Positive life events predict salivary cortisol in pregnant women.
Maternal stress during pregnancy has been repeatedly associated with problematic child development. According to the fetal programming hypothesis adverse experiences during pregnancy increase maternal cortisol, which is then assumed to exert a negative effect on fetal development. Recent studies in non-pregnant women report significant associations between positive emotionality and low cortisol levels. We tested in a sample of 60 pregnant women whether both negative and positive life events independently predicted third-trimester baseline awakening cortisol levels. While the effect of negative life events proved unrelated positive life events significantly predicted lower cortisol levels. These findings suggest that positive experiences are of relevance regarding maternal morning cortisol levels in pregnancy reflecting a resource with potentially beneficial effects for the mother and the developing fetus. It might be promising for psychological intervention programs to focus on increasing positive experiences of the expecting mother rather than exclusively trying to reduce maternal stress during pregnancy.
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
Michael
M
Pluess
Harald
H
Wurmser
Angelika
A
Buske-Kirschbaum
Mechthild
M
Papousek
Karl-Martin
KM
Pirke
Dirk
D
Hellhammer
Margarete
M
Bolten
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008016:Life Change Events; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
D006854:Hydrocortisone