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Tartour AI, Chivese T, Eltayeb S, Elamin FM, Fthenou E, Seed Ahmed M, Babu GR. Prenatal psychological distress and 11β-HSD2 gene expression in human placentas: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2024; 166:107060. [PMID: 38677195 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2023] [Revised: 03/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/29/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The placenta acts as a buffer to regulate the degree of fetal exposure to maternal cortisol through the 11-Beta Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase isoenzyme type 2 (11-β HSD2) enzyme. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of prenatal psychological distress (PPD) on placental 11-β HSD2 gene expression and explore the related mechanistic pathways involved in fetal neurodevelopment. METHODS We searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, APA PsycInfo®, and ProQuest Dissertations for observational studies assessing the association between PPD and 11-β HSD2 expression in human placentas. Adjusted regression coefficients (β) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled based on three contextual PPD exposure groups: prenatal depression, anxiety symptoms, and perceived stress. RESULTS Of 3159 retrieved records, sixteen longitudinal studies involving 1869 participants across seven countries were included. Overall, exposure to PPD disorders showed weak negative associations with the placental 11-β HSD2 gene expression as follows: prenatal depression (β -0.01, 95% CI 0.05-0.02, I2=0%), anxiety symptoms (β -0.02, 95% CI 0.06-0.01, I2=0%), and perceived stress (β -0.01 95% CI 0.06-0.04, I2=62.8%). Third-trimester PPD exposure was more frequently associated with lower placental 11-β HSD2 levels. PPD and placental 11-β HSD2 were associated with changes in cortisol reactivity and the development of adverse health outcomes in mothers and children. Female-offspring were more vulnerable to PPD exposures. CONCLUSION The study presents evidence of a modest role of prenatal psychological distress in regulating placental 11-β HSD2 gene expression. Future prospective cohorts utilizing larger sample sizes or advanced statistical methods to enhance the detection of small effect sizes should be planned. Additionally, controlling for key predictors such as the mother's ethnicity, trimester of PPD exposure, mode of delivery, and infant sex is crucial for valid exploration of PPD effects on fetal programming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angham Ibrahim Tartour
- Department of Population Medicine, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box:2713, Doha, Qatar.
| | - Tawanda Chivese
- Department of Population Medicine, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box:2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Safa Eltayeb
- Qatar Biobank for Medical Research, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Fatima M Elamin
- Office of Research Ethics and Integrity, Qatar University, P. O. Box:2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Eleni Fthenou
- Qatar Biobank for Medical Research, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Mohammed Seed Ahmed
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box:2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Giridhara Rathnaiah Babu
- Department of Population Medicine, College of Medicine, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box:2713, Doha, Qatar
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Ni Y, Szpiro AA, Loftus CT, Workman T, Sullivan A, Wallace ER, Riederer AM, Day DB, Murphy LE, Nguyen RHN, Sathyanarayana S, Barrett ES, Zhao Q, Enquobahrie DA, Simpson C, Ahmad SI, Arizaga JA, Collett BR, Derefinko KJ, Kannan K, Bush NR, LeWinn KZ, Karr CJ. Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and executive functions at school age: Results from a combined cohort study. Int J Hyg Environ Health 2024; 260:114407. [PMID: 38879913 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2024.114407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Revised: 05/26/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Executive functions develop rapidly in childhood, enabling problem-solving, focused attention, and planning. Exposures to environmental toxicants in pregnancy may impair healthy executive function development in children. There is increasing concern regarding polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) given their ability to transfer across the placenta and the fetal blood-brain barrier, yet evidence from epidemiological studies is limited. METHODS We examined associations between prenatal PAH exposure and executive functions in 814 children of non-smoking mothers from two U.S. cohorts in the ECHO-PATHWAYS Consortium. Seven mono-hydroxylated PAH metabolites were measured in mid-pregnancy urine and analyzed individually and as mixtures. Three executive function domains were measured at age 8-9: cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control. A composite score quantifying overall performance was further calculated. We fitted linear regressions adjusted for socio-demographics, maternal health behaviors, and psychological measures, and examined modification by child sex and stressful life events in pregnancy. Bayesian kernel machine regression was performed to estimate the interactive and overall effects of the PAH mixture. RESULTS The results from primary analysis of linear regressions were generally null, and no modification by child sex or maternal stress was indicated. Mixture analyses suggested several pairwise interactions between individual PAH metabolites in varied directions on working memory, particularly interactions between 2/3/9-FLUO and other PAH metabolites, but no overall or individual effects were evident. CONCLUSION We conducted a novel exploration of PAH-executive functions association in a large, combined sample from two cohorts. Although findings were predominantly null, the study carries important implications for future research and contributes to evolving science regarding developmental origins of diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Ni
