Fetal heart rate reactivity differs by women's psychiatric status: an early marker for developmental risk?
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether there are differences in fetal heart rate (FHR) reactivity associated with women's psychiatric status.


METHODS
In 57 women in their 36th to 38th week of pregnancy (mean age 27 +/- 6 years), electrocardiogram, blood pressure (BP), respiration (RSP), and FHR were measured during baseline and a psychological challenge (a Stroop color-word matching task). Subjects underwent the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) and completed the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory prior to testing.


RESULTS
There was a significant main effect of maternal diagnostic group on FHR reactivity during the Stroop task even after controlling for birth weight and women's BP reactivity (F4,44 = 2.68, p =.04). Fetuses of depressed women had greater heart rate increases compared to fetuses of women with anxiety disorders and those of healthy, low-anxiety women (post hoc comparisons using the Fisher protected least significant difference test; t = 4.12, p <.05; t = 4.72, p <.01, respectively). There was a similar pattern comparing fetuses of healthy, high-anxiety women to the same two groups (t = 3.29, p <.05; t = 3.99, p <.05, respectively). There were no group differences in FHR during a resting baseline period (F4,52 = 1.2, p =.35).


CONCLUSIONS
Maternal mood disturbance is associated with alterations in children's physiological reactivity prior to birth.
Monk
Catherine
C
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. cem31@columbia.edu
Sloan
Richard P
RP
Myers
Michael M
MM
Ellman
Lauren
L
Werner
Elizabeth
E
Jeon
Jiyeon
J
Tager
Felice
F
Fifer
William P
WP
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006340:Heart Rate, Fetal; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third