Mechanistic links between maternal PTSD and early infant emotional development

PROJECT SUMMARY: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating psychological disorder that can occur following trauma exposure. PTSD risk is twice as high in women. Furthermore, risk of posttraumatic symptoms (PTS) is intergenerational, in that children of mothers with PTS are more likely to have PTS themselves, perpetuating the cycle of pathology. Despite this intergenerational risk, there remains little known about the impact of PTS on early parenting behavior, relational health, and infant behavioral and biological risk outcomes. A positive maternal caregiving system during infancy is vital and sets the stage for a child’s healthy emotional and social development. There are many aspects of the maternal caregiving system that are important, but growing evidence suggests that maternal sensitivity (warmth and attentive, appropriate, timely, and consistent parental responsiveness toward infant signals and cues) and mother-infant emotional connection are particularly critical factors for an infant’s secure attachment development and stress regulation. Deficits in the ability to flexibly regulate emotions following such interactions with the infant may therefore underlie particular problems with positive parenting behaviors. Women with PTS show hyperactivation in fear circuitry and deficient regulation of these circuits; which may lead to decreased positive parenting behavior and mother-infant emotional connection. Examining the role of maternal PTS in emotional reactivity and regulation associated with infant cues will provide insight into important mechanisms that lead to impairment in maternal sensitivity and mother-infant emotional connection. Examining the role of maternal PTS and parenting on behavioral and physiological reactivity patterns in these newborns will also aid in our understanding of the effects of PTS on early emotional and stress regulation development in children of women with PTSD, helping to establish a mechanistic model of risk that will inform clear treatment targets in traumatized populations. In the current application, we will examine how maternal PTS affects neural and physiological response to infant stimuli, maternal sensitivity and mother-infant emotional connection, and infant behavioral and physiological outcomes among trauma-exposed women at 6 weeks, 4 months, and 9 months postpartum. We will examine the aims listed below in 120 mother-infant dyads recruited in Atlanta, GA.