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Background An upsurge in psychological distress was documented in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated with a longitudinal design whether prenatal and postnatal maternal distress during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with lower infant socioemotional development. Methods Pregnant women (N = 468, M age  = 30,00, 97.6% White) were recruited during the first COVID-19 mandatory lockdown in Quebec, Canada, from April 2nd to April 13th 2020 and were re-contacted at two months postpartum to complete self-reported measures of general (i.e. not specifically related to the COVID-19 pandemic) anxio-depressive symptoms and infant development. Structural equation modeling analyses were performed using maximum likelihood parameter estimation. Results Higher maternal prenatal distress significantly contributed to poorer infant socioemotional development. A mediation model showed that postnatal distress significantly mediated the association between prenatal distress and infant socioemotional development, whereas the direct effect of prenatal distress was no longer significant. Prenatal and postnatal maternal distress accounted for 13.7% of the variance in infant socioemotional development. Conclusion Our results call for special means of clinical surveillance in mothers and for innovative (online) interventions aiming to support maternal mental health during pregnancy and after delivery.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with a global increase in psychological distress in pregnant women. This study evaluated the effects of STEP-COVID, a six-session mentalization-based prenatal group program offered online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 100 participants were allocated to STEP-COVID or to the natural trajectory of prenatal care. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included measures of psychological distress, post-traumatic symptoms and positive affectivity. Perception of change during pregnancy on resilience-promoting factors was also assessed at post-intervention. A significant decrease in psychological distress and post-traumatic symptoms and an increase in positive affectivity were observed in participants in the intervention condition, whereas only post-traumatic symptoms improved in the control condition. Women who participated in STEP-COVID also reported greater changes during pregnancy on resilience-promoting factors than women in the control condition. Results hold promise for buffering the effect of the pandemic on the mental health of pregnant women using brief online interventions. Clinical trial registration: NCT05419167 (15/06/2022)

Background Women and men having been exposed to childhood trauma would be at high risk of various mental health symptoms while awaiting a child. This study aimed to evaluate the association between cumulative childhood trauma and the accumulation of symptoms belonging to different psychiatric problems in pregnant women and expecting men. Methods We first examined prevalence rates of childhood trauma across our samples of 2853 pregnant women and 561 expecting men from the community. Second, we evaluated the association between cumulative childhood trauma and symptom complexity (i.e., the simultaneous presentation of symptoms belonging to multiple psychiatric problems) using subsamples of 1779 pregnant women and 118 expecting men. Participants completed self-reported measures of trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) and psychiatric symptoms (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5; Kessler Psychological Distress Scale; State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2; Self and Interpersonal Functioning Scale). Results Trauma was more frequent in pregnant women than in expecting men and in participants reporting sociodemographic risk factors than in those not reporting any. A dose-response relationship was observed between the number of different traumas reported by pregnant women and expecting men and the complexity of their psychiatric symptoms, even when controlling for the variance explained by other risk factors. Women having been exposed to cumulative childhood trauma were 4.95 times more at risk of presenting comorbid psychiatric problems during pregnancy than non-exposed women. Conclusions Childhood trauma is frequent in the general population of pregnant women and expecting men and is associated with symptom complexity during the antenatal period. These findings call for delivering and evaluating innovative trauma-informed antenatal programs to support mental health and adaptation to parenthood in adults having been exposed to childhood trauma.

