Effects of Prenatal Substance Exposure and Postnatal Environment on Autonomic Physiology: From Pregnancy to Adolescence

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Substance use among pregnant women is associated with physiological dysregulation for mothers and their children. However, less is known about the role of the family and postnatal environment in exacerbating or mitigating effects of substance exposure. In addition, effects of specific substances such as opioids on physiological outcomes across both branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) are not well understood. The proposed symposium aims to fill these gaps with three papers organized with a developmental lens from pregnancy to adolescence.

The first paper sets the stage by describing the associations between prenatal opioid use, maternal emotion dysregulation, and parasympathetic physiology among pregnant women. Newborn neurodevelopmental outcomes are also assessed. The second paper examines links between prenatal opioid exposure and autonomic physiology among six-month-old infants, across the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the ANS. Further, preliminary effects of an attachment-based parenting intervention highlight the impact of the postnatal caregiving environment on the developing ANS for substance exposed infants. Finally, the third paper describes age- and sex-dependent interactions between prenatal cocaine exposure and environmental risk predicting school-age and adolescent sympathetic and parasympathetic regulation.

Together, these papers provide new evidence regarding the effects of prenatal substance use on autonomic nervous system regulation, in the context of the family and postnatal environment. We provide support for the idea that prenatal substance use is associated with autonomic dysregulation among mothers and offspring and emphasize the importance of the postnatal environment and the complexity of associations that emerge across development.

Sub Unit

• Biological Processes: Psychophysiology

Chair

• Alexandra Tabachnick, University of Illinois at Chicago

Discussant

• Madelyn Labella, William and Mary

Individual Presentations

• Prenatal exposure to opioids and maternal dysregulated mood: Associations with maternal physiology and newborn neurobehavior - Presenting Author: Liz Conradt, Duke University; Non-Presenting Author: Sarah Priddy; Non-Presenting Author: Robert Vlisides-Henry, University of Utah; Non-Presenting Author: Parisa R. Kaliush, University of Utah; Non-Presenting Author: Brendan Dale Ostlund, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Non-Presenting Author: Sarah Terrell, University of Utah; Non-Presenting Author: Celine Saenz, University of Utah; Non-Presenting Author: Sheila E Crowell, University of Utah; Non-Presenting Author: Marcela Smid, University of Utah Health; Non-Presenting Author: Eric Garland, University of Utah

• Preliminary Effects of Prenatal Opioid Exposure and an Attachment-Based Intervention on Infant Autonomic Physiology - Presenting Author: Alexandra Tabachnick, University of Illinois at Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Madelyn Labella, William and Mary; Non-Presenting Author: Rina D. Eiden, The Pennsylvania State University; Non-Presenting Author: Mary Dozier, University of Delaware

• Associations between Prenatal Substance Exposure and Autonomic Functioning during Early School Age and Early Adolescence: An Examination of Sex and Postnatal Environmental Risk as Potential Moderators - Presenting Author: Pamela Schuetze, State University of New York Buffalo State University; Non-Presenting Author: Stephanie Godleski, Rochester Institute of Technology; Non-Presenting Author: Madison Rachel Kelm, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Non-Presenting Author: Rina D. Eiden, The Pennsylvania State University