Effects of an App-Based Mindfulness Intervention during Pregnancy on the Infant’s Prenatal Androgen Exposure: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Prenatal androgen exposure modulates the development of the brain, with lasting effects on its function and behavior over the infant’s life span. Environmental factors during pregnancy, in particular maternal stress, have been shown to influence the androgen load of the unborn child. We here addressed the research gap on whether a mindfulness intervention or a pregnancy education administered to pregnant women more affects the androgen exposure of the unborn child (quantified by the proxies of second-to-fourth digit length ratio (2D:4D) and anogenital distance assessed one year after delivery and at delivery, respectively). Moreover, we tested the mindfulness intervention’s effects on maternal perceived stress, anxiety, depressiveness, and mindfulness. Pregnant women (gestation weeks 8–14) were randomized to a 15-week app-based mindfulness-oriented intervention (N = 72) or a pregnancy education intervention (control condition; N = 74). The mindfulness-oriented group did not significantly differ from the pregnancy education group in infants’ 2D:4D or anogenital distance (partial η2 ≤ 0.01) or in maternal stress, anxiety, depressiveness, or mindfulness. However, the descriptive results indicate that across pregnancy, stress and anxiety decreased and mindfulness increased in both groups. Overall, this study did not show that the mindfulness intervention (relative to the pregnancy education) reduced the prenatal androgen exposure of the unborn children or improved the maternal outcomes significantly.Federal Ministry of Education and ResearchDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnber

A Python-based framework for ex-post harmonization of multi-item instrument data across cohorts

In research and clinical settings, diverse and nowadays increasingly larger datasets must be organized, structured, and analyzed. This presents us with challenges, such as to comprehensively recognize instrument alignments, but also offers a range of new possibilities such as to identify new content networks and graphs based on item similarities and shared versus differential conceptual bases within and across data and studies. In this report, we present a newly developed Python-based framework to move beyond classical data structuring and analysis and so enable researchers and clinicians to navigate through big data sets reliably, informed and quickly, and to gain new insights in terms of construct representations and concept identifications

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the Facial Phenotype in Adolescents: A Study Based on Meconium Ethyl Glucuronide

Here, we explore the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) in adolescence. We investigated associations between meconium ethyl glucoronide (EtG) and facial malformation. For 129 children (66/63 male/female; M = 13.3, SD = 0.32, 12–14 years), PAE was implemented by newborn meconium EtG and maternal self-reports during the third trimester. Cognitive development was operationalized by standardized scores (WISC V). The EtG cut-off values were set at ≥10 ng/g (n = 32, 24.8% EtG10+) and ≥112 ng/g (n = 20, 15.5% EtG112+). The craniofacial shape was measured using FAS Facial Photographic Analysis Software. EtG10+− and EtG112+-affected children exhibited a shorter palpebral fissure length (p = 0.031/p = 0.055). Lip circularity was smaller in EtG112+-affected children (p = 0.026). Maternal self-reports were not associated (p > 0.164). Lip circularity correlated with fluid reasoning (EtG10+ p = 0.031; EtG112+ p = 0.298) and working memory (EtG10+ p = 0.084; EtG112+ p = 0.144). The present study demonstrates visible effects of the facial phenotype in exposed adolescents. Facial malformation was associated with a child’s cognitive performance in the alcohol-exposed group. The EtG biomarker was a better predictor than maternal self-reports

Association of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Prenatal Maternal Depression with Offspring Low-Grade Inflammation in Early Adolescence

(1) This longitudinal study aimed to investigate the link between prenatal alcohol exposure and prenatal maternal depression with the offspring’s low-grade inflammatory status. (2) Prenatal alcohol exposure was determined via maternal self-report during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy (self-report+: n = 29) and the meconium alcohol metabolite Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG), collected at birth (≥30 ng/g: n = 23). The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to screen for prenatal maternal depressive symptoms during the 3rd trimester (≥10: n = 35). Fifteen years later, 122 adolescents (M = 13.32 years; 48.4% female) provided blood samples for the analysis of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP; M = 0.91; SD = 1.28). (3) Higher hsCRP levels were found in EtG positive adolescents (p = 0.036, ηp2 = 0.04) and an inverse non-significant dose–response relation with hsCRP (r = −0.35, p = 0.113). For maternal self-reported prenatal alcohol consumption (p = 0.780, ηp2 = 0.00) and prenatal depressive symptoms (p = 0.360, ηp2 = 0.01) no differences for hsCRP levels between the affected and unaffected groups were found. (4) Adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure are at risk for low-grade systemic inflammation. The EtG biomarker may be more accurate compared to self-reports. The findings suggest that prenatal maternal depression does not evoke low-grade systemic inflammation