Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 26, 2025

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
Maternal stress during pregnancy and early childhood development
Matias Berthelon1, Diana Kruger2, Rafael Sanchez3
1Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, IZA and COES, Av. Padre Hurtado 750, Viña del Mar, Chile.
Abstract:
We estimate the impact of prenatal stress on early childhood development outcomes known as "middle years" or intermediate outcomes, which has not been studied previously. Using a unique measure of actual maternal stress induced by a large earthquake, we find that relative to children that were not exposed, in utero maternal stress reduces children's cognitive skills and socio-emotional problems by age 3, and that the effects are heterogeneous. The negative impacts on cognitive skills occur during the first trimester of pregnancy and are found among both low and high-income children, and boys and girls. The harmful effects on socio-emotional behaviors occur when stress is experienced in the last trimester of pregnancy.
Related Concept Videos
Stress and Mental Health
Individuals with depression often experience challenges in both their personal and professional...
Psychological Responses to Stress
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Introduction to Stress and Lifestyle
Psychoneuroimmunology: Cardiovascular Disease
A key area of focus in PNI is the relationship between stress and coronary...
Psychoneuroimmunology: Diabetes and Cancer

