The developmental origins of psychopathology begin before birth and perhaps even prior to conception. Understanding the intergenerational transmission of psychopathological risk is critical to identify sensitive windows for prevention and early intervention. Prior research demonstrates that maternal trauma history, typically assessed retrospectively, has adverse consequences for child socioemotional development. However, very few prospective studies of preconception trauma exist, and the role of preconception symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains unknown. The current study prospectively evaluates whether maternal preconception PTSD symptoms predict early childhood negative affectivity, a key dimension of temperament and predictor of later psychopathology. One hundred and eighteen women were recruited following a birth and prior to conception of the study child and were followed until the study child was 3–5 years old. Higher maternal PTSD symptoms prior to conception predicted greater child negative affectivity, adjusting for concurrent maternal depressive symptoms and sociodemographic covariates. In exploratory analyses, we found that neither maternal prenatal nor postpartum depressive symptoms or perceived stress mediated this association. These findings add to a limited prospective literature, highlighting the importance of assessing the mental health of women prior to conception and providing interventions that can disrupt the intergenerational sequelae of trauma.

精神病理学的发展起源在出生之前就开始了，甚至可能在受孕之前。了解精神病理学风险的代际传播对于确定预防和早期干预的敏感窗口至关重要。先前的研究表明，通常回顾性评估的母亲创伤史会对儿童的社会情感发展产生不利影响。然而，关于孕前创伤的前瞻性研究很少，创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 的孕前症状的作用仍然未知。目前的研究前瞻性地评估了母亲先入为主的 PTSD 症状是否可以预测儿童早期的消极情感，这是气质的一个关键维度和后期精神病理学的预测因子。在研究儿童出生后和受孕之前招募了 118 名妇女，并对其进行随访直至研究儿童 3-5 岁。受孕前较高的母亲 PTSD 症状预示着更大的儿童消极情感，调整并发的母亲抑郁症状和社会人口统计学协变量。在探索性分析中，我们发现产妇产前或产后抑郁症状或感知到的压力都不会介导这种关联。这些发现增加了有限的前瞻性文献，强调了在受孕前评估女性心理健康和提供可以破坏创伤代际后遗症的干预措施的重要性。受孕前较高的母亲 PTSD 症状预示着更大的儿童消极情感，调整并发的母亲抑郁症状和社会人口统计学协变量。在探索性分析中，我们发现产妇产前或产后抑郁症状或感知到的压力都不会介导这种关联。这些发现增加了有限的前瞻性文献，强调了在受孕前评估女性心理健康和提供可以破坏创伤代际后遗症的干预措施的重要性。受孕前较高的母亲 PTSD 症状预示着更大的儿童消极情感，调整并发的母亲抑郁症状和社会人口统计学协变量。在探索性分析中，我们发现产妇产前或产后抑郁症状或感知到的压力都不会介导这种关联。这些发现增加了有限的前瞻性文献，强调了在受孕前评估女性心理健康和提供可以破坏创伤代际后遗症的干预措施的重要性。