Concurrent levels of maternal salivary cortisol are unrelated to self-reported psychological measures in low-risk pregnant women
Open accessAbstract
Associations between salivary cortisol and maternal psychological distress and well-being were examined prospectively on 112 women with normally progressing, singleton pregnancies between 24 and 38 weeks gestation. At each of 5 visits, conducted in 3-week intervals, women provided a saliva sample and completed questionnaires measuring trait anxiety, depressive symptoms, pregnancy-specific hassles and uplifts, and psychological well-being. Maternal salivary cortisol was unrelated to psychological measures with the exception of minor associations detected with measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms between 30 and 32 weeks only. Findings indicate that self-reported maternal psychological distress and well-being are not associated with significant variation in maternal salivary cortisol levels during the second half of gestation. This suggests that studies that measure psychological factors in pregnancy but do not measure maternal cortisol should exercise caution in assuming activation of the maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is the mechanism through which maternal psychological factors are transduced to the fetus.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Salivary levels of cortisol in pregnant women do not appear associated with concurrent self-reported stress.
“Importantly for the current study, salivary levels of cortisol in pregnant women do not appear associated with concurrent self-reported stress (Voegtline et al., 2013) but are, nevertheless, related to infant outcomes (Davis, Glynn, Waffarn, & Sandman, 2011).”
From Couples becoming parents: Trajectories for psychological distress and buffering effects of social support (2020) · cites this paper as Voegtline et al., 2013
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The CES-D Scale: A Self-Report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population
Radloff, L. S. (1977) · Applied Psychological Measurement · doi:10.1177/014662167700100306 · Cited by 53,267 · see citing works
(1970) · Cited by 24,983 · see citing works
Schetter, C. D. (2010) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.031809.130727 · Cited by 909 · see citing works
Prenatal maternal stress: effects on pregnancy and the (unborn) child
Mulder, E. J. H., Robles de Medina, P. G., Huizink, A. C., Van den Bergh, B. R. H., Buitelaar, J. K., & Visser, G. H. A. (2002) · Early Human Development · doi:10.1016/s0378-3782(02)00075-0 · Cited by 779 · see citing works
Davis, E. P., & Sandman, C. A. (2010) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01385.x · Cited by 704 · see citing works
Prenatal stress, glucocorticoids and the programming of adult disease
Cottrell, E. C. (2009) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/neuro.08.019.2009 · Cited by 640 · see citing works
Maternal and Fetal Hypothalamic‐Pituitary‐Adrenal Axes During Pregnancy and Postpartum
MASTORAKOS, G., & ILIAS, I. (2003) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1196/annals.1290.016 · Cited by 621 · see citing works
The Contribution of Maternal Stress to Preterm Birth: Issues and Considerations
Wadhwa, P. D., Entringer, S., Buss, C., & Lu, M. C. (2011) · Clinics in Perinatology · doi:10.1016/j.clp.2011.06.007 · Cited by 486 · see citing works
Fetal exposure to maternal cortisol
Gitau, R., Cameron, A., Fisk, N. M., & Glover, V. A. S. (1998) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(05)60824-0 · Cited by 476 · see citing works
Prenatal maternal stress programs infant stress regulation
Davis, E. P., Glynn, L. M., Waffarn, F., & Sandman, C. A. (2011) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02314.x · Cited by 472 · see citing works
Psychoneuroendocrine processes in human pregnancy influence fetal development and health
Wadhwa, P. D. (2005) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.02.004 · Cited by 420 · see citing works
Sandman, C. A., Glynn, L., Schetter, C. D., Wadhwa, P., Garite, T., Chicz-DeMet, A., & Hobel, C. (2006) · Peptides · doi:10.1016/j.peptides.2005.10.002 · Cited by 411 · see citing works
Physiological stress reactivity in human pregnancy—a review
de Weerth, C., & Buitelaar, J. K. (2004) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2004.10.005 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Kramer, M. S., Lydon, J. E., Séguin, L., Goulet, L., Kahn, S. R., McNamara, H., Genest, J. J., Dassa, C., Chen, M. F., Sharma, S., et al. (2009) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwp061 · Cited by 395 · see citing works
