Maternal Stress Before Conception Is Associated with Shorter Gestation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Stress in pregnancy predicts adverse birth outcomes. Stressors occurring prior to conception may also pose risk for the mother and child. The few published studies on preconception stress test a single stress measure and examine only linear associations with birth outcomes.

Purpose

Guided by findings in the prenatal stress literature, the current study aimed to (i) identify latent factors from a set of preconception stress measures and (ii) examine linear and curvilinear associations between these stress factors and length of gestation.

Methods

Study 1 utilized a sample of 2,637 racially/ethnically diverse women to develop a measurement model of maternal stress from assessments of seven acute and chronic stress measures. Factor analysis revealed three laten

SUBMITTER: Mahrer NE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7980768 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature