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Kocevska D, Schuurmans IK, Cecil CAM, Jansen PW, van Someren EJW, Luik AI. A Longitudinal Study of Stress During Pregnancy, Children's Sleep and Polygenic Risk for Poor Sleep in the General Pediatric Population. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 2023; 51:1909-1918. [PMID: 37439941 PMCID: PMC10661881 DOI: 10.1007/s10802-023-01097-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023]
Abstract
Early life stress is robustly associated with poor sleep across life. Preliminary studies suggest that these associations may begin already in utero. Here, we study the longitudinal associations of prenatal psychosocial stress with sleep across childhood, and assess whether prenatal stress interacts with genetic liability for poor sleep.The study is embedded in the Generation R population-based birth cohort. Caregivers reported on prenatal psychosocial stress (life events, contextual, parental or interpersonal stressors) and on children's sleep at ages 2 months, 1.5, 2, 3 and 6 years. The study sample consisted of 4,930 children; polygenic risk scores for sleep traits were available in 2,063.Prenatal stress was consistently associated with more sleep problems across assessments. Effect sizes ranged from small (B = 0.21, 95%CI: 0.14;0.27) at 2 months to medium (B = 0.45, 95%CI: 0.38;0.53) at 2 years. Prenatal stress was moreover associated with shorter sleep duration at 2 months (Bhrs = -0.22, 95%CI: -0.32;-0.12) and at 2 years (Bhrs = -0.04, 95%CI -0.07; -0.001), but not at 3 years (Bhrs = 0.02, 95%CI: -0.02;0.06). Prenatal negative life events interacted with polygenic risk for insomnia to exacerbate sleep problems at 6 years (Binteraction = 0.07, 95%CI: 0.02;0.13).Psychosocial stress during pregnancy has negative associations with children's sleep that persist across childhood, and are exacerbated by genetic liability for insomnia. Associations with sleep duration were more pronounced in infancy and seem to attenuate with age. These findings highlight the role of the prenatal environment for developing sleep regulation, and could inform early intervention programs targeting sleep in children from high-risk pregnancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Desana Kocevska
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
- Generation R Study, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
| | - Isabel K Schuurmans
- Generation R Study, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Charlotte A M Cecil
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Generation R Study, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Pauline W Jansen
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Generation R Study, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Education, and Child Studies, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Eus J W van Someren
- Department of Sleep and Cognition, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute and Amsterdam Neuroscience Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Netherlands
| | - Annemarie I Luik
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Fleck L, Fuchs A, Sele S, Moehler E, Koenig J, Resch F, Kaess M. Prenatal stress and child externalizing behavior: effects of maternal perceived stress and cortisol are moderated by child sex. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 2023; 17:94. [PMID: 37550728 PMCID: PMC10408175 DOI: 10.1186/s13034-023-00639-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Externalizing behavior problems are related to social maladjustment. Evidence indicates associations between prenatal stress and child behavioral outcomes. It remains unclear how psychological distress vs. biological correlates of stress (cortisol) differentially predict externalizing behavior, and how their effects might differ as a function of child sex. METHOD 108 pregnant women from the community collected salivary cortisol and reported their perceived stress during each trimester of pregnancy. At child age 9 years (M = 9.01, SD = 0.55), 70 mothers and children reported on child behavior. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze how cortisol levels and perceived stress during pregnancy predicted current child externalizing behavior, considering the moderating effect of child sex. RESULTS Perceived stress predicted higher externalizing behavior in boys (β = 0.42, p = 0.009) and lower externalizing behavior in girls (β = - 0.56, p = 0.014). Cortisol predicted lower externalizing behavior in boys (β = - 0.81, p < .001) and was not related to girls' externalizing behavior (β = 0.37, p = 0.200). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION Prenatal stress affected externalizing behavior differently in girls vs. boys. These response patters in turn differed for indicators of psychological vs. biological maternal stress, encouraging an integrated approach. Findings indicate that perceived stress and cortisol may affect child development via different trajectories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonie Fleck
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anna Fuchs
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Silvano Sele
- University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Eva Moehler
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg, Germany
| | - Julian Koenig
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Franz Resch
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Kaess
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
- University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
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Brannigan R, Tanskanen A, Huttunen MO, Cannon M, Leacy FP, Clarke MC. Maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring psychiatric disorder: a longitudinal birth cohort study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2022; 57:595-600. [PMID: 33942155 DOI: 10.1007/s00127-021-02094-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2019] [Accepted: 04/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is evidence that prenatal stress and smoking during pregnancy both independently increase the risk of offspring psychopathology. Here we examine whether increased levels of self-reported stress is associated with increased smoking in a population of pregnant women, and whether prenatal smoking is associated with offspring psychiatric diagnoses independent of prenatal stress exposure. METHOD Using a longitudinal birth cohort, we used ordered logistic regressions to examine associations between maternal stress and smoking during pregnancy. We then used logistic regression analyses to examine associations between prenatal smoking and later offspring psychiatric disorders. RESULTS A dose-response relationship was found between maternally reported stress and smoking during pregnancy. Pregnant women reporting severe stress were more likely to smoke compared to both the moderate stress and no stress groups, and those reporting moderate stress were significantly more likely to smoke compared to the no stress group. Smoking more than 5 cigarettes daily during pregnancy increased the risk of offspring personality disorder (OR 3.08, 95% CI 1.60-5.94) as well as developing any Axis 1 psychiatric disorder, inclusive of mood, anxiety and psychotic disorders (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.04-2.04). After adjusting for parental psychiatric history and maternal self-reported stress during pregnancy, associations between smoking more than 5 cigarettes daily when pregnancy and offspring personality (OR 2.58 95% CI 1.32-5.06) disorder remained. CONCLUSION Exposure to cigarette smoking during gestation could impact a child's mental health. Smoking during pregnancy is a prime target for preventative interventions as unlike most other environmental risk factors, it is very amenable to change.
