ABSTRACTS
2019 National McNair Scholars Conference at UCLA
Researcher: Melissa Brewster
Title: Chronic Cortisol Exposure and the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems as Predictors of Newborn Neurobehavior
Research Focus: Developmental Psychology
School: University of Utah
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Previous research has emphasized the importance of understanding the impact of stress exposure on an infant. However, there is limited research linking in utero stress exposure to newborn neurobehavior. We examined whether newborn neurobehavior was associated with prenatal maternal physiological signs of stress. Pregnant women (N=162) during their third trimester were invited to the laboratory to collect hair cortisol concentrations, baseline heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), electrodermal activity (EDA) parameters, skin conductance response (SCR) and skin conductance levels (SCL). Newborns between twenty-four hours and two months of age were assessed using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) which measures the dimensions of attention and arousal. Correlations and ordinary least squares regressions were conducted. Preliminary analyses demonstrated that maternal hair cortisol levels were not associated with newborn attention (r= -.026, p=.77) and arousal (r= -.077, p= .382).
Baseline HR was not associated with attention (r= .012, p=.879) and arousal (r= -.002, p=.979). And lastly, RSA was not associated with attention (r= -.106, p=.192) and arousal (r= .071, p=.381).The association between SCR and SCL to newborn attention and arousal will be analyzed shortly. These results suggest that maternal psychophysiology may not be a risk factor in postnatal neurobehavioral development.