Prenatal Maternal Stress, Child Cortical Thickness, and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Prenatal maternal stress predicts subsequent elevations in youth depressive symptoms, but the neural processes associated with these links are unclear. This study evaluated whether prenatal maternal stress is associated with child brain development, and adolescent depressive symptoms using a prospective design with 74 mother child pairs (40 boys). Maternal stress was assessed during pregnancy, child cortical thickness at age 7, and depressive symptoms at age 12. Prenatal maternal stress was associated with less cortical thickness primarily in frontal and temporal regions and with elevated depressive symptoms; child cortical thickness additionally correlated with adolescent depressive symptoms. The observed associations are consistent with the possibility that cortical thickness in superior frontal regions links associations between prenatal maternal stress and adolescent depressive symptoms.

Pregnancy as a period of risk, adaptation, and resilience for mothers and infants

“…Experiences during the prenatal period are critical for normative processes from the closing of the neural tube to development of circuits involved in sensory processing (Burton, Hempstock, & Jauniaux, 2001; Godfrey & Barker, 2001; Moon & Fifer, 2000). The developing fetal brain additionally is particularly susceptible to harm from teratogenic factors such as toxins, infection, maternal stress including prenatal mental health problems, and other environmental exposures (Davis, Head, Buss, & Sandman 2017; Davis et al, 2019; Kim et al, 2017; Madigan et al, 2018). Less considered is the likelihood that the fetal period is also a window of opportunity when salutary experiences may exert beneficial influences.…”

“…Women also typically have more contact with the medical system during their pregnancies, so there is greater opportunity for outreach and treatment (Davis et al, 2018; Narayan et al, 2017; River, Narayan, Galvan et al, 2019). Finally, empirical evidence points to increased plasticity in the maternal as well as the fetal brain during the prenatal period (Davis et al, 2019; Glynn, 2010, 2012; Glynn, Davis, Sandman, & Goldberg, 2016). For these reasons, understanding the antecedents and consequences of maternal mental health and stress during the prenatal period and applying life span and intergenerational perspectives are important for identifying opportunities for prevention and intervention to promote resilience.…”

Association of Prenatal Maternal Psychological Distress With Fetal Brain Growth, Metabolism, and Cortical Maturation

“…These questionnaires have been widely used in pregnancy studies. [36][37][38][39][40][41] The PSS measures the degree of stressful feelings experienced during the past month. The score range for the 10-item PSS is 0 to 40, with a score higher than 15 indicating that the perceived stress is higher than average.…”

Intrauterine Wachstumsrestriktion: Transsektorale, interdisziplinäre und multiprofessionelle Betreuung von Schwangeren und Neugeborenen im Feto-Neonat-Pfad: Ein Projekt des Innovationsfonds

“…Die Feststellung eines besonderen Risikoprofils in der Schwangerschaft verursacht Stress bei den Familien. Pränataler Stress unterschiedlicher Genese hat langfristige Auswirkungen auf die elterliche und kindliche Gesundheit [42]. In Risikokollektiven kranker Früh-und Neugeborener haben Konzepte einer psychologisch-sozialmedizinischen Begleitung der Familien positive Effekte: das elterliche Stressniveau sinkt, die Mutter-Kind-Interaktion wird gestärkt und die Gesundheitskosten in den ersten zwei Lebensjahren werden gesenkt [43,44].…”