title: Lifetime exposure to traumatic and other stressful life events and hair cortisol in a multi-racial/ethnic sample of pregnant women.
abstract: We examined whether lifetime exposure to stressful and traumatic events alters hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning, as indexed by hair cortisol, regardless of associated psychopathology, among pregnant women of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. 180 women provided hair samples for measurement of integrated cortisol levels throughout pregnancy and information regarding their lifetime exposure to stressful and traumatic life events. Results indicate that increased lifetime exposure to traumatic events was associated with significantly greater hair cortisol over the course of pregnancy. Similarly, greater lifetime exposure to stressful and traumatic events weighted by reported negative impact (over the previous 12 months) was associated with significantly greater hair cortisol during pregnancy. All analyses controlled for maternal age, education, body mass index (BMI), use of inhaled corticosteroids, race/ethnicity, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms. Following stratification by race/ethnicity, associations between stressful and traumatic life events and hair cortisol were found among Black women only. This is the first study to consider associations between lifetime stress exposures and hair cortisol in a sociodemographically diverse sample of pregnant women. Increased exposure to stressful and traumatic events, independent of PTSD and depressive symptoms, was associated with higher cortisol production, particularly in Black women. Future research should investigate the influence of such increased cortisol exposure on developmental outcomes among offspring.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics , Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Kravis Children's Hospital , New York , NY , USA .|b Department of Biobehavioral Health , The Pennsylvania State University , University Park , PA , USA .
authors.forename: Hannah M C
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Schreier
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychiatry , Boston Children's Hospital , Boston , MA , USA .|d Department of Psychiatry , Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA .
authors.forename: Michelle Bosquet
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Enlow
authors.affiliation: e Department of Psychology , Southern Methodist University , Dallas , TX , USA .
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.affiliation: f Department of Biostatistics , Harvard School of Public Health , Boston , MA , USA .
authors.forename: Brent A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Coull
authors.affiliation: g Department of Preventive Medicine , Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , New York , NY , USA , and.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gennings
authors.affiliation: g Department of Preventive Medicine , Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , New York , NY , USA , and.|h Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mindich Child Health & Development Institute , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Robert O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatrics , Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Kravis Children's Hospital , New York , NY , USA .|h Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mindich Child Health & Development Institute , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Rosalind J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000378:metabolism; D008016:Life Change Events; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People; D011446:Prospective Studies; D000067073:Psychological Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Hair cortisol; ethnicity; post-traumatic stress disorder; pregnancy; race; trauma