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Abstract
The quality of fetal growth and development predicts the risk for a range of noncommunicable, chronic illnesses. These observations form the basis of the "developmental origins of health and disease" hypothesis, which suggests that the intrauterine signals that compromise fetal growth also act to "program" tissue differentiation in a manner that predisposes to later illness. Fetal growth also predicts the risk for later psychopathology. These findings parallel studies showing that antenatal maternal emotional well-being likewise predicts the risk for later psychopathology. Taken together, these findings form the basis for integrative models of fetal neurodevelopment, which propose that antenatal maternal adversity operates through the biological pathways associated with fetal growth to program neurodevelopment. The authors review the literature and find little support for such integrated models. Maternal anxiety, depression, and stress all influence neurodevelopment but show modest, weak, or no associations with known stress mediators (e.g., glucocorticoids) or with fetal growth. Rather, compromised fetal development appears to establish a "meta-plastic" state that increases sensitivity to postnatal influences. There also remain serious concerns that observational studies associating either fetal growth or maternal mental health with neurodevelopmental outcomes fail to account for underlying genetic factors. Finally, while the observed relation between fetal growth and adult health has garnered considerable attention, the clinical relevance of these associations remains to be determined. There are both considerable promise and important challenges for future studies of the fetal origins of mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kieran J O'Donnell
- From the Sackler Program for Epigenetics and Psychobiology, McGill University, Montreal; the Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal; and the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore
| | - Michael J Meaney
- From the Sackler Program for Epigenetics and Psychobiology, McGill University, Montreal; the Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal; and the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore
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Converse AK, Moore CF, Holden JE, Ahlers EO, Moirano JM, Larson JA, Resch LM, DeJesus OT, Barnhart TE, Nickles RJ, Murali D, Christian BT, Schneider ML. Moderate-level prenatal alcohol exposure induces sex differences in dopamine d1 receptor binding in adult rhesus monkeys. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2015; 38:2934-43. [PMID: 25581649 DOI: 10.1111/acer.12575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2014] [Accepted: 09/05/2014] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND We examined the effects of moderate prenatal alcohol exposure and/or prenatal stress exposure on (D1 R) binding in a non human primate model. The dopamine D1 R is involved in executive function, and it may play a role in cognitive behavioral deficits associated with prenatal alcohol and/or stress exposure. Little is known, however, about the effects of prenatal alcohol and/or stress exposure on the D1 R. We expected that prenatal insults would lead to alterations in D1 R binding in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and striatum in adulthood. METHODS Rhesus macaque females were randomly assigned to moderate alcohol exposure and/or mild prenatal stress as well as a control condition during pregnancy. Thirty-eight offspring were raised identically and studied as adults by noninvasive in vivo neuroimaging using positron emission tomography with the D1 antagonist radiotracer [(11) C]SCH 23390. Radiotracer binding in PFC and striatum was evaluated by 2 (alcohol) × 2 (stress) × 2 (sex) analysis of variance. RESULTS In PFC, a significant alcohol × sex interaction was observed with prenatal alcohol exposure leading to increased [(11) C]SCH 23390 binding in male monkeys. No main effect of prenatal alcohol or prenatal stress exposure was observed. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that prenatal alcohol exposure results in long-term increases in prefrontal dopamine D1 R binding in males. This may help explain gender differences in the prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders consequent to prenatal alcohol exposure.
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