The Role of Maternal Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Psychosocial Factors on Neonatal Outcomes using a Resilience Framework Public

Abstract

The transition to motherhood has been suggested to be a fundamentally profound period for women, their families, and their babies. Extant literature has suggested a widely established relationship between maternal distress (e.g., maternal depression, anxiety, stress) and adverse child behavioral, cognitive, and emotional outcomes at varying stages across development. The current study utilizes a resilience framework to better understand if neonatal development is buffered against the negative effects of maternal distress through the psychosocial factors of social support and coping. The longitudinal study evaluated maternal distress and psychosocial factors of pregnant women (n=73) during the second and third trimester and conducted neonatal behavioral assessments of their babies at birth and four weeks after birth. A conditional process model for moderation using regression analysis revealed partial support for the central hypothesis. Coping styles including high cognitive approach and low cognitive avoidance as well as high social support appeared to attenuate the impact of maternal distress on neonatal development. Methodological issues including significant attrition and increased likelihood of women endorsing higher distress to remain in the study are discussed. Future studies should expand on the current findings to better understand with specificity the aspects of psychosocial and physiological factors that contribute to improved birth outcomes and adaptive neonatal development in the presence of maternal distress.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction.................. 1

Method ....................... 31

Results........................ 43

Discussion.................... 51

Tables and Figures......... 61

References................... 92

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Psychology
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Clinical Psychology, General Psychology, Developmental
Mot-clé	social support depression pregnancy African-American women perceived stress maternal distress resilience coping Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale anxiety neonatal outcomes
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Emory, Eugene, Emory University
Committee Members	Collins, Marietta, Emory University Brennan, Patricia, Emory University Rochat, Philippe, Emory University Bliwise, Nancy G., Emory University

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