Peptide Signaling in Human Placenta and Membranes: Autocrine, Paracrine, and Endocrine Mechanisms*
Petraglia, F., Florio, P., Nappi, C., & GENAZZANI, A. R. (1996) · Endocrine Reviews · doi:10.1210/edrv-17-2-156 · Cited by 350 · see citing works
The measurement of hormones in saliva: Possibilities and pitfalls
VINING, R. F. W., & McGinley, R. A. (1987) · Journal of Steroid Biochemistry · doi:10.1016/0022-4731(87)90297-4 · Cited by 338 · see citing works
Validation of the WHO-5 Well-Being Index in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes
de Wit, M., Pouwer, F., Gemke, R. J. B. J., Delemarre-van de Waal, H. A., & Snoek, F. J. (2007) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/dc07-0447 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Prenatal Psychosocial Factors and the Neuroendocrine Axis in Human Pregnancy
Wadhwa, P. D., Dunkel‐Schetter, C., Chicz-DeMet, A., Porto, M., & Sandman, C. A. (1996) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-199609000-00006 · Cited by 311 · see citing works
Stress and salivary cortisol during pregnancy
Obel, C., Hedegaard, M. S., Henriksen, T. B., Secher, N. J., Olsen, J., & Levine, S. D. (2005) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2004.11.006 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
ALLOLIO, B., HOFFMANN, J., LINTON, E. A., WINKELMANN, W., KUSCHE, M., & SCHULTE, H. M. (1990) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2265.1990.tb00492.x · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Maternal Stress, HPA Activity, and Fetal/Infant Outcomea
Sandman, C. A., Wadhwa, P. D., Chicz-DeMet, A., Dunkel‐Schetter, C., & Porto, M. (1997) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1997.tb46162.x · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Measuring the ups and downs of pregnancy stress
DiPietro, J., Ghera, M., Costigan, K., & Hawkins, M. (2004) · Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology · doi:10.1080/01674820400017830 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Self-citationEntringer, S., Buß, C., Shirtcliff, E. A., Cammack, A. L., Yim, I. S., Chicz-DeMet, A., Sandman, C. A., & Wadhwa, P. D. (2010) · Stress · doi:10.3109/10253890903349501 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Kivlighan, K. T., DiPietro, J. A., Costigan, K. A., & Laudenslager, M. L. (2008) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.06.008 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Self-citationEllman, L. M., Schetter, C. D., Hobel, C. J., Chicz-DeMet, A., Glynn, L. M., & Sandman, C. A. (2008) · Developmental Psychobiology · doi:10.1002/dev.20293 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Internal and external validity of the WHO Well‐Being Scale in the elderly general population
Heun, R., Burkart, M., Maier, W., & Bech, P. (1999) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1999.tb00973.x · Cited by 160 · see citing works
The maternal hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis in the third trimester of human pregnancy
Magiakou, M. A., Mastorakos, G. P., Rabin, D. S., Margioris, A. N., Dubbert, B., Calogero, A. E., Tsigos, C., Munson, P. J., & Chrousos, G. P. (1996) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2265.1996.683505.x · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Cortisol: The Culprit Prenatal Stress Variable
Field, T. M., & Diego, M. (2008) · International Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/00207450701820944 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Prenatal antecedents of newborn neurological maturation
DiPietro, J. A., Kivlighan, K. T., Costigan, K. A., Rubin, S. E., Shiffler, D. E., Henderson, J. L., & Pillion, J. P. (2010) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01384.x · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Pregnant women’s cortisol is elevated with anxiety and depression — but only when comorbid
Evans, L. M., Myers, M. M., & Monk, C. E. (2008) · Archives of Women s Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s00737-008-0019-4 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Stress and social support as predictors of anxiety and depression during pregnancy
Mercer, R. T., & Ferketich, S. L. (1988) · Advances in Nursing Science · doi:10.1097/00012272-198801000-00008 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Shea, A. K., Streiner, D. L., Fleming, A. S., Kamath, M. V., Broad, K., & Steiner, M. S. (2007) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.07.006 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Does Maternal Prenatal Stress Adversely Affect the Child’s Learning and Memory at Age Six?
