ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2023
Maternal steroids during pregnancy and their associations with exposure to lifetime stressful life events, prenatal stress appraisal and psychological functioning.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- The Metabolomic Signature of Stressful Life Events.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Placental angiogenic biomarkers in relation to prenatal bisphenol and phthalate exposure.Placenta · 2026Article
- Mapping of Determinants of Urinary Sex Steroid Metabolites During Late Pregnancy: Results from Two Spanish Cohorts.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Rule-out test for autism using machine-learning analysis of molecular temporal dynamics in hair - a multicenter study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Association of placental mitochondrial DNA mutations on infant negative affectivity: modifying effects of maternal lifetime stress and infant sex.Biology of sex differences · 2025Article
- The role of prenatal maternal sex steroid hormones in weight and adiposity at birth and growth trajectories during infancy.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Article
- Association between pre-pregnancy maternal stress and small for gestational age: a population-based retrospective cohort study.BMC medicine · 2025Article
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8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDuring pregnancy, steroids enable physiological adaptations in response to many factors, including maternal stress or psychological functioning. While stress and psychological dysfunction can have endocrine-disrupting effects beyond cortisol disruption, associations between prenatal maternal stress or related psychological dysfunction and the broader steroid milieu remain understudied.
aimTo assess associations between independent and joint maternal stress and psychological functioning measures and steroid profiles in pregnancy (22-40 gestational weeks) in the Programming of Intergenerational Stress Mechanisms (PRISM) birth cohort (n = 334).
methodsSerum metabolomics detected 42 steroids and their metabolites, which were grouped into five classes (pregnenolone, androgens, estrogens, progestin, and corticosteroids). The Perceived Stress Scale, Life Stressor Checklist-Revised, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale indexed lifetime traumatic/non-traumatic stressors, global prenatal stress appraisal, and depressive symptoms during pregnancy, respectively. Exposures were categorized as high-low using the corresponding 3rd quartiles. We assessed associations between both individual and joint stress exposures with steroid classes using linear mixed effect models and with individual steroids using linear regressions. We also examined fetal sex-specific effects.
resultsHigh prenatal perceived stress was independently associated with lower levels of androgens and estrogens in the overall sample [β (95%CI): androgens: -0.13 (-0.25;-0.01); estrogens: -0.16 (-0.31;-0.01)], particularly among women carrying males [androgens: -0.22 (-0.39;-0.05); estrogens: -0.28 (-0.50;-0.07)]. Results on estrogens were consistent when considering joint exposure to both greater lifetime stressors and higher prenatal perceived stress. We also found a single testosterone metabolite-5alpha-androstan-3alpha,17alpha-diol disulfate-negatively associated with both individual high perceived stress and joint exposure to high lifetime stressors and high perceived stress among women carrying males.
conclusionsIncreased maternal perceived stress experienced in pregnancy was independently associated with lower maternal androgen and estrogen levels during pregnancy in the overall sample, particularly among women carrying males. Results on estrogens were consistent when we considered the joint exposure of increased lifetime stressors and higher prenatal perceived stress.
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