Citation

Zhang W, Rajendran K, Ham J, Finik J, Buthmann J, Davey K, Pehme PM, Dana K, Pritchett A, Laws H, Nomura Y. J. Affect. Disord. 2018; 234: 335-345.

Affiliation

Queens College, CUNY, Psychology, New York, NY, United States; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Psychiatry, New York, NY, United States; The Graduate Center, CUNY, Psychology, New York, NY, United States. Electronic address: Yoko.nomura@qc.cuny.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jad.2018.02.067

PMID

29614461

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the impact of prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) on the developmental trajectory of temperament and few studies have been able to incorporate a natural disaster as a quasi-experimental stressor. The current study investigated PNMS related to Superstorm Sandy ('Sandy'), a hurricane that struck the New York metropolitan area in October 2012, in terms of objective exposure during pregnancy, subjective stress reaction as assessed by maternal symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and their impact on the developmental changes in temperament during early childhood.

METHOD: A subsample of 318 mother-child dyads was drawn from the Stress in Pregnancy Study. Temperament was measured at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age.

RESULTS: Objective exposure was associated with greater High-Intensity Pleasure, Approach, Perceptual Sensitivity and Fearfulness, but lower Cuddliness and Duration of Orientation at 6 months.

OBJECTIVE exposure and its interaction with subjective stress reaction predicted developmental changes in temperament. In particular, objective exposure was linked to greater increases in Activity Level but decreases in High-Intensity Pleasure, Approach, and Fearfulness. The combination of objective exposure and subjective stress reaction was also associated with greater increases in Activity Level. LIMITATIONS: Temperament was measured solely via maternal report. Trimester-specific effects of Sandy on temperament were not examined.

CONCLUSION: This is the first study to examine the effects of prenatal maternal exposure to a natural disaster on trajectories of early childhood temperament.

FINDINGS suggest that both objective stress exposure and subjective stress reaction in-utero predict developmental trajectories of temperament in early childhood.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Longitudinal data; Natural disaster; Objective stress exposure; Prenatal maternal stress; Subjective stress reaction; Temperament