title: Psychological distress and salivary cortisol covary within persons during pregnancy.
abstract: The mechanisms whereby maternal stress during pregnancy exerts organizational effects on fetal development require elaboration. The aim of this study was to assess the plausibility of cortisol as a biological link between maternal psychological distress during pregnancy and fetal development. Previous research has resulted in equivocal findings for between-persons differences in stress and cortisol. Ecological momentary assessment was used to simultaneously assess mood and cortisol 5 times daily for 3 days in 83 women (gestational ages 6-37 weeks). Results from multilevel analysis indicated a robust within-person association between negative mood and cortisol. For each 1.0% increase in negative mood there was a corresponding 1.9% increase in cortisol. This association was unaffected by advancing gestational age. The results suggest that cortisol is a plausible biological mechanism for transducing the effects of maternal psychological distress during pregnancy to fetal development.
authors.affiliation: University of Calgary, Canada. Gerald.Giesbrecht@albertahealthservices.ca
authors.forename: Gerald F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Giesbrecht
authors.forename: Tavis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Letourneau
authors.forename: Libbe
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kooistra
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000378:metabolism; D003863:Depression / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000523:psychology; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone