Negative associations between maternal prenatal hair cortisol and child socioemotional problems
Mustonen, P., Kortesluoma, S., Scheinin, N. M., Perasto, L., Kataja, E.-L., Tervahartiala, K., Tuulari, J. J., Coimbra, B., Carter, A. S., Rodrigues, A. J., Sousa, N., Paavonen, E. J., Korja, R., Karlsson, H., & Karlsson, L. (2024). Negative associations between maternal prenatal hair cortisol and child socioemotional problems. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 162, Article 106955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106955
Published in
PsychoneuroendocrinologyAuthors
Date
2024Copyright
© 2024 the Authors
Maternal prenatal distress can participate in the programming of offspring development, in which exposure to altered maternal long-term cortisol levels as measured by hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) may contribute. Yet, studies investigating whether and how maternal prenatal HCC associates with problems in child socioemotional development are scarce. Furthermore, questions remain regarding the timing and potential sex-specificity of fetal exposure to altered cortisol levels and whether there are interactions with maternal prenatal distress, such as depressive symptoms. The subjects were drawn from those FinnBrain Birth Cohort families that had maternal reports of child socioemotional problems (the Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment [BITSEA] at 2 years and/or the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ] at 5 years) as follows: HCC1 population: maternal mid-pregnancy HCC measured at gestational week 24 with 5 cm segments to depict cortisol levels from the previous five months (n = 321); and HCC2 population: end-of-pregnancy HCC measured 1–3 days after childbirth (5 cm segment; n = 121). Stepwise regression models were utilized in the main analyses and a sensitivity analysis was performed to detect potential biases. Negative associations were observed between maternal HCC2 and child BITSEA Total Problems at 2 years but not with SDQ Total difficulties at 5 years, and neither problem score was associated with HCC1. In descriptive analyses, HCC2 was negatively associated with Internalizing problems at 2 years and SDQ Emotional problems at 5 years. A negative association was observed among 5-year-old girls between maternal HCC1 and SDQ Total Difficulties and the subscales of Conduct and Hyperactivity/inattentive problems. When interactions were also considered, inverse associations between HCC2 and BITSEA Internalizing and Dysregulation Problems were observed in subjects with elevated prenatal depressive symptoms. It was somewhat surprising that only negative associations were observed between maternal HCC and child socioemotional problems. However, there are previous observations of elevated end-of-pregnancy cortisol levels associating with better developmental outcomes. The magnitudes of the observed associations were, as expected, mainly modest. Future studies with a focus on the individual changes of maternal cortisol levels throughout pregnancy as well as studies assessing both maternal and child HPA axis functioning together with child socioemotional development are indicated.
...


Publisher
ElsevierISSN Search the Publication Forum
0306-4530Keywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/202104844
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
Additional information about funding
Data collection and the preparation of the manuscript has been financially supported by Research Council of Finland (grants #308176, #308589, and #325292 (Profi 5) to LK and #134950 to HK and 342747 to EJP), Strategic Research Council (SRC) established within the Research Council of Finland (#352648 and subproject #352655), Signe and Ane Gyllenberg’s Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg’s Foundation (PM), Jalmari and Rauha Ahokas Foundation (PM), Finnish Medical Foundation (JJT), Emil Aaltonen Foundation (JJT), and Hospital District of Southwest Finland State Research Grants (LK, HK, PM, JJT, SK). The funding agencies have had no role in the study design, the collection, the analysis, or the interpretation of the data, the writing or approving of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Association of maternal prenatal smoking GFI1-locus and cardio-metabolic phenotypes in 18,212 adults
Parmar, Priyanka; Lowry, Estelle; Cugliari, Giovanni; Suderman, Matthew; Wilson, Rory; Karhunen, Ville; Andrew, Toby; Wiklund, Petri; Wielscher, Matthias; Guarrera, Simonetta; Teumer, Alexander; Lehne, Benjamin; Milani, Lili; Klein, Niek de; Mishra, Pashupati P.; Melton, Phillip E.; Mandaviya, Pooja R.; Kasela, Silva; Nano, Jana; Zhang, Weihua; Zhang, Yan; Uitterlinden, Andre G.; Peters, Annette; Schöttker, Ben; Gieger, Christian; Anderson, Denise; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Grabe, Hans J.; Panico, Salvatore; Veldink, Jan H.; van Meurs, Joyce B.J.; van den Berg, Leonard; Beilin, Lawrence J.; Franke, Lude; Loh, Marie; van Greevenbroek, Marleen M.J.; Nauck, Matthias; Kähönen, Mika; Hurme, Mikko A.; Raitakari, Olli T.; Franco, Oscar H.; Slagboom, P.Eline; van der Harst, Pim; Kunze, Sonja; Felix, Stephan B.; Zhang, Tao; Chen, Wei; Mori, Trevor A.; Bonnefond, Amelie; Heijmans, Bastiaan T.; Muka, Taulant; Kooner, Jaspal S.; Fischer, Krista; Waldenberger, Melanie; Froguel, Philippe; Huang, Rae-Chi; Lehtimäki, Terho; Rathmann, Wolfgang; Relton, Caroline L.; Matullo, Giuseppe; Brenner, Hermann; Verweij, Niek; Li, Shengxu; Chambers, John C.; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Sebert, Sylvain (Elsevier BV, 2018)Background: DNA methylation at the GFI1-locus has been repeatedly associated with exposure to smoking from the foetal period onwards. We explored whether DNA methylation may be a mechanism that links exposure to maternal ... -
Prenatal Version of the Coparenting Relationship Scale Among Finnish Couples Expecting Their Firstborn
Lindroos, Emmi; Räikkönen, Eija; Malinen, Kaisa; Rönkä, Anna K. (Springer, 2023)Although coparenting has been widely studied, research on what expectant couples think about their future coparenting is limited. Our aim was to examine the psychometric properties of the Prenatal Version of Coparenting ... -
Longitudinal associations between parental early psychological distress and children’s emotional and behavioural problems during early childhood and self-reported social functioning in 11-year-old children born very preterm
Salomäki, Susanna; Junttila, Niina; Setänen, Sirkku; Rautava, Päivi; Huhtala, Mira; Leppänen, Marika; Lehtonen, Liisa; Korja, Riikka (Routledge, 2023)This study examined longitudinal associations between parental psychological distress (stress and depression) when the child was 2 to 4 years and a child’s emotional and behavioural problems at ages 3 to 4, and social ... -
Social withdrawal in children moderates the association between parenting styles and the children’s own socioemotional development
Zarra-Nezhad, Maryam; Kiuru, Noona; Aunola, Kaisa; Zarra-Nezhad, Mansour; Ahonen, Timo; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Nurmi, Jari-Erik (Wiley-Blackwell; The Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 2014)Background: Social withdrawal in early childhood is a risk factor for later socioemotional difficulties. This study examined the joint effects of children’s social withdrawal and mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles ... -
Mother–Infant Interaction and Maternal Postnatal Psychological Distress Associate with Child’s Social-Emotional Development During Early Childhood : A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study
Lahtela, Hetti; Flykt, Marjo; Nolvi, Saara; Kataja, Eeva-Leena; Eskola, Eeva; Tervahartiala, Katja; Pelto, Juho; Carter, Alice S.; Karlsson, Hasse; Karlsson, Linnea; Korja, Riikka (Springer, 2024)We studied the effects of mother–infant interaction and maternal pre- and postnatal psychological distress on children’s social-emotional problems and competences, as well as whether interaction quality moderates the ...