Toddler Temperament Mediates the Effect of Prenatal Maternal Stress on Childhood Anxiety Symptomatology: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study

Mia A McLean; Vanessa E Cobham; Gabrielle Simcock; Sue Kildea; Suzanne King

doi:10.3390/ijerph16111998

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Toddler Temperament Mediates the Effect of Prenatal Maternal Stress on Childhood Anxiety Symptomatology: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Toddler Temperament Mediates the Effect of Prenatal Maternal Stress on Childhood Anxiety Symptomatology: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study

Mia A McLean, Vanessa E Cobham, Gabrielle Simcock, Sue Kildea and Suzanne King

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol.16(11), 1998

2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16111998

Appears in UniSC Diversity and Inclusion Research Collection

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Abstract

prenatal stress

natural disasters

internalizing behaviors

childhood anxiety

toddlerhood

temperament characteristics

UniSC Diversity Area - Life Stages

It is not known whether alterations to temperamental characteristics associated with prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) exposure account for the development of childhood anxiety symptomatology (internalizing behaviors and anxiety symptoms). The QF2011 Queensland flood study examined whether (1) toddler temperamental characteristics explained the association between PNMS exposure and childhood anxiety symptomatology; and (2) whether effects were dependent upon child sex or the timing of gestational exposure to PNMS. We investigated the effects of various aspects of flood-related stress in pregnancy (objective hardship, cognitive appraisal, subjective distress) on maternal report of 16-month toddler temperament (attentional control, shy-inhibition, negative reactivity), 4-year maternal-reported childhood anxiety symptomatology (internalizing and anxiety symptoms; N = 104), and teacher reports of internalizing behaviors (N = 77). Severity of maternal objective hardship during pregnancy and shy-inhibited behaviors were uniquely associated with 4-year child anxiety symptoms. Mediation analyses found that higher levels of 16-month negative reactivity accounted, in part, for the relationship between increased maternal objective flood-related hardship and greater internalizing behaviors (maternal but not teacher report). Neither child sex nor gestational timing of exposure moderated the hypothesized mediations. Our findings highlight several pathways through which varying aspects of disaster-related PNMS may influence early childhood anxiety symptomatology.

Details

Title: Toddler Temperament Mediates the Effect of Prenatal Maternal Stress on Childhood Anxiety Symptomatology: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study
Authors: Mia A McLean (Author) - University of Queensland
Vanessa E Cobham (Author) - University of Queensland
Gabrielle Simcock (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Sue Kildea (Author) - University of Queensland
Suzanne King (Author) - McGill University, Canada
Publication details: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol.16(11), 1998
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2019
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16111998
ISSN: 1660-4601
Copyright note: Copyright © 2019 Author. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Thompson Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450776802621
Output Type: Journal article

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