Abstract
Postpartum depression (PPD) has been associated with a number of negative maternal and infant health outcomes. Despite these adverse health effects, few studies have prospectively examined patterns of pre- and postnatal stress that may increase a woman’s risk for PPD. The current study examined whether the timing of altered salivary cortisol patterns and perceived stress levels during pregnancy and at 3 months postpartum was associated with PPD symptoms among 100 low-income mothers. Higher levels of PPD were found among women with a lower cortisol awakening response (first and second trimester), lower average daily cortisol (second trimester), a flatter diurnal cortisol pattern (second and third trimester and at 3 months postpartum), and a less abrupt drop in both cortisol and perceived stress from the third trimester to 3 months postpartum. These results support the need for early screening and regulation of stress levels to promote depression prevention efforts in at-risk populations.
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Acknowledgments
Kathryn Scheyer and Guido G. Urizar Jr. are in the Department of Psychology, California State University, Long Beach. This study was conducted as part of a collaboration between the Partners in Research and Outreach for Health (PRO-Health) Research Lab (Guido G. Urizar Jr., Director), St. Mary Medical Center (Miguel Gutierrez, Director), and the African American Infant Health Program at the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (Pamela Shaw, Director). Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number SC2HD068878 (Guido G. Urizar Jr., PI). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Yasmin Kofman, Janessa Cuomo, Crystal Tandler, and the other members of the PRO-Health Research Lab for their instrumental support in data collection. The authors would also like to thank Chi-Ah Chun, Ph.D. and Ilona Yim, Ph.D. for reviewing a previous version of this manuscript, as well as Nicolas Rohleder, Ph.D. for conducting the cortisol assays. This publication is based on the first author’s undergraduate honors thesis at California State University, Long Beach.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Guido G. Urizar Jr., Ph.D., Psychology Department, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840-0901 (email: guido.urizar@csulb.edu).
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Scheyer, K., Urizar, G.G. Altered stress patterns and increased risk for postpartum depression among low-income pregnant women. Arch Womens Ment Health 19, 317–328 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0563-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0563-7