ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2022
Prenatal hair cortisol concentrations during the COVID-19 outbreak: Associations with maternal psychological stress and infant temperament.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Low Pregnancy Cortisol and Infant Socioemotional Problems: The Mediating Role of Postpartum Depressive Symptoms.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Disrupted beginnings: Neurodevelopmental outcomes of COVID-19 lockdowns in early childhood (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2026Review
- 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
- Correlates of preconception and pregnancy hair cortisol concentrations.Research square · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMaternal psychological stress during pregnancy, including stress resulting from disasters and trauma, has been linked to temperamental difficulties in offspring. Although heightened cortisol concentrations are often hypothesized as an underlying mechanism, evidence supporting this mechanism is not consistent, potentially because of methodological issues and low stress in the population.
aimTo address these issues, this preregistered study investigated the following associations between: 1) prenatal psychological stress and hair cortisol, as a biomarker for chronic stress, during the COVID-19 outbreak (i.e., as a major worldwide psychological stressor), and 2) maternal hair cortisol during the COVID-19 outbreak and later infant temperamental negative affectivity and orienting/regulation. Additionally, we explored whether associations were different for women with low versus high socioeconomic status (SES; maternal education and annual household income) and at different stages of pregnancy.
methodPregnant women (N = 100) filled out online questionnaires during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Six months later, when most mothers were still pregnant or had just given birth, maternal hair samples were collected during home visits. When infants were six months old, mothers reported on their infant's temperament.
resultsAlthough hierarchical regression analyses revealed no associations between prenatal COVID-19 psychological stress and hair cortisol during the COVID-19 outbreak, SES proved to be a moderator in this association. Only pregnant women with higher levels of SES, not lower levels, showed a positive association between work-related and social support-related COVID-19 worries and hair cortisol. Finally, prenatal hair cortisol was not associated with later infant temperamental negative affectivity and orienting/regulation.
conclusionAlthough the COVID-19 outbreak proved to be a major psychological stressor worldwide, the physiological impact of the crisis might be different for pregnant women with higher SES as compared to lower SES.
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