Stress during pregnancy increases risk of mood disorders for female offspring

A new study found that women who are stressed during pregnancy experience a higher level of cortisol and this appears to cause a higher risk of anxiety and depression in their female infants under the age of 2.

Measures of cortisol levels were taken at different stages of pregnancy among 70 women.

Scientists then took images of brain connection in the newborn babies before external factors could influence their brains.

The same increased risk was not present in male babies.

The research indicates that cortisol seems to change the brain in the fetus and that a susceptibility for anxiety and mood problems can begin at birth in females.

It is known that many disorders affecting mood are more prevalent in women than men... 2 times as many. Source.

 

Journal Reference:

Alice M. Graham, Jerod M. Rasmussen, Sonja Entringer, Elizabeth Ben Ward, Marc D.Rudolph, John H. Gilmore, Martin Styner, Pathik D. Wadhwa, Damien A. Fair, ClaudiaBuss. Maternal Cortisol Concentrations During Pregnancy and Sex-Specific Associations With Neonatal Amygdala Connectivity and Emerging Internalizing Behaviors. Biological Psychiatry (2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.06.023