Growing Up in Multifactorial Risk Conditions

The perinatal period brings significant physiological and emotional changes in mothers, linked to pregnancy, childbirth, and caring for a newborn. While pregnancy is often experienced positively, various stressors can impact maternal well-being and child health. Maternal stress can lead to vascular issues (e.g., hypertension, preeclampsia) or mental health concerns like depression and anxiety. Recent studies show depressive symptoms occur in 41.45% of women in the first trimester, with clinical depression in 9.85%. Postpartum depression has an estimated incidence of 10-20%, with strong continuity from prenatal depression. Stressors, including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and maternal psychological issues, often lead to emotional dysregulation. This, through intergenerational transmission, can impact a child's emotional regulation into adolescence. Intergenerational transmission involves both biological mechanisms (endocrine, neurophysiological, epigenetic) and social mechanisms (parenting style, early relationship quality). Sensitive, reciprocal adult-child interactions are essential for socio-emotional and cognitive development, and a child's emotional regulation abilities predict later emotional-behavioral issues. Understanding perinatal risk predictors is key to developing programs that reduce such risks. For example, factors like ACEs, unfavorable conditions, complications during pregnancy, and neurodevelopmental challenges in children can negatively affect the child's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning, maternal well-being, epigenetic changes, and dyadic synchrony. Yet, risk factors do not prevent adaptation and may coexist with protective factors that support maternal well-being and child development. Early parenting support is thus essential, particularly in cases with multiple risks. Research indicates that challenges in implementing support programs often arise from insufficient identification of women at risk of psychological distr