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Hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: Documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity

Women experience dramatic physiological changes during pregnancy, including changes in the production of the “stress hormone,” cortisol. Evidence has been mixed regarding whether hair cortisol concentration (HCC) can be used to accurately capture the trajectory of cortisol during this period and whe...

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Autores principales: King, Lucy S., Humphreys, Kathryn L., Cole, David A., Gotlib, Ian H.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9216355/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35755930
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100102
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author King, Lucy S.
Humphreys, Kathryn L.
Cole, David A.
Gotlib, Ian H.
author_facet King, Lucy S.
Humphreys, Kathryn L.
Cole, David A.
Gotlib, Ian H.
author_sort King, Lucy S.
collection PubMed
description Women experience dramatic physiological changes during pregnancy, including changes in the production of the “stress hormone,” cortisol. Evidence has been mixed regarding whether hair cortisol concentration (HCC) can be used to accurately capture the trajectory of cortisol during this period and whether factors related to psychosocial stress are related to HCC in pregnant and postpartum women. In the current study, we collected hair samples from 85 individuals during the peripartum period (with collection occasions in pregnancy [12–37 weeks], at 3–8 weeks postpartum, and at 5–8 months postpartum) from which we derived 783 monthly observations of HCC. In addition, at each assessment individuals reported their current depressive symptoms and experiences of recent psychosocial adversity. Using piecewise mixed effects modeling, we identified significant increases in HCC across pregnancy (approximately a 2-fold rise) followed by significant decreases in HCC postpartum. Beyond these effects, however, there was substantial within-individual variability in HCC. Disaggregating between- from within-individual associations of depressive symptoms and adversity with HCC, we found that within-individual fluctuations in adversity were positively coupled with levels of HCC. Overall, the current findings suggest that measurement of cortisol in human hair captures its trajectory from conception through six months postpartum, including prenatal increases and gradual recovery of typical levels following childbirth. In addition to the overall severity of psychosocial adversity, change in women's experiences of adversity during the peripartum period merit attention.
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spelling pubmed-92163552022-06-24 Hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: Documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity King, Lucy S. Humphreys, Kathryn L. Cole, David A. Gotlib, Ian H. Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol Clinical Science Women experience dramatic physiological changes during pregnancy, including changes in the production of the “stress hormone,” cortisol. Evidence has been mixed regarding whether hair cortisol concentration (HCC) can be used to accurately capture the trajectory of cortisol during this period and whether factors related to psychosocial stress are related to HCC in pregnant and postpartum women. In the current study, we collected hair samples from 85 individuals during the peripartum period (with collection occasions in pregnancy [12–37 weeks], at 3–8 weeks postpartum, and at 5–8 months postpartum) from which we derived 783 monthly observations of HCC. In addition, at each assessment individuals reported their current depressive symptoms and experiences of recent psychosocial adversity. Using piecewise mixed effects modeling, we identified significant increases in HCC across pregnancy (approximately a 2-fold rise) followed by significant decreases in HCC postpartum. Beyond these effects, however, there was substantial within-individual variability in HCC. Disaggregating between- from within-individual associations of depressive symptoms and adversity with HCC, we found that within-individual fluctuations in adversity were positively coupled with levels of HCC. Overall, the current findings suggest that measurement of cortisol in human hair captures its trajectory from conception through six months postpartum, including prenatal increases and gradual recovery of typical levels following childbirth. In addition to the overall severity of psychosocial adversity, change in women's experiences of adversity during the peripartum period merit attention. Elsevier 2021-12-14 /pmc/articles/PMC9216355/ /pubmed/35755930 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100102 Text en © 2021 The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Clinical Science
King, Lucy S.
Humphreys, Kathryn L.
Cole, David A.
Gotlib, Ian H.
Hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: Documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity
title Hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: Documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity
title_full Hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: Documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity
title_fullStr Hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: Documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity
title_full_unstemmed Hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: Documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity
title_short Hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: Documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity
title_sort hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity
topic Clinical Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9216355/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35755930
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100102
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