Maternal psychopathology influences infant heart rate variability: Generation R Study

• Published in: Psychosomatic medicine 2009-04, Vol.71 (3), p.313-321
• Main Authors: Dierckx, Bram, Tulen, Joke H M, van den Berg, Mijke P, Tharner, Anne, Jaddoe, Vincent W, Moll, Henriette A, Hofman, Albert, Verhulst, Frank C, Tiemeier, Henning
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis; Anxiety Disorders - epidemiology; Anxiety Disorders - psychology; Anxiety-Depression; Children; Cohort Studies; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Electrocardiography; Female; Heart rate; Heart Rate - physiology; Humans; Infant; Infant Welfare; Infants; Maternal & child health; Maternal Behavior - psychology; Mental depression; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Disorders - psychology; Prospective Studies; Psychopathology; Puerperal Disorders - diagnosis; Puerperal Disorders - epidemiology; Puerperal Disorders - psychology; Severity of Illness Index; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Symptoms; Temperament; World Health Organization
• ISSN: 0033-3174; 1534-7796
• DOI: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e318198a82c

To assess the determinants of heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) in children. The autonomic nervous system as measured by HR and HRV is considered a biological marker of psychopathology in children. We examined the relationship of maternal psychopathology with infant HR and HRV. HR was recorded at 14 months in 528 infants. The high-frequency component of HRV was used as an indicator of cardiac vagal modulation. The presence of a lifetime maternal psychiatric diagnosis was assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Presence of maternal psychiatric symptoms during pregnancy and 2 months after birth was assessed, using the Brief Symptom Inventory. A maternal history of a psychiatric disorder was associated with a 0.24-standard deviation (SD) higher mean HR in the infant (beta = 0.24, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 0.03, 0.4, p = .025) and a 0.14-SD lower high-frequency power (beta = -0.14, 95% CI = -0.6, -0.03, p = .003). Likewise, postnatal maternal anxiety and depression symptoms were associated with infant mean HR. A 1-point increase in the mean anxiety symptom score was associated with 0.14-SD higher mean HR in the infant (beta = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.2, p = .004), and a 1-point increase in mean depression score with a 0.11-SD increase (beta = 0.11, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.2, p = .025). No significant associations of prenatal maternal affective symptoms with infants autonomic functioning were found. Maternal lifetime psychiatric diagnosis and postnatal psychiatric symptoms are associated with infant autonomic functioning, namely, higher mean HR and lower vagal modulation.