TY - JOUR
T1 - Biological embedding of maternal postpartum depressive symptoms
T2 - The potential role of cortisol and telomere length
AU - Beijers, Roseriet
AU - Daehn, Daria
AU - Shalev, Idan
AU - Belsky, Jay
AU - de Weerth, Carolina
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research VENI grant ( 016.195.197- to Beijers), VIDI grant ( 575-25-009- to de Weerth) and VICI grant ( 016.Vici.185.038- to de Weerth), a Sara van Dam Project Grant of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (to Beijers), and a Jacobs Foundation Advanced Research Fellowship (to de Weerth).
Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research VENI grant (016.195.197-to Beijers), VIDI grant (575-25-009-to de Weerth) and VICI grant (016.Vici.185.038-to de Weerth), a Sara van Dam Project Grant of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (to Beijers), and a Jacobs Foundation Advanced Research Fellowship (to de Weerth).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/2
Y1 - 2020/2
N2 - Although maternal postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS) are associated with child behavior problems, the underlying biological mechanisms are poorly understood. Thus, the current study focused on 193 healthy mother-child dyads and investigated child cortisol and telomere length as potential mediating factors. At 3 and 6 months postpartum, mothers reported on PDS. At age 6, children provided saliva and buccal swab samples. At age 10, mothers and children reported on child behavior problems. Structural equation modelling revealed (a) no association between PDS and child behavior problems and thus no possibility of mediation, but that (b) lower cortisol forecast more child-reported internalizing problems, and (c) shorter telomere length predicted more child-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. These findings raise mediational questions about the determinants of these biomarkers.
AB - Although maternal postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS) are associated with child behavior problems, the underlying biological mechanisms are poorly understood. Thus, the current study focused on 193 healthy mother-child dyads and investigated child cortisol and telomere length as potential mediating factors. At 3 and 6 months postpartum, mothers reported on PDS. At age 6, children provided saliva and buccal swab samples. At age 10, mothers and children reported on child behavior problems. Structural equation modelling revealed (a) no association between PDS and child behavior problems and thus no possibility of mediation, but that (b) lower cortisol forecast more child-reported internalizing problems, and (c) shorter telomere length predicted more child-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. These findings raise mediational questions about the determinants of these biomarkers.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107809
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.107809
M3 - Article
C2 - 31734351
AN - SCOPUS:85075581894
SN - 0019-493X
VL - 150
JO - Biological Psychology
JF - Biological Psychology
M1 - 107809
ER -