The Impact of Maternal Anxiety on Early Child Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: Maternal prenatal anxiety is among important public health issues as it may affect child development. However, there are not enough studies to examine the impact of a mother's anxiety on the child's early development, especially up to 1 year. Objective: The present prospective cohort study aimed to examine whether maternal trait anxiety, perceived social support, and COVID-19 related fear impacted speech-language, sensory-motor, and socio-emotional development in 12 months old Serbian infants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This follow-up study included 142 pregnant women (Time 1) and their children at 12 months (Time 2). Antenatal maternal anxiety and children's development were examined. Maternal anxiety was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Child speech-language, sensory-motor, and socio-emotional development were assessed using the developmental scale in the form of an online questionnaire that examined the early psychophysiological child development. Information on socioeconomic factors, child and maternal demographics, clinical factors, and perceived fear of COVID-19 viral infection were collected. Multivariable General Linear Model analysis was conducted, adjusted for demographic, clinical, and coronavirus prenatal experiences, maternal prenatal anxiety levels, perceived social support, speech-language, motor skills, and cognitive and socio-emotional development at the infants' age of 12 months. Results: The study revealed the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal trait anxiety. The association between selected independent factors and infants' development was found in a demographically unified sample except for employment and the number of children. There was a correlation between all observed developmental functions. Univariate General Linear model statistical analysis indicated that linear models with selected independent factors and covariates could account for 30.9% (Cognition) up to 40.6% (Speech-language) of variability in developmental functions. It turned out that two-way and three-way interactions had a dominant role on models, and STAI-T Level and COVID-19 related fear were present in all interaction terms. Conclusion: Our findings reveal important determinants of child developmental outcomes and underline the impact of maternal anxiety on early child development. These findings lay the groundwork for the following interdisciplinary research on pregnancy and child development to facilitate and achieve positive developmental outcomes and maternal mental health.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; COVID-19-related fear; infant development; maternal anxiety; perinatal mental health; social support.

Figure 1

Definition of participation process by flow-chart.

Figure 2

Plot of estimated marginal means of dependent variable speech-language for interactions (A) Employed * COVID-19 related fear, (B) Employed * STAI-T level, (C) Number of children * COVID-19 related fear * STAI-T level where STAI-T level = 2, and (D) Number of children * COVID-19 related fear * STAI-T level where STAI-T level = 3. Covariates appearing in the model are evaluated at the following values: Maternal age = 29.5634, MSPSS = 76.7042.