Longitudinal links between prenatal maternal depression and anxiety symptoms and infant temperament: The roles of postnatal symptoms and perceived partner support

Abstract

The perinatal period is marked by heightened vulnerability to maternal depression and anxiety symptoms, which have been associated with early child socio‐emotional development, including difficult temperament. This longitudinal study investigated whether prenatal maternal depression and anxiety symptoms predicted infant difficult temperament at 12 months through parallel mediation by postnatal maternal symptoms and perceived partner support. Given emerging evidence on sex differences in the associations between prenatal maternal distress and early socio‐emotional development, exploratory multi‐group analyses by child sex were also conducted. Pregnant individuals were recruited (October 2020–September 2022) for the Resilience and Perinatal Stress during the Pandemic (RESPPA) study in Quebec, Canada. Measures included the EPDS, GAD‐7, ICQ, and perceived partner support assessed via self‐reported online questionnaires. Path analyses ( N =  1422) were conducted using data from the third pregnancy trimester (T1), three months postpartum (T2), and 12 months postpartum (T3). Separate models were estimated for depression and anxiety symptoms. Greater prenatal depression symptoms predicted higher infant difficult temperament scores, with postnatal depression symptoms and perceived partner support fully mediating this association. Similar findings emerged for anxiety. No significant sex differences were observed. Findings highlight postnatal maternal depression and anxiety symptoms and perceived partner support as potential screening and intervention targets to promote infant development.