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. 2015 Mar;57(2):212-25.
doi: 10.1002/dev.21284. Epub 2015 Feb 3.

Prenatal tobacco exposure and infant stress reactivity: role of child sex and maternal behavior

Rina D Eiden  1 , Danielle S Molnar, Douglas A Granger, Craig R Colder, Pamela Schuetze, Marilyn A Huestis
Affiliations

Prenatal tobacco exposure and infant stress reactivity: role of child sex and maternal behavior

Rina D Eiden et al. Dev Psychobiol. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

This study examined the association between prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE) and infant cortisol reactivity at 9 months of infant age. Child sex and maternal parenting behavior were hypothesized moderators. The sample included 217 (148 tobacco-exposed, 69 non-exposed) mother-child dyads. Data used were obtained from pregnancy assessments, mother-infant feeding interactions at 2 months, and salivary cortisol at four time points in response to frustration at 9 months. Results indicated a significant association between PTE and infant cortisol that was moderated by infant sex and maternal intrusiveness. That is, PTE boys had lower cortisol than control boys, but there was no association between PTE and cortisol among girls. There was a significant association between PTE and cortisol among infants of intrusive mothers, but not among infants with non-intrusive mothers. Thus, PTE was associated with cortisol hypo-reactivity such that boys and non-exposed infants experiencing high maternal intrusiveness were at greater risk.

Keywords: infant cortisol; mother-infant interactions; prenatal tobacco exposure; sex differences.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: With the exception of Dr. Granger, none of the other authors have any conflicts of interest to declare.

Conflict of Interest

In the interest of full disclosure, Dr. Granger is founder and Chief Scientific and Strategy Advisor at Salimetrics LLC. Dr. Granger’s relationships with these entities are managed by the policies of the Conflict of Interest Committee at the Johns Hopkins University and the Office of Research Integrity and Assurance at Arizona State University. None of the other authors have any conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Child sex by time interaction effect on infant cortisol at 9 months of infant age.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Main effect of smoking group status on infant cortisol at 9 months of infant age for the sample as a whole, but no interactions involving time.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Interaction of PTE and maternal intrusiveness on Time 1 cortisol.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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