Gutteling, B. M., de Weerth, C., Zandbelt, N., Mulder, E. J. H., Visser, G. H. A., & Buitelaar, J. K. (2006) · Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology · doi:10.1007/s10802-006-9054-7 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
The pregnancy experience scale–brief version
DiPietro, J. A., Christensen, A. L., & Costigan, K. A. (2008) · Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology · doi:10.1080/01674820802546220 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Self-citationStress Questionnaires and Stress Biomarkers during Pregnancy
Harville, E. W., Savitz, D. A., Dole, N., Herring, A. H., & Thorp, J. M. (2009) · Journal of Women s Health · doi:10.1089/jwh.2008.1102 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Buß, C., Entringer, S., Reyes, J. F., Chicz-DeMet, A., Sandman, C. A., Waffarn, F., & Wadhwa, P. D. (2009) · American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology · doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2009.06.063 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Maternal trait anxiety, emotional distress, and salivary cortisol in pregnancy
Pluess, M., Bolten, M., Pirke, K.-M., & Hellhammer, D. (2010) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.12.005 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Cortisol awakening response in pregnant women
de Weerth, C., & Buitelaar, J. K. (2005) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.05.003 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Psychological and Physiological Stress: Impact on Preterm Birth
Gennaro, S., & Koenig, M. D. (2003) · Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing · doi:10.1177/0884217503257484 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Maternal cortisol and offspring birthweight: results from a large prospective cohort study
Goedhart, G., Vrijkotte, T. G. M., Roseboom, T. J., van der Wal, M. F., Cuijpers, P., & Bonsel, G. J. (2010) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.10.003 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Maternal salivary cortisol differs by fetal sex during the second half of pregnancy
DiPietro, J. A., Costigan, K. A., Kivlighan, K. T., Chen, P., & Laudenslager, M. L. (2010) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.09.005 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Self-citationPetraglia, F., HATCH, M. C., Lapinski, R. H., Stomati, M., dos Reis, F. M., Cobellis, L., & Berkowitz, G. S. (2001) · Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation · doi:10.1177/107155760100800204 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Nierop, A., Wirtz, P. H., Bratsikas, A., Zimmermann, R., & Ehlert, U. (2008) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.03.012 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Chan, E., Smith, R., Lewin, T. J., Brinsmead, M., Zhang, H.-P., Cubis, J., Thornton, K. C., & Hurt, D. (1993) · European Journal of Endocrinology · doi:10.1530/acta.0.1280339 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Neu, M., Goldstein, M., Gao, D., & Laudenslager, M. L. (2006) · Early Human Development · doi:10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2006.04.003 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Self-citationScreening for Depression Among Pregnant and Postpartum Women
Mosack, V., & Shore, E. R. (2006) · Journal of Community Health Nursing · doi:10.1207/s15327655jchn2301_4 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Human corticotropin-releasing hormone during pregnancy
Stalla, G. K., BOST, H., Stalk, J., Kaliebe, T., Dörr, H. G., Pfeiffer, D. G., von Werder, K., & Müller, O. A. (1989) · Gynecological Endocrinology · doi:10.3109/09513598909152447 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Anxiety, depression and saliva cortisol in women with a medical disorder during pregnancy
King, N. M. A., Chambers, J. J. G., O’Donnell, K. J., Jayaweera, S. R., Williamson, C., & Glover, V. A. S. (2010) · Archives of Women s Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s00737-009-0139-5 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Maternal anxiety at amniocentesis and plasma cortisol
Sarkar, P., Bergman, K., Fisk, N. M., & Glover, V. A. S. (2006) · Prenatal Diagnosis · doi:10.1002/pd.1444 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Patterns of salivary cortisol secretion in pregnancy and implications for assessment protocols
Harville, E. W., Savitz, D. A., Dole, N., Herring, A. H., Thorp, J. M., & Light, K. C. (2006) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.07.005 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Cardiovascular and cortisol responses to a psychological stressor during pregnancy
