title: Age-related changes in the effects of stress in pregnancy on infant motor development by maternal report: The Queensland Flood Study.
abstract: The current study examined the effects of a natural disaster (a sudden onset flood) as a stressor in pregnancy on infant fine and gross motor development at 2, 6, and 16 months of age. Whether the timing of the stressor in pregnancy or sex of the infant moderated the impact of the prenatal maternal stress on motor development was also explored. Mothers' objective experiences of the flood, emotional reactions and distress, and their cognitive appraisal of the event were assessed retrospectively. Infants' fine and gross motor skills were assessed with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, and results showed age-related changes in the effects of prenatal maternal stress on these domains. At 2 months, higher levels of prenatal maternal stress was positively related to infant motor development, yet at 6 and 16 months of age there was a negative association, particularly if flood exposure occurred later in pregnancy and if mothers had negative cognitive appraisals of the event. Results also showed differential effects of the maternal stress responses to the floods on infants' fine and gross motor development at each age and that infant sex did not buffer these effects. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 58: 640-659, 2016.
authors.affiliation: Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Gabrielle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Simcock
authors.affiliation: Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kildea
authors.affiliation: Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research, Douglas Mental Health Institute, Verdun, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Elgbeili
authors.affiliation: Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research, Douglas Mental Health Institute, Verdun, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Laplante
authors.affiliation: Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Social Work, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stapleton
authors.affiliation: Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cobham
authors.affiliation: Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research, Douglas Mental Health Institute, Verdun, Quebec, Canada. suzanne.king@mcgill.ca.|Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. suzanne.king@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D055868:Floods; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011793:Queensland; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology; D040921:Stress Disorders, Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: ages and stages questionnaire; flood; infant development; motor development; natural disaster; prenatal maternal stress