Disaster-related prenatal maternal stress, and childhood HPA-axis regulation and anxiety: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study. (August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McLean, Mia A.; Simcock, Gabrielle; Elgbeili, Guillaume; Laplante, David P.; Kildea, Sue; Hurrion, Elizabeth; Lequertier, Belinda; Cobham, Vanessa E.; King, Suzanne
• Is Part Of: Psychoneuroendocrinology. Volume 118(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-08
• Subjects: Childhood anxiety -- Prenatal maternal stress -- Disaster -- Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis -- Stress reactivity -- Cortisol awaking response; Psychoneuroendocrinology -- Periodicals; Endocrinology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Neuropsychoendocrinologie -- Périodiques; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104716
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4530

Abstract

Highlights: Examined toddler cortisol indexes as mediator of PNMS effect on 4-year child anxiety. Greater toddler CAR mediated effect of subjective PNMS on child anxiety. Independent of PNMS, greater daily cortisol output was related to child anxiety. Maternal separation paradigm did not elicit a stress (cortisol) response in toddlers. HPA-axis functioning: a biological correlate of disaster-PNMS and anxiety symptoms. Abstract: Background: The fetal programming hypothesis suggests that prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) influences aspects of fetal development, such as the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis, enhancing susceptibility to emotional problems. No study (to our knowledge) has investigated this pathway considering development of preschool anxiety symptoms. Using data from the Queensland Flood study (QF2011), our objective was to determine whether toddler HPA-axis functioning mediated the association between aspects of flood-related PNMS and child anxiety symptoms at 4-years, and whether relationships were moderated by the timing of the stressor in utero or by the child's sex. Methods: Women, pregnant during the 2011 Queensland floods (N = 230), were recruited soon afterwards and completed questionnaires regarding their objective hardship (e.g., loss of personal property), subjective distress (post-traumatic-like symptoms) and cognitive appraisal of the disaster. At 16 months, indexes of the child's diurnal cortisol rhythm (awakening response, total daily output, diurnal slope [N = 80]), and stress reactivity (N = 111), were obtained. At 4-years, N = 117 mothers reported on their own mood and their children's anxiety symptoms; of these, N = 80 also had valid child cortisol reactivity data, and N = 64 had diurnal cortisol rhythm data. Results: A greater cortisol awakening response at 16 months mediated the relationship between subjective PNMS and anxiety symptoms at 4-years. Greater toddler daily cortisol secretion predicted more anxiety symptoms, independent of PNMS. The laboratory stressor did not elicit a cortisol response. PNMS effects were not dependent upon child sex nor on gestational timing of flood exposure. Conclusions: Indexes of diurnal cortisol in toddlerhood may represent vulnerability for anxiety symptoms in preschoolers, both independent of, and following, exposure to disaster-related prenatal maternal subjective distress.