Stress, Well-being and family relationships in the transition to parenthood during the COVID-19 pandemic and its influences on infant development (SWAN)

SARS-CoV-2疫情在许多方面影响着我们的生活，迫使我们应对日常生活中不可预见的后果。准父母及其未出生的孩子尤其受到这些挑战的影响：围产期的特点是父母的生活发生了重大变化，在SARS-CoV-2大流行期间更是如此(例如，保健系统的变化、社会距离、缺乏社会支持)。应对这一问题需要功能压力和解决问题的策略，因为它还影响到发展中的亲婴关系和孩子的发展，特别是在父母必须处理心理健康问题的情况下。在目前的跨学科建议中，我们结合了四个研究小组的专业知识，采用纵向、多方法的方法来提高我们对围产期母体应激对婴儿和儿童发育影响的理解。因此，在N=194名孕妇及其伴侣的样本中，将使用生态瞬时评估(EMA)和实验室环境(四个评估点)，以多方法的方法评估压力的行为、激素和临床心理相关性。在9个月和12个月大的时候，将用不同的测试组合和范例来评估儿童的社会情绪和认知发展。将特别强调互动模式作为压力和儿童发展之间的中介，评估亲子互动的自动编码系统(跨学科方面)，因为这些基于计算机的系统可能在未来的科学和治疗环境中证明是有益的。这项计划研究的目的是：(1)研究SARS-CoV-2大流行期间孕期压力和产后压力对儿童发育的影响。(2)评估SARS-CoV-2大流行是否改变了孕期和产后压力水平，以及在孩子出生后一年内母婴关系的质量。(3)比较和评估新开发的自动化多模式行为分析软件工具，该软件工具有可能将人工智能方法整合到父母-婴儿互动研究和不同的互动范例中，使用两种成熟和可靠的行为模拟编码系统：迫切需要更好地了解孕期和产后应激对胎儿和婴儿发育的影响。社会情绪能力，特别是压力调节能力的基础是在生命早期奠定的，在母婴互动的背景下受到强烈影响，对一生中的压力调节和心理健康具有长期影响。因此，计划中的研究将有助于更好地了解这些联系，并促进儿童的健康发展。

The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak affects our lives in many ways, forcing us to deal with unforeseeable consequences for daily life. Expectant parents and their unborn children are particularly affected by these challenges: The peripartum period is characterized by major changes in the life of parents, even more during the SARS-CoV-2pandemic (e.g. changes in the health care system, social distancing, lack of social support). Coping with this requires functional stress-and problem-solving strategies as it also affects the developing parent-infant-relationship and child development, particularly if parents have to deal with mental health problems. In the current interdisciplinary proposal, we combine the expertise of four research groups using a longitudinal, multimethodological approach to improve our understanding of the consequences of maternal stress during the peripartum period on infant and child development. Therefore, behavioral, hormonal and clinical psychological correlates of stress will be assessed in a multi-methodological approach using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and laboratory settings from pregnancy up to 12 months (four assessment points) in a sample of N = 194 expectant mothers and their partners. Child’s socio-emotional and cognitive development will be assessed with different test batteries and paradigms at the age of 9 and 12 months. Special emphasis will be placed on interactional patterns as a mediator between stress and child development, evaluating automatic coding systems for parent-child-interaction (interdisciplinary aspect), as these computer-based systems might proof beneficial in future scientific and therapeutic settings. The aims of the planned study are: (1) To examine the association between stress during pregnancy and the postpartum period during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on child development.(2) To evaluate if the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic changed the levels of stress during pregnancy and the postpartum period and the quality of mother-infant relationship over the first year of the child’s life.(3) To compare and evaluate a newly developed automated multimodal behavior analysis software tool with the potential to integrate AI-methods in parent-infant interaction research and different interaction paradigms with two well-established and reliable behavioral analogue coding systems.A better understanding of how stress in pregnancy and the postpartum period affects fetal and infant development is urgently needed. The foundation for socio-emotional competencies and especially stress regulation competencies is laid early in life and are strongly influenced in the context of mother-infant-interaction with long-lasting effects for stress regulation and mental health over the lifespan. Therefore, the planned study will help to better understand the links and to improve healthy development in children.