Using Natural Disasters to Study the Effects of Prenatal Maternal Stress on Child Health and Development

King, Suzanne; Dancause, Kelsey Needham; Turcotte-Tremblay, Anne-Marie; Veru, Franz; Laplante, David P.

doi:10.1002/bdrc.21026

Cited by 207 publications

(236 citation statements)

References 111 publications

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“…Extended prenatal exposure to maternal cortisol early in development is associated with cognitive impairment [129]. Furthermore, children born during a natural disaster (chronic stress) have both elevated cortisol levels and greater dermatoglyphic asymmetry, supporting this hypothesis [79,80].…”

Section: Stressorsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…This is a significant advantage over many other traits, such as bones and soft tissues, because it allows one to infer precisely when development has been perturbed. For example, King et al [79,80] found that mothers of children who experienced a natural disaster (an ice storm) during the critical period of gestation gave birth to children with greater dermatoglyphic asymmetry than those gestating earlier or later.…”

Section: Dermatoglyphic Asymmetrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…King et al [79,80] discovered stress-related phenomena in children who were in utero during the Quebec Ice Storm of 1998. In addition to elevated dermatoglyphic asymmetry, children displayed elevated levels of cortisol, a marker of stress.…”

Section: Natural Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to elevated dermatoglyphic asymmetry, children displayed elevated levels of cortisol, a marker of stress. Two additional studies of chronic stress and natural disasters are in progress [79]: the Iowa Flood Study and the Queensland Flood Study.…”

Section: Natural Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Graham

Özener

2016

Symmetry

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Fluctuating asymmetry, the random deviation from perfect symmetry, is a widely used population-level index of developmental instability, developmental noise, and robustness. It reflects a population's state of adaptation and genomic coadaptation. Here, we review the literature on fluctuating asymmetry of human populations. The most widely used bilateral traits include skeletal, dental, and facial dimensions; dermatoglyphic patterns and ridge counts; and facial shape. Each trait has its advantages and disadvantages, but results are most robust when multiple traits are combined into a composite index of fluctuating asymmetry (CFA). Both environmental (diet, climate, toxins) and genetic (aneuploidy, heterozygosity, inbreeding) stressors have been linked to population-level variation in fluctuating asymmetry. In general, these stressors increase average fluctuating asymmetry. Nevertheless, there have been many conflicting results, in part because (1) fluctuating asymmetry is a weak signal in a sea of noise; and (2) studies of human fluctuating asymmetry have not always followed best practices. The most serious concerns are insensitive asymmetry indices (correlation coefficient and coefficient of indetermination), inappropriate size scaling, unrecognized mixture distributions, inappropriate corrections for directional asymmetry, failure to use composite indices, and inattention to measurement error. Consequently, it is often difficult (or impossible) to compare results across traits, and across studies.

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Section: Stressorsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Dermatoglyphic Asymmetrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Natural Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Natural Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Graham

Özener

2016

Symmetry

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“…Maternal prenatal stressful life events and offspring psychotic experiences When conceptualising and measuring maternal prenatal 'distress', the literature is broadly divided into objective (independent stressful events) and subjective (psychopathology) (141,178). Studies which have used objective assessments of prenatal stress have usually ascertained the degree of exposure of the pregnant mothers to a natural or man-made disaster.…”

Section: Prenatal Risks and Early Postnatal Mediators Of Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Early life course determinants of psychopathology

