Effects of a mindfulness based childbirth and parenting program on pregnant women's perceived stress and risk of perinatal depression-Results from a randomized controlled trial

The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting Program (MBCP) in reducing pregnant women's perceived stress and preventing perinatal depression compared to an active control condition.; First time pregnant women (n = 197) at risk of perinatal depression were randomized to MBCP or an active control treatment, which consisted of a Lamaze childbirth class. At baseline and post-intervention, participants filled out questionnaires on perceived stress, depressive symptoms, positive states of mind, and five facets of mindfulness.; Compared to the active control treatment, MBCP significantly reduced perceived stress (p = 0.038, d = 0.30) and depressive symptoms (p = 0.004, d = 0.42), and increased positive states of mind (p = 0.005, d = 0.41) and self-reported mindfulness (p = 0.039, d = 0.30). Moreover, change in mindfulness possibly mediated the treatment effects of MBCP on stress, depression symptoms, and positive states of mind. The subscales "non-reactivity to inner experience" and "non-judging of experience" seemed to have the strongest mediating effects.; The outcomes were self-report questionnaires, the participants were not blinded to treatment condition and the condition was confounded by number of sessions.; Our results suggest that MBCP is more effective in decreasing perceived stress and risk of perinatal depression compared to a Lamaze childbirth class. The results also contribute to our understanding of the underlying psychological mechanisms through which the reduction of stress and depression symptoms may operate. Thus, this study increases our knowledge about efficient intervention strategies to prevent perinatal depression and promote mental wellbeing among pregnant women

Maternal adversities during pregnancy and cord blood oxytocin receptor (OXTR) DNA methylation

The aim of this study was to investigate whether maternal adversities and cortisol levels during pregnancy predict cord blood DNA methylation of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR). We collected cord blood of 39 babies born to mothers participating in a cross-sectional study (N = 100) conducted in Basel, Switzerland (2007-10). Mothers completed the Inventory of Life Events (second trimester: T2), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS, third trimester: T3), the Trier Inventory of Chronic Stress (TICS-K, 1-3 weeks postpartum) and provided saliva samples (T2, T3) for maternal cortisol profiles, as computed by the area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg) or increase (AUCi) for the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and for diurnal cortisol profiles (DAY). OXTR DNA methylation was quantified using Sequenom EpiTYPER. The number of stressful life events (P = 0.032), EPDS score (P = 0.007) and cortisol AUCgs at T2 (CAR: P = 0.020; DAY: P = 0.024) were negatively associated with OXTR DNA methylation. Our findings suggest that distinct prenatal adversities predict decreased DNA methylation in a gene that is relevant for childbirth, maternal behavior and wellbeing of mother and offspring. If a reduced OXTR methylation increases OXTR expression, our findings could suggest an epigenetic adaptation to an adverse early environment

Linking heart rate variability to psychological health and brain structure in adolescents with and without conduct disorder

AimsHeart rate variability (HRV) measures have been suggested in healthy individuals as a potential index of self-regulation skills, which include both cognitive and emotion regulation aspects. Studies in patients with a range of psychiatric disorders have however mostly focused on the potential association between abnormally low HRV at rest and specifically emotion regulation difficulties. Emotion regulation deficits have been reported in patients with Conduct Disorder (CD) however, the association between these emotion regulation deficits and HRV measures has yet to be fully understood. This study investigates (i) the specificity of the association between HRV and emotion regulation skills in adolescents with and without CD and (ii) the association between HRV and grey matter brain volumes in key areas of the central autonomic network which are involved in self-regulation processes, such as insula, lateral/medial prefrontal cortices or amygdala.MethodsRespiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) measures of HRV were collected from adolescents aged between 9–18 years (693 CD (427F)/753 typically developing youth (TD) (500F)), as part of a European multi-site project (FemNAT-CD). The Inverse Efficiency Score, a speed-accuracy trade-off measure, was calculated to assess emotion and cognitive regulation abilities during an Emotional Go/NoGo task. The association between RSA and task performance was tested using multilevel regression models. T1-weighted structural MRI data were included for a subset of 577 participants (257 CD (125F); 320 TD (186F)). The CerebroMatic toolbox was used to create customised Tissue Probability Maps and DARTEL templates, and CAT12 to segment brain images, followed by a 2 × 2 (sex × group) full factorial ANOVA with RSA as regressor of interest.ResultsThere were no significant associations between RSA and task performance, neither during emotion regulation nor during cognitive regulation trials. RSA was however positively correlated with regional grey matter volume in the left insula (pFWE = 0.011) across all subjects.ConclusionRSA was related to increased grey matter volume in the left insula across all subjects. Our results thus suggest that low RSA at rest might be a contributing or predisposing factor for potential self-regulation difficulties. Given the insula’s role in both emotional and cognitive regulation processes, these brain structural differences might impact either of those

Linking heart rate variability to psychological health and brain structure in adolescents with and without conduct disorder

