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Depressive Symptoms In Mothers Of Children With New-Onset Epilepsy: A Prospective Study, Mark Anthony Ferro

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Having a child diagnosed with a chronic illness such as epilepsy is a major source of stress for caregivers. Up to half of mothers of children with epilepsy are at increased risk for clinical depression and symptoms of maternal depression are associated with poorer health outcomes in these children. The purpose of this study was to: 1) estimate the prevalence and course of depressive symptoms over 24 months among mothers of children with new-onset epilepsy; 2) identify subgroups of mothers that share similar trajectories of depressive symptoms; and, 3) assess the family factors involved in the causal pathway between maternal …

Prenatal Maternal Stress Programs Infant Stress Regulation, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn, Feizal Waffarn, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: Prenatal exposure to inappropriate levels of glucocorticoids (GCs) and maternal stress are putative mechanisms for the fetal programming of later health outcomes. The current investigation examined the influence of prenatal maternal cortisol and maternal psychosocial stress on infant physiological and behavioral responses to stress.

Methods: The study sample comprised 116 women and their full term infants. Maternal plasma cortisol and report of stress, anxiety and depression were assessed at 15, 19, 25, 31 and 36 + weeks' gestational age. Infant cortisol and behavioral responses to the painful stress of a heel-stick blood draw were evaluated at 24 hours after …