Intergenerational transmission of anxiety: linking parental anxiety to infant autonomic hyperarousal and fearful temperament

Background Autonomic hyperarousal has been proposed as a dispositional risk factor for anxiety disorders (ADs). Therefore, we studied physiological arousal in offspring of fathers and mothers with and without ADs and whether infant hyperarousal predicts subsequent fearful temperament. Methods Infants (N = 128; age = 4 months) did a novel stimuli task (exposure to visual, olfactory, and acoustic stimuli and an unfamiliar male) and a habituation task (exposure to a repeated acoustic stimulus). Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were measured during baseline, stimuli and post-stimuli rest. Parents' AD status and severity were measured using a diagnostic interview and their fearful temperament using a questionnaire. Child fearful temperament was measured at 4 months, 1 year and 2.5 years with observations during structured tasks. Results Parents' fearful temperament (significant in the habituation task), AD status (significant in the novel stimuli task) and AD severity (significant in both tasks) predicted a higher HR in their infants. Infants' higher HR reactivity to novel stimuli and diminished HR recovery at 4 months predicted a more fearful temperament during infancy and toddlerhood. Infants' higher HR at 4 months predicted a more fearful temperament at 2.5 years. Conclusions Parental prenatal anxiety (disorders) predicted infants' autonomic arousal, which in turn predicted later fearful temperament in children. Outcomes suggest that autonomic hyperarousal is a dispositional risk factor of ADs.