Maternal Stress, Early Life Factors and Infant Salivary Cortisol Levels.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Salivary cortisol (SC), a commonly used biomarker for stress, may be disrupted by negative events in pregnancy, at birth and in infancy. We aimed to explore if maternal perceived stress (PSS) in or after pregnancy and SC levels in pregnancy were associated with SC in early infancy, and, secondly, to identify early life factors associated with infants' SC levels (iSC).

Methods

At 3 months of age, SC was analyzed in 1057 infants participating in a Nordic prospective mother-child birth cohort study. Maternal PSS was available from questionnaires at 18- and 34-week gestational age (GA) and 3-month post-partum, and SC was analyzed at 18-week GA. Early life factors included sociodemographic and infant feeding from questionnaires, and birth data from medical charts. Asso

SUBMITTER: Olsson Magi CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9139396 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature