Maternal Milk Allopregnanolone May Buffer Negative Associations Between Maternal Postpartum Psychological Distress and Infant Regulatory Capacity

Developmental Psychobiology · 2026-01-28

Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy and the early postpartum period is a risk factor for dysregulated affective and regulatory function in young infants. Animal models suggest that perinatal stress may alter offspring development via allopregnanolone (ALLO) exposure. For example, variations in placentally derived ALLO in preterm infants have been linked with altered fetal neurodevelopment. However, no studies have investigated naturalistic variations in ALLO concentrations in maternal milk as a potential moderator of associations between maternal distress and infant temperament during the postnatal period. The current study assesses associations among ALLO concentrations in human milk, maternal psychological distress, and infant temperament in 81 mother-infant dyads (31 females) measured at approximately 6.5 months postpartum (M = 6.55 months, range = 5.5-8 months). Results indicated that human milk ALLO concentration moderated effects of maternal psychological distress on infant regulatory capacity. Specifically, there was a negative association between maternal psychological distress and regulatory capacity in infants of mothers with below-mean ALLO concentrations, but not in infants of mothers with above-mean ALLO concentrations. However, there were no effects of ALLO on infant negative affect or surgency/positive affect. This study provides some of the first preliminary evidence that ALLO concentrations in human milk may moderate associations between maternal psychological distress and infant regulatory capacity.

Leveraging Health Technology to Support Early Bilingual Development

Advances in Neonatal Care · 2026-03-20

BACKGROUND: Establishing a strong language foundation in early childhood is essential for learning and social equity. The first 3 years of life are especially impactful, as rapid brain development makes children most receptive to language input. Early linguistic disparities increase risks for academic difficulties and dropout, widening the opportunity gap and affecting long-term health. Háblame Bebé is a free bilingual app that promotes early language development and sociolinguistic pride among Hispanic families through culturally grounded tools. PURPOSE: This study aimed to strengthen outreach by gathering neonatal clinicians' perspectives on early language development in Hispanic children. Their feedback shaped strategies for language-focused guidance in clinical settings and will guide refinements to the app's expanded curriculum. METHODS: Focus groups were held with neonatal clinicians in Miami-Dade County to gather perspectives on developmental milestones, bilingual language development, and strategies for incorporating the Háblame Bebé app into clinical encounters. Sessions were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Clinicians reported limited time and resources in high-acuity settings to provide language-focused education. Despite these constraints, they identified Háblame Bebé as a valuable resource that offers culturally relevant guidance, strengthens communication with families, and supports early bilingual development. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE AND RESEARCH: These findings highlight early child development as a core component of health. Incorporating language-focused guidance into neonatal care can strengthen family support and advance health equity in low-income Hispanic communities. Háblame Bebé provides a culturally grounded tool to address linguistic disparities and promote early bilingual development, helping clinicians support equitable outcomes from infancy.

Unpredictable caregiving is associated with disrupted neurophysiological measures of attention and autonomic function in three-month-old infants

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience · 2026-02-04

The early caregiving environment exerts a powerful influence over attention and autonomic function in early infancy, which are foundational systems relevant for learning and the development of more complex cognitive and emotional regulation systems. Increasing evidence also implicates the predictability of caregiver sensory signals as a key dimension of the early environment, but few studies have examined impacts on neurophysiological systems relevant to attention and autonomic function in early infancy. The current study examined associations among caregiver sensory predictability, infant autonomic nervous system function (indexed via HRV), and behavioral and neurophysiological measures of sustained attention in a sociodemographically-diverse sample of three-month-old infants (N = 104 infants, 64 males; 51% Hispanic/Latino). The patterning of caregiver sensory signals was assessed by micro-coding for transitions in caregiver visual, auditory, and tactile signals during a semi-structured parent-child interaction and the unpredictability of these sequences was calculated using Shannon's entropy. Results indicated that infants who were exposed to more unpredictable patterns of caregiver sensory signals demonstrated reductions in relative frontal theta EEG power during periods of sustained attention, a neural marker reflecting poorer information processing and attentional control. Moreover, unpredictable caregiver sensory signals also predicted lower baseline HRV in infants, a pattern indicative of dysregulated ANS function. In turn, infant baseline HRV also predicted altered physiological indices of sustained attention. These findings provide preliminary evidence into the importance of the predictability of caregiver sensory signals in shaping developing cortical circuitry and physiological systems relevant to attentional processing from the first months of postnatal life.

