Maternal stress and social support prospectively predict infant inflammation

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The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
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The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test

Published on: November 19, 2015

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Benjamin W Nelson1, Dorianne B Wright1, Nicholas B Allen1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.

Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
|May 12, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Maternal stress and social support impact infant inflammation. Higher maternal stress and lower social support at 12 months predicted higher infant C-reactive protein (CRP) at 18 months, influencing infant health trajectories.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatric Health
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Maternal stress is a risk factor for offspring health.
  • Social support acts as a protective factor for child development.
  • The relationship between maternal factors, infant inflammation, and biological aging is under-researched.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between maternal parenting stress, social support, and infant inflammatory processes (sCRP).
  • To examine the prospective relationship between maternal factors and infant sCRP and changes in sCRP over time.
  • To explore the link between changes in infant sCRP and infant biological aging (sTL).

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 48 mother-infant dyads.
  • Measurement of maternal parenting stress and social support at infant ages 12 and 18 months.
  • Assay of infant salivary C-reactive protein (sCRP) and salivary telomere length (sTL).

Main Results:

  • No cross-sectional associations were found between maternal factors and infant sCRP.
  • Maternal parenting stress and social support at 12 months predicted infant sCRP at 18 months.
  • Maternal social support predicted changes in infant sCRP between 12 and 18 months; no association between sCRP and sTL was observed.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal psychological factors at 12 months can prospectively influence infant inflammatory markers by 18 months.
  • Social support may play a role in modulating infant inflammatory responses.
  • Further research is needed to understand the long-term implications for infant health and biological aging.

Keywords:
C-reactive proteinInfantInflammationMaternal parenting stressMaternal social supportTelomere length

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