title: Effects of maternal anxiety and depression during pregnancy in Chinese women on children's heart rate and blood pressure response to stress.
abstract: Psychological disturbances, including anxiety and depression, are common during human pregnancy. Our objective was to determine whether these maternal disturbances influence cardiovascular responses of the offspring. The psychological status of 231 pregnant women was determined. Offspring (216) of these women were subsequently exposed to a video challenge stress when aged 7-9 years. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) of the children were determined at rest, in response to video stress and during subsequent recovery. Children's resting and stress-induced increases in HR (bpm), systolic (SBP, mm Hg) and diastolic (DBP, mm Hg) BP were all greater in children whose mothers reported anxiety during pregnancy. Values (mean±s.d.) for resting HR, SBP and DBP were 75.15±5.87, 95.37±2.72 and 66.39±4.74 for children whose mothers reported no anxiety and an average of 81.62±6.71, 97.26±2.90 and 68.86±2.82 for children whose mothers reported anxiety at any level. Respective values for stress-induced increments in HR, SBP and DBP were 14.83.±2.14, 16.41±1.97 and 12.72±2.69 for children whose mothers reported no anxiety and 17.95±3.46, 18.74±2.46 and 14.86±2.02 for children whose mothers reported any level of anxiety. Effects of maternal depression were less consistent. The effects of maternal anxiety remained in multivariate analyses, which also included children's birth weight. The results indicate a long-term influence of maternal psychological status during pregnancy on the cardiovascular responses to stress among offspring. These effects may contribute to prenatal influences on subsequent health of the offspring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.|Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes, Institute & Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Alfred, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Psychiatry, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes, Institute & Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Alfred, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dart
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety; D044466:Asian People; D001724:Birth Weight; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D013312:Stress, Physiological