title: Maternal mindfulness during pregnancy and infant socio-emotional development and temperament: the mediating role of maternal anxiety.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Accumulating evidence shows that maternal anxiety during pregnancy adversely affects child outcomes. The positive effects of maternal psychosocial factors during pregnancy on child outcomes are not yet studied. This prospective study addresses the association between maternal mindfulness during pregnancy and socio-emotional development and temperament in 10months-old infants. We also investigated whether this association was mediated by maternal anxiety.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mothers (N=90) provided information about mindfulness and anxiety at the beginning of the second trimester of pregnancy. Infant socio-emotional development (Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional; ASQ:SE) and temperament (Infant Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised; IBQ-R) were assessed at age 10months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher maternal mindfulness during pregnancy was associated with less infant self-regulation problems and less infant negative affectivity. Mediation analysis showed that maternal anxiety mediated the association between infant self-regulation problems and maternal mindfulness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that maternal mindfulness during pregnancy may have positive effects on infant development. This association may be mediated by reduced anxiety symptoms in pregnant women who score high on mindfulness. Additional replication studies are needed using objective measures of infant behavioural/emotional outcomes and mindfulness of the mother during child development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.vdnheuvel_2@tilburguniversity.edu.
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: van den Heuvel
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Electronic address: miriam-johannes@live.nl.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Johannes
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.henrichs@tilburguniversity.edu.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Henrichs
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands; Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven, KU Leuven, Belgium; Department of Welfare, Public Health & Family, Flemish Government, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: Bea.vdnBergh@tilburguniversity.edu.
authors.forename: B R H
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Van den Bergh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D002657:Child Development; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D013694:Temperament
keywords: Foetal programming; Maternal anxiety; Maternal mindfulness; Self-regulation; Temperament