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Prenatal maternal distress can negatively affect pregnancy outcomes, yet its impact on the offspring's brain structure and function remains unclear. This systematic review summarizes the available literature on the relationship between prenatal maternal distress and brain development in fetuses and infants up to 12 months of age. We searched Central, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and PSYNDEXplus for studies published between database inception and December 2023. Studies were included if prenatal maternal anxiety, stress, and/or depression was assessed, neuroimaging was used to examine the offspring, and the offspring's brain was imaged within the first year of life. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-II. Out of the 1516 studies retrieved, 71 met our inclusion criteria. Although the studies varied greatly in their methodology, the results generally pointed to structural and functional aberrations in the limbic system, prefrontal cortex, and insula in fetuses and infants prenatally exposed to maternal distress. The hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex have a high density of glucocorticoid receptors, which play a key role in adapting to stressors and maintaining stress-related homeostasis. We thus conclude that in utero exposure to maternal distress prompts these brain regions to adapt by undergoing structural and functional changes, with the consequence that these alterations increase the risk for developing a neuropsychiatric illness later on. Future research should investigate the effect of providing psychological support for pregnant women on the offspring's early brain development. • Prenatal maternal distress can affect the child's brain structure and function. • Brain alterations are prominent in limbic, prefrontal, and insular regions. • Affected regions have a particularly high density of glucocorticoid receptors. • Early brain aberrations may predict later mental health issues in exposed children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increases risk for mental and physical health problems. Intergenerationally, mothers' ACEs predict children's health problems including neurodevelopmental and behavioural problems and poorer physical health. Theories of intergenerational trauma suggest that ACEs experienced in one generation negatively affect the health and well-being of future generations, with DNA methylation (DNAm) being one of several potential biological explanations. To begin exploring this hypothesis, we tested whether infant DNA methylation associated with intergenerational trauma. Secondary analysis employed data from the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study. Subsample data were collected from mothers during pregnancy and postpartum on measures of distress, stress and ACEs and from infants at 3 months of age on DNAm from blood (n = 92) and buccal epithelial cells (BECs; n = 124; primarily nonoverlapping individuals between tissues). Blood and BECs were examined in separate analyses. Preliminary associations identified in blood and BECs suggest that infant DNAm patterns may relate to maternal ACEs. For the majority of ACE-related DNAm sites, neither maternal perinatal distress, nor maternal cortisol awakening response (CAR; a measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis function), substantially reduced associations between maternal ACEs and infant DNAm. However, accounting for maternal perinatal distress and cortisol substantially changed the effect of ACEs in a greater proportion of blood DNAm sites than BEC DNAm sites in the top ACEs-associated correlated methylated regions (CMRs), as well as across all CMRs and all remaining CpGs (that did not fall into CMRs). Possible DNAm patterns in infants, thus, might capture a signature of maternal intergenerational trauma, and this effect appears to be more dependent on maternal perinatal distress and CAR in blood relative to BECs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Preterm birth has been associated with a number of adverse maternal psychological outcomes.Aims: The current study aims to develop and evaluate the feasibility of a trauma-focused group intervention that is designed to reduce maternal symptoms of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress in a sample of mothers of preterm infants hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).Study Design: The study was a one-group pre-/post quasi-experimental design. Participants received a 6-session intervention targeting parental trauma.Subjects: English-speaking mothers (N = 19) greater than 18 years of age of infants 23-34 weeks gestational age hospitalized in the NICU at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford.Outcome Measures: Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II), Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS).Results: Results from the study indicate that the intervention is feasible, able to be implemented with a high degree of fidelity, is rated as highly satisfactory by participants, and leads to statistically significant reductions in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress at 6-week and 6-month follow-ups.Conclusions: Though encouraging, these findings are preliminary, and future studies should strive to reproduce these findings with a larger sample size and a comparison group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]