Neurobehavioral Profiles in Low-Risk Infants: Associations With Prenatal Maternal Biobehavior and Birth...

Newborn neurobehavior is a critical indicator of early childhood development. Therefore, we examined perinatal predictors of neurobehavioral patterns among healthy, medically low-risk infants. Participants include 385 mothers and infants. Self-reported emotion dysregulation and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) data were collected during the third trimester. Infant neurobehavior was measured approximately 24-h after birth (M = 3.61, SD = 8.39, range = 1-61 days) using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). Latent profile analysis identified three NNNS profiles. Infants in the high-arousal, high-stress profile (P3) demonstrated more dysregulated neurobehavior than infants in the high-attention, moderate-regulation profile (P1) or the low-arousal, high-lethargy profile (P2). There were no differences between profiles on infant sex, head circumference, or APGAR scores. Differences in birth gestational age were minimal. Expectant mothers with lower emotion dysregulation were more likely to have infants in P3 than P2. Mothers with more flexible autonomic responses-RSA decreases to a stress task and better recovery-were more likely to have infants in P1 and P2 than P3. We successfully replicated low-risk NNNS profiles, suggesting that the NNNS is a reliable assessment tool for healthy, term infants. Our findings also underscore unexpected and varied associations between maternal emotional wellbeing and fetal development.