Document Detail


Attenuation of maternal psychophysiological stress responses and the maternal cortisol awakening response over the course of human pregnancy.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20067400     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The effects of maternal stress during pregnancy may depend, in part, on the timing in gestation of the occurrence of stress. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of stage of gestation on maternal psychophysiological responses to stress using a standardized laboratory paradigm and on the cortisol response to awakening (CAR). A longitudinal design was employed to quantify maternal psychophysiological stress reactivity [changes in heart rate (HR), blood pressure, salivary cortisol, and psychological distress in response to the trier social stress test (TSST)] and the CAR at approximately 17 and 31 weeks gestation in a sample of 148 women. To account for the possible effects of habituation when being exposed to the same stress protocol twice, a non-pregnant comparison group (CG, N = 36) also underwent these assessments at two time points, with a comparable time interval between the assessments. In both groups, the TSST elicited significant changes in maternal HR, mean arterial pressure, and psychological distress levels but not a significant increase in cortisol levels. Among the pregnant women (pregnant group(PG)), the stressor-induced increases in HR, blood pressure, and psychological distress were significantly lower at the second (31 weeks gestation) compared to the first (17 weeks gestation) assessment of pregnancy (all p < 0.01). The maternal CAR was also significantly attenuated in later compared to earlier gestation (p = 0.003). In the CG, there were no significant differences in psychophysiological stress responses and in the CAR across the two assessments. Among pregnant women there is a progressive attenuation of psychophysiological stress responses with advancing gestation. This attenuation is unlikely to be attributable to habituation. Individual differences in the degree of attenuation of stress responses over gestation may represent a novel marker of stress susceptibility in human pregnancy.
Authors:
Sonja Entringer; Claudia Buss; Elizabeth A Shirtcliff; Alison L Cammack; Ilona S Yim; Aleksandra Chicz-DeMet; Curt A Sandman; Pathik D Wadhwa
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands)     Volume:  13     ISSN:  1607-8888     ISO Abbreviation:  Stress     Publication Date:  2010 May 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-04-15     Completed Date:  2010-07-09     Revised Date:  2010-09-27    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9617529     Medline TA:  Stress     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  258-68     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, California, USA.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Blood Pressure / physiology
Circadian Rhythm / physiology
Female
Heart Rate / physiology
Humans
Hydrocortisone / metabolism*
Linear Models
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications / metabolism*,  physiopathology*
Pregnancy Trimester, First / physiology
Pregnancy Trimester, Second / physiology
Pregnancy Trimester, Third / physiology
Saliva / metabolism
Stress, Psychological / metabolism*,  physiopathology*
Young Adult
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
HD-041696/HD/NICHD NIH HHS; HD-33506/HD/NICHD NIH HHS; HD-47609/HD/NICHD NIH HHS; P01 HD047609-05/HD/NICHD NIH HHS; R01 HD060628-01A2/HD/NICHD NIH HHS; R29 HD033506-06/HD/NICHD NIH HHS
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
50-23-7/Hydrocortisone
Comments/Corrections

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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