Influence of mothers’ stress on their infants’ stress level: A preliminary study

Abstract

Background In a previous study, mothers’ stress was demonstrated to affect the stress of their infants. However, stress is a multi-layered concept, and there is a lack of studies on the type of stress that influences infant stress. Objective This study examined how various types of mothers’ stress influence their infants’ stress by measuring stress that emanates from COVID-19, child rearing, and stress levels based on speech and cortisol in saliva. Methods This study was conducted in two phases, and the stress of 21 mother-infant dyad were evaluated using questionnaires, participants’ saliva, and voice recording. Results The results demonstrated that maternal stress increased infant stress, rearing stress decreased infant stress, and COVID-19 stress did not affect infant stress. Furthermore, there was no relationship between stress measured using questionnaires and stress measured using saliva, indicating that these factors independently affect infant stress. Conclusion It is clear that stress is multi-layered and that it is necessary to grasp each of the various stresses and their relationship appropriately.