ArticleComprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology2022
Hair cortisol concentration across the peripartum period: Documenting changes and associations with depressive symptoms and recent adversity.
Article in Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of associations between hormone levels in hair and peripartum depression.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Time-dependent association between prenatal hair glucocorticoid levels and child behavior problems.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Diurnal cortisol trajectories from mid-pregnancy to one year after birth.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Using Machine Learning to Identify Predictors of Maternal and Infant Hair Cortisol Concentration Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Article
- Prepartal Stress, Prepartal and Postpartal Hair Glucocorticoid Concentrations, and Symptoms of Postpartum Depression 3 Days and 12 Weeks After Delivery.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- The effect of maternal childhood maltreatment on postpartum mother-child bonding and maternal hair glucocorticoids.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Article
- Chronic stress and hair cortisol concentration in mothers: A two-study investigation.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2024Article
- The association between pre-pregnancy and first-trimester hair cortisol and preterm birth: a causal inference model.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Characterization of hair cortisol concentration pre-conception and during pregnancy.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Stability and inter-family associations of hair endocannabinoid and N-acylethanolamines across the perinatal period in mothers, fathers, and children.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Recalibration of the stress response system over adult development: Is there a perinatal recalibration period?Development and psychopathology · 2023Review
- Within-person associations of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, and testosterone hair hormone concentrations and psychological distress in pregnant and non-pregnant women.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Correlates of preconception and pregnancy hair cortisol concentrations.Research square · 2023Article
- Stress before conception and during pregnancy and maternal cortisol during pregnancy: A scoping review.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Maternal distress, DNA methylation, and fetal programing of stress physiology in Brazilian mother-infant pairs.Developmental psychobiology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Women experience dramatic physiological changes during pregnancy, including changes in the production of the "stress hormone," cortisol. Evidence has been mixed regarding whether hair cortisol concentration (HCC) can be used to accurately capture the trajectory of cortisol during this period and whether factors related to psychosocial stress are related to HCC in pregnant and postpartum women. In the current study, we collected hair samples from 85 individuals during the peripartum period (with collection occasions in pregnancy [12-37 weeks], at 3-8 weeks postpartum, and at 5-8 months postpartum) from which we derived 783 monthly observations of HCC. In addition, at each assessment individuals reported their current depressive symptoms and experiences of recent psychosocial adversity. Using piecewise mixed effects modeling, we identified significant increases in HCC across pregnancy (approximately a 2-fold rise) followed by significant decreases in HCC postpartum. Beyond these effects, however, there was substantial within-individual variability in HCC. Disaggregating between- from within-individual associations of depressive symptoms and adversity with HCC, we found that within-individual fluctuations in adversity were positively coupled with levels of HCC. Overall, the current findings suggest that measurement of cortisol in human hair captures its trajectory from conception through six months postpartum, including prenatal increases and gradual recovery of typical levels following childbirth. In addition to the overall severity of psychosocial adversity, change in women's experiences of adversity during the peripartum period merit attention.
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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.