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, College of Health and Human Services, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
| | - Adam A Szpiro
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Christine T Loftus
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Tomomi Workman
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Alexis Sullivan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Erin R Wallace
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Anne M Riederer
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Drew B Day
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Laura E Murphy
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Ruby H N Nguyen
- Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, USA
| | - Sheela Sathyanarayana
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Emily S Barrett
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Qi Zhao
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Daniel A Enquobahrie
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Christopher Simpson
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Shaikh I Ahmad
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jessica A Arizaga
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Brent R Collett
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Karen J Derefinko
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA; Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | | | - Nicole R Bush
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Kaja Z LeWinn
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Catherine J Karr
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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3
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Adgent MA, Buth E, Noroña-Zhou A, Szpiro AA, Loftus CT, Moore PE, Wright RJ, Barrett ES, LeWinn KZ, Zhao Q, Nguyen R, Karr CJ, Bush NR, Carroll KN. Maternal stressful life events during pregnancy and childhood asthma and wheeze. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2024; 132:594-601.e3. [PMID: 38122928 PMCID: PMC11069451 DOI: 10.1016/j.anai.2023.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies have linked prenatal maternal psychosocial stress to childhood wheeze/asthma but have rarely investigated factors that may mitigate risks. OBJECTIVE To investigate associations between prenatal stress and childhood wheeze/asthma, evaluating factors that may modify stress effects. METHODS Participants included 2056 mother-child dyads from Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)-PATHWAYS, a consortium of 3 prospective pregnancy cohorts (the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood study, The Infant Development and Environment Study, and a subset of the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth study) from 6 cities. Maternal stressful life events experienced during pregnancy (PSLEs) were reported using the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Stressful Life Events questionnaire. Parents reported child wheeze/asthma outcomes at age 4 to 6 years using standardized questionnaires. We defined outcomes as ever asthma, current wheeze, current asthma, and strict asthma. We used modified Poisson regression with robust standard errors (SEs) to estimate risk ratios (RRs) and 95% CI per 1-unit increase in PSLE, adjusting for confounders. We evaluated effect modification by child sex, maternal history of asthma, maternal childhood traumatic life events, neighborhood-level resources, and breastfeeding. RESULTS Overall, we observed significantly elevated risk for current wheeze with increasing PSLE (RR, 1.09 [95% CI, 1.03-1.14]), but not for other outcomes. We observed significant effect modification by child sex for strict asthma (P interaction = .03), in which risks were elevated in boys (RR, 1.10 [95% CI, 1.02-1.19]) but not in girls. For all other outcomes, risks were significantly elevated in boys and not in girls, although there was no statistically significant evidence of effect modification. We observed no evidence of effect modification by other factors (P interactions > .05). CONCLUSION Risk of adverse childhood respiratory outcomes is higher with increasing maternal PSLEs, particularly in boys.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Erin Buth
- University of Washington, Seattle WA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Emily S. Barrett
- Rutgers School of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute; Piscataway NJ
| | - Kaja Z. LeWinn
- University of California San Francisco, San Francisco CA
| | - Qi Zhao
- University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis TN
| | | | | | - Nicole R. Bush
- University of California San Francisco, San Francisco CA
| | - Kecia N. Carroll
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville TN
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York NY
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4
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Baker BH, Freije S, MacDonald JW, Bammler TK, Benson C, Carroll KN, Enquobahrie DA, Karr CJ, LeWinn KZ, Zhao Q, Bush NR, Sathyanarayana S, Paquette AG. Placental transcriptomic signatures of prenatal and preconceptional maternal stress. Mol Psychiatry 2024; 29:1179-1191. [PMID: 38212375 PMCID: PMC11176062 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02403-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
