ArticlePloS one2015
Prenatal and Postpartum Evening Salivary Cortisol Levels in Association with Peripartum Depressive Symptoms.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurobiological insights into perinatal depression: a multi-dimensional integration of brain structure, function, and metabolism.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Role of psychotherapy on antenatal depression, anxiety, and maternal quality of life: A meta-analysis.Medicine · 2020Pooled it
- The association between maternal cortisol and depression during pregnancy, a systematic review.Archives of women's mental health · 2018Pooled it
- Effects of antenatal hypnosis on maternal salivary cortisol during childbirth and six weeks postpartum-A randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2020Trial
- Serum Serotonin Levels and Postpartum Depression in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Prospective Psychobiological Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Advances in Perinatal Depression: A Focus on Screening and Treatment.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- From womb to words: the sex-specific interplay of fetal sex hormones and maternal mood on infant language development.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- The complex interaction between oestrogen receptor genes, oestradiol, and perinatal mood.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Towards Objective Major Depressive Disorder Detection: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Biomarkers.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2025Review
- Investigating the Microbiome in Relation to Mental Distress Across Two Points During Pregnancy: Data From U.S. and Swedish Cohorts.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Predictive Validity of Screening Tools and Role of Self-Esteem and Coping in Postpartum Depression Risk.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Association of estrogen receptor single nucleotide polymorphisms and perinatal depression.PloS one · 2025Article
- Peripartum depression symptom trajectories, telomere length and genotype, and adverse childhood experiences.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Postpartum symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress: differential relationships to women's cortisol profiles.Archives of women's mental health · 2024Article
- Cortisol Regulation among Women Who Experience Suicidal Ideation during Pregnancy.Journal of affective disorders reports · 2023Article
- Cohort profile: the U-BIRTH study on peripartum depression and child development in Sweden.BMJ open · 2023Article
- A unified model of the biology of peripartum depression.Translational psychiatry · 2023Review
- Association of disrespectful care after childbirth and COVID-19 exposure with postpartum depression symptoms- a longitudinal cohort study in Nepal.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- The role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in depression across the female reproductive lifecycle: current knowledge and future directions.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- Targeting the Arginine Vasopressin VNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe biology of peripartum depression remains unclear, with altered stress and the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal axis response having been implicated in its pathophysiology.
methodsThe current study was undertaken as a part of the BASIC project (Biology, Affect, Stress, Imaging, Cognition), a population-based longitudinal study of psychological wellbeing during pregnancy and the postpartum period in Uppsala County, Sweden, in order to assess the association between evening salivary cortisol levels and depressive symptoms in the peripartum period. Three hundred and sixty-five pregnant women from the BASIC cohort were recruited at pregnancy week 18 and instructed to complete a Swedish validated version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at the 36th week of pregnancy as well as the sixth week after delivery. At both times, they were also asked to provide evening salivary samples for cortisol analysis. A comprehensive review of the relevant literature is also provided.
resultsWomen with postpartum EPDS score ≥ 10 had higher salivary evening cortisol at six weeks postpartum compared to healthy controls (median cortisol 1.19 vs 0.89 nmol/L). A logistic regression model showed a positive association between cortisol levels and depressive symptoms postpartum (OR = 4.1; 95% CI 1.7-9.7). This association remained significant even after controlling for history of depression, use of tobacco, partner support, breastfeeding, stressful life events, and sleep problems, as possible confounders (aOR = 4.5; 95% CI 1.5-14.1). Additionally, women with postpartum depressive symptoms had higher postpartum cortisol levels compared to both women with depressive symptoms antenatally and controls (p = 0.019 and p = 0.004, respectively).
conclusionsWomen with depressive symptoms postpartum had higher postpartum cortisol levels, indicating an altered response of the HPA-axis in postpartum depression.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.