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Updated: Oct 18, 2025

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
06:39

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants

Published on: June 13, 2021

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Does Maternal Mental Health and Maternal Stress Affect Preschoolers' Behavioral Symptoms?

María Pía Santelices1, Matías Irarrázaval2, Pamela Jervis3

  • 1School of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|September 28, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Maternal depression and parental stress significantly impact children's socioemotional development, contributing to both internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. These effects are direct and also mediated by parental stress.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Maternal Mental Health

Background:

  • Maternal depression and stress are prevalent global risk factors for child socioemotional development.
  • Understanding these influences is crucial for early intervention and support.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the direct and indirect effects of maternal depression on child internalizing and externalizing problems.
  • To examine the mediating role of parental stress in this relationship.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 6335 mother/child pairs (18-72 months) surveyed in 2010 and 2012.
  • Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis to test the hypothesized relationships.

Main Results:

  • Maternal depression (during pregnancy and recent) directly impacts child internalizing and externalizing symptomatology.
  • Maternal depression also indirectly affects child behavioral problems through parental stress.
  • Significant direct and indirect relationships were confirmed.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal depression is a significant predictor of children's behavioral issues.
  • Parental stress acts as a key mediator, amplifying the negative effects of maternal depression on child behavior.
  • Interventions targeting maternal mental health and stress reduction are vital for improving child socioemotional outcomes.

Keywords:
behavioral problemsmaternal depressionparental stress

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