title: Salivary cortisol response to infant distress in pregnant women with depressive symptoms.
abstract: The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis has been proposed as a potential underlying biological mechanism linking prenatal depression with adverse offspring outcomes. However, it is unknown whether the reactivity of this system to stress is altered in pregnant women experiencing depression. The objective of this study was to investigate whether salivary cortisol response to a distressed infant film is enhanced in pregnant women with symptoms of depression compared with non-depressed controls. Salivary cortisol and subjective mood responses to the film were measured in 53 primiparous women, between 11 and 18 weeks gestation. Both groups showed similar increases in state anxiety in response to the film, but there was a significantly increased cortisol response in women experiencing symptoms of depression. Depression during pregnancy is associated with increased reactivity of the HPA axis. This is consistent with altered HPA axis functioning being a key mechanism by which prenatal mood disturbance can impact upon fetal development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. susannah.murphy@psych.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Susannah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Braithwaite
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bath, North East Somerset, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hubbard
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bath, North East Somerset, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kate V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bath, North East Somerset, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tindall
authors.affiliation: MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.affiliation: Academic Unit of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Ramchandani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001007:Anxiety / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D007223:Infant; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone