Testing the Associations between Prenatal Stress, Prenatal Diet Quality, and Infant Temperament at 6 Months of Age (2023)

Undergraduate: Emma Fagerberg

Faculty Advisor: Propper Cathi
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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This study aims to better understand how different factors that impact a fetus’ in utero environment may have a later impact on behavior. Specifically, this study investigates how perceived prenatal stress affects biologically exerted stress and, in turn, how each of these may affect infant temperament as measured at six months of infant age. Prenatal diet was analyzed in a similar way. To determine if these effects are compounding, this study also considered the interactive effects of both prenatal stress—perceived and biological—and prenatal diet on early infant temperament. This study is novel in the field of child development, as whole diet quality and stress are rarely seen considered together in studies focused on pregnant individuals. The results of this study may provide support for future research in this area.

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