de Weerth, C., Wied, C. C. G., Jansen, L. M. C., & Buitelaar, J. K. (2007) · Acta Obstetricia Et Gynecologica Scandinavica · doi:10.1080/00016340701547442 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Positive life events predict salivary cortisol in pregnant women
Pluess, M., Wurmser, H., Buske-Kirschbaum, A., Papoušek, M., Pirke, K., Hellhammer, D. H., & Bolten, M. I. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.01.006 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Prenatal Stress: Course and Interrelation of Emotional and Physiological Stress Measures
Rothenberger, S. E., Möhler, E., Reck, C., & Resch, F. (2010) · Psychopathology · doi:10.1159/000319309 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Salivary cortisol levels and anxiety are not increased in women destined to develop preeclampsia
Sikkema, J. M., de Medina, P. G. R., Schaad, R. R., Mulder, E. J. H., Bruinse, H. W., Buitelaar, J. K., Visser, G. H. A., & Franx, A. (2001) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(00)00208-7 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Associations of maternal psychological factors with umbilical and uterine blood flow
Mendelson, T., DiPietro, J. A., Costigan, K. A., Chen, P., & Henderson, J. (2011) · Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology · doi:10.3109/0167482x.2010.544427 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Self-citationMaternal laboratory stress influences fetal neurobehavior: Cortisol does not provide all answers
Fink, N., Urech, C., Berger, C. T., Hoesli, I. M., Holzgreve, W., Bitzer, J., & Alder, J. (2010) · The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine · doi:10.3109/14767050903300985 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Measuring the ups and downs of pregnancy
DiPietro, J. A., Ghera, M. M., Costigan, K. A., & Hawkins, M. (2004) · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Van den Bergh, B. R. H., van den Heuvel, M. I., Lahti, M., Braeken, M., de Rooij, S. R., Entringer, S., Hoyer, D., Roseboom, T., Räikkönen, K., King, S., et al. (2020) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.003 · Cited by 1,181 · see citing works
Fetal Origins of Mental Health: The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Hypothesis
O’Donnell, K. J., & Meaney, M. J. (2017) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16020138 · Cited by 608 · see citing works
The gestational foundation of sex differences in development and vulnerability
DiPietro, J. A., & Voegtline, K. M. (2017) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.07.068 · Cited by 316 · see citing works
Self-citationZijlmans, M. A. C., Riksen-Walraven, J. M., & de Weerth, C. (2015) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.02.015 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Hughes, C., T. Devine, R., Foley, S., D. Ribner, A., Mesman, J., & Blair, C. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.01.133 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
A Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Pregnant African-American Women
Zhang, H., & Emory, E. K. (2015) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0304-4 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
- Authors
- Voegtline, K. M., Costigan, K. A., Kivlighan, K. T., Laudenslager, M. L., Henderson, J. L., & DiPietro, J. A.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- University of Colorado Anschutz (US)
- Corresponding author
- Voegtline, Kristin M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Archives of Women's Mental Health
- Published
- 2012-12-27
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 101-108
- ISSN
- 1434-1816 (ISSN-L)
- 1435-1102
- PMC
- PMC3671921
- OpenAlex
- W2155079598
- Cited by
- 78
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 6.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Archives of Women s Mental Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD027592)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Pregnancy-related medical research
- Keywords
- salivary cortisol, maternal distress, trait anxiety, depressive symptoms, psychological well-being, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, low-risk pregnancy, second trimester, fetal programming
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anxiety, Depression, Female, Gestational Age, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Surveys and Questionnaires, Saliva, Socioeconomic Factors, Stress, Psychological, Pregnant People, Self Report
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
