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Article
The impact of maternal gestational stress on motor development in late childhood and adolescence: a longitudinal study
Child Development
  • Tegan Grace, University of Notre Dame Australia
  • Max Bulsara, University of Notre Dame Australia
  • Monique Robinson
  • Beth Hands, University of Notre Dame Australia
Year of Publication
2015
Abstract

The number and timing of stressors experienced during pregnancy were investigated using longitudinal data from the Western Australian Pregnancy (Raine) Study cohort (N = 2,900). Motor development data were collected at 10 (n = 1,622), 14 (n = 1,584), and 17 (n = 1,222) years using the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development. Linear mixed models were used to examine the effect of stress on motor development, accounting for repeated measures. Number of stressful events and mean Neuromuscular Development Index were negatively related (β = −1.197, p = .001). Stressful events experienced in late pregnancy were negatively related with offspring motor development (β = −0.0541, p = .050), while earlier stressful events had no significant impact.

Keywords
  • stress during pregnancy,
  • Raine Study,
  • neuromuscular development
Citation Information
Tegan Grace, Max Bulsara, Monique Robinson and Beth Hands. "The impact of maternal gestational stress on motor development in late childhood and adolescence: a longitudinal study" Child Development Vol. Early View (Online First) (2015) ISSN: 0009-3920
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/max-bulsara/16/