State and trait late positive potential predict maternal mental health

Neural processes of emotional reactivity are putative mechanisms of risk for psychopathology in children and adults. Individual differences in neural processes of emotion in adults are linked to poor adult mental health and to developing emotion in offspring. At the level of observed and self-reported behavior, both state and trait-level variations in emotional reactivity are associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, whether state and trait-level variations are visible at the level of neural activity remains unknown. Pregnancy is a time of heightened state-level variability in maternal emotion and a sensitive period of risk for psychopathology in mothers and infants. As such, pregnancy may be a particularly useful period for understanding independent links between state and trait-level processing and mother and infant outcomes. Using a longitudinal design, we measured the late positive potential (LPP), a neural marker of emotional reactivity, and symptoms of anxiety and depression in 92 (M_age = 30.49) women between 2015 and 2017 during laboratory visits in the second trimester of pregnancy and at 4-month postpartum. Infant temperamental negativity was observed at 4-month postpartum. Lower trait-level LPP predicted greater maternal depressive symptoms, while higher state-level LPP predicted both maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms. Neither trait nor state-level LPP predicted infant negative emotional reactivity. Findings suggest that trait and state level of maternal emotion reactivity may be differentially related to specific maternal health outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).