Psychobiological Effects of Prenatal Glucocorticoid Exposure in 10-Year-Old-Children

Background: Prenatal stress seems to have long-lasting effects on biological and psychological processes of the offspring. However, to date, there have been no studies investigating the effects of prenatal glucocorticoid exposure on psychological, endocrine, and autonomic responses to a standardized...

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Main Authors:	Erni, Katja, Shaqiri-Emini, Luljeta, La Marca, Roberto, Zimmermann, Roland, Ehlert, Ulrike
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2012
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3517968/

id	pubmed-3517968
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-35179682012-12-11 Psychobiological Effects of Prenatal Glucocorticoid Exposure in 10-Year-Old-Children Erni, Katja Shaqiri-Emini, Luljeta La Marca, Roberto Zimmermann, Roland Ehlert, Ulrike Psychiatry Background: Prenatal stress seems to have long-lasting effects on biological and psychological processes of the offspring. However, to date, there have been no studies investigating the effects of prenatal glucocorticoid exposure on psychological, endocrine, and autonomic responses to a standardized psychosocial stress test in children. Methods: A sample of 115 healthy, 10-year-old children was examined. The Glucocorticoids + Tocolytics group was characterized by tocolytic treatment of the mothers due to preterm labor (n = 43). In addition, the pregnant women received glucocorticoid treatment in order to accelerate fetal lung maturation in case of preterm birth. The first comparison group (Tocolytics) consisted of children whose mothers also experienced preterm labor, but did not receive glucocorticoid treatment (n = 35). In the second comparison group (CONTROL), children whose mothers had a complication-free pregnancy were assessed (n = 37). Psychological parameters (stress appraisal and mood) using self-report questionnaires as well as salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, and heart rate were measured during a standardized psychosocial stress test (Trier Social Stress Test for Children). Results: Group comparisons revealed that a subscale of stress appraisal, control expectancies, significantly differed in children who were prenatally exposed to glucocorticoids as compared to both comparison groups (F = 4.889, p = 0.009). Furthermore, significant differences between the groups were revealed for salivary cortisol. With respect to overall stress appraisal and heart rate, trends toward significance were observed between the three groups. Conclusion: At the age of ten, those children who have been exposed to prenatal maternal glucocorticoids show changed psychobiological stress reactivity to a standardized psychosocial stress test as compared to control children. Frontiers Media S.A. 2012-12-10 /pmc/articles/PMC3517968/ /pubmed/23233841 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2012.00104 Text en Copyright © 2012 Erni, Shaqiri-Emini, La Marca, Zimmermann and Ehlert. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited and subject to any copyright notices concerning any third-party graphics etc.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Erni, Katja Shaqiri-Emini, Luljeta La Marca, Roberto Zimmermann, Roland Ehlert, Ulrike
spellingShingle	Erni, Katja Shaqiri-Emini, Luljeta La Marca, Roberto Zimmermann, Roland Ehlert, Ulrike Psychobiological Effects of Prenatal Glucocorticoid Exposure in 10-Year-Old-Children
author_facet	Erni, Katja Shaqiri-Emini, Luljeta La Marca, Roberto Zimmermann, Roland Ehlert, Ulrike
author_sort	Erni, Katja
title	Psychobiological Effects of Prenatal Glucocorticoid Exposure in 10-Year-Old-Children
title_short	Psychobiological Effects of Prenatal Glucocorticoid Exposure in 10-Year-Old-Children
title_full	Psychobiological Effects of Prenatal Glucocorticoid Exposure in 10-Year-Old-Children
title_fullStr	Psychobiological Effects of Prenatal Glucocorticoid Exposure in 10-Year-Old-Children
title_full_unstemmed	Psychobiological Effects of Prenatal Glucocorticoid Exposure in 10-Year-Old-Children
title_sort	psychobiological effects of prenatal glucocorticoid exposure in 10-year-old-children
description	Background: Prenatal stress seems to have long-lasting effects on biological and psychological processes of the offspring. However, to date, there have been no studies investigating the effects of prenatal glucocorticoid exposure on psychological, endocrine, and autonomic responses to a standardized psychosocial stress test in children. Methods: A sample of 115 healthy, 10-year-old children was examined. The Glucocorticoids + Tocolytics group was characterized by tocolytic treatment of the mothers due to preterm labor (n = 43). In addition, the pregnant women received glucocorticoid treatment in order to accelerate fetal lung maturation in case of preterm birth. The first comparison group (Tocolytics) consisted of children whose mothers also experienced preterm labor, but did not receive glucocorticoid treatment (n = 35). In the second comparison group (CONTROL), children whose mothers had a complication-free pregnancy were assessed (n = 37). Psychological parameters (stress appraisal and mood) using self-report questionnaires as well as salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, and heart rate were measured during a standardized psychosocial stress test (Trier Social Stress Test for Children). Results: Group comparisons revealed that a subscale of stress appraisal, control expectancies, significantly differed in children who were prenatally exposed to glucocorticoids as compared to both comparison groups (F = 4.889, p = 0.009). Furthermore, significant differences between the groups were revealed for salivary cortisol. With respect to overall stress appraisal and heart rate, trends toward significance were observed between the three groups. Conclusion: At the age of ten, those children who have been exposed to prenatal maternal glucocorticoids show changed psychobiological stress reactivity to a standardized psychosocial stress test as compared to control children.
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2012
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3517968/
_version_	1611939121140334592

Psychobiological Effects of Prenatal Glucocorticoid Exposure in 10-Year-Old-Children

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