Perinatal Maternal Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms and Child Executive Function and Attention at Two-years of Age

The objective was to investigate whether perinatal maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms predicted child attention and executive function (EF). Mothers (N = 614) reported pregnancy and three-months postnatal anxiety and depressive symptoms. Attention and EF were measured at two-years-of-age. Covariates were demographics, alcohol use, mood disorder history, and pregnancy factors. Higher prenatal anxiety, b(SE) =.020(.005), p<.001, and postnatal depressive symptoms, b(SE) =.009(.004), p=.04, predicted poorer child attention. A prenatal-by-postnatal depressive symptom interaction emerged, b(SE) = −.005(.003), p=.04: When pregnancy depressive symptoms were low, higher postnatal symptoms predicted poorer attention. No distress variables predicted EF, p’s>.22. Perinatal distress timing, kind, and change were important for child attention.