Prenatal Programming of Behavior Problems via Second-by-Second Infant Emotion Dynamics
研究利用210对墨西哥裔低收入母婴的逐秒情绪数据，发现产前应激通过婴儿负面情绪的波动性（而非平均水平）预测儿童期行为问题，揭示了情绪动态在产前编程中的作用。
Fetal adaptations to prenatal maternal stress may confer high risk for childhood behavior problems, potentially operating via dynamic fluctuations in infants' emotions during mother-infant interactions. These fluctuations over time may give rise to behavior problems. Among a sample of 210 low-income mothers of Mexican origin and their 24-week-old infants, dynamic structural equation modeling was used to examine whether within-infant second-by-second emotion processes were predicted by maternal prenatal stress and predicted behavior problems at 36 and 54 months. The mean level around which infant negative affect fluctuated was related to prenatal stress, but not to childhood behavior problems. The volatility in infant negative affect, reflecting greater ebb and flow in infant negative affect during playful interaction, was predicted by prenatal stress and predicted enduring behavior problems in childhood. Results highlight a potential child-driven pathway linking prenatal exposure with childhood behavior problems via infant negative emotional volatility.