Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Dev Psychobiol. 2020 Sep;62(6):758-767. doi: 10.1002/dev.21952. Epub 2020 Jan 30.
Hair cortisol concentrations measured during pregnancy have emerged as a novel biomarker for prenatal stress exposure. However, associations between prenatal stress and distress, broadly defined, and hair cortisol concentrations during pregnancy are inconsistent. We examined relations among hair cortisol concentrations during the third trimester with (a) emotion dysregulation and (b) detailed measures of maternal prenatal stress. We also examined the predictive validity of maternal hair cortisol during pregnancy for adverse newborn health outcomes. Cortisol concentrations were derived from 6 cm of hair during the third trimester of pregnancy. Mothers reported on their emotion dysregulation and stress at this time. A standardized newborn neurobehavioral exam was conducted shortly after birth and newborn birth weight and gestational age were assessed from medical records. All hypotheses were preregistered on the Open Science Framework (osf.io/279ng). High levels of emotion dysregulation, but not stress, were predictive of high hair cortisol concentrations. Maternal prenatal BMI mediated the relation between maternal prenatal emotion dysregulation and hair cortisol concentrations. There was no association between hair cortisol and infant birth outcomes. This research supports the notion that transdiagnostic markers of psychopathology are important correlates of hair cortisol concentrations during pregnancy.
怀孕期间的头发皮质醇浓度已成为产前应激暴露的新型生物标志物。然而，广泛定义的产前应激和困扰与怀孕期间头发皮质醇浓度之间的关联并不一致。我们研究了孕晚期头发皮质醇浓度与(a)情绪调节障碍和(b)详细的产前母亲压力测量之间的关系。我们还研究了母亲怀孕期间头发皮质醇对新生儿健康不良结局的预测效度。皮质醇浓度是从怀孕第三个三个月的 6 厘米头发中得出的。母亲在这个时候报告了她们的情绪调节障碍和压力。在出生后不久进行了标准化的新生儿神经行为检查，并从病历中评估了新生儿的出生体重和胎龄。所有假设都在开放科学框架（osf.io/279ng）上预先注册。高水平的情绪调节障碍，但不是压力，可预测高头发皮质醇浓度。母亲产前 BMI 介导了母亲产前情绪调节障碍与头发皮质醇浓度之间的关系。头发皮质醇与婴儿出生结局之间没有关联。这项研究支持这样一种观点，即精神病理学的跨诊断标志物是怀孕期间头发皮质醇浓度的重要相关物。
