Maternal Stress, Early Life Factors and Infant Salivary Cortisol Levels

Caroline-Aleksi Olsson Mägi; Åshild Wik Despriee; Milada Cvancarova Småstuen; Catarina Almqvist; Fuad Bahram; Egil Bakkeheim; Anders Bjerg; Kari Glavin; Berit Granum; Guttorm Haugen; Gunilla Hedlin; Christine Monceyron Jonassen; Karin C Lødrup Carlsen; Eva Maria Rehbinder; Leif-Bjarte Rolfsjord; Anne Cathrine Staff; Håvard Ove Skjerven; Riyas Vettukattil; Björn Nordlund; Cilla Söderhäll

doi:10.3390/children9050623

Maternal Stress, Early Life Factors and Infant Salivary Cortisol Levels

Children (Basel). 2022 Apr 27;9(5):623. doi: 10.3390/children9050623.

Authors

Caroline-Aleksi Olsson Mägi^{1

2}, Åshild Wik Despriee^{3

4}, Milada Cvancarova Småstuen⁴, Catarina Almqvist^{2

5}, Fuad Bahram⁶, Egil Bakkeheim⁷, Anders Bjerg^{1

8}, Kari Glavin⁴, Berit Granum⁹, Guttorm Haugen^{3

10}, Gunilla Hedlin^{1

2}, Christine Monceyron Jonassen^{11

12}, Karin C Lødrup Carlsen^{3

7}, Eva Maria Rehbinder¹³, Leif-Bjarte Rolfsjord^{7

14}, Anne Cathrine Staff^{3

10}, Håvard Ove Skjerven^{3

7}, Riyas Vettukattil^{3

7}, Björn Nordlund^{1

2}, Cilla Söderhäll^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
² Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 64 Stockholm, Sweden.
³ Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Faculty of Health, VID Specialized University, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁶ Research Centre, Stockholm South General Hospital, SE-118 83 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁷ Division of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway.
⁸ Martina Children's Hospital, SE-114 86 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁹ Department of Chemical Toxicology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, NO-0213 Oslo, Norway.
¹⁰ Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Oslo University Hospital, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway.
¹¹ Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, NO-1430 Ås, Norway.
¹² Genetic Unit, Centre for Laboratory Medicine, Østfold Hospital Trust, NO-1714 Kalnes, Norway.
¹³ Department of Dermatology and Vaenerology, Oslo University Hospital, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway.
¹⁴ Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine Elverum, Innlandet Hospital Trust, NO-2381 Brumunddal, Norway.

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. Associations to iSC were analyzed by Spearman correlation and multinomial logistic regression analyses.

Results: In this exploratory study neither PSS at any time point nor maternal SC (mSC) were associated with iSC. Higher birth weight was associated with higher levels of iSC, while inverse associations were observed in infants to a mother not living with a partner and mixed bottle/breastfeeding.

Conclusions: Maternal stress was not associated with iSC levels, while birth weight, single motherhood and infant feeding may influence iSC levels.

Keywords: PreventADALL; infant; perceived stress; salivary cortisol.

Grants and funding

The following funders have contributed to this study: the Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation, Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association, Karolinska Institutet SFO-V, FoUU ME Neonatologi, The Stockholm County Council (ALF-project), the Swedish Order of Freemasons Foundation Barnhuset, Konsul Th. C Bergh Foundation, Hesselman Research Foundation, Vårdalstiftelsen, the Swedish Research Council, Drottning Silvias Jubileumsfond, Kerstin Hejdenbergs stipendium, The Research Fund of the Norwegian Asthma and Allergy Association.