Resilience in the early postpartum period: Buffering the impact of maternal ACEs on infant socioemotional development

Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with infant socioemotional problems. This longitudinal study investigated whether maternal resilience in the early postpartum period moderates the association between maternal ACEs and infant socioemotional problems at 6-months postpartum. One hundred twenty-eight mothers from Canada (92.2% White) reported their ACEs during pregnancy, resilience at 2-weeks postpartum, and their infants' socioemotional development at 6-months postpartum. Regression analyses revealed that higher maternal ACE exposure was associated with greater infant socioemotional problems. Higher maternal resilience at 2-weeks postpartum was associated with fewer infant socioemotional problems. A significant interaction between ACEs and resilience indicated that resilience buffered the association of ACEs and infant socioemotional problems, but only among mothers reporting three or fewer ACEs. These findings align with evidence suggesting that four or more ACEs represent a threshold of heightened risk and highlight the early postpartum period as a critical window for resilience-focused interventions.