title: Influence of stress during pregnancy on HPA activity and neonatal behavior.
abstract: Prenatal maternal stress has been shown to impair birth outcome and behavioral functioning in nonhuman primate offspring. Little is known about the effects of prenatal stress on behavioral development in humans. We assessed the effect of self-reported prenatal stress on behavioral characteristics of 81 newborns using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). We suspected that high levels of perceived chronic stress during pregnancy may negatively affect the brain development of the fetus, reflected in poorer behavioral maturity and higher irritability. We found a poorer performance of newborns from high stressed mothers in the NBAS.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Psychobiology, University of Trier, Germany. riegerm@uni-trier.de
authors.forename: Margarete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rieger
authors.forename: Karl-Martin
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Pirke
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buske-Kirschbaum
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wurmser
authors.forename: Mechthild
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papousek
authors.forename: Dirk H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Hellhammer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007508:Irritable Mood; D009949:Orientation; D011247:Pregnancy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*