{
  "id": 2590369,
  "title": "Maternal stress during pregnancy linked to children’s social communication skills",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/maternal-stress-during-pregnancy-linked-to-childrens-social",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-22T14:00:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/maternal-stress-during-pregnancy-linked-to-children-s-social-communication-skill/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Mothers experiencing heightened stress during pregnancy and early postpartum may contribute to their children facing obstacles in social communication, according to a recent study published in Development and Psychopathology. The research suggests that early exposure to maternal adversity may influence various aspects of social cognition, including the ability to recognize emotions in others and engage in reciprocal social communication.\n\nThe study, led by Theodora Kokosi, Marta Francesconi, and Eirini Flouri from University College London, analyzed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, tracking the health and development of over 10,000 participants born in the UK in the early 1990s. Through questionnaires completed by their mothers at different stages of pregnancy and early childhood, researchers measured the impact of prenatal stress on subsequent social communication skills.\n\nHigher maternal stress levels were associated with poorer social communication skills in children as they progressed from childhood into adolescence. This link remained consistent even after accounting for factors like family socioeconomic status, postpartum depression, and the child's intelligence. The negative association between early adversity and social communication skills showed a widening gap as children aged from 8 to 17 years old, potentially reflecting the increasing complexity of social environments.\n\nInterestingly, the study also found that while maternal stress did not significantly affect a child's ability to recognize basic facial expressions at age eight, it did predict slightly better performance on a more complex task involving abstract geometric shapes at age 14. This counterintuitive result is consistent with theories suggesting that individuals raised in unpredictable environments may develop heightened sensitivity to dynamic social cues. However, the study acknowledges limitations such as reliance on parent reports, observational nature precluding direct causation, and potential influence from unmeasured factors on the observed associations.",
  "summary": "Children whose mothers experienced high levels of stress during pregnancy and shortly after birth may face lasting challenges with social communication. A new analysis tracks how early adversity shapes distinct social skills from childhood through late adolescence.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}