3-171 - The Prenatal Origins of Developmental Health in High Risk Contexts: From Intergenerational Transmission to Early Intervention

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) model stipulates that adversity during pregnancy can disrupt fetal growth and maturation, resulting in poorer health across the lifespan. This leads to the stratification of physical and mental health problems amongst marginalized populations, partially due to the impact of psychosocial adversity during pregnancy on subsequent generations. While the intergenerational patterning of poorer health amongst marginalized groups is established, there remains a need to better articulate the mechanisms of transmission and map intervention strategies to these putative pathways. Accordingly, the purpose of this three-study symposium, which is aligned with the biennial meeting emphasis on “Poverty, Inequality, and Developmental Science” is to (1) explicate a cascade linking adversity across generations via disruptions in maternal functioning during pregnancy, (2) highlight points in the cascade whereby intergenerational adversity can be disrupted, and (3) provide a conceptual synthesis linking DOHaD science and best-practice psychosocial interventions.

Study 1 utilizes a prospective birth cohort to link maternal adverse childhood experiences with physical and mental health in children via perinatal biomedical risk and postnatal psychosocial risk. Study 2 employs multi-level laboratory methods to identify the effects of prenatal stress and life events on child parasympathetic functioning. Study 3 focuses on preventive implications and highlights how positive early experiences in the childhoods of underserved pregnant women are associated with lower levels of prenatal psychopathology and stressful life events. Finally, an integrative discussion will highlight central themes in DOHaD research, practice, and policy, with particular emphasis on clinical innovations with marginalized populations.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Dillon Browne, University of California, San Francisco

Discussant

• Daniel Keating, University of Michigan

Individual Presentations

• Maternal histories of adversity and infant physical and emotional health: The mediating role of biomedical and psychosocial risk - Presenting Author: Mark Wade, University of Toronto; Sheri Madigan, University of Calgary; Andre Plamondon, Département des fondements et pratiques en éducation, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada; Jennifer Jenkins, University of Toronto

• Effects of Pre- and Post-natal Maternal Stress on Infant Temperamental and Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity in a Diverse Sample - Presenting Author: Nicole Bush, UCSF; Karen Jones-Mason, University of California, San Francisco; Michael Coccia, University of California, San Francisco; Zoe Caron, University of California, San Francisco; Melanie Thomas, University of California, San Francisco; Kim Coleman-Phox, University of California, San Francisco; Abbey Alkon, UCSF School of Nursing; Barbara Laraia, University of California, Berkeley; Elissa Epel, University of California, San Francisco

• Benevolent Childhood Experiences as Deterrents of Prenatal Programming of Maternal and Infant Stress - Presenting Author: Angela J Narayan, University of Denver; Luisa Rivera, Emory University; Rosemary Bernstein, University of California, San Francisco; Kate Mallula, University of California, Berkeley; William W Harris, Children's Research and Education Institute; Alicia F Lieberman, University of California, San Francisco