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重大变化，特别是在sars - cov -2大流行期间（例如卫生保健系统的变化、社交距离、缺乏社会支持）。应对这种情况需要功能压力和解决问题的策略，因为它也影响到亲子关系的发展和儿童的发展，特别是如果父母必须处理心理健康问题。在当前的跨学科建议中，我们结合了四个研究小组的专业知识，使用纵向，多方法的方法来提高我们对围产期产妇压力对婴儿和儿童发育的影响的理解。因此，在N = 194名孕妇及其伴侣的样本中，将采用多方法方法，使用生态瞬时评估（EMA）和实验室设置，从怀孕到12个月（四个评估点），评估压力的行为、激素和临床心理相关因素。在儿童9个月和12个月时，将采用不同的测试单元和范式来评估儿童的社会情感和认知发展。将特别强调作为压力和儿童发展之间中介的互动模式，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。计划研究的目的是：(1)研究SARS-CoV-2大流行期间怀孕期间的压力与产后对儿童发育的关系。(2)评估SARS-CoV-2大流行是否改变了妊娠期和产后的压力水平以及婴儿出生后第一年的母婴关系质量。(3)比较和评估新开发的自动化多模态行为分析软件工具，该工具具有将人工智能方法整合到亲子互动研究中的潜力，以及两种成熟可靠的行为模拟编码系统的不同交互范式。迫切需要更好地了解妊娠期和产后压力如何影响胎儿和婴儿的发育。社会情感能力，特别是压力调节能力的基础是在生命早期奠定的，并在母婴互动的背景下受到强烈影响，对整个生命周期的压力调节和心理健康产生长期影响。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.