The Relation Between Mothers and Fathers Prenatal Cortisol and Infant’s Early Development

• In Event: Parenting and Psychophysiology: Evaluating Complex Dyadic Processes

Abstract

Both genetics and environment influence brain development during gestation (Bale et al., 2010; Buss et al., 2012; Tau & Peterson, 2010); this emphasizes the critical role pregnant women's mental health plays for healthy child development. Maternal stress/cortisol during pregnancy, via altered fetus physiology, has been related to poorer birth outcomes (Davis & Sandman, 2010; Tollenaar et al., 2011), infant regulation (Fuller et al., 2018; Lin et al., 2014) and more negative affect (Graham et al., 2019). Yet, little research has attended to the role of fathers’ prenatal stress/cortisol and infant’s early development (Edelstein et al., 2017; Kuo et al., 2018). The current study examines processes linking both mothers’ and fathers’ prenatal stress/ (cortisol) to infant’s early development including cortisol level, fussiness and birthweight in an understudied population of low-income first-time parents. The financial stress faced by these families is likely predictive of heightened levels of stress/cortisol during pregnancy, which is hypothesized to be risk factors for infant stress/development.

Methods. Data comes from a randomized control pilot study (PREPing for Parenthood) aimed at reducing prenatal stress/depression and enhancing parenting among first-time parents. The sample included 40 racially and ethnically diverse couples (See Table 1). Data was collected prenatally (T1; mGestational age: 20wk) and post-birth. Data includes: parents biological measures of stress assessed through hair cortisol and self-reported infant fussiness using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ). Infant cortisol was accessed through fingernail clippings. Our study will be one of the first studies to examine parents’ early prenatal stress to newborn stress levels via fingernail clippings.

Results. Mothers’ and fathers’ prenatal stress were significantly related to infants’ outcomes in different ways. Mothers hair cortisol was significantly negatively related to infants birth weight (B = -5.67, SE = 2.66, β = -0.32, p = .033). However, while mothers’ prenatal stress/cortisol was not related to infant stress, a significant relationship emerged for fathers. Fathers prenatal cortisol was positively related to infants’ cortisol (B = 2.25, SE = 0.57, β = 0.72, p < .001). Furthermore, fathers’ heightened prenatal cortisol was related to less infant fussiness (B = -0.05, SE = 0.02, β = -0.58, p = .022).

Discussion. This is one of the first studies to show how both mothers and fathers prenatal stress is related to infants early development/stress using a novel technique to access infant stress. Results indicated that mothers with higher prenatal chronic stress had babies with lower birth weights. However, for fathers, heightened prenatal stress was related to high infant cortisol levels. Results also indicated that fathers heightened stress was related to less infant fussiness. Fathers may not report high fussiness due to limited time spent childrearing. Alternatively, fathers worried about becoming dads may take a more active role in parenting; more sensitive parenting is associated with less fussiness (Bridgett et al., 2009). Overall, these findings have significant implications for the perinatal prevention highlighting the importance of supporting both mothers and fathers in managing their stress and mental health prenatally. Future work will also evaluate parents saliva cortisol and infants outcomes.

Authors

• Alexandrea L. Craft, Brown University
  Presenting Author

• Diego Barcala-Delgado, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Jade Martinez

• Christina Albina Rowley, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Rachel Herman, Brown University

• Nancy Byatt, UMass Memorial Medical Center

• Marsha Kline Pruett, Smith College

• Sally Powers, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Maureen A Perry-Jenkins, University of Massachusetts Amherst