PSYCHIATRY AND PRECLINICAL PSYCHIATRIC STUDIES - ORIGINAL ARTICLE Impact of prenatal stress on the dyadic behavior of mothers and their 6-month-old infants during a play situation: role of different dimensions of stress Isabell Ann-Cathrin Wolf 1 • Maria Gilles 1 • Verena Peus 1 • Barbara Scharnholz 1 • Julia Seibert 2 • Christine Jennen-Steinmetz 3 • Bertram Krumm 3 • Michael Deuschle 1 • Manfred Laucht 4,5 Received: 16 March 2017 / Accepted: 23 July 2017 Ó Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria 2017 Abstract Prenatal stress (PS) is an established risk factor in the etiology of mental disorders. Although mother–child interaction is the infant’s first important training in dealing with stress, little is yet known about the impact of PS on mother–infant dyadic behavior. The current study aimed to elucidate the prospective influence of psychological and physiological stresses during pregnancy on mother–infant dyadic behavior. Mother–infant interactions were video- taped at 6-month postpartum and coded into three dyadic patterns: (1) both positive; (2) infant protesting–mother positive; and (3) infant protesting–mother negative, using the infant and caregiver engagement phases. Exposure to PS was assessed during pregnancy using psychological (i.e., psychopathological, perceived, and psychosocial PS; n = 164) and physiological stress measures (i.e., maternal cortisol; n = 134). Group comparisons showed that psy- chosocial PS was predictive of mother–infant behavior at 6-month postpartum, indicating that dyads of prenatally high-stressed mothers exhibited significantly more positive interaction patterns (i.e., infant positive–mother positive) as compared to the prenatally low-stressed group. Physio- logical PS was unrelated to mother–infant behavior. These results suggest that mild psychosocial PS may be advan- tageous for positive mother–infant dyadic behavior, which is in accordance with the stress-inoculation model that assumes a beneficial effect of PS. Keywords Prenatal stress Á Cortisol Á Mother–infant behavior Á Pregnancy Á Stress inoculation Background A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every pas- serby leaves a mark.—Chinese Proverb. Introduction In recent years, research has accumulated evidence that early life stress (ELS) impacts children’s development and behavior (de Weerth and Buitelaar 2007; Glover 2014; Graignic-Philippe et al. 2014; Murgatroyd et al. 2010; Turecki and Meaney 2016). Associations of prenatal stress (PS), as partly reflected by cortisol levels of pregnant women or prenatal maternal mood and anxiety, with the infant’s postnatal cortisol levels have been repeatedly Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00702-017-1770-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Michael Deuschle, Manfred Laucht shared last authors. & Manfred Laucht manfred.laucht@zi.mannheim.de 1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany 2 Clinic for General Psychiatry, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany 3 Department of Biostatistics, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, 68159 Mannheim, Germany 4 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, Heidelberg University, J 5, 68159 Mannheim, Germany 5 Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany 123 J Neural Transm DOI 10.1007/s00702-017-1770-3