Impact of Prenatal Stress on Autonomic Nervous System Functioning and
Psychopathology Risk in Early Childhood: The Harvey Mom Study
Abstract
Prior human and animal research suggests prenatal stress alters
developmental systems that support stress and emotion regulation in
offspring, which may underlie vulnerability to psychopathology risk. We
examined prospective associations between prenatal stress from a natural
disaster and infant biobehavioral outcomes across toddlerhood. Women
pregnant during Hurricane Harvey in 2017 completed assessments of their
objective levels of hardship and their subjective distress from the
disaster. Offspring (n = 47) completed follow-up assessments at 24
months to collect autonomic nervous system activity (respiratory sinus
arrythmia, RSA; heart rate, HR) during a stressor task. Parents assessed
their children’s behavioral problems at 24 and 48 months of age.
Increased prenatal subjective distress was associated with a blunted RSA
response to stress and less RSA recovery, whereas increased objective
hardship was associated with greater HR reactivity and recovery.
Prenatal subjective distress was associated with increased child
behavior problems at 24 months. Higher behavior problems at 24 months of
age were also associated with RSA and HR reactivity and recovery.
Findings suggest that prenatal stress is an important predictor of
offspring biobehavioral risk. Further research is needed to explore
longitudinal pathways.