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Although cannabis use during pregnancy is increasing widely, the effects of cannabis on developmental trajectories, such as whether its effects during pregnancy remain the same between time points or gradually increase, are unclear. This study aimed to examine whether cannabis use during pregnancy affects the process of change in cognition and brain volume. Data from two-time points measured longitudinally were analyzed. We used data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study. Participants included 11,876 children aged 9-11 years participated at baseline, and 10,414 participated at 2-year follow-up from 22 sites across the United States. We explored the associations between prenatal cannabis exposure and cognitive abilities and brain volumes developmental trajectories. Among 11,530 children with valid data for prenatal cannabis exposure, 10,833 had no prenatal cannabis use, and 697 had cannabis use during their pregnancy. There was a significant interaction between time points and cannabis use during pregnancy on visuo-perceptual processing ability (b = -0.019, p = .009) and intracranial volumes (b = -6338.309, p = .009). We found that the effects of exposure to cannabis during pregnancy are not uniform at all times and may gradually become more apparent and magnified as development progresses.

Many studies have explored risk factors for child maltreatment, but little research has focused on situational risk factors such as cognitive load, which involves within-individual fluctuation. The current study sought to determine whether cognitive load led to within-individual changes in intention in response to infant crying. The study also sought to ascertain whether state empathy, empathic concern (EC) and personal distress mediated or moderated this relationship. Sixty-six participants completed a memory task (remembering meaningless, two- or eight-letter, English alphabet string), during which they were required to keep these letters in mind while hearing infant crying (or a tone). Subsequently, participants rated questions concerning state empathy and intention in response to the crying (i.e., intentions involving caregiving, neglect, or physical abuse). Results showed that cognitive load reduced caregiving intention and increased intention to perpetrate neglect. In addition, EC mediated the relationship between cognitive load and intention to provide care or perpetrate neglect. Moreover, cognitive load interacted with state empathy to predict intention to provide care or perpetrate neglect. These findings highlighted the importance of focusing on situational cognitive risk factors for child maltreatment and elucidated the role of state empathy as a mediator or moderator in child maltreatment research.

Infant vocalization plays a pivotal role in communicating infant mood to parents and thereby motivating parenting responses. Although many psychological and neural responses to infant vocalization have been reported, few studies have examined maternal approach-avoidance behavior in response to infant vocalization. Thus, this research sought to determine how infant emotional vocalization affects maternal behavior. Twenty mothers participated in this behavioral study, all of whom had infants of 24 months old or less. In the experiment, they stood on a Balance Board that collected real-time data regarding center of pressure (COP), while listening to a series of infant vocalizations including cry, laugh, and babbling. They then listened to the same vocalizations for a second time and rated their felt emotions in response to each vocalization. The participants demonstrated significant postural movements of approaching in response to cry stimuli or to stimuli regarded as highly urgent. In contrast, they demonstrated postural movement of avoidance in response to laugh vocalization. These findings suggest that parenting behavior in response to infant emotional vocalization is regulated not by the pleasant-unpleasant axis but by the urgency of the stimulus.

Background: Although the importance of the dynamic intra-individual relationship between mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms has been widely recognized, the complex interplay between them is not well understood. Furthermore, the potential role of prenatal depressive symptoms and infant temperament in this relationship remains unclear. This study aims to examine the bidirectional influence of mother-to-infant bonding on postpartum depressive symptoms within individuals and to elucidate whether prenatal depressive symptoms and infant temperament would influence deviations from stable individual states.Methods: Longitudinal data were collected from 433 women in early pregnancy. Of these, 360 participants completed the main questionnaires measuring impaired mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms at least once during the postpartum period. Data were collected at early and late pregnancy and several postpartum time points: shortly after birth and at one, four, ten, and 18 months postpartum. We also assessed prenatal depressive symptoms and infant temperament. A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model was used.Results: Within-individual variability in mother-to-infant bonding, especially anger and rejection, significantly predicted subsequent postpartum depressive symptoms. However, the inverse relationship was not significant. Additionally, prenatal depressive symptoms and difficult infant temperament were associated with greater within-individual variability in impaired mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms.Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that the within-individual relationship between mother-to-infant bonding and postpartum depressive symptoms is likely non-bidirectional. The significance of the findings is underscored by the potential for interventions aimed at improving mother-to-infant bonding to alleviate postpartum depressive symptoms, suggesting avenues for future research and practice.