Prenatal exposure to maternal psychological stress is associated with increased risk for adverse birth and child health outcomes. Accumulating evidence suggests that preconceptional maternal stress may also be transmitted intergenerationally to negatively impact offspring. However, understanding of mechanisms linking these exposures to offspring outcomes, particularly those related to placenta, is limited. Using RNA sequencing, we identified placental transcriptomic signatures associated with maternal prenatal stressful life events (SLEs) and childhood traumatic events (CTEs) in 1 029 mother-child pairs in two birth cohorts from Washington state and Memphis, Tennessee. We evaluated individual gene-SLE/CTE associations and performed an ensemble of gene set enrichment analyses combing across 11 popular enrichment methods. Higher number of prenatal SLEs was significantly (FDR < 0.05) associated with increased expression of ADGRG6, a placental tissue-specific gene critical in placental remodeling, and decreased expression of RAB11FIP3, an endocytosis and endocytic recycling gene, and SMYD5, a histone methyltransferase. Prenatal SLEs and maternal CTEs were associated with gene sets related to several biological pathways, including upregulation of protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, protein secretion, and ubiquitin mediated proteolysis, and down regulation of ribosome, epithelial mesenchymal transition, DNA repair, MYC targets, and amino acid-related pathways. The directional associations in these pathways corroborate prior non-transcriptomic mechanistic studies of psychological stress and mental health disorders, and have previously been implicated in pregnancy complications and adverse birth outcomes. Accordingly, our findings suggest that maternal exposure to psychosocial stressors during pregnancy as well as the mother's childhood may disrupt placental function, which may ultimately contribute to adverse pregnancy, birth, and child health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brennan H Baker
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | | | | | | | - Ciara Benson
- Global Alliance to Prevent Preterm Birth and Stillbirth (GAPPS), Lynnwood, WA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Kaja Z LeWinn
- University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Qi Zhao
- University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Nicole R Bush
- University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Sheela Sathyanarayana
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Alison G Paquette
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
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Leve LD, Oro V, Natsuaki MN, Harold GT, Neiderhiser JM, Ganiban JM, Shaw DS, DeGarmo DS. The pernicious role of stress on intergenerational continuity of psychopathology. Dev Psychopathol 2024:1-14. [PMID: 38384191 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579424000191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Development and Psychopathology has been a premier resource for understanding stressful childhood experiences and the intergenerational continuity of psychopathology. Building on that tradition, we examined the unique and joint influences of maternal stress on children's effortful control (age 7) and externalizing behavior (age 11) as transmitted via genetics, the prenatal environment, and the postnatal environment. The sample included N = 561 adopted children and their biological and adoptive parents. Path models identified a direct effect of biological mother life stress on children's effortful control (β = -.08) and an indirect effect of her life stress on child externalizing behavior via effortful control (β = .52), but no main or indirect effects of biological parent psychopathology, prenatal stress, or adoptive mother adverse childhood experiences (ACES). Adoptive mother ACES amplified the association between biological mother life stress and child effortful control (β = -.08), externalizing behavior (β = 1.41), and the indirect effect via effortful control, strengthening associations when adoptive mothers reported average or high ACES during their own childhoods. Results suggest that novel study designs are needed to enhance the understanding of how life stress gets "under the skin" to affect psychopathology in the offspring of adults who have experienced stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leslie D Leve
- Prevention Science Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
- Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Veronica Oro
- Prevention Science Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Misaki N Natsuaki
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Gordon T Harold
- Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jenae M Neiderhiser
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Jody M Ganiban
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Daniel S Shaw
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - David S DeGarmo
- Prevention Science Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
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6
