Prenatal hair cortisol concentrations during the COVID-19 outbreak: Associations with maternal psychological stress and infant temperament.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Maternal psychological stress during pregnancy, including stress resulting from disasters and trauma, has been linked to temperamental difficulties in offspring. Although heightened cortisol concentrations are often hypothesized as an underlying mechanism, evidence supporting this mechanism is not consistent, potentially because of methodological issues and low stress in the population.

Aim

To address these issues, this preregistered study investigated the following associations between: 1) prenatal psychological stress and hair cortisol, as a biomarker for chronic stress, during the COVID-19 outbreak (i.e., as a major worldwide psychological stressor), and 2) maternal hair cortisol during the COVID-19 outbreak and later infant temperamental negative affectivity a

SUBMITTER: Bruinhof N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9270179 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature