Depressive symptoms during pregnancy: Impact on neuroendocrine and neonatal outcomes

• Published in: Infant behavior & development Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 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: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.02.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adrenocorticotropic Hormone - blood; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Depression; Depressive Disorder - complications; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Developmental psychology; Educational Status; Ethnic Groups; Female; Fetal Blood - chemistry; Fetus - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Hydrocortisone - blood; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System - physiopathology; Income; Infant Behavior - physiology; Infant outcomes; Infant, Newborn; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; Limbic System - physiopathology; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Marital Status; Medical sciences; Mood disorders; Neuroendocrine system; Neurosecretory Systems - physiopathology; Newborn. Infant; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications - psychology; Pregnancy Outcome - psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Socioeconomic Factors; Young Adult; Pregnancy; Depression; Infant outcomes; Neuroendocrine system; Human; Mood disorder; Corticosteroid; Neonatal; Steroid hormone; Antiinflammatory agent; Neuroendocrine regulation; Infant; Hydrocortisone; Glucocorticoid; Symptomatology; Adrenocorticotropic hormone; Adenohypophyseal hormone; Adrenal hormone
• ISSN: 0163-6383; 1879-0453; 1934-8800
• DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.07.002

▶ 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.