Maternal Milk Allopregnanolone May Buffer Negative Associations Between Maternal Postpartum Psychological Distress and Infant Regulatory Capacity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9685916 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Denise M Werchan (0000-0001-8393-5933, Department of Psychology UC Irvine Irvine California USA, corresponding author), Bradley Susskind (Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry NYU Langone New York New York USA), B Süßkind (NYU Langone Health), Rebecca Carpio (Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Roanoke Virginia USA), Brittany R Howell (Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Roanoke Virginia USA), Natalie H Brito, Natalie Brito (0000-0003-1016-0094, Department of Psychology Columbia University New York New York USA), Moriah E Thomason (0000-0001-9745-1147, Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry NYU Langone New York New York USA) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | e70121-e70121 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Developmental Psychobiology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0012-1630 • E-ISSN: 1098-2302 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/dev.70121 |
| PMID | 41603064 |
| OpenAlex | W7125977127 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 60 |
Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy and the early postpartum period is a risk factor for dysregulated affective and regulatory function in young infants. Animal models suggest that perinatal stress may alter offspring development via allopregnanolone (ALLO) exposure. For example, variations in placentally derived ALLO in preterm infants have been linked with altered fetal neurodevelopment. However, no studies have investigated naturalistic variations in ALLO concentrations in maternal milk as a potential moderator of associations between maternal distress and infant temperament during the postnatal period. The current study assesses associations among ALLO concentrations in human milk, maternal psychological distress, and infant temperament in 81 mother‐infant dyads (31 females) measured at approximately 6.5 months postpartum ( M = 6.55 months, range = 5.5–8 months). Results indicated that human milk ALLO concentration moderated effects of maternal psychological distress on infant regulatory capacity. Specifically, there was a negative association between maternal psychological distress and regulatory capacity in infants of mothers with below‐mean ALLO concentrations, but not in infants of mothers with above‐mean ALLO concentrations. However, there were no effects of ALLO on infant negative affect or surgency/positive affect. This study provides some of the first preliminary evidence that ALLO concentrations in human milk may moderate associations between maternal psychological distress and infant regulatory capacity
Affect (linguistics) · Allopregnanolone · Distress · Moderation · Offspring · Postpartum period · Pregnancy · Temperament · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Stress Responses and Cortisol
A Meta-Analysis of Maternal Prenatal Depression and Anxiety on Child Socioemotional Development
Sensitive Periods in the Development of the Brain and Behavior
Development and Assessment of Short and Very Short Forms of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised
Studying infant temperament via the Revised Infant Behavior Questionnaire
Prevalence and incidence of postpartum depression among healthy mothers
Detection of Postnatal Depression
Zuranolone – synthetic neurosteroid in treatment of mental disorders
Individual development and evolution
Longitudinal relations of children’s effortful control, impulsivity, and negative emotionality to their externalizing, internalizing, and co-occurring behavior problems
A Global Measure of Perceived Stress
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |