title: Chronic Stress and C-Reactive Protein in Mothers During the First Postpartum Year.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. The current study tested associations between psychosocial stress and CRP in a large sample of women during the first postpartum year.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed data collected by the five-site Community Child Health Network study, which studied a predominately poor population. Participants (n = 1206 women; 54% African American, 23% white, 23% Hispanic/Latina) were recruited shortly after the birth of a child. Multiple linear regression analyses tested associations of psychosocial stress in several life domains (financial, neighborhood, family, coparenting, partner relationship, discrimination, and interpersonal violence) with log-transformed CRP concentrations at 6-month and 1-year postpartum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-eight percent of participants showed evidence of elevated CRP (≥3 mg/L) at 6-month postpartum, and 46% had elevated CRP at 12-month postpartum. Chronic financial stress at 1-month postpartum predicted higher levels of CRP at 6- (b = .15, SE = .05, p = .006) and 12-month postpartum (b = .15, SE = .06, p = .007) adjusting for race/ethnicity, income, education, parity, health behaviors, and chronic health conditions, though associations became nonsignificant when adjusted for body mass index.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this low-income and ethnic/racially diverse sample of women, higher financial stress at 1-month postbirth predicted higher CRP. Study findings suggest that perceived financial stress stemming from socioeconomic disadvantage may be a particular deleterious form of stress affecting maternal biology during the year after the birth of a child.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Psychology (Guardino, Dunkel Schetter), University of California, Los Angeles; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Hobel), Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, The Burns and Allen Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California; Department of Health Behavior (Lanzi), University of Alabama at Birmingham; Health Policy (Schafer), New York Academy of Medicine; Obstetrics and Gynecology (Thorp), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; North Shore University Health System Research Institute and Department of Pediatrics (Shalowitz), University of Chicago, Illinois; and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (CHNN).
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Guardino
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dunkel Schetter
authors.forename: Calvin J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hobel
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gaines Lanzi
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schafer
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Thorp
authors.forename: Madeleine U
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Shalowitz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein