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Background: There has been substantial progress made across multiple disciplines to emphasize the importance of perinatal mental health both for parents and offspring. This focuses on what has been termed the 'First 1000 Days' from conception to the child's second birthday. We argue that our understanding of this issue can go further to create an intergenerational approach to mental health. Despite the existence of theoretical frameworks and practical approaches to implementation, there are gaps in the understanding of perinatal and intergenerational mental health including which psychological mechanisms are implicated in the transmission of risk and resilience within the perinatal period; and how to leverage these into treatment approaches. Aims and Methods: In this paper, we explore the potential for mentalization as a candidate psychological approach to intergenerational mental health. Results: We contextualize this issue in terms of the points of contact between mentalization and broader theoretical models such as the social determinants of health and the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DoHaD) model. Further, we provide an overview of the existing evidence base for the relevance of mentalization to perinatal mental health. Discussion: Finally, we sketch out an outline model for integrating mentalization into perinatal and intergenerational mental health, highlighting several areas of opportunity to develop research and practice from diverse geographies and demographics. Here, we suggest that integration of mentalization with other conceptual frameworks such as DoHaD can mutually enrich the understanding of each model, pointing the way towards more effective early and preventative interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the experiences of women with moderate‐to‐severe mental health difficulties during pregnancy, with a focus on establishing their psychological needs. Psychological distress caused by mental health difficulties during pregnancy is common and can significantly impact women and their babies. However, women's subjective experiences of difficulties with their mental health throughout pregnancy, alongside their experiences of staff, services and treatments are less well understood. Design: In this qualitative study, an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach was used. Methods: Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with participants recruited via a regional Perinatal Mental Health Service. Interviews were transcribed and analysed following the IPA methodology. Results: Five superordinate themes were identified which represented the lived experiences of the 11 participants on their journey through pregnancy whilst living with mental health difficulties and subsequent psychological distress: (i) Feeling the 'wrong' feelings, (ii) Societal pressures and a desire for greater acceptance, (iii) Searching for answers despite a lack of resources, (iv) What made a difference and (v) Experiences and expectations of service provision. Within these themes, 13 subordinate themes were also identified. Conclusions: These themes highlight the need for greater awareness and acceptance of mental health difficulties during pregnancy as well as postnatally. While perinatal mental health services are evolving, there is still an urgent requirement for services to continue to develop to meet women's needs, as well as to develop the role of clinicians as facilitators of engagement with needs‐matched care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contradictory results in the extant literature suggests that additional risk factors should be considered when exploring the impacts of maternal smartphone use on mother‐infant relationships. This study used cluster analysis to explore whether certain risk factors were implicated in mother‐infant dyads with high smartphone use and low mother‐infant responsiveness. A cross‐sectional survey of 450 participants in the UK measured infant social‐emotional development, maternal depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms, wellbeing, social support, smartphone use, and mother‐infant responsiveness. Participants were predominantly White (95.3%) and living with a partner (95.2%), with infants who were born full‐term (88.9%). Cluster analysis identified three clusters characterized as; cluster (1) "infant at risk" showing high infant development concerns, high maternal smartphone use, and low mother‐infant responsiveness; cluster (2) "mother at risk" showing high maternal depressive, anxiety, and stress scores, low social support, high maternal smartphone use, and low mother‐infant responsiveness, and cluster (3) "low risk" showing low maternal smartphone use and high mother‐infant responsiveness. Significant differences were found between all risk factors, except for maternal smartphone use and mother‐infant responsiveness between clusters 1 and 2 suggesting that both clusters require early intervention, although interventions should be tailored towards the different risk factors they are presenting with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Anxiety disorders are relatively common during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Despite their potential acceptability to users, psychological interventions research for this population is still in its infancy. The meta‐analysis aimed to comprehensively evaluate the evidence of the effectiveness of psychological interventions for reducing perinatal anxiety. Method: The review followed PRISMA guidelines. A total of 26 studies published between 2004 and 