Prenatal distress links maternal early life adversity to infant stress functioning in the next generation.

ABSTRACT: Maternal stress in pregnancy exerts powerful programming effects into the next generation. Yet it remains unclear whether and how adversity from other times in the woman's life influences her prenatal stress and her offspring's stress functioning. In a sample of 217 Black American mother-infant dyads, we examined whether different types of maternal stress were differentially related to her infant's stress functioning within the first few months after birth. We prospectively assessed maternal distress (perceived stress, depression, and anxiety) early and late in pregnancy, infant behavioral adaption in the context of a mild stressor at 2 weeks of age, and infant diurnal cortisol at 3-6 months of age. We additionally collected retrospective reports of maternal experiences of lifetime discrim

SUBMITTER: Hendrix CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9031909 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature