Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

A Review Of Risk Factors, Adverse Outcomes, And Counseling Strategies Among Pregnant Individuals With Eating Disorders, Alexandra Fontaine, Emily Meale

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: Eating disorders (EDs) among women of childbearing age have become more prevalent on the global level. Identifying at-risk populations of women having EDs before, during, or after pregnancy is essential for clinicians to improve treatment and decrease the likelihood of negative maternal and/or fetal outcomes. Purpose: The purpose is to determine risk factors for women who have EDs throughout pregnancy, to identify negative pregnancy outcomes of women suffering from EDs, and to explore treatment and counseling options through the postpartum period. Methods: This literature review mainly utilizes sources from PubMed and the National Institute of Health databases. An expansive …

Attitudes And Barriers To Breastfeeding Among Women At High-Risk For Not Breastfeeding: A Prospective Observational Study, Jessica Cole, Ateshi Bhatt, Andrew G. Chapple, Sarah Buzhardt, Elizabeth F. Sutton

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background Rates of breastfeeding are lower among minority and underserved populations in the United States. Our study objective was to assess pregnant persons attitudes and barriers to breastfeeding among a cohort at high risk for not breastfeeding. Methods We disseminated the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS) to 100 pregnant persons at least 18 years of age attending a prenatal visit in a low-resource, academic practice in south-central Louisiana (Woman’s Hospital). The IIFAS, as well as questions collecting information on breastfeeding experience and sociodemographic characteristics, were administered via interview. Medical records were reviewed to investigate associations between attitudes about breastfeeding …

Food Restriction And Body Image Distortion In Pregnant Mothers: Outcomes For Exposed Children, Kathryn M. Dana

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Developmental trajectories in the growing child do not originate at birth. Rather, critical periods may exist in pregnancy, during which the determinants of malnutrition are especially vulnerable to the effects of stress and other complications. Prenatal malnutrition has been consistently associated with negative consequences for the growth, development, and overall physical and mental health of affected offspring in both human and animal models. While most available literature on human prenatal malnutrition comes from famine research, there is some evidence that restrictive eating disorders in pregnant women may be associated with similar outcomes.

Hypotheses: We hypothesize that prenatal exposure to …

The Nightmare Before Delivery: A Study Of Nightmares, Depressive Symptoms, And Suicidality In Pregnant Women, Denise Frantz

Honors Theses

Pregnancy is notoriously a time of immense changes. Some of which are characterized by disturbances in sleep such as trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, waking after sleep onset, snoring, leg discomfort, and nightmares (Foley, Ancoli-Israel, Britz, and Walsh, 2004; Lee and Gay, 2004; Köthe & Pietrowsky, 2001). Nightmares specifically have been associated with depressive symptoms and suicidality in non-pregnant individuals (Cukrowicz et al., 2006; Tanskanen et al., 2001), but these relations are not as well understood in the pregnant population. The aim of this study was to assess any potential relation between nightmares and depressive symptoms and suicidality in …

Prenatal Risk For Asd: Fetal Cortisol Exposure Predicts Child Autism-Spectrum-Disorder Symptoms, Sheena Ram, Mariann A. Howland, Curt A. Sandman, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is multifactorial, complex, and likely involves interactions among genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. With respect to environmental influences, a growing literature implicates intrauterine experiences in the origin of this pervasive developmental disorder. In this prospective longitudinal study, we examined the hypothesis that fetal exposure to maternal cortisol may confer ASD risk. In addition, because ASD is four times more prevalent in males than in females, and because sexually dimorphic responses to intrauterine experiences are commonly observed, we examined whether or not any associations differ by fetal sex. Maternal plasma cortisol was measured at …

Women’S Pregnancy Life History And Alzheimer’S Risk: Can Immunoregulation Explain The Link?, Molly Fox, Carlo Berzuini, Leslie A. Knapp, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background:

Pregnancy is associated with improvement in immunoregulation that persists into the geriatric phase. Impaired immunoregulation is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis. Hence, we investigate the relationship between pregnancy and AD. Methods:

Cross-sectional cohort of British women (N = 95). Cox proportional hazards modeling assessed the putative effects of cumulative months pregnant on AD risk and the mutually adjusted effects of counts of first and third trimesters on AD risk. Results:

Cumulative number of months pregnant, was associated with lower AD risk (β = −1.90, exp(β) = 0.15, P = .02). Cumulative number of first trimesters …

Economic And Health Predictors Of National Postpartum Depression Prevalence: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis And Meta-Regression Of 308 Studies From 56 Countries, Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, Taylor Cornwell-Hinrichs, Itzel Anaya

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) poses a major global public health challenge. PPD is the most common complication associated with childbirth and exerts harmful effects on children. Although hundreds of PPD studies have been published, we lack accurate global or national PPD prevalence estimates and have no clear account of why PPD appears to vary so dramatically between nations. Accordingly, we conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the global and national prevalence of PPD and a meta-regression to identify economic, health, social, or policy factors associated with national PPD prevalence.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of all papers reporting …

Maternal Intuition Of Fetal Gender, Michael Mcfadzen, David P. Dielentheis, Ronda Kasten, Maharaj Singh, Joe Grundle

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Fetal gender speculation is a preoccupation of many expecting parents, and pregnant women commonly profess to intuitively know the gender of their unborn babies. This study objectively compared pregnant mothers’ perceptions of fetal gender to sonographically proven gender determinations. Also, success rates from previously published studies, noninvasive prenatal testing and a myriad of gender determination methods were observed and reported for context.

Methods: All pregnant women presenting for second-trimester screening ultrasound (at 17–23 weeks gestation) in the obstetrics department of a single health center were asked to participate. A medical sonographer described the ultrasound examination, obtained appropriate consent and …

Gestational Hormone Profiles Predict Human Maternal Behavior At 1-Year Postpartum, Laura M. Glynn, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Curt A. Sandman, Wendy A. Goldberg

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

In many non-human species, including primates, gestational reproductive hormones play an essential role in the onset of maternal motivation and behaviors. We investigated the associations between prepartum estradiol and progesterone and maternal behavior at 1-year postpartum in 177 women. Blood was obtained at five gestational time points and an index of quality of maternal care was determined using a well-validated mother-child interaction protocol. Women who exhibited higher quality maternal care at 1-year postpartum were characterized by unique gestational profiles of estradiol, progesterone and the estrogen to progesterone ratio; specifically by slower accelerations and levels of these hormone trajectories beginning in …

Maternal Obesity And Incidence Of Depression, Caroline A. Habjan

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Obesity is a national epidemic in the United States, which both directly and indirectly affects the social productivity of individuals, the American macro economy and individuals’ personal health and well being. Depression often interferes with an individual’s ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy life. A maternal state of both obesity and depression may cause serious adverse medical conditions in the mother’s child. Taking steps to treat depression and obesity are critical in the construct of modern medicine. This project yields results that have the potential to make treatment options better tailored, more efficient, effective and economically-sound for the …

Pregnancy Anxiety And Prenatal Cortisol Trajectories, Heidi S. Kane, Christine Dunkel Schetter, Laura M. Glynn, Calvin J. Hobel, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Pregnancy anxiety is a potent predictor of adverse birth and infant outcomes. The goal of the current study was to examine one potential mechanism whereby these effects may occur by testing associations between pregnancy anxiety and maternal salivary cortisol on 4 occasions during pregnancy in a sample of 448 women. Higher mean levels of pregnancy anxiety over the course of pregnancy predicted steeper increases in cortisol trajectories compared to lower pregnancy anxiety. Significant differences between cortisol trajectories emerged between 30 to 31 weeks of gestation. Results remained significant when adjusted for state anxiety and perceived stress. Neither changes in pregnancy …