Longitudinal associations between maternal emotional states during pregnancy and infant temperament across the first 24 months postpartum

Abstract This study examined the associations between maternal emotional states during pregnancy and infant temperament across the first 24 months postpartum in 1,600 Chinese mother–infant dyads in Hong Kong (maternal Mage = 33.42, SD = 4.10; 53.3% male infants). During pregnancy (T0), mothers completed questionnaires on demographics, depressive symptoms, and positive affect. At 6 months postpartum (T1), they repeated the depressive symptoms questionnaire and completed questionnaires on mother–infant bonding and infant temperament; the same questionnaires were administered again at 12 months (T2) and 24 months (T3) postpartum. After adjusting for demographic covariates, T0 maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher T3 offspring negative affectivity ( β = 0.17, p < .001), whereas T0 maternal positive affect was associated with higher T3 offspring surgency ( β = 0.21, p < .001) and effortful control ( β = 0.24, p < .001). Maternal postnatal depressive symptoms and perceived bonding difficulties explained much of these associations, highlighting the importance of maternal well-being across the prenatal and postnatal periods in shaping mother–infant bonding and early socioemotional development.