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Barrett ES, Day DB, Szpiro A, Peng J, Loftus CT, Ziausyte U, Kannan K, Trasande L, Zhao Q, Nguyen RHN, Swan S, Karr CJ, LeWinn KZ, Sathyanarayana S, Bush NR. Prenatal exposures to phthalates and life events stressors in relation to child behavior at age 4-6: A combined cohort analysis. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2024; 183:108425. [PMID: 38199129 PMCID: PMC10863744 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Revised: 12/31/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Prenatal exposures to chemical and psychosocial stressors can impact the developing brain, but few studies have examined their joint effects. We examined associations between prenatal phthalate exposures and child behavior, hypothesizing that prenatal stressful life events (PSLEs) may exacerbate risks. To do so, we harmonized data from three U.S. pregnancy cohorts comprising the ECHO-PATHWAYS consortium. Phthalate metabolites were measured in single mid-pregnancy urine samples. When children were ages 4-6 years, mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), from which a Total Problems score was calculated. Mothers additionally provided recall on their exposure to 14 PSLEs during pregnancy. Primary models examined problem behaviors in relation to: (1) phthalate mixtures calculated through weighted quantile sums regression with permutation test-derived p-values; and (2) joint exposure to phthalate mixtures and PSLEs (counts) using interaction terms. We subsequently refitted models stratified by child sex. Secondarily, we fit linear and logistic regression models examining individual phthalate metabolites. In our main, fully adjusted models (n = 1536 mother-child dyads), we observed some evidence of weak main effects of phthalate mixtures on problem behaviors in the full cohort and stratified by child sex. Interaction models revealed unexpected relationships whereby greater gestational exposure to PSLEs predicted reduced associations between some phthalates (e.g., the metabolites of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate, di-n-octyl phthalate, di-iso-nonyl phthalate) and problem behaviors, particularly in males. Few associations were observed in females. Additional research is needed to replicate results and examine potential mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily S Barrett
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA; Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
| | - Drew B Day
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
| | - Adam Szpiro
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - James Peng
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Christine T Loftus
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Ugne Ziausyte
- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
| | | | - Leonardo Trasande
- Department of Pediatrics, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Qi Zhao
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Ruby H N Nguyen
- Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA
| | - Shanna Swan
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Catherine J Karr
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
| | - Kaja Z LeWinn
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Sheela Sathyanarayana
- Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98101, USA; Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
| | - Nicole R Bush
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
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7
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Jones-Mason K, Coccia M, Alkon A, Melanie Thomas KCP, Laraia B, Adler N, Epel ES, Bush NR. Parental sensitivity modifies the associations between maternal prenatal stress exposure, autonomic nervous system functioning and infant temperament in a diverse, low-income sample. Attach Hum Dev 2023; 25:487-523. [PMID: 37749913 DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2023.2257669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023]
Abstract
Evidence suggests that adversity experienced during fetal development may shape infant physiologic functioning and temperament. Parental sensitivity is associated with child stress regulation and may act as a buffer against risk for intergenerational health effects of pre- or postnatal adversity. Building upon prior evidence in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of infants (M infant age = 6.5 months) and women of low socioeconomic status, this study examined whether coded parenting sensitivity moderated the association between an objective measure of prenatal stress exposures (Stressful Life Events (SLE)) and infant parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) or sympathetic (pre-ejection period; PEP) nervous system functioning assessed during administration of the Still-Face-Paradigm (SFP) (n = 66), as well as maternal report of temperament (n = 154). Results showed that parental sensitivity moderated the associations between prenatal stress exposures and infant RSA reactivity, RSA recovery, PEP recovery, and temperamental negativity. Findings indicate that greater parental sensitivity is associated with lower infant autonomic nervous system reactivity and greater recovery from challenge. Results support the hypothesis that parental sensitivity buffers infants from the risk of prenatal stress exposure associations with offspring cross-system physiologic reactivity and regulation, potentially shaping trajectories of health and development and promoting resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Jones-Mason
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Michael Coccia
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Abbey Alkon
- School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | | | - Barbara Laraia
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Nancy Adler
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Elissa S Epel
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Nicole R Bush
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, USA
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