Interactive effects of prenatal adversity and COVID-19 hardship on youth psychological distress: a longitudinal study

Yifan Wang; Xinni Wang; Chloe Voyer; Alain Brunet; Francois Freddy Ateba; Ashley Wazana; David P Laplante

doi:10.3389/frcha.2025.1581135

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Interactive effects of prenatal adversity and COVID-19 hardship on youth psychological distress: a longitudinal study

Journal article

Open access

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Interactive effects of prenatal adversity and COVID-19 hardship on youth psychological distress: a longitudinal study

Yifan Wang, Xinni Wang, Chloe Voyer, Alain Brunet, Francois Freddy Ateba, Ashley Wazana and David P Laplante

Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol.4, pp.1-12

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/frcha.2025.1581135

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Abstract

Applied and developmental psychology

pre-natal maternal stress

COVID-19

mental health

resilience

longitudical study

early life adversity

UniSC Diversity Area - Life Stages

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe loss of life and increased anxiety as well as fear worldwide. This study explored whether pre-pandemic exposure to varying levels of perinatal maternal adversity coupled with pandemic-related experiences are related to youth distress levels. Methods: Data from 119 youth (aged 9–17) and their mothers were analyzed to assess the interactive effects of perinatal maternal adversity and pandemic-related objective hardship on youth psychological distress. Results: Youth-reported hardship models consistently explained more variance in their psychological distress. Youth-reported hardship, specifically daily life changes, predicted psychological distress, including PTSD symptoms and peritraumatic experiences during the pandemic. Discussion: Youths exposed to high perinatal maternal socio-environmental adversity demonstrated resilience when faced with pandemic disruptions, suggesting that alignment between early adversity and later stress can mitigate distress during crises.

Details

Title: Interactive effects of prenatal adversity and COVID-19 hardship on youth psychological distress: a longitudinal study
Authors: Yifan Wang - Université de Montréal
Xinni Wang - Beijing Normal University
Chloe Voyer - McGill University
Alain Brunet (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Thompson Institute
Francois Freddy Ateba - Jewish General Hospital
Ashley Wazana (Corresponding Author) - Jewish General Hospital
David P Laplante - Jewish General Hospital
Publication details: Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol.4, pp.1-12
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1581135
ISSN: 2813-4540
Copyright note: © 2025 Wang, Wang, Voyer, Brunet, Ateba, Wazana and Laplante. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Data Availability: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the corresponding authors on request. Requests to access these data should be directed todavid.laplante@ladydavis.caorashley.wazana@mcgill.ca.
Grant note: This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research under grant WI2-179938 and grant UIP-179221.
Organisation Unit: Thompson Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991167445902621
Output Type: Journal article

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