Maternal psychological risk and the neural correlates of infant face processing: A latent profile analysis
Affiliations
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of South Florida St Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
- The Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
- The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA.
- The Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Abstract
Maternal psychological factors, including anxiety, depression, and substance use, may negatively affect parenting. Previous works with mothers have often assessed each of these factors in isolation despite their frequent co-occurrence. Psychological factors have also been associated with neural processing of facial stimuli, specifically the amplitude (i.e., size) and latency (i.e., timing) of the face-specific N170 event-related potential. In the current study, 106 mothers completed measures assessing maternal psychological factors-anxiety, depression, and substance use. A latent profile analysis was used to identify profiles of psychological factors and assess profile associations with the N170 elicited by infant faces and with parental reflective functioning (PRF) as a measure related to caregiving. Two profiles (termed high and low psychological risk) were identified, with the higher risk profile associated with delayed N170 latency responses to infant faces. An exploratory analysis evidenced an indirect effect between the higher psychological risk profile and lower PRF through delayed N170 latency responses to infant faces. Taken together, maternal psychological risk across multiple indicators may together shape neural processing of infant faces, which may have downstream consequences for caregiving.
Keywords: EEG/ERP; addictive behaviors; anxiety; depression; latent profile analysis; mothers; psychological risk; substance use.
- 2022 Hennessy-Smotherman Wiley Best Student Paper Award
- 2021 Hennessy-Smotherman Wiley Best Student Paper Award
- 2020 Hennessy-Smotherman Wiley Best Student Paper Award
- 2019 Hennessy-Smotherman Wiley Best Student Paper Award
- 2018 Hennessy-Smotherman Wiley Best Student Paper Award
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