AimsHeart rate variability (HRV) measures have been suggested in healthy individuals as a potential index of self-regulation skills, which include both cognitive and emotion regulation aspects. Studies in patients with a range of psychiatric disorders have however mostly focused on the potential association between abnormally low HRV at rest and specifically emotion regulation difficulties. Emotion regulation deficits have been reported in patients with Conduct Disorder (CD) however, the association between these emotion regulation deficits and HRV measures has yet to be fully understood. This study investigates (i) the specificity of the association between HRV and emotion regulation skills in adolescents with and without CD and (ii) the association between HRV and grey matter brain volumes in key areas of the central autonomic network which are involved in self-regulation processes, such as insula, lateral/medial prefrontal cortices or amygdala.MethodsRespiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) measures of HRV were collected from adolescents aged between 9–18 years (693 CD (427F)/753 typically developing youth (TD) (500F)), as part of a European multi-site project (FemNAT-CD). The Inverse Efficiency Score, a speed-accuracy trade-off measure, was calculated to assess emotion and cognitive regulation abilities during an Emotional Go/NoGo task. The association between RSA and task performance was tested using multilevel regression models. T1-weighted structural MRI data were included for a subset of 577 participants (257 CD (125F); 320 TD (186F)). The CerebroMatic toolbox was used to create customised Tissue Probability Maps and DARTEL templates, and CAT12 to segment brain images, followed by a 2 × 2 (sex × group) full factorial ANOVA with RSA as regressor of interest.ResultsThere were no significant associations between RSA and task performance, neither during emotion regulation nor during cognitive regulation trials. RSA was however positively correlated with regional grey matter volume in the left insula (pFWE = 0.011) across all subjects.ConclusionRSA was related to increased grey matter volume in the left insula across all subjects. Our results thus suggest that low RSA at rest might be a contributing or predisposing factor for potential self-regulation difficulties. Given the insula’s role in both emotional and cognitive regulation processes, these brain structural differences might impact either of those

Psychosocial stress experience and DNA methylation in humans - implications for stress-adaptation and -resilience

Abstract: Background: Psychosocial stress, especially early in life, is a risk factor for mental disorders. Recent evidence suggests that stress-related changes in epigenetic patterns, including DNA methylation, could mediate this association. Aim: to examine a potential association between psychosocial stress exposure and DNA methylation of two stress-related genes: the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Methods: We investigated DNA methylation in three target sequences: OXTR1, OXTR2 and BDNF. The psychosocial stressors included: (1) maternal stress during pregnancy (prenatal stress, N=39); (2) low versus high maternal care during childhood (maternal care, N=85) and (3) acute psychosocial stress (N=83). In the prenatal stress study, DNA methylation of OXTR1 was quantified in cord-blood cells. In the maternal care and acute psychosocial stress study, DNA methylation of OXTR1, OXTR2 and BDNF was quantified in peripheral blood cells of adults. Results: (1) Several indicators of increased prenatal stress predicted higher DNA methylation of OXTR1. (2) Adults reporting low maternal care showed increased OXTR2 DNA methylation compared to those reporting high maternal care. (3) Exposure to acute psychosocial stress was associated with dynamic changes in DNA methylation of OXTR – DNA methylation increased from pre- to post-stress in OXTR1 and decreased from post-stress to follow up in OXTR1 and OXTR2. Some of these changes might have been due to variations in blood cell count. Discussion: Exposure to psychosocial stress was associated with target sequence-specific changes in OXTR DNA methylation. These results could contribute to our understanding of epigenetic processes involved in stress-adaptation. ---------- Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Psychosozialer Stress, insbesondere während der frühen Entwicklung, ist ein Risikofaktor für psychische Erkrankungen. Dieser Zusammenhang könnte durch stress- assoziierte epigenetische Veränderungen, z.B. in der DNA Methylierung, mediiert werden. Ziel: ein potentieller Zusammenhang zwischen verschiedenen psychosozialen Stressoren und der DNA Methylierung zweier stress-assoziierter Gene zu untersuchen: dem Oxytozin Rezeptor (OXTR) und dem Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). Methode: DNA Methylierung wurde in drei DNA Zielsequenzen gemessen: OXTR1, OXTR2 und BDNF. Die untersuchten psychosozialen Stressoren waren: (1) mütterlicher Stress während der Schwangerschaft (pränataler Stress, N=39); (2) mütterliche Zuwendung in der Kindheit (N=85) und (3) akuter psychosozialer Stress im Erwachsenenalter (N=83). In der Studie zu pränatalem Stress wurde DNA Methylierung von OXTR1 im Nabelschnurblut gemessen; in den Studien zu mütterlicher Zuwendung und akutem psychosoziale Stress wurde DNA Methylierung von OXTR1, OXTR2 und BDNF in peripherem Blut gemessen. Resultate: (1) Mehrere Indikatoren von pränatalem Stress sagten eine stärkere OXTR1 DNA Methylierung vorher. (2) Erwachsene, welche von wenig mütterlicher Zuwendung berichteten, hatten eine stärkere Methylierung in OXTR2 im Vergleich zu denjenigen mit mehr Zuwendung. (3) Akuter psychosozialer Stress war mit dynamischen Veränderungen in OXTR DNA Methylierung assoziiert: eine Erhöhung von Prä-Stress zu Post-Stress in OXTR1 und eine Erniedrigung von Post-Stress zu Follow-Up in OXTR1 und OXTR2, wobei einige dieser Veränderungen allenfalls durch Variationen in der Blutzell-Verteilung zustande kamen. Diskussion: Psychosozialer Stress war assoziiert mit Veränderungen in der DNA Methylierung des OXTR. Die Resultate könnten zu einem besseren Verständnis von epigenetischen Stress-Adaptionsmechanismen beitragen

Data Analysis Script and Results

This is a Markdown Script of the Data Analysis of the Article "Association of Indicators of Stress, Sleep and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in a High-risk Sample of Young Adults with Previous Youth Residential Care "

Study on Mobile Phone Attraction, Relationship Ties, Social Interactions, Emotion Regulation, and Stress (SMARTIES)

This research project investigates the association between parental smartphone and other digital device use and child mental wellbeing