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Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women—an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú

Exposure to traumatic experiences across lifespan shapes the functioning of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and sets individuals at risk to develop symptoms of depression and anxiety. Particularly, HPA axis regulation and the psychological health of the expectant mother have been of in...

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Autores principales: Dobernecker, Johanna, Spyridou, Andria, Elbert, Thomas, Schauer, Maggie, Garthus-Niegel, Susan, Ruf-Leuschner, Martina, Schalinski, Inga
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9876917/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36697477
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28151-9
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author Dobernecker, Johanna
Spyridou, Andria
Elbert, Thomas
Schauer, Maggie
Garthus-Niegel, Susan
Ruf-Leuschner, Martina
Schalinski, Inga
author_facet Dobernecker, Johanna
Spyridou, Andria
Elbert, Thomas
Schauer, Maggie
Garthus-Niegel, Susan
Ruf-Leuschner, Martina
Schalinski, Inga
author_sort Dobernecker, Johanna
collection PubMed
description Exposure to traumatic experiences across lifespan shapes the functioning of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and sets individuals at risk to develop symptoms of depression and anxiety. Particularly, HPA axis regulation and the psychological health of the expectant mother have been of interest, as the health of the unborn child may be affected through changes in gestational biology. The present study investigated the potential associations between lifetime trauma, current symptoms (depression and anxiety) and hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) in pregnant women. A total of 149 pregnant women were interviewed in public outpatient clinics with varying gestational age in Greece, Spain and Perú. Lifetime trauma exposure and current symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed. HCC was measured in scalp-near hair segments (2 cm length) reflecting cumulative cortisol secretion of the past two months. Results showed that trauma load is negatively associated with HCC and higher symptoms of depression and anxiety. There was a negative association between HCC and symptoms. The present findings support the notion that cumulative trauma exposure exerts long-lasting effects on the expectant mother’s HPA axis activity functioning and mental health and may thereby potentially create risk trajectories for the unborn child via changes in gestational biology.
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spelling pubmed-98769172023-01-27 Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women—an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú Dobernecker, Johanna Spyridou, Andria Elbert, Thomas Schauer, Maggie Garthus-Niegel, Susan Ruf-Leuschner, Martina Schalinski, Inga Sci Rep Article Exposure to traumatic experiences across lifespan shapes the functioning of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and sets individuals at risk to develop symptoms of depression and anxiety. Particularly, HPA axis regulation and the psychological health of the expectant mother have been of interest, as the health of the unborn child may be affected through changes in gestational biology. The present study investigated the potential associations between lifetime trauma, current symptoms (depression and anxiety) and hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) in pregnant women. A total of 149 pregnant women were interviewed in public outpatient clinics with varying gestational age in Greece, Spain and Perú. Lifetime trauma exposure and current symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed. HCC was measured in scalp-near hair segments (2 cm length) reflecting cumulative cortisol secretion of the past two months. Results showed that trauma load is negatively associated with HCC and higher symptoms of depression and anxiety. There was a negative association between HCC and symptoms. The present findings support the notion that cumulative trauma exposure exerts long-lasting effects on the expectant mother’s HPA axis activity functioning and mental health and may thereby potentially create risk trajectories for the unborn child via changes in gestational biology. Nature Publishing Group UK 2023-01-25 /pmc/articles/PMC9876917/ /pubmed/36697477 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28151-9 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Dobernecker, Johanna
Spyridou, Andria
Elbert, Thomas
Schauer, Maggie
Garthus-Niegel, Susan
Ruf-Leuschner, Martina
Schalinski, Inga
Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women—an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú
title Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women—an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú
title_full Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women—an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú
title_fullStr Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women—an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú
title_full_unstemmed Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women—an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú
title_short Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women—an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú
title_sort cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women—an investigation of community samples from greece, spain and perú
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9876917/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36697477
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28151-9
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