Intergenerational Consequences: Women's Experiences of Discrimination in Pregnancy Predict Infant Social-Emotional Development at 6 Months and 1 Year.
Lisa Rosenthal, Valerie A Earnshaw, Joan M Moore and 7 others
PMID 29176360WHAT IT FOUND
Mothers who reported more everyday discrimination during pregnancy had infants with greater separation anxiety and negative emotionality at six months and one year.
This link was not explained by the mother's distress, suggesting discrimination itself may directly affect infant development.
Key findings
01Everyday discrimination reported by mothers during pregnancy predicted greater inhibition/separation problems and negative emotionality in their infants at both six months and one year.
02Discrimination did not predict attention skills or positive emotionality in the infants.
03Maternal distress (pregnancy distress, anxiety, depression) did not mediate the link between discrimination and infant separation problems, but did mediate the link with negative emotionality at one year.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was limited to young, socioeconomically disadvantaged women, mostly Black and Latina, so results may not generalize to older or more affluent populations. Infant outcomes were based on maternal self-report, which may be influenced by the mother's own mental state or perception biases. The study was observational regarding discrimination; it cannot prove causation, only association. The measure of discrimination did not distinguish between lifetime and current experiences, nor did it capture specific types of discrimination (e.g., racial vs. weight-based).
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Institute of Health (N.I.H.). No other conflicts of interest were reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that treating the mother's anxiety or depression will resolve the infant's separation problems. The study found that maternal distress did not mediate the link between discrimination and infant separation issues, suggesting that the infant's behavior may be directly tied to the stress of discrimination itself or other unmeasured factors.