Corrigendum to “Neurophysiology of sustained attention in early infancy: Investigating longitudinal relations with recognition memory outcomes” [Infant Behavior and Development 70 (2023) 101807]

Infant Behavior and Development · 2026-04-01

Exploring the Impact of Unpredictability of Household Resources on Infant Attention

SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

Associations of neighborhood deprivation and household income during pregnancy on child externalizing and internalizing problems

Development and Psychopathology · 2026-02-06

Abstract Socioeconomic disadvantage has been established as a key risk factor for adverse child behavioral outcomes. Understanding how individual components of socioeconomic status (SES) interact with each other can elucidate protective factors and inform interventions and policies to promote positive developmental outcomes. This study examined the interactive effects of prenatal household income and neighborhood deprivation on child externalizing and internalizing problems ( N = 793; M age = 8.37 years; 51.2% females; 81.5% White). Results revealed an interaction effect between prenatal household income levels and neighborhood deprivation on child externalizing problems. Higher neighborhood deprivation was associated with higher child externalizing outcomes only at lower household income levels per person. Although no interaction between household income and neighborhood deprivation on child internalizing problems was observed, lower household income levels were independently associated with higher child internalizing problems. These findings underscore how prenatal individual- and neighborhood-level SES factors interact to shape children’s behavioral outcomes across childhood.

Examining associations among caregiver stress, social support, and the infant gut microbiota

Scientific Reports · 2025-12-03

Maternal stress is a growing societal concern, with implications for both maternal wellbeing and infant development. One of the mechanisms by which maternal stress is thought to impact infant development is by shaping the development of the infant gut microbiome. Here, we examined how measures of maternal stress and social support were associated with alpha diversity, beta diversity, and relative abundance of individual bacterial taxa in the gut microbiota at 12 months of age in a community-based sample of infants and their biological mothers (n = 34) from New York. Maternal social support was negatively associated with alpha diversity of the infant gut microbiota and was associated with abundance of bacteria from several genera. We did not find associations between caregiver perceived stress and markers of infant gut microbiota diversity or composition. Results suggest that greater social support for new parents may be associated with infant health via changes in the diversity and composition of the infant gut microbiota.

Stress and resilience factors characterizing pandemic experiences of low-income pregnant and postpartum Latine mothers.

Journal of Latinx Psychology · 2025-02-24

Lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still of grave concern to families within the U.S. Latine community, as pre-pandemic disparities in healthcare and economic stability were significantly exacerbated by the global crisis (Martínez et al., 2021). In this mixed-methods study, we interviewed 42 pregnant and postpartum Latine mothers from low-income households living in the New York Metropolitan area to better understand pandemic related challenges and potential sources of support unique to this group of women. First, we identified broad themes related to specific psychosocial stressors impacting Latine mothers and their families. Second, in an effort to investigate coping strategies that may buffer feelings of persistent stress, mothers were divided into sustained-stress and tapered-stress groups based on reported levels of perceived stress during the height of the pandemic (March-April 2020) compared to the time of interview (August-December 2020). These two groups of mothers were significantly different on levels of PTSD symptoms, social support, and perceived discrimination. Notably, mothers in the tapered-stress group who reported lower-levels of stress at the time of interview described experiences of being distracted by daily activities or by family members as a coping mechanism. Together, these findings highlight the need to address structural barriers and improve access to mental health support in order to mitigate continuing sources of pandemic related stressors for Latine families.

From focus to function: Longitudinal insights into infant attention and emerging executive functions via remote webcam eye tracking.

Developmental Psychology · 2025-03-20 · 3 citations

= 78) who participated in a subsequent longitudinal assessment using the Early Executive Functions Questionnaire. This research adds to a growing literature validating the use of at-home remote assessments for objective measurement of infant cognition. This is a notable step toward advancing ecological validity and accessibility of developmental psychology studies in diverse samples. Ultimately, these findings may have important implications for characterizing normative developmental trajectories and for understanding how early sociocultural contexts shape these trajectories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

286. Examining the Temporal Relationship Between Serum Leptin and Postpartum Symptoms of Depression

Biological Psychiatry · 2025-04-09