The concept of complex trauma, which has been operationalized by the diagnosis of developmental trauma disorder (DTD) in children and adolescents, may contribute to our understanding of the large interindividual variability in maternal health and functioning among pregnant women who experienced childhood maltreatment. The study examines whether three groups of pregnant women (one including women who experienced childhood maltreatment and suffered from DTD, a second including women who experienced childhood maltreatment but did not suffer from DTD, and a third group including women who did not report experiencing childhood maltreatment) differ on mental health and functioning during the prenatal period. Several markers associated with the intergenerational trajectories of childhood maltreatment were examined: severity of PTSD symptoms, quality of prenatal attachment, perception of maternal competence, reflective functioning, disruptions in mentalization of trauma and adverse relationships, intimate partner violence, and mental health disorders. The study includes 373 pregnant women who participated in a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of current and lifetime psychiatric disorders conducted by two blinded and independent clinical psychologists. The women also completed self-report measures of symptoms and functioning. Women with DTD (  = 26) had more severe symptoms of PTSD, lower quality of prenatal attachment to the fetus, lower perceptions of maternal competence, less curiosity about mental states, and more severe disruptions in mentalizing trauma and adverse relationships than women who experienced childhood maltreatment but never met the diagnostic criteria for a DTD (  = 99) and women not exposed to childhood maltreatment (  = 248). In contrast, women who experienced childhood maltreatment but did not develop a DTD did not differ from women not exposed to maltreatment on all domains except the level of disruptions in mentalizing trauma and adverse relationships. Women who had a DTD in childhood or adolescence also had an 18.5-fold and 25.4-fold increased risk of having a mental health disorder during pregnancy compared, respectively, to women who had experienced maltreatment without DTD and women who had not experienced maltreatment. Persistent complex trauma, defined as the presence of a diagnosis of Complex PTSD during pregnancy, was present in over a third (34.6%) of women with DTD.

The interdisciplinary field of developmental psychopathology has made great strides by including context into theoretical and empirical approaches to studying risk and resilience. Perhaps no context is more important to the developing child than their relationships with their caregivers (typically a child’s parents), as caregivers are a key source of stimulation and nurturance to young children. Coupled with the high degree of brain plasticity in the earliest years of life, these caregiving relationships have an immense influence on shaping behavioral outcomes relevant to developmental psychopathology. In this article, we discuss three areas within caregiving relationships: (1) caregiver–child interactions in everyday, naturalistic settings; (2) caregivers’ social cognitions about their child; and (3) caregivers’ broader social and cultural context. For each area, we provide an overview of its significance to the field, identify existing knowledge gaps, and offer potential approaches for bridging these gaps to foster growth in the field. Lastly, given that one value of a scientific discipline is its ability to produce research useful in guiding real-world decisions related to policy and practice, we encourage developmental psychopathology to consider that a focus on caregiving, a modifiable target, supports this mission.

Emotion recognition, the ability to interpret others’ emotional expressions and infer mental states, is crucial for caregiver–child interactions. The ability to accurately recognize infant emotions may facilitate attuned and responsive caregiving. Across two studies, we validate a novel measure to assess the recognition of infants’ emotions (Reading the Mind in Infant Eyes Test [RMIET]) and investigate how this ability relates to observed caregiving. Study 1 examined item-level performance in 55 infant mental health experts and 100 undergraduate students. Study 2 examined RMIET scores in 133 pregnant people and their later caregiving when their children were 18-month-old. In Study 1, agreement was high among both mental health experts (ICC = .82) and undergraduate students (ICC = .93), providing evidence of the content validity of the RMIET. In Study 2, scores assessing the recognition of adult and infant emotions were positively correlated ( r = .22, p = .012). After accounting for covariates, RMIET scores were statistically significantly associated with higher sensitivity and warmth and lower negative regard. Taken together, these studies provide preliminary evidence of content and predictive validity for the RMIET.

