Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Department of Psychiatry, Arkin Institute for Mental Health, the Netherlands
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands
Rianne Kok
Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Bibian van der Voorn
Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Obesity Center CGG, Erasmus MC–Sophia Children's Hospital, the Netherlands; and Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands
Ineke de Kruijff
Department of Pediatrics, St Antonius Hospital Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
Erica L.T. van den Akker
Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC–Sophia Children's Hospital, the Netherlands
Elisabeth F.C. van Rossum
Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands
Witte J.G. Hoogendijk
Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands
Manon H.J. Hillegers
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands
Astrid M. Kamperman
Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Epidemiological and Social Psychiatric Research Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands
Mijke P. Lambregtse-Van den Berg
Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands; and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands
Background Maternal psychopathology during pregnancy is associated with negative outcomes in offspring. Increased placental transfer of maternal cortisol may contribute to mediate this association. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) appear to be a good biomarker of long-term prenatal stress exposure. Little is known about the associations between severe maternal psychopathology and perinatal infant HCCs. Aims We assessed HCCs in the perinatal period in mother–infant dyads with and without severe psychiatric disorders. Method We examined group differences in HCCs of mother–infant dyads (n = 18) subjected to severe maternal psychiatric disorders versus healthy control dyads (n = 27). We assessed the correlation of HCCs between mother and infant within both groups, and the association between current maternal symptoms and HCCs in patient dyads. Results Median (interquartile range) and distribution of HCC differed in patients compared with control mothers (U = 468.5, P = 0.03). HCCs in infants of patients did not differ from control infants (U = 250.0, P = 0.67). Subsequently, we found that HCCs within healthy control dyads were correlated (n = 27, r 0.55 (0.14), P = 0.003), but were not within patient dyads (n = 18, r 0.082 (0.13), P = 0.746). HCCs in infants of patients showed a positive correlation with maternal symptoms (n = 16, r = 0.63 (0.06), P = 0.008). Conclusions These preliminary findings suggest that infant HCC reflect perinatal stress exposure. In infants, these early differences could influence lifetime hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis functioning, which might be associated with increased susceptibility to later disease.
