Depressive symptoms during pregnancy: Impact on neuroendocrine and neonatal outcomes

▶ Pregnant women with depressive symptomatology have changes in the LHPA systems relative to non depressed women. ▶ Infants born to women with significant depressive symptoms, similarly have changes in the LHPA system specifically elevation in cord blood ACTH at birth. ▶ These infants were also more...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infant behavior & development 2011-02, Vol.34 (1), p.26-34
Main Authors: Marcus, Sheila, Lopez, Juan F., McDonough, Susan, MacKenzie, Michael J., Flynn, Heather, Neal, Charles R., Gahagan, Sheila, Volling, Brenda, Kaciroti, Niko, Vazquez, Delia M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Child development
Depression
Developmental psychology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Infant outcomes
Medical sciences
Mood disorders
Neuroendocrine system
Newborn. Infant
Pregnancy
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
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Summary:▶ Pregnant women with depressive symptomatology have changes in the LHPA systems relative to non depressed women. ▶ Infants born to women with significant depressive symptoms, similarly have changes in the LHPA system specifically elevation in cord blood ACTH at birth. ▶ These infants were also more hypotonic at birth. To explore the interplay of maternal depressive symptoms on the infant limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis (LHPA) and neurological development. Pregnant women were monitored for depressive symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at 28, 32, and 37 weeks of gestation and at delivery. A mixture growth curve analysis divided the women into three risk groups: low/stable, intermediate, and high/increasing depression based on BDI scores. The infant neuroendocrine system was examined using cord blood for adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol measurements. Two-week-old infants were examined using Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). Infants born to women of the high/increasing depression group had significant ACTH elevation at birth. On NNNS examination, these infants were more hypotonic and habituated to auditory and visual stimuli. When compared to non-depressed women, maternal depressive symptoms, even in the absence of major depressive disorder, appeared to facilitate a different developmental pathway for the infant LHPA and early neurological development.
ISSN:0163-6383
1879-0453
1934-8800
DOI:10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.07.002