2022 fulfilled inclusion criteria of which 22 were included in the meta‐analysis. Results: Results indicated that psychological interventions were more effective than control conditions in reducing symptoms of perinatal anxiety (equivalent to a medium post treatment effect size). Effect sizes were robust for cognitive, behavioural and mindfulness‐based interventions. Targeting anxiety also appeared to impact on depression symptoms. There was substantial evidence of methodological heterogeneity. Conclusions: This review demonstrates that psychological interventions are effective in reducing symptoms of both anxiety and comorbid anxiety and depression in both the antenatal and postnatal periods. Further research on longer‐term effects, infant outcomes, treatment approach and modality are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dyadic behavioral synchrony is a complex interactional process that takes place between the mother and her infant. In the first year of life, when the infant is prelinguistic, processes such as synchrony enable the dyad to communicate through shared behavior and affect. To date, no systematic review has been carried out to understand the risk and protective factors that influence behavioral synchrony in the mother–infant dyad. The aim of this review was to identify and evaluate the factors that influence behavioral synchrony in the mother–infant dyad, when the infant is between 3 and 9 months old. Key electronic databases were searched between 1970 and April 2021, and 28 eligible studies were identified for review. As the results were largely heterogeneous, four subgroups of factors were identified: (i) infant demographics, (ii) physiological factors, (iii) maternal mental health, and (iv) miscellaneous factors. Identified risk factors and covariates suggest that social determinants of health, underpinned by biological factors, play a large role in influencing behavioral synchrony within the dyad. Implications for the need to identify additional risk and protective factors, as well as design support for at‐risk families are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between sensory processing and a broad range of eating behaviours across the lifespan. Methods: Five electronic databases of published and unpublished quantitative studies were systematically searched, evaluated for risk of bias and synthesised according to identified eating outcomes. Results: Across 25 studies, there was consistent evidence of a relationship between sensory processing and a range of eating behaviours. There was early evidence for the particular role of taste/smell sensitivities, as well as hypersensitivities, although future research is needed looking at different sensory patterns and modalities. There was also tentative evidence to suggest this relationship extends across development. Discussion: Study findings are discussed in relation to implications for sensory‐based eating and feeding interventions and the development of eating disorders. Methodological and conceptual limitations are discussed and suggestions for future research are made to address these limitations. A broader investigation of multi‐sensory issues and clearly defined eating behaviours, including disordered eating in clinically diagnosed samples, will allow for a more comprehensive and robust understanding of the relationship between sensory processing and eating behaviours in autism. Key points: Sensory processing, notably taste/smell and hypersensitivities, was associated with a broad range of eating behaviours in autism, although no study looked at disordered eating outcomes.There are clear implications for the development of sensory‐based eating interventions in clinical and subclinical populations, highlighting the need for considering and adjusting for unique sensory needs in treatment approaches.A broader investigation of different sensory profiles and disordered eating outcomes across development will allow us to untangle the role of sensory processing in autism and eating behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of genetics in relation to attachment is of continued interest to developmental psychology. Recent research has attempted to disentangle genetic main effects, environmental effects, and gene and environment (G × E) interactions in the development of attachment security/insecurity and disorganization. We systematically reviewed associations between gene markers and attachment, including G × E interactions, identifying 27 eligible studies. Inconsistent results emerged for associations between both gene effects and G × E interactions on attachment organization. Where G × E interactions used attachment as the environmental factor in the interaction, we observed more consistent results for differential susceptibility of G × E interactions on offspring behavior. Small sample size and heterogeneity in measurement of environmental factors impacted on comparability of studies. From these results, we propose that the future of research into the role of genetic effects in attachment lies in further exploration of G × E interactions, particularly where attachment acts as an environmental factor impacting on other child developmental outcomes emerging from the caregiving environment, consistent with differential susceptibility approaches to developmental psychopathology. In addition, from a methodological perspective, establishing the role of gene markers in such models will require a shift toward contemporary genomics, including genome-wide analysis (including novel genes and chromosomal loci), and epigenetic individual variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]