ArticlePloS one2015
Expectant Mothers Maximizing Opportunities: Maternal Characteristics Moderate Multifactorial Prenatal Stress in the Prediction of Birth Weight in a Sample of Children Adopted at Birth.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative Analysis of Prenatal Stress Models: Placental and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Mice.The Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2026Article
- Post-adoption perinatal grief and parenting future children in the home: The moderating roles of social support and parental substance use.Parenting, science and practice · 2024Article
- Article
- Maternal Distress and Offspring Neurodevelopment: Challenges and Opportunities for Pre-clinical Research Models.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2021Article
- The Early Growth and Development Study: A Dual-Family Adoption Study from Birth Through Adolescence.Twin research and human genetics : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies · 2019Article
- Antibiotic use during pregnancy: a retrospective study of prescription patterns and birth outcomes at an antenatal clinic in rural Ghana.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2017Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMothers' stress in pregnancy is considered an environmental risk factor in child development. Multiple stressors may combine to increase risk, and maternal personal characteristics may offset the effects of stress. This study aimed to test the effect of 1) multifactorial prenatal stress, integrating objective "stressors" and subjective "distress" and 2) the moderating effects of maternal characteristics (perceived social support, self-esteem and specific personality traits) on infant birthweight.
methodHierarchical regression modeling was used to examine cross-sectional data on 403 birth mothers and their newborns from an adoption study.
resultsDistress during pregnancy showed a statistically significant association with birthweight (R2 = 0.032, F(2, 398) = 6.782, p = .001). The hierarchical regression model revealed an almost two-fold increase in variance of birthweight predicted by stressors as compared with distress measures (R2Δ = 0.049, F(4, 394) = 5.339, p < .001). Further, maternal characteristics moderated this association (R2Δ = 0.031, F(4, 389) = 3.413, p = .009). Specifically, the expected benefit to birthweight as a function of higher SES was observed only for mothers with lower levels of harm-avoidance and higher levels of perceived social support. Importantly, the results were not better explained by prematurity, pregnancy complications, exposure to drugs, alcohol or environmental toxins.
conclusionsThe findings support multidimensional theoretical models of prenatal stress. Although both objective stressors and subjectively measured distress predict birthweight, they should be considered distinct and cumulative components of stress. This study further highlights that jointly considering risk factors and protective factors in pregnancy improves the ability to predict birthweight.
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Registered trials
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