Prenatal maternal distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and associations with infant brain connectivity

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantially elevated distress in pregnant individuals, which has the potential to impact the developing infant brain. Our main objective was to understand how prenatal distress was related to infant brain structure and function, and whether social support moderated the associations. This Pregnancy during the COVID-19 Pandemic cohort study collected Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System anxiety, Edinburgh Depression Scale, and Social Support Effectiveness Questionnaire from a population-based sample of pregnant individuals living in Canada (N=8602). For a sub-sample of participants, their infants (N=75) underwent MRI at 3-months of age to examine whether prenatal maternal distress was associated with infant brain architecture, including the role of social support as a potential protective factor. 33.4% participants demonstrating clinically elevated depression symptoms and 47.1% of participants demonstrating clinically elevated anxiety symptoms. Importantly, we identified lower social support significantly predicts clinically elevated prenatal maternal distress (T=-22.3, p