Cumulative stress and maternal prenatal corticotropin-releasing hormone in an urban U.S. cohort

PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY

卷:37

Article

Tse, Alison C.¹  Rich-Edwards, Janet W.^1,4,5  Koenen, Karestan^1,2,5  Wright, Rosalind J.^3,5 

[1] Harvard Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[2] Harvard Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Soc Human Dev & Hlth, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[3] Harvard Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Environm Hlth, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[4] Brigham & Womens Hosp, Connors Ctr Womens Hlth & Gender Biol, Boston, MA 02115 USA

[5] Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Brigham & Womens Hosp, Channing Lab, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

关键词: Pregnancy;    Stress;    HPA axis;    Hormones;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.11.004

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Background: To date, there have been conflicting reports of the association of psychosocial stressors with prenatal corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) levels. Methods: We examined whether racial discrimination, community violence, interpersonal violence (IPV), negative life events, considered independently, and as a composite measure of cumulative stress, were associated with prenatal CRH levels in the Asthma Coalition on Community, Environment, and Social Stress (ACCESS) project, a multiethnic pre-birth cohort in urban Boston. Blood was collected between 20 and 37 weeks gestation (Mean = 28.1, SD = 4.6 weeks gestation). During pregnancy, women were administered the Conflict Tactics Scale survey to assess IPV, the Crisis in Family Systems-Revised survey to assess negative life events, the My Exposure to Violence survey to assess community violence, and the Experiences of Discrimination survey. A cumulative stress measure was derived from these instruments to characterize exposure to high levels of multiple stressors. Results: None of the individual stressors or cumulative stress was associated with CRH in combined analyses including Whites (n = 20), Blacks (n = 46), and Hispanics (n = 110). In separate analyses of Blacks and Hispanics, racial discrimination, community violence, and cumulative stress were associated with CRH in Blacks, but were not associated with CRH in Hispanics. Conclusions: Though these results require replication, they suggest that the effects of stress on prenatal CRH levels may be mediated by factors that differ between racial/ethnic groups. Further studies in larger samples are warranted to clarify whether associations of chronic stressors and prenatal CRH levels differ by race/ethnicity and to better understand underlying mechanisms. (c) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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