Abstract Background Childhood maltreatment affects one third of children and adolescents and constitutes one of the costliest public health burdens of our societies. In the last two decades, we observed an explosion of research on childhood trauma in the field of schizophrenia and early exposure to trauma has been associated with endophenotypes of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, with the risk of conversion to a major psychiatric disorder and with a worse pre- and post-morbid functioning. This study aimed to appraise the current state of the research on childhood trauma and schizophrenia by classifying the main objective of all articles published on this matter during the three last years. Methods We conducted a systematic review of all articles on childhood trauma and schizophrenia published between 2016 and 2018. References for this review were identified through searches of PubMed and Medline for articles published from the beginning of January 2016 to the beginning of November 2018 by use of the terms “child abuse and neglect OR child abuse OR child neglect OR child maltreatment OR childhood adversity OR childhood victimization OR adverse childhood experiences” AND “schizo* OR psychosis OR psychoti* OR “ultra-high risk” OR hallucinat* OR delusion* OR paranoi*”. Of the 285 articles retrieved, 156 were retained. The main objective of the studies were classified as belonging to one of the following categories: Consequences (including studies on the association between childhood trauma and a characteristic of schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder), Mechanisms (including studies principally evaluating interaction effects or mediators of the association between childhood trauma and psychotic disorders), Intervention (including studies evaluating the effect of an intervention with a sample exposed to childhood abuse or neglect), and Others. A subset of 50 articles were reviewed independently by two coders. Intraclass correlations revealed excellent interrater reliability, with an average ICC of .958 [95% CI from .926 to .976, F(49,49)= 23.80, p<.001]. Results We observed that, between 2016 and 2018, only 7 articles addressed intervention (5%) while the majority (55%; n = 86) were treating of the now well-known fact that childhood trauma is associated with the clinical features of schizophrenia. These researches more often than not conclude with generalities about intervention. Interestingly, 30% (n = 47) principally aimed to identify potential mechanisms through which trauma may lead to psychotic symptoms or psychosis, and then be helpful in the design of future clinical research on interventions by addressing these mechanisms. Discussion The present review documented a surprising paradox: despite the increasing number of publications on the theme of child abuse and neglect in the field of schizophrenia, one can observe a paucity of reports on intervention. Clinical innovations and related intervention research should address the issues raised by the numerous and convincing correlational research.

Les traumas complexes font référence à un vécu chronique ou à une accumulation d’expériences de vie adverses de nature interpersonnelle au cours de l’enfance (Milot, Collin-Vézina et Godbout, 2018). Parmi celles-ci, on compte par exemple les abus sexuels, physiques ou psychologiques, la négligence, l’abandon des figures d’attachement ou l’exposition à la violence intrafamiliale. Les résultats d’enquêtes populationnelles du Québec et du Canada soulignent qu’environ le tiers des adultes ont vécu des mauvais traitements au cours de leur enfance ou de leur adolescence (Afifi et al., 2016 ; Tourigny et al., 2006). Des taux similaires sont observés auprès de femmes enceintes

L’intérêt pour la prédiction du développement ultérieur de l’enfant, à partir de la période périnatale, n’est pas récent. Le pari de la science actuelle est qu’en comprenant les mécanismes, les processus et les facteurs qui sont impliqués dans cette prédiction, nous pouvons mieux soutenir le développement de nos enfants. Au-delà des stratégies d’intervention fondée sur la bonne volonté, les travaux en cours nous permettent de croire que la prévention réalisée en période périnatale aurait, en partie, cette incidence espérée.Par l’entremise de cet ouvrage pluridisciplinaire, nous souhaitons outiller les personnes intervenantes, étudiantes et professionnelles à propos des facteurs de risque périnataux et des interventions préventives qui y sont associés. Nous espérons ainsi pouvoir mobiliser des efforts collectifs à tous les niveaux pour que nos actions envers les enfants puissent se réaliser à la hauteur de nos possibilités et de nos ambitions.

Des antécédents de mauvais traitements chez un parent seraient l’un des plus importants facteurs de risque en ce qui concerne la maltraitance envers les enfants (van IJzendoorn et al., 2020). En effet, les enfants nés d’un parent ayant subi de mauvais traitements au cours de leur enfance seraient trois fois plus à risque de vivre de la maltraitance que ceux dont les parents n’en ont pas subi (Assink et al., 2018). Ce phénomène de « cycles intergénérationnels de maltraitance » est largement documenté et tient pour toutes les formes d’abus et de négligence (Madigan et al., 2019). Toutefois, la majorité