Exposure to prenatal stressors and infant autonomic nervous system regulation of stress.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between fetal exposure to maternal prenatal stressors and infant parasympathetic (PNS) and sympathetic (SNS) nervous function at 3 timepoints across the first year of life.

Background

Autonomic nervous system impairments may mediate associations between gestational exposure to stressors and later infant health problems. Heart rate variability (HRV) provides a sensitive index of PNS and SNS function. However, no studies have assessed longitudinal associations between prenatal stressors and infant HRV measures of both PNS and SNS over the first year of life.

Methods

During the third trimester of pregnancy, 233 women completed measures of life stressors and depression. At 1, 6 and 12 months of age, a

SUBMITTER: Weiss SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11144651 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature