Does Prenatal Maternal Distress Contribute to Sex Differences in Child Psychopathology?

Hicks, Laurel M.; Swales, Danielle A.; Garcia, Sarah E.; Driver, Camille; Davis, Elysia Poggi

doi:10.1007/s11920-019-0992-5

Cited by 40 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…Moreover, the underlying mechanisms that confer differences between the sexes are largely unknown. Recent research points to several potential pathways, including sex differences in HPA-axis functioning, brain development, and sex-specific adaptation of the placenta 48,49 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal stress during pregnancy alters fetal cortico-cerebellar connectivity in utero and increases child sleep problems after birth

Heuvel

Hect

Smarr

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Child sleep disorders are increasingly prevalent and understanding early predictors of sleep problems, starting in utero, may meaningfully guide future prevention efforts. Here, we investigated whether prenatal exposure to maternal psychological stress is associated with increased sleep problems in toddlers. We also examined whether fetal brain connectivity has direct or indirect influence on this putative association. Pregnant women underwent fetal resting-state functional connectivity MRI and completed questionnaires on stress, worry, and negative affect. At 3-year follow-up, 64 mothers reported on child sleep problems, and in the subset that have reached 5-year follow-up, actigraphy data (N = 25) has also been obtained. We observe that higher maternal prenatal stress is associated with increased toddler sleep concerns, with actigraphy sleep metrics, and with decreased fetal cerebellar-insular connectivity. Specific mediating effects were not identified for the fetal brain regions examined. The search for underlying mechanisms of the link between maternal prenatal stress and child sleep problems should be continued and extended to other brain areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal stress during pregnancy alters fetal cortico-cerebellar connectivity in utero and increases child sleep problems after birth

Heuvel

Hect

Smarr

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…This model includes the idea of fetal programing, wherein fetal development is impacted by changes to the intrauterine environment as a result of maternal context, including biological and psychological adversity. DOHaD and fetal programing hypotheses are supported by research linking prenatal maternal stress, mood, and adversity to the fetal environment and to adverse birth outcomes, disrupted motor and cognitive development, long-term health risks such as obesity and cardiometabolic disorders, and mental health challenges including depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and more general internalizing and externalizing symptoms (Davis & Sandman, 2010Essau et al, 2018;Glynn et al, 2018;Graignic-Philippe et al, 2014;Hicks et al, 2019;Irwin et al, 2020;Lupien et al, 2009;Park et al, 2014;Van den Bergh et al, 2017). Importantly, studies attempting to understand psychiatric risk earlier in life have identified negative emotionality in infants, which includes frustration, fear, discomfort, sadness, and low soothability (Rothbart, 2007), as an indicator of future mental health challenges (Bush et al, 2017;Crawford et al, 2011;Luecken et al, 2015).…”

Section: Developmental Origins Of Health and Disease And Child Mental...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intergenerational risk and resilience pathways from discrimination and acculturative stress to infant mental health

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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Preconception and prenatal stress impact fetal and infant development, and women of color are disproportionately exposed to sociocultural stressors like discrimination and acculturative stress. However, few studies examine links between mothers’ exposure to these stressors and offspring mental health, or possible mitigating factors. Using linear regression, we tested associations between prenatally assessed maternal acculturative stress and discrimination on infant negative emotionality among 113 Latinx/Hispanic, Asian American, Black, and Multiethnic mothers and their children. Additionally, we tested interactions between stressors and potential pre- and postnatal resilience-promoting factors: community cohesion, social support, communalism, and parenting self-efficacy. Discrimination and acculturative stress were related to more infant negative emotionality at approximately 12 months old (M = 12.6, SD = .75). In contrast, maternal report of parenting self-efficacy when infants were 6 months old was related to lower levels of infant negative emotionality. Further, higher levels of parenting self-efficacy mitigated the relation between acculturative stress and negative emotionality. Preconception and prenatal exposure to sociocultural stress may be a risk factor for poor offspring mental health. Maternal and child health researchers, policymakers, and practitioners should prioritize further understanding these relations, reducing exposure to sociocultural stressors, and promoting resilience.

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“…Psychological distress during pregnancy impairs brain development of the fetus, and there is a knowledge gap about how prenatal stress increases the risk for neurodevelopmental illnesses that include social and cognitive deficits, including schizophrenia (SCZ) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) 22,23,[2][3][4][5][6][7] . Studies in mice show that exposure of pregnant dams to restraint stress leads to sex-dependent effects on brain development 24 within brain regions that are sexually dimorphic, including the hippocampus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deficits of Hippocampal RNA Editing and Social Interaction Resulting from Prenatal Stress are Mitigated by Clozapine

Bristow

Dong²,

Nwabuisi-Heath³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: Neurodevelopmental deficits resulting from prenatal stress are associated with neurological disorders that include deficits of social behavior, such as schizophrenia and autism. Studies of human brain and animal models indicate that an epitranscriptomic process known as RNA editing contributes to the pathophysiology of these disorders, which occur more frequently in males than in females. RNA editing plays an important role in brain development through its modification of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission. Methods: We exposed pregnant mice to restraint stress three times daily during gestational weeks 2 and 3. We treated the adult male offspring with haloperidol (1mg/kg), clozapine (5mg/kg) or saline twice daily for 5 days. Subsequently we measured social interaction behavior (SI) and locomotor activity, followed by next-generation sequencing analyses of hippocampal RNA editing. Results: Mice exposed to PRS exhibited reduced SI, which correlated with hippocampal RNA editing of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor subunits GluA2, GluA3 and GluA4, the potassium channel Kv1.1, the calcium channel subunit Cav1.3, calcium-dependent secretion activator (CAPS-1) and the calcium-dependent cell adhesion protein, cadherin 22 (CDH22). Treatment with clozapine, but not haloperidol, normalized SI behavior, and selectively reduced the deficits in GluA2 RNA editing in PRS mice. Conclusions: RNA editing may contribute to impaired hippocampal function after exposure to PRS. The efficacy of clozapine in improving SI behavior may include indirect stimulation of GluA2 RNA editing in the hippocampus. Although these data are from male mice and not humans, the results suggest a new molecular pathway by which PRS leads to life-long impairments of hippocampal function.

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Does Prenatal Maternal Distress Contribute to Sex Differences in Child Psychopathology?

Cited by 40 publications

References 94 publications

Maternal stress during pregnancy alters fetal cortico-cerebellar connectivity in utero and increases child sleep problems after birth

Maternal stress during pregnancy alters fetal cortico-cerebellar connectivity in utero and increases child sleep problems after birth

Intergenerational risk and resilience pathways from discrimination and acculturative stress to infant mental health

Deficits of Hippocampal RNA Editing and Social Interaction Resulting from Prenatal Stress are Mitigated by Clozapine

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