Betts¹

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Background: Mental health problems are associated with a range of adverse outcomes as well as increased risk of later morbidity and premature mortality. Help seeking is uncommon at the early stages of mental health problems. Rather, treatment is often sought by patients after illnesses have already caused considerable distress or had substantial adverse personal, social and economic impacts. The purpose of the current work is to investigate the role of a number of early life course risk factors in the development of later psychopathology, using advanced statistical and epidemiological approaches applied to longitudinal data to ascertain predictive and causal pathways. The overall scope of this thesis is to provide the evidence necessary for developing primary and secondary prevention programs aimed at reducing the burden of mental illness on society. Aim 1:To investigate the role of intrauterine growth restriction in increasing the risk of psychiatric disorders characterised by negative affectivity. Aim 2:To investigate the potential for a transmission of maternal psychopathology to offspring. Aim 3:To assess whether maternal prenatal infection and exposure to stressful life events predict positive psychotic experiences in the offspring directly, or indirectly via postnatal risks and antecedents of psychosis. Aim 4:To investigate potential risk factors for the increased rates of female post-traumatic stress disorders, including gender-specific vulnerability resulting from physical assault and cognitive ability. Methods:The data came from the Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), a prospective pre-birth cohort study which began in 1981 at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. The baseline sample consisted of 7,223 pregnant women attending their first obstetric visit for that pregnancy. Since then follow-ups over 21 years have prospectively ascertained a range of health related data on both mother and child. The current work uses predictor variables and covariates from every measurement period, and behaviour and mental health measures ascertained from the offspring at ages 14 and 21 years. A number of statistical and methodological approaches were applied to estimate the longitudinal association between a number of early life course risk factors and later psychopathology, and to account for attrition. Key findings:The relationship between birth weight and later psychopathology was specific to particular psychiatric diagnoses, namely Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders, and comorbid Major Depression and Generalised Anxiety Disorders. The combination of maternal prenatal depressive, anxious and stress symptoms predicted increased internalising and externalising behaviour problems in adolescent and adult offspring. Prenatal maternal infections and stressful life events predicted later offspring psychotic experiences via the intermediaries of early infant illness iii susceptibility and child behaviour problems respectively. The risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder associated with physical assault and ...

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Cognitive Development of Infants Exposed to the Zika Virus in Puerto Rico

et al. 2019

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IMPORTANCE Existing research has established a causal link between Zika virus (ZIKV) infection and severe birth defects or consequent health impairments; however, more subtle cognitive impairments have not been explored. OBJECTIVE To determine whether infants of mothers with at least 1 positive ZIKV test show differences in cognitive scores at ages 3 to 6 months and ages 9 to 12 months. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study recruited infants enrolled in existing ZIKV study cohorts associated with the Maternal-Infant Studies Center and the Puerto Rico Clinical and Translational Research Consortium at the University of Puerto Rico and from the broader San Juan metropolitan area. The study took place at the Puerto Rico Clinical and Translational Research Consortium at the University of Puerto Rico. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling if their mothers underwent ZIKV testing prenatally and were at the target ages during the study period. Infants who were born preterm (<36 weeks' gestational age), with low birth weight (<2500 g), or with a known genetic disorder were excluded. Infants were tested from ages 3 to 6 months or ages 9 to 12 months from May 2018 to April 2019. Data analysis was performed from March to April 2019. EXPOSURES Zika virus status was measured prenatally and in the early postnatal period using realtime polymerase chain reaction or a ZIKV IgM antibody capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The infants' development was assessed using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (translated to Spanish and adapted for Puerto Rico), and assessors were blinded to each infant's ZIKV status. RESULTS A total of 65 study participants were included. The mean (SD) age of the infants at the time of cognitive testing was 8.98 (3.19) months. Most of the infants were white (55 [84.6%]) and Puerto Rican (64 [98.5%]); 38 of the infants were male (58.5%). General cognitive and domainspecific scores did not differ significantly between prenatally ZIKV-positive and ZIKV-negative infants except for receptive language score (mean difference = 5.52; t = 2.10; P = .04). Exposure to ZIKV

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Using Natural Disasters to Study the Effects of Prenatal Maternal Stress on Child Health and Development

Cited by 207 publications

References 111 publications

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Fluctuating Asymmetry of Human Populations: A Review

Early life course determinants of psychopathology

Cognitive Development of Infants Exposed to the Zika Virus in Puerto Rico

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