Prenatal Maternal Stress and the Risk of Lifetime Wheeze in Young Offspring: An Examination by Stressor and Maternal Ethnicity.
Prenatal psychosocial stressors may increase the risk of wheeze in young offspring, yet little attention has been given to the effects that maternal ethnicity may have on this relationship. From a population-based cohort of 1193 children, we assessed the effect of maternal prenatal stressors on the risk of lifetime wheeze in young offspring. We further studied whether maternal Latina ethnicity modified these associations. The risk of wheeze in the offspring was increased from high levels of pregnancy anxiety (aRR 1.40, 95 % CI 1.07, 1.83), negative life events (aRR 1.36, 95 % CI 1.06, 1.75), or low paternal support (aRR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.02, 1.96). The risk of lifetime wheeze was stronger in the offspring of Latina mothers than of White mothers for these same stressors. Multiple maternal prenatal stressors are associated with increased risk of lifetime wheeze in young offspring, with slight effect modification by Latina ethnicity.
Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. gbandoli@ucla.edu.
Gretchen
G
Bandoli
Department of Community Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Ondine
O
von Ehrenstein
, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Jo Kay C
JKC
Ghosh
Department of Family and Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital for Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
Marie E S
MES
Flores
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Christine
C
Dunkel Schetter
Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Beate
B
Ritz
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000208:ethnology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000208:ethnology*; D012135:Respiratory Sounds; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology*
Childhood wheeze; Fetal programming; Latina ethnicity; Prenatal stress