Laurel Hicks

• Clincial Social Work and Infant Mental Health
• Research Scientist at University of Colorado Boulder

The parent–infant relationship begins during pregnancy as parents prepare psychologically for the birth of their child. Father involvement, beginning in pregnancy, is associated with positive maternal and infant outcomes. Less is known about fathers’ experiences as they prepare to parent a new baby, especially fathers who are parenting in contexts...

Purpose: Historically, recovery from substance use disorders (SUD) has focused exclusively on the use or non-use of the addictive substance(s). More recently, SAMSHA [1] has defined recovery in a more holistic way, using quality of life (QoL) as a measure of recovery for individuals with substance use and mental health disorders. However, little i...

Music can promote emotion regulation in individuals exposed to trauma and stress and may support positive parenting behaviors. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the use of music in the lives of a sample of expectant mothers and fathers (N = 102), who were considered at risk for insensitive parenting due to exposure to environmenta...

Objective: Approximately 73% of women entering treatment for substance use disorders are mothers of children under the age of 18 (SAMHSA, 2009), and the high rate of mental health disorders among mothers with substance use disorders increases their vulnerability to poor parenting practices. Parenting efficacy and social support for parenting have e...

An annotated bibliography for social workers of key cognitive-behavioral therapy works.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted loneliness as a major risk factor for mental health difficulties among parents. Shared musical experiences may be an effective way to create social bonds. We adapted Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project to a remote format. Parents experiencing loneliness were enrolled in the study ( N = 40) and completed assessments...

Purpose Social support buffers the impact of stress on multiple psychosocial domains and may buffer the impact of parental Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on parenting. However, little is understood about the biological pathways through which social support buffering occurs and research has rarely examined social support among fathers. This st...

Background Antenatal depression (AD) is the most common complication of pregnancy in developed countries and increases the risk of preterm birth (PTB). Many pregnant individuals with AD do not obtain treatment due in part to risks associated with antidepressant medications, the expense and wait times for psychological services, and perceived stigma...

In humans, an adaptable internal biological system generates circadian rhythms that maintain synchronicity of behavior and physiology with the changing demands of the 24-h environment. Development of the circadian system begins in utero and continues throughout the first few years of life. Maturation of the clock can be measured through sleep/wake...

Background: Antenatal depression (AD) is the most common complication of pregnancy in developed countries and increases risk of preterm birth (PTB). Many pregnant individuals with AD do not obtain treatment due in part to risks associated with antidepressant medications, the expense and wait times for psychological services, and perceived stigma. A...

Purpose Perinatal mental health disorders are common, and rates have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear where providers may improve perinatal mental health care, particularly in countries lacking national guidelines, such as Canada. Methods A cross-sectional survey of perinatal health providers was conducted to describe the land...

To observe pregnancy prevalence and service delivery among foster youth and examine impact on prenatal care utilization by a state policy insurance change. This cohort study utilizes linked, state administrative data to analyze child welfare and Medicaid claims of 4721 female foster youth in Michigan. 38.3% had pregnancy-related charges, and 17% ex...

Purpose: Perinatal mental health disorders are common, and rates have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear where providers may improve perinatal mental health care, particularly in countries lacking national guidelines, such as Canada. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of perinatal health providers was conducted to describe the lan...

One of the key proposed agents of fetal programming is exposure to maternal glucocorticoids. Experimental animal studies provide evidence that prenatal exposure to elevated maternal glucocorticoids has consequences for hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning in the offspring. There are very few direct tests of maternal glucocorticoids...

Objectives The parent-infant relationship begins during pregnancy and is foundational to the caregiving system that will guide early parenting behaviors. The current study extends prior work focused on the postnatal parenting relationship by examining parental risk and resilience factors on the prenatal parental-fetal bond in a sample of expectant...

Background: Nearly a third of adults report childhood trauma in their youth and approximately 700,000 cases of child maltreatment were reported in 2016. Both history of childhood trauma and current trauma symptoms in adults are linked to child maltreatment, although many trauma-exposed individuals are warm and nurturing parents. Identifying resili...

Children are confronted with an increasing amount of choices every day, which can be stressful. Decision-making skills may be one of the most important “21st century skills” that children need to master to ensure success. Many aspects of decision-making, such as emotion regulation during stressful situations, develop in the context of caregiver-chi...

Purpose of Review Prenatal maternal psychological distress is an established risk factor for the development of psychopathology in offspring. The purpose of this review is to evaluate whether sex differences in fetal responses to maternal distress contribute to sex differences in subsequent psychopathology. Recent Findings Male and female fetuses...

Despite the significant health benefits of breastfeeding for the mother and the infant, economic class and race disparities in breastfeeding rates persist. Support for breastfeeding from the father of the infant is associated with higher rates of breastfeeding initiation. However, little is known about the factors that may promote or deter father s...

The quality of the prenatal caregiving bond with the unborn baby contributes to later parenting and healthy infant behavior and development. Previous research indicates that maternal antenatal depression can disrupt bonding with the fetus and increases risks such as prematurity and low birthweight; less is known about the effects of paternal depres...

This is an Oxford Bibliographies Online annotated bibliography on cognitive behavioral therapy to direct researchers and other interested scholars and practitioners to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects related to cognitive-behavioral therapy. The bibliography is available at: https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/...

Background: Perinatal depression is reported in 15-20% of women (Marcus, 2009), 8-16% of men (Paulson and Bazemore, 2010) and low-SES, diverse populations are particularly at risk (Sareen, 2011). Trauma symptoms are commonly comorbid with depression, especially when individuals are exposed to risk factors such as community violence and poverty (Ka...