Timing of Early Maternal Mental Health and Child Cortisol Regulation

Abstract

Maternal mental health problems can negatively impact children's physiological stress regulation. Yet, little is known of their long‐term effects, especially related to the timing of maternal symptoms. We examined how maternal mental health problems during pregnancy versus in the early postpartum period predict children's cortisol levels and diurnal patterns at 10–12 years. Participants were a selection (N = 102) of an original sample of 805 Finnish families, who were followed from the second trimester of pregnancy (T1) to child's age of 2 months (T2) and 12 months (T3), and again at child's age of 10–12 years (T4). Based on the timing of psychological distress and depressive symptoms (T1–T3), the mothers could be assigned to three distinct mental health trajectory groups: mothers with prenatal mental health problems (n = 15), mothers with early postpartum mental health problems (n = 15) and mothers without mental health problems (n = 72). Children's cortisol (T4) was measured by saliva samples through five within‐1‐day assessments. The results show that maternal prenatal mental health problems predicted a relatively steep increase of child cortisol from awakening to 1 h later, indicating an intensified cortisol awakening response (CAR). Mothers' early postpartum mental health problems instead predicted a reduced CAR. Both maternal prenatal and postnatal mental health problems thus predicted children's later stress regulation, but in unique ways. We discuss the specific roles of direct biochemical effects during pregnancy and postpartum mother–infant interaction quality as modifiers of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal system. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Children's stress regulation mediates the association between prenatal maternal mood and child executive functions for boys, but not girls

“…Furthermore, maternal prenatal and postnatal mental health problems may be differentially associated with later outcomes in the offspring. For instance, Vänskä et al (2015) showed that both maternal prenatal and postnatal mental health problems predicted children's later stress regulation, but in unique ways (maternal prenatal mental health problems predicted an intensified CAR, whereas mothers’ early postpartum mental health problems predicted a reduced CAR). Future research will hopefully explore in more detail the combination of early life stress, genetics, and ongoing stress that may ultimately determine an individual's responsiveness to stress and the vulnerability or resilience in developmental outcomes, such as EFs and psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression; Charney & Manji, 2004).…”

“…Overall, these and some additional studies indicate that prenatal stress is linked to both raised diurnal cortisol levels and increased stress responsivity in infancy (Brennan et al, 2008; Davis, Glynn, Waffarn, & Sandman, 2011; Diego et al, 2004; Grant et al, 2009; Tollenaar, Beijers, Jansen, Riksen-Walraven, & de Weerth, 2011), and early to middle childhood (Gutteling, de Weerth, & Buitelaar, 2004, 2005; O'Connor et al, 2005; Simons, Beijers, Cillessen, & de Weerth, 2015). Later in development, some studies have found either a reduced cortisol awakening response (CAR) and blunted diurnal cortisol decline in adolescents (O'Donnell et al, 2013; van den Bergh et al, 2008, however, see Vänskä et al, 2015, for an intensified CAR but nonaffected diurnal cortisol decline in 10- to 12-year-olds) or no differences in diurnal patterns but increased cortisol reactivity during the Trier Social Stress Test among young adults exposed to early stress versus an age-matched comparison group (Entringer, Kumsta, Hellhammer, Wadhwa, & Wust, 2009).…”

An experimental test of the fetal programming hypothesis: Can we reduce child ontogenetic vulnerability to psychopathology by decreasing maternal depression?

“…Associations with baseline HPA axis regulation are observed in childhood as well. In a prospective longitudinal investigation, prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with a larger CAR in the offspring at 10 to 12 years of age, after covarying for postnatal factors including maternal depression (Vänskä et al, 2016).…”

The role of maternal emotional states during pregnancy and early infancy on infant cortisol levels: A prospective study

“…studies have shown that symptoms of prenatal anxiety are related to higher cortisol levels during infancy (Beijers, Buitelaar, & de Weerth, 2014;De Bruijn et al, 2009;Glover, Ahmed-Salim, & Capron, 2016;Romero-Gonzalez, Caparros-Gonzalez, Gonzalez-Perez, Delgado-Puertas, & Peralta-Ramirez, 2018) and even in adolescence (Vänskä et al, 2016). As for perinatal variables, the data show that difficult deliveries (e.g., deliveries involving forceps, vacuum, or caesarean section) are related to higher infant cortisol levels.…”

“…Trait anxiety is a relatively stable personality feature, and subjects with high scores on this scale are emotionally unstable, submissive, frustrated, and show a tendency to perceive situations as threatening (Spielberger et al, ). Additionally, previous studies have shown that symptoms of prenatal anxiety are related to higher cortisol levels during infancy (Beijers, Buitelaar, & de Weerth, ; De Bruijn et al, ; Glover, Ahmed‐Salim, & Capron, ; Romero‐Gonzalez, Caparros‐Gonzalez, Gonzalez‐Perez, Delgado‐Puertas, & Peralta‐Ramirez, ) and even in adolescence (Vänskä et al, ). As for perinatal variables, the data show that difficult deliveries (e.g., deliveries involving forceps, vacuum, or caesarean section) are related to higher infant cortisol levels.…”