Prenatal Maternal Anxiety and Depression Predict Negative Behavioral Reactivity in Infancy
Elysia Poggi Davis
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine
Nancy Snidman
Department of Psychology, Harvard University
Pathik D. Wadhwa
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine
Laura M. Glynn
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine
Chris Dunkel Schetter
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
Curt A. Sandman
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine

The effects of maternal antenatal and postnatal anxiety and depression on infant negative behavioral reactivity were examined in a sample of 22 mother–infant pairs. Maternal anxiety and depression were assessed by standardized measures during the third trimester of pregnancy and postpartum. Infant negative behavioral responses to novelty were assessed using a previously validated measure at 4 months of age. Maternal anxiety and depression during the prenatal, but not the postnatal period, were related to infant negative behavioral reactivity to novelty. These data illustrate that prenatal maternal psychological state can exert persisting influences on human infant behavior.