Integrated and diurnal indices of maternal pregnancy cortisol in relation to sex-specific parasympathetic responsivity to stress in infants.

ABSTRACT: Maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity may prenatally program sex-specific stress-response pathways. We investigated associations between maternal cortisol during pregnancy and infant parasympathetic responsivity to stress among 204 mother-infant pairs. Cortisol indices included 3rd trimester hair cortisol, as well as diurnal slope and area under the curve, derived from saliva samples collected during pregnancy. Mother-infant dyads participated in the Repeated Still-Face Paradigm (SFP-R) at age 6 months. We calculated respiration-adjusted respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA_c ), an indicator of parasympathetic activation, from infant respiration and cardiac activity measured during the SFP-R. We used multivariable linear mixed models to examine each cortisol index in

SUBMITTER: Cowell W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7855344 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature