Prenatal stress and hair cortisol in a sample of Latina women

Abstract

Background: Stress during pregnancy adversely impacts maternal and infant health. Dysregulation of the hypothalamic pituitary axis is a mediator of the relationship between stress and health. Evidence supporting an association between prenatal chronic stress and cortisol is limited, and the majority of research published has been conducted amongst White participants, who experience less chronic stress than people of color.

Aim: This study investigated associations between various measures of prenatal stress and hair cortisol concentrations which is a biomarker of the integrated stress response in a sample of Latina participants during the third trimester of pregnancy.

Method: Pregnant women (n=45) were surveyed with scales measuring chronic stress, perceived stress, pregnancy-related and pregnancy-specific anxiety. Hair samples were collected as an objective neuroendocrine measure of chronic stress. Linear regression analyses were performed to assess associations between stress measures and hair cortisol. Pre-pregnancy BMI, smoking during pregnancy, and steroid use during pregnancy were used as covariates in adjusted models.

Results: Chronic stress, operationalized as maternal reports of neighborhood/housing strain, daily activities and relationship strain, discrimination, and financial strain, was significantly associated with higher hair cortisol concentrations. No significant associations were found between hair cortisol and perceived stress, pregnancy-related anxiety, nor pregnancy-specific anxiety in adjusted models.

Conclusion: Chronic stress may be a more robust correlate of physiological stress, as measured by hair cortisol in pregnancy, than other common measures of prenatal stress and anxiety.

Keywords: Chronic stress; Hair cortisol; Pregnancy anxiety; Prenatal stress.