Research results show that a decrease in household income during pregnancy affects infant brain development
It's not just events after birth that affect a child's brain development; what a mother experiences during pregnancy also influences brain development. A new study has found that unstable household income during pregnancy may have a negative impact on brain development.
Prenatal Household Income Instability and Infant Subcortical Brain Volumes - Patterson - 2025 - Developmental Science - Wiley Online Library
Financial instability during pregnancy appears to influence infant brain development
https://www.psypost.org/financial-instability-during-pregnancy-appears-to-influence-infant-brain-development/
'Previous research has shown that living in poverty is widely associated with poorer future outcomes for parents and children,' said Genevieve Patterson , lead author of the paper and a graduate student at the University of Denver. 'Although many families experience frequent changes in income, researchers rarely examine these changes directly.'
Patterson and his team found that household income is prone to change during pregnancy and after childbirth due to factors such as job interruptions and a lack of parental leave, which can be a major stressor. Therefore, they investigated how prenatal income instability affects the fetal brain after birth.
The study involved 63 infants and their parents who visited an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Denver, Colorado, and intentionally included a high proportion of low- and middle-income families to capture a range of economic circumstances during pregnancy.
To track changes in household income over time, the researchers conducted multiple interviews with mothers during their pregnancies, collecting data on employment and monthly income. They calculated average monthly income and expenses, and found that nearly half of the households surveyed experienced at least one significant drop in income during pregnancy.
Additionally, the infants underwent MRI scans after birth to measure the size of the hippocampus , an area associated with memory and stress regulation, and the amygdala , an area associated with emotional processing and fear responses, which previous studies have shown to be sensitive to stress exposure during development.
The analysis found a correlation between the magnitude of parental income loss during pregnancy and smaller volumes of the right hippocampus and right amygdala in infants, and these associations remained statistically significant even after controlling for factors such as birth weight, age at scan, and overall brain size.
The study also showed that parents who experienced a 'negative income shock'—a decrease in household income of 25% or more from the previous month—had higher levels of anxiety and depression during pregnancy. These symptoms were also associated with smaller volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala in infants, suggesting that financial anxiety may cause stress for parents, which in turn may affect infant brain development.
Patterson told PsyPost, a psychology publication, 'Income instability, especially a loss of monthly income, can be a significant stressor during a critical period like pregnancy. Stress during this time can affect two generations: parents and infants. Therefore, income instability is an important factor to consider in formulating public policy. Support programs can most effectively support families by providing a stable source of income during pregnancy and after birth.'
Interestingly, this study found no significant correlation between average income levels and the size of infant brain regions, nor did it find any correlation between positive changes in income and differences in brain structure. These results suggest that it may be the stress of income loss, rather than normal economic hardship, that affects the development of infants' hippocampus and amygdala.
'This study only examined correlations, not causation, between income decline and brain development. We plan to examine these relationships at other times, such as later in childhood, to further understand the role of income instability in child development,' Patterson said.
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