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The Link between Maternal Mental Health and Infant and Toddler Development

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral and Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 2347

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Physiotherapy Division, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, Cape Town 7505, South Africa
Interests: early human development; early neurodevelopmental assessments of high-risk infants and toddlers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The first 1000 days of life, the period from conception and during full-term pregnancy (270 days) until the toddler's second birthday (730 days), is seen as an opportune time, but also a time of great vulnerability, when the building blocks for optimum neurodevelopment are established. Beyond the child's genetic makeup, experience in the world is acknowledged as the primary contributing source of growth and neurodevelopment. Therefore, nurturing care, typically provided by the mother, is a fundamental primary requirement for the optimal development of the young child. However, maternal mental health disorders and exposure to stressful events may disrupt healthy caregiving behavior. Poor maternal mental health can reduce sensitive and responsive maternal caregiving behaviors, which may compromise the mother–child relationship and profoundly affect the child's environment and development. The question we want to address is what happens to the developmental brain when a fetus and/or young child is exposed to maternal mental health disorder(s) during critical periods of brain development. 

This Special Issue, entitled "The Link between Maternal Mental Health and Infant and Toddler Development", invites original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and brief reports related to the associations between maternal anxiety, psychosis and/or mood disorders (or the comorbidity thereof) and the development of the young child.

Dr. Marlette Burger
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • maternal mental health disorders
  • perinatal
  • infant
  • toddler
  • development
  • neurodevelopment
  • maternal psychosis
  • maternal mood
  • maternal anxiety

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 1021 KiB  
Article
Persistent Maternal Mental Health Disorders and Toddler Neurodevelopment at 18 Months: Longitudinal Follow-up of a Low-Income South African Cohort
by Marlette Burger, Christa Einspieler, Esme R. Jordaan, Marianne Unger and Dana J. H. Niehaus
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(12), 6192; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20126192 - 20 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1900
Abstract
One of the biggest threats to early childhood development in Africa is poor maternal mental health. The present study reports on the relationships between clinical diagnoses of persistent maternal mental health disorders (at 3- and/or 6- and 18-month post-term age) and toddler neurodevelopment [...] Read more.
One of the biggest threats to early childhood development in Africa is poor maternal mental health. The present study reports on the relationships between clinical diagnoses of persistent maternal mental health disorders (at 3- and/or 6- and 18-month post-term age) and toddler neurodevelopment at 18 months of age. Eighty-three mother–toddler dyads from low socio-economic status settings in Cape Town, South Africa, were included. At the 3-, 6- and 18-month postnatal visits, clinician-administered structured diagnostic assessments were carried out according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V (DSM-V) criteria. Toddler neurodevelopment at 18 months corrected age was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID-III). No significant differences (p > 0.05) were found between toddlers with exposure to persistent mood or psychotic disorders in the different BSID-III domains compared to toddlers with no exposure. Toddlers exposed to persistent comorbid anxiety and mood disorders scored significantly higher on the cognitive (p = 0.049), motor (p = 0.013) and language (p = 0.041) domains and attained significantly higher fine motor (p = 0.043) and gross motor (p = 0.041) scaled scores compared to toddlers with no maternal mental health disorder exposure. Future investigations should focus on the role of protective factors to explain the pathways through which maternal mental health status is associated with positive toddler neurodevelopmental outcomes. Full article
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