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Cited by 46Stress Responses and CortisolMaternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumBirth, Development, and Health

Associations between biological markers of prenatal stress and infant negative emotionality are specific to sex

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Braithwaite, Elizabeth C., Murphy, Susannah E., Ramchandani, Paul G., Hill, Jonathan·2017·Psychoneuroendocrinology
DOI 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.09.004PMC PMC5667634
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Abstract

PURPOSE: Fetal programming is the idea that environmental stimuli can alter the development of the fetus, which may have a long-term effect on the child. We have recently reported that maternal prenatal cortisol predicts infant negative emotionality in a sex-dependent manner: high prenatal cortisol was associated with increased negative emotionality in females, and decreased negative emotionality in males. This study aims to test for this sex-specific effect in a different cohort, and investigate whether sex differences in fetal programming may be specific to glucocorticoid mechanisms by also examining a maternal salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) by sex interaction. METHODS: 88 pregnant women (mean gestational age=27.4 weeks, SD=7.4) collected saliva samples at home over two working days to be assayed for the hormone cortisol (range=0.13-88.22nmol/l) and the enzyme alpha-amylase (range=4.57-554.8units/ml). Samples were collected at waking, 30-min post-waking and 12h post-waking. Two months after birth participants reported infant negative emotionality using the distress to limits subscale of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire. RESULTS: The interaction between maternal prenatal cortisol and infant sex to predict distress to limits approached significance (p=0.067). In line with our previous finding there was a positive association between prenatal cortisol and negative emotionality in females, and a negative association in males. The interaction between sAA and sex to predict distress was significant (p=0.025), and the direction of effect was the same as for the cortisol data; high sAA associated with increased negative emotionality in females and reduced negative emotionality in males. CONCLUSIONS: In line with our previous findings, this research adds to an emerging body of literature, which suggests that fetal programming mechanisms may be sex-dependent. This is the first study to demonstrate that maternal prenatal sAA may be an important biomarker for infant behavior, and the findings have implications for understanding sex differences in developmental psychopathology.

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  • Maternal stress, as measured by sAA, has been associated with negative emotionality in females but not male offspring.

    “Maternal stress, as measured by sAA, has also been associated with negative emotionality in females but not male offspring [124].”

    From Stress and the HPA Axis: Balancing Homeostasis and Fertility. (2017) · cites this paper as [124]

    The Results section reports a positive association between prenatal sAA and infant distress in females, but it was not statistically significant in the main analysis. The claim’s “but not male” qualifier is not supported: the same section reports an association in the opposite direction for males, significant in an exploratory analysis of sAA measured 30 minutes after waking. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Braithwaite, E. C., Murphy, S. E., Ramchandani, P. G., & Hill, J.
Affiliations
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • Warneford Hospital (GB)
  • Imperial College London (GB)
  • University of Reading (GB)
Corresponding author
Braithwaite, Elizabeth C.
ORCID
Venue
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-12
Volume
86
Pages
1-7
ISSN
0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.09.004
PMC
PMC5667634
OpenAlex
W2751511388
Cited by
46
References
12
Citations by year
2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 2
FWCI
3.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • e-space (Manchester Metropolitan University) (acceptedVersion)
  • CentAUR (University of Reading) (acceptedVersion)
  • Staffordshire Online Repository (Staffordshire University) (acceptedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Medical Research Council Studentship (MR/J500501/1)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
Keywords
prenatal stress, fetal programming, salivary amylase, infant negative emotionality, sex differences, infant distress, maternal biomarkers, developmental psychopathology
MeSH terms
Adult, Depression, Emotions, Female, Fetus, Glucocorticoids, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Infant, Male, Mothers, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Surveys and Questionnaires, Saliva, Sex Characteristics, Stress, Psychological, Cohort Studies, Biomarkers, Infant Behavior, Fetal Development, Salivary alpha-Amylases

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