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Updated: May 19, 2026
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
Affective experience in ecologically relevant contexts is dynamic and not progressively attenuated during pregnancy
Gerald F Giesbrecht1, Nicole Letourneau, Tavis Campbell
1Department of Paediatrics, Behavioural Research Unit, University of Calgary, NW Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ggiesbre@ucalgary.ca
Archives of Women'S Mental Health
|August 29, 2012
Summary
Pregnancy does not necessarily reduce stress appraisal or emotional responses. Psychological experiences during pregnancy are dynamic and vary with depressive symptoms, not simply diminishing over time.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Obstetrics
- Mental Health
Background:
- Pregnancy is commonly believed to lessen women's emotional reactivity to stressors.
- This assumption suggests a progressive attenuation of psychological responses throughout gestation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dynamic changes in women's affective experiences during pregnancy.
- To examine how depressive symptoms influence these psychological changes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an electronic diary and ecological momentary assessment for 85 women across trimesters.
- Collected data on positive and negative affect five times daily for two days per trimester.
- Administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale each trimester.
Main Results:
- Identified nonlinear patterns in both positive and negative affect throughout pregnancy.
- Observed that these affective patterns were significantly influenced by the level of depressive symptoms.
- Found that psychological experiences are not uniformly attenuated but are dynamic.
Conclusions:
- The assumption of a simple diminishing emotional response to stressors during pregnancy is challenged.
- Pregnancy involves dynamic psychological shifts in affect, modulated by maternal mental health.
- Individual differences, particularly depressive symptoms, play a crucial role in shaping the pregnancy experience.
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