% pubman genre = article @article{item_3379428, title = {{Maternal stress, child behavior and the promotive role of older siblings}}, author = {Amici, Federica and R{\"o}der, Stefan and Kiess, Wieland and Borte, Michael and Zenclussen, Ana C. and Widdig, Anja ǂ and Herberth, Gunda}, language = {eng}, issn = {1471-2458}, doi = {10.1186/s12889-022-13261-2}, year = {2022}, abstract = {{Abstract {\textless}br{\textgreater}Background: In the first years of their lives, children develop the cognitive, social and emotional skills that will {\textless}br{\textgreater}provide the foundations for their lifelong health and achievements. To increase their life prospects and reduce the {\textless}br{\textgreater}long-term effects of early aversive conditions, it is therefore crucial to understand the risk factors that negatively affect {\textless}br{\textgreater}child development and the factors that are instead beneficial. In this study, we tested (i) the effects of different social {\textless}br{\textgreater}and environmental stressors on maternal stress levels, (ii) the dynamic relationship between maternal stress and child {\textless}br{\textgreater}behavior problems during development, and (iii) the potential promotive (i.e. main) or protective (i.e. buffering) effect {\textless}br{\textgreater}of siblings on child behavior problems during development.{\textless}br{\textgreater}Methods: We used longitudinal data from 373 mother{\textendash}child pairs (188 daughters, 185 sons) from pregnancy until {\textless}br{\textgreater}10 years of age. We assessed maternal stress and child behavior problems (internalizing and externalizing) with vali-{\textless}br{\textgreater}dated questionnaires, and then used linear mixed models, generalized linear mixed models and longitudinal cross-{\textless}br{\textgreater}lagged models to analyze the data.{\textless}br{\textgreater}Results: Our results showed that higher maternal stress levels were predicted by socio-environmental stressors {\textless}br{\textgreater}(i.e. the lack of sufficient social areas in the neighborhood). Moreover, prenatal maternal stress reliably predicted the {\textless}br{\textgreater}occurrence of behavior problems during childhood. Finally, the presence of older siblings had a promotive function, {\textless}br{\textgreater}by reducing the likelihood that children developed externalizing problems.{\textless}br{\textgreater}Conclusions: Overall, our results confirm the negative effects that maternal stress during pregnancy may have on {\textless}br{\textgreater}the offspring, and suggest an important main effect of older siblings in promoting a positive child development.}}, journal = {{BMC Public Health}}, volume = {22}, eid = {863}, }