Infant neurodevelopment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with maternal pandemic-related experiences, parenting stress, and self-efficacy

Background

Although pandemic-related experiences have been linked to the psychological well-being of mothers, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on infant neurodevelopmental outcomes have not been sufficiently studied.

Aims

To assess whether maternal COVID-19-related experiences (i.e., COVID-19-related health, risk, resource worries, and feelings of grief), parenting stress, and maternal self-efficacy are associated with infant neurodevelopment as measured by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, Third Edition (ASQ-3) maternal report when infants were between 8 to 10 months of age. Furthermore, this study examined the moderating effect of maternal self-efficacy between maternal COVID-19-related experiences and infant neurodevelopment.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 122 women who were drawn from the Perinatal Experiences and COVID-19 Effects (PEACE) Study, with online surveys administered between November 2020 and August 2022.

Results

After controlling for maternal anxiety and depression symptoms and demographic factors, hierarchical regression analysis indicated that parenting stress showed no effect on ASQ-3 scores. However, more adverse COVID-19-related experiences and higher levels of maternal self-efficacy were associated with better infant neurodevelopment. Moreover, there was a significant interaction effect between maternal self-efficacy and COVID-19-related experiences on infant neurodevelopment. For mothers with moderate to high levels of self-efficacy, more adverse COVID-19-related experiences were associated with better infant neurodevelopment. For mothers with low levels of self-efficacy, more adverse COVID-19-related experiences were associated with poorer developmental outcomes in infants.

Conclusions

Under adverse conditions, confidence in caregiving may afford more optimal infant neurodevelopment. Interventions aimed at fostering maternal self-efficacy and addressing specific stressors can be valuable in promoting positive developmental trajectories for infants born during the pandemic.