title: Maternal self-efficacy reduces the impact of prenatal stress on infant's crying behavior.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether prenatal stress is associated with behavioral and emotional regulation problems (crying/fussing) in infants, after controlling for confounding factors. Furthermore, the study investigated the stress-buffering effect of maternal self-efficacy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected in 120 pregnant women (29 ± 3.2 weeks gestation) and their infants at 6 weeks of age. Expecting mothers completed a structured interview and self-report questionnaires on prenatal stress and self-efficacy. Crying/fussing data were obtained with a validated parental diary.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After controlling for confounding variables, multiple regression analyses show that prenatal stress and self-efficacy accounted for 20% of the variance of infant's fussing and crying behavior. Results suggest a mediating role of self-efficacy. Babies of mothers reporting high levels of prenatal stress cried less when their mother had high levels of self-efficacy compared with mothers with low self-efficacy. In addition, mothers of infants with excessive crying reported more symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety in pregnancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To foster the development of well-adapted parent-infant relationships and potentially to reduce infant crying in the early postpartum phase, health care professionals need special education about the effects of prenatal stress and interventions that promote self-efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychopathology, Child and Adolescents Psychiatric Clinic, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. margarete.bolten@upkbs.ch
authors.forename: Margarete I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Bolten
authors.forename: Nadine S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stadler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003448:Crying; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*