ArticleBiological psychology2018
Exposure to traumatic events in childhood predicts cortisol production among high risk pregnant women.
Article in Biological psychology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of hair cortisol during pregnancy: Reference ranges and methodological considerations.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2020Pooled it
- Sex-specific mechanisms of childhood trauma-related HPA axis dysregulation: Insights across four regulatory probes.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Influences of adverse childhood experiences and weekly pregnancy stress on postpartum mental health symptoms: a machine learning examination.Archives of women's mental health · 2026Article
- Mother infant cortisol levels and maternal childhood adversity.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Before pregnancy trauma primes oxytocin receptor expression in placenta during superstorm sandy.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- Longitudinal effects of pregnancy on PTSD symptoms in black female participants: Moderation by sexual trauma and progesterone.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- Transcriptomic Alteration in the Brain and Gut of Offspring Following Prenatal Exposure to Corticosterone.Experimental neurobiology · 2025Article
- Husband involvement in antenatal care moderates the link between vitamin D status and depressive symptoms in pregnant women.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2025Article
- Prenatal stress and neuroendocrine pathways framing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder as a functionally based neurodevelopmental disorder: a narrative review.Journal of Yeungnam medical science · 2025Article
- Placental Cortisol Dysregulation in Mothers with Experiences of Childhood Adversity: Potential Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Leveraging the interpersonal context of child development to promote family resilience: A universal prevention approach from preconception through early childhood.Mental health & prevention · 2024Article
- Recalibration of the stress response system over adult development: Is there a perinatal recalibration period?Development and psychopathology · 2023Review
- Correlates of preconception and pregnancy hair cortisol concentrations.Research square · 2023Article
- The Interaction between Psychological Stress and Iron Status on Early-Life Neurodevelopmental Outcomes.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Stress before conception and during pregnancy and maternal cortisol during pregnancy: A scoping review.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Preconception maternal posttraumatic stress and child negative affectivity: Prospectively evaluating the intergenerational impact of trauma.Development and psychopathology · 2023Article
- Threat versus deprivation in mother's childhood: Differential relations to hair cortisol and psychopathology in pregnancy.Child abuse & neglect · 2023Article
- Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women-an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Adverse and Benevolent Childhood Experiences Predict Prenatal Sleep Quality.Adversity and resilience science · 2022Article
- Maternal adverse childhood experiences and infant subcortical brain volume.Neurobiology of stress · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Childhood exposure to traumatic events has a profound and disruptive impact on mental and physical health, including stress physiology. In the current study, we evaluate 90 pregnant women at risk for preterm delivery and assess the association between history of exposure to traumatic events and hair cortisol concentrations, an integrated measure of cortisol production. Exposure to more traumatic events in childhood and in adulthood independently predicted elevated hair cortisol concentrations in pregnancy. Notably, the impact of childhood exposure to traumatic events remained after accounting for more proximal traumatic events in adulthood. Further, there was a significant interaction between childhood and adult exposures. Traumatic experiences in adulthood were more strongly associated with hair cortisol concentrations among mothers with a history of greater childhood trauma. Findings suggest that not only do proximal adult exposures impact HPA-axis functioning during pregnancy, but that childhood traumatic experiences have persisting consequences for HPA-axis functioning during pregnancy. Maternal HPA-axis dysregulation in pregnancy has consequences for both maternal health and for fetal development. Therefore, we consider prenatal maternal HPA-axis functioning as a potential biological pathway underlying intergenerational consequences of childhood trauma.
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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.