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Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
06:39

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants

Published on: June 13, 2021

Prenatal dysthymia versus major depression effects on maternal cortisol and fetal growth

Tiffany Field1, Miguel A Diego, Maria Hernandez-Reif

  • 1Touch Research Institutes, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33101, USA. tfield@med.miami.edu

Depression and Anxiety
|June 26, 2007
PubMed

To determine differences between pregnant women diagnosed with Dysthymia versus Major Depression, depressed pregnant women (N=102) were divided by their diagnosis into Dysthymic (N=48) and Major Depression (N=54) groups and compared on self-report measures (depression, anxiety, anger, daily hassles and behavioral inhibition), on stress hormone levels (cortisol and norepinephrine), and on fetal measurements. The Major Depression group had more self-reported symptoms. However, the Dysthymic group had higher prenatal cortisol levels and lower fetal growth measurements (estimated weight, femur length, abdominal circumference) as measured at their first ultrasound (M=18 weeks gestation). Thus, depressed pregnant women with Dysthymia and Major Depression appeared to have different prenatal symptoms.

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