to Hurricane Harvey.

The study uses a prospective, longitudinal study of mother-child dyads (n = 570) exposed to Hurricane Harvey prenatally or within six months of conception. Sudden-onset natural disasters provide a “natural experiment” to help untangle impact of stress in pregnant women independent of maternal psychopathology. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing objective hardship related to Hurricane Harvey (e.g. loss of belongings or income, evacuation, extent of flooding, psychopathology, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and infant temperament (negative affect, surgency, effortful control) at 6 months postpartum. Mothers’ psychopathology was assessed at recruitment, 2 months post-recruitment, and 6 months post-partum. 40.6% of the sample were exposed to Hurricane Harvey during the 3rd trimester, 27.3% during the 2nd trimester, 27.8% during the 1st trimester and 4.3% exposed in the preconception period. Covariates include timing of exposure, maternal age, infant sex, birthweight, race, family socioeconomic status, gestational age, and stressful life events post Hurricane Harvey.

Latent factors were estimated for maternal psychopathology, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and infant temperament scales (negative affect, surgency, effortful control). Structural equation models will be used to test the hypothesis. We will examine the direct and indirect effects of PNMS at recruitment and maternal psychopathology over time for each infant temperament outcome. Preliminary results found objective hardship was significantly associated with surgency (B = 0.36, p <.01) and effortful control (B = .043, p <.01) and maternal psychopathology was significantly associated with negative affect (B = .196, p <.001) in models adjusted for covariates. Objective hardship was also significantly correlated with all maternal psychopathology levels across all timepoints (all ps <.001). It is feasible for data analysis to be completed by the time of the meeting. All measurement models for the analyses have been completed and full mediation modeling is currently in progress working on improving model fit.
We expect results to improve our understanding of intergeneration effects of PNMS. Anticipated results will contribute to the literature on maternal psychopathology in the perinatal period and how it impacts child outcomes and risk for psychopathology.

Authors

• Rebecca Lipschutz, University of Houston
  Presenting Author

• Paulina Kulesz, University of Houston
  Non-Presenting Author

• Guillaume Elgbeili, Douglas Research Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brian Biekman, University of Houston
  Non-Presenting Author

• David Laplante, Lady Davis Institute - Jewish General Hospital
  Non-Presenting Author

• Suzanne King, McGill University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Johanna R Bick, University of Houston
  Non-Presenting Author