Prenatal Parental Psychosocial Determinants of Neonatal Brain Structure: A Latent Variable Approach in the FinnBrain Birth Cohort

BACKGROUND: Maternal mental health during pregnancy has been linked to early neurodevelopment, but the unique contributions of maternal and paternal psychosocial risk and protective factors to neonatal brain structure remain unclear. In this study, we examined associations between prenatal parental psychosocial factors and neonatal brain morphometry (intracranial and subcortical volumes) and white matter microstructure. METHODS: Structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired at 2 to 5 weeks postnatal age in 174 neonates (mean gestational age = 39.9 ± 1.2 weeks) from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort. Psychosocial data were collected via questionnaires from 173 mothers and 116 fathers during pregnancy. Latent risk and protective constructs were derived using exploratory factor analysis. Associations with neonatal brain metrics, including intracranial volume, bilateral hippocampal/amygdala volumes, and white matter microstructure (fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity in key tracts), were tested using structural equation modeling, adjusted for covariates and false discovery rate correction. RESULTS: Four maternal (mental health and well-being, early relationships, pregnancy-related anxiety, attachment) and two paternal (mental health and well-being, social bonding) latent factors were identified. Greater maternal mental health and well-being was associated with larger neonatal intracranial volume. Greater paternal mental health and well-being was associated with lower fractional anisotropy in the hippocampal cingulum and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and higher mean diffusivity in the latter. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that prenatal parental psychosocial health is associated with subtle deviations in neonatal brain architecture. These results underscore the need for holistic research on parental mental health, paving the way for care models that integrate psychosocial well-being to promote better health outcomes across generations.