Tracking Adverse prenatal Brain Stressors on offspring development (TABS)

PROJECT SUMMARY A growing body of published research links heightened maternal psychological distress (MPD) during pregnancy to an increased risk of adverse outcomes for the pregnant mother herself as well as for her offspring, including impaired brain development. The alarming increase in MPD over the last few years highlights the need to better understand how exposures during pregnancy affect brain development and child outcomes. Within a well-characterized cohort of maternal-offspring dyads, this study aims to characterize (1) the structural and functional brain trajectories of offspring with and without prenatal exposure to MPD using qMRI measures (2) neurodevelopmental trajectories of these offspring and (3) determine the enduring impact of elevated mental distress on parenting and attachment, and the potential contributions to offspring development.