Prenatal maternal cortisol, stress and anxiety, and childhood obesity at 5 years: a nested case–control study.
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| Title: | Prenatal maternal cortisol, stress and anxiety, and childhood obesity at 5 years: a nested case–control study. |
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| Authors: | Matvienko-Sikar, Karen, Butler, Emma, Keeffe, Linda O', Dijk, Willeke v., Hayes, Catherine B., Huizink, Anja C., Kearney, Patricia M., Costelloe, Sean J., Curtin, Sinead, Foley, Kelly, McCarthy, Fergus P., Mahony, Siobhain O., Khashan, Ali, Murray, Deirdre M. |
| Source: | Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology. Jul2025, Vol. 43 Issue 4, p831-845. 15p. |
| Subjects: | Risk assessment, Self-evaluation, Research funding, Body mass index, Logistic regression analysis, Hydrocortisone, Anxiety, Descriptive statistics, Prenatal care, Odds ratio, Psychological stress, Case-control method, Statistics, Childhood obesity, Confidence intervals, Mental depression, Disease risk factors, Pregnancy |
| Geographic Terms: | Ireland |
| Abstract: | Background: Paediatric obesity is a global public health issue. Prenatal maternal mental health is potentially implicated in the development of childhood obesity. This study examined associations between prenatal maternal cortisol, self-reported stress, anxiety and depression in the second trimester, and childhood overweight and obesity at 5 years of age. Methods: A nested case–control study was conducted using data from the Irish prospective longitudinal birth cohort SCOPE BASELINE. Cases were children with overweight or obesity, operationalised as having a BMI z-score above +2 standard deviations. Controls were children with a BMI z-score between −0.5 and 0.5 standard deviations at 5 years of age. Two to one matching by sex was conducted. Thirty-eight cases and 83 sex-matched controls were included. Maternal serum cortisol concentration and self-reported stress, anxiety and depression were measured at 15 ± 1 and 20 ± 1 weeks gestation. Conditional logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between prenatal maternal cortisol and self-reported stress, anxiety and depression, and childhood overweight and obesity. Results: Despite some evidence for associations between anxiety and depression, and child BMI z-scores in univariate analyses, adjusted models indicated no associations between prenatal maternal stress (OR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.94–1.12), anxiety (OR: 1.03, 95% CI: 0.97–1.09), depression (OR: 1.04, 95% CI: 0.91–1.19), or cortisol concentration (OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99–1.00) and child BMI z-score. Conclusion: Our findings do not provide support for associations between foetal exposure during the second trimester of pregnancy and maternal cortisol, stress and anxiety, and childhood overweight or obesity at 5 years of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Reproductive & Infant Psychology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Background: Paediatric obesity is a global public health issue. Prenatal maternal mental health is potentially implicated in the development of childhood obesity. This study examined associations between prenatal maternal cortisol, self-reported stress, anxiety and depression in the second trimester, and childhood overweight and obesity at 5 years of age. Methods: A nested case–control study was conducted using data from the Irish prospective longitudinal birth cohort SCOPE BASELINE. Cases were children with overweight or obesity, operationalised as having a BMI z-score above +2 standard deviations. Controls were children with a BMI z-score between −0.5 and 0.5 standard deviations at 5 years of age. Two to one matching by sex was conducted. Thirty-eight cases and 83 sex-matched controls were included. Maternal serum cortisol concentration and self-reported stress, anxiety and depression were measured at 15 ± 1 and 20 ± 1 weeks gestation. Conditional logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between prenatal maternal cortisol and self-reported stress, anxiety and depression, and childhood overweight and obesity. Results: Despite some evidence for associations between anxiety and depression, and child BMI z-scores in univariate analyses, adjusted models indicated no associations between prenatal maternal stress (OR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.94–1.12), anxiety (OR: 1.03, 95% CI: 0.97–1.09), depression (OR: 1.04, 95% CI: 0.91–1.19), or cortisol concentration (OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99–1.00) and child BMI z-score. Conclusion: Our findings do not provide support for associations between foetal exposure during the second trimester of pregnancy and maternal cortisol, stress and anxiety, and childhood overweight or obesity at 5 years of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 02646838 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/